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Physical Description Book of Hours Use of Netherlands

35488
A beautifully illuminated, complete manuscript, with calendar, wide margins, more than a hundred  2-line illuminated initials, and 6 illuminated full-page miniatures, encircled by richly decorated and colored borders consisting of flowers and leaves. Inside the book cover’s back board, contemporary manuscript annotations state that the book belonged to Grietken Baeckx, who lived in “Groot Begijnhof”  in Ghent. The calendar also points to Ghent, since Saints Amant (February), Amelberga (July), and Bavo (October) are emphasized in red. 

The Latin is influenced by Dutch vernacular, and the large script also points to the Netherlands. The miniatures are made for the main devotions and have blank versos. They are professionally painted with life-like, long-stretched figures, engaged in different ceremonies, and often showing part of a landscape in the background (sometimes through a window, demonstrating early signs of perspective.
 

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