1480 BOOK OF HOURS - Leaf on vellum from a manuscript Book of Hours.

RECTO: Panel border of acanthus leaves and flowers on a partly liquid gold and dark red ground, height 1-line initial in liquid gold on colored grounds and three line filler in same.

VERSO: Two 2-line initials in liquid gold on colored grounds and same panel border as on recto.

Medieval manuscripts

The medieval Book of Hours evolved from the monastic cycle of prayer, which divided the day into eight segments, or "hours." Those of: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Compline, and Vespers. By the early fifteenth century, the Book of Hours had developed to meet the demands of private, rather than communal, devotion. These portable books are smaller than their monastic forebears, designed for individual use, with a liturgical system somewhat less complicated than monastic liturgy and more "user-friendly." A Book of Hours invariably begins with a liturgical calendar, listing feast days in chronological order along with a complicated method of calculating the date of Easter.
The seven Penitential Psalms are usually included as well, and additional prayers (devoted to particular saints or personal issues) according to the desires and needs of the owner.

Books of Hours preserve some of the finest works of medieval art. Each section of the manuscript traditionally begins with an illuminated miniature that complements the prayers and stimulates contemplation and meditation in the reader. Because they were expensive and spectacular works of art, the ownership of these manuscripts was limited mainly to royalty, nobility and the very wealthy. They are often adorned with coats of arms, and portraits of patrons may sometimes appear in the miniatures. As their popularity increased, an efficient system of book production and trade developed to match the demand for Books of Hours. Professional scribes produced the texts in one location, artists painted the miniatures in their workshops, and the two were brought together in the bookbinder's hall. Patrons could choose the texts and miniatures they wanted, or buy complete, generic manuscripts in stationers' bookshops. A thriving economy developed around the production of Books of Hours, especially in centers such as Paris, Bruges and Utrecht.

What is an illuminated manuscript?
An illuminated manuscript is a book written and decorated by hand. Its name is derived from the Latin manus, meaning hand and "scriptus" meaning writing. Manuscripts decorated with gold, silver, or bright paint are called illuminated, from the Latin "illuminare," meaning to lighten or brighten.
A large number of manuscripts are covered with painted ornaments which may be presented under several forms:
* initials of chapters or paragraphs, ornamented sometimes very simply, sometimes on the other hand with a great profusion of interlacings, foliage, and flowers; these are developed along the the whole length of the page and within are sometimes depicted persons or scenes from everyday life;
* paintings on the margin, in which some scene is carried over several pages;
* borders around the text (interlacing colonnades, etc.), the most remarkable example is that of the evangelistic canons of the Middle Ages;
* full-page paintings (or such as cover only a part of the page), but forming real pictures, similar to frescoes or easel pictures; these are chiefly found on very ancient or very recent manuscripts (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries).