Miniature of St. John, the Baptist. Manuscript leaf on vellum from a Neo-Gothic Book of Hours.

RECTO : Miniature of St. John, the Baptist, with a lamb on a book, wearing a cloth of camelhair of the heremite in the desert, not so here though with a luscious background. One line of text underneath the painting.
Large miniature in an 19th century hand, typical for "The Gothic revival"
VERSO: One 2-line capital in burnished gold with extensive penwork in blue and one line-filler in burnished gold and blue. Four 1-line capitals in red, blue or burnished gold with extensive penwork.

In the 2nd half of the 19th. century starts a revival of the interest in medieval art, not only in neogothic architecture, as we see in the many churches and official buildings during these decades in the flamboyant gothic style.
Also books for liturgical use were written in the original gothic style on parchment with sparkling illuminations and miniatures. Paris became a center for these manuscripts, mostly created in honour of marriages.
Particularly in the Netherlands many prayerbooks and books of hours were written, mostly as a consequence of the revival of the catholic religion after 1855, at the reinstallemnt of the episcopal seats.
Not only in the northern Netherlands, but also Bruges became a famous center, the "de Paepe"-family created a high standard of illumination, perhaps surpassing the old medieval art.
This miniature is a typical example of this refined and fascinating art.
In fact the page is a palimpsest, from the Greek word palimpsestos meaning "scraped again."
The manuscript is written on 15th century parchment. Palimpsests were common in antiquity and the 19th century because parchment for writing was scarce and costly, manuscripts were recycled and reused, their original content rubbed away and overwritten.