Manuscript Leaf, from a Book of Hours

Manuscript Leaf, from a Book of Hours

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Books of hours could be customized and made in relatively simple formats as well as luxury editions. This single leaf is a typical example of a page from a somewhat modest book of hours. Although it has a brightly colored border and touches of gilding, it is not lavishly painted. Instead of a stately formal script, the hand here is a semi-cursive minuscule variant of a more informal, "bastardized" (or bâtarde) script. The frequent use of abbreviations seems to imply that the reader was quite familiar with the prayers. This page comes from the Hours of the Holy Spirit.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf, from a Book of HoursManuscript Leaf, from a Book of Hours

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.