Book of Hours were prayer books designed for the laity, but modeled on the Divine Office, a cycle of daily devotions, prayers and readings, performed by members of religious orders and the clergy. Its central text is the Hours of the Virgin. There are eight hours (times for prayer ): Matins, Lauds. Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. During the Middle Ages, the leaves making up a Book of Hours were written by hand on expensive parchment and beautifully illuminated with jewel-like pigments and gold leaf. These illuminated manuscripts combined the collaborative efforts of an array of highly skilled craftspeople; requiring the joint labors of the parchmenter, professional scribes to write the text in Gothic script, artists to illuminate the pages with decorations, and masterful binders to complete the process.

This is a lovely vellum leaf from a Book of Hours created in Flanders. The recto features a large initial and a frame-style border filled with leaves, flowers and fruit. There are two small initials illuminated in red, blue, and burnished gold on the verso. Beginning with the large "S" on recto, the text translates as:

Hail, holy face of our Redeemer.
In which shines the divine splendor.
Imprinted with a cloth of snowy whiteness.
And given to Veronica as a sign of love.
Hail, glory of the world, mirror of the saints.
Which the spirits of heaven desire to see.
Cleanse us from every stain of vice.
And unite us to the fellowship of the blessed.

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Condition: B

Moderate toning and soiling.