Manuscript leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin, produced in France

Text: From a Book of Hours, in Latin

Script: Cursiva Formata (Bastarda)

Illuminated leaf on vellum from a Book of Hours with fine historiated initials of St. Barbara and the Deposition of Christ painted in a camaïeu d’or style by a follower of Jean Fouquet. There are fourteen lines of text, in two sizes, partly in Latin and partly in French, in a brown lettering with rubrics in red. On the recto is a four-line historiated initial in liquid gold of St. Barbara holding a palm in one hand, and a miniature tower in the other. On the verso is a similar miniature of Christ being taken down from the Cross; both initials are within a blue frame.

The initial with St. Barbara is followed by a prayer to the saint, while the miniature of the deposition introduces the five prayers of the Virgin.