Bifolio from Book of Hours

This Book of Hours was transcribed by Pietro Ursuleo of Capua (d.1484). The script used is humanist minuscule, a secular style of writing that was invented in Italy at the beginning of the fifteenth century. It was designed to restore legibility and elegance to manuscripts.

The manuscript’s illuminator was Joachinus de Gigantibus de Rotenberg, a German miniaturist who worked in Italy during the second half of the fifteenth century. His style was defined by his subtle choice of colors and border decorations using plant motifs and intertwined white vine-stems (bianchi girari), a motif developed by Italian humanists in Florence. The borders of the page shown here also include angels with trumpets, birds, and animals. The historiated, gold gilt initial “D” surrounds an image of the Virgin and Child.

From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, books of hours became very popular for use in private devotions. Its central text, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin (or Hours of the Virgin), is a shorter version the Divine Office. The prayer on the vine-bordered page is recited at Matins (after midnight):

Officium Beatae Mariae
Ad Matutinum
Domine labia mea aperies
Et os meum annunciabit laudem tuam
Deus in adiutorim meum intende
Domine ad adiuvandum me festina

The Office of Our Blessed Lady
At Matins
Thou O Lord wilt open my lips
And my mouth shall declare thy praise
Incline unto my aid O God
O Lord make haste to help me