"MAKE HASTE, O GOD, TO DELIVER ME": EXCEPTIONAL ILLUMINATED LEAF FROM A LATE 15TH-CENTURY FRENCH BOOK OF HOURS, FEATURING A BEAUTIFUL HAND-COLORED IMAGE OF THE VISITATION

(ILLUMINATED LEAF). Illuminated Leaf from a Book of Hours. Likely Rouen, France, late 15th century. Single vellum leaf (4-1/4 by 6 inches), illuminated in gold, black, white, gray, red, pink, green, blue, and brown inks; matted and window framed, measures 13-1/2 by 11 inches. $8800.

Lovely illuminated miniature from a French Book of Hours, a beautiful hand-colored image depicting the Visitation, with four lines of Latin text from the Hours of the Virgin in Gothic script, a three-line initial, a one-line initial, and two line extenders beneath the image, beautifully bordered with flowers and acanthus leaves.

This beautiful illuminated miniature is from a Book of Hours from late 15th-century Rouen France. The Latin Gothic text is from the Hours of the Virgin and includes the first verse of Psalm 69. The miniature depicts the Visitation. The meeting between the Virgin and her older cousin, Elizabeth, is depicted tenderly. The Virgin Mary is shown in her traditional blue robed, her belly swollen. Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist, is shown reaching out to Mary and placing her hand over Mary hand, which is hovering over her stomach to draw the eye toward the unborn Jesus. Saint Elizabeth is here depicted in a vibrant gilt gown, with orange and green underlayers. Also present are two pale angel attendants, further reinforcing the idea of Mary as Mother of God. The scenery is fully realized, with trees and greenery in the foreground, a castle in the mid-ground, and a citadel-topped blue hill in the distance. All aspects of the illustration point to a top atelier, from the fine composition to the intense use of gold. The scene is framed by pillars and a gold arch. The border is rendered against a partially gilt ground and features flowers and acanthus leaves. The recto has four lines of Gothic text in script as well as a large three-line "D" in white filigree with enclosed blue flowers and leaves, all against a burnished gold ground. There is also a single-line "D" initial in gilt enclosing gray filigree on a red ground. The verso features 19 lines of similar script, one-two line initial executed very elaborately in a similar style to the one on the recto, six one-line initials, and six line-extenders.

Only slightest soiling to margins. Fine condition.