"[Illuminated Leaf]", Hardouin, Gilles

This leaf is from the brief transitional period when the new technology of printing with movable type was combined with the more labor intensive methods of hand painting. The earliest printers were trained in the manuscript tradition and incorporated the conventions of historiated initials and illustrations into their early work. At first they left those spaces blank for the illuminator to complete entirely by hand. Later they developed printing methods (using woodcuts or iron engravings) to decorate the leaves.

A beautiful leaf printed on vellum from the famous Hardouin workshop. The leaf contains the calendar for the months of August and September. The borders at both sides are painted by hand in beautiful colors on a liquid gold background with acanthus leaves and flowers in blue, red, mauve and green. Under the calendar are poems in both Latin and French about the months.

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Condition: A+