Object Description
A finely decorated leaf from a Latin Bible of the Old and New Testament, carefully calligraphed and ornamented in Britain at the beginning of the 13th Century. The leaf is composed of two columns of 44 lines, ruled in dark ink. The text is a fine example of the popular Medieval and Renaissance gothic book-hand script, known as lettre bâtarde. The leaf is executed in red and blue tempera.
The verso features a beautifully rendered initial, S, painted in red and blue pigment. The initial forms graceful scrolls of foliage which twist into sprays within its body.
Period: Britain, circa early 13th century AD