The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Initial D: Massacre of the Innocents (1 of 2 Excised Leaves)

c. 1300–1330

This object has related works. See Leaf from a Book of Hours: Initial D: Flight into Egypt (2 of 2 Excised Leaves)

Northeastern France or Flanders

Ink, tempera and gold on vellum

Each leaf: 13 x 9.7 cm (5 1/8 x 3 13/16 in.)

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 1999.126

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This page was part of the prayers for compline or the night prayer said at the end of the day before retiring, usually around 7 p.m.

Description

Books of Hours were Christian devotional books with texts, prayers and psalms for Christian devotion which were written primarily for laymen. They were popular in circles of the rich, educated nobility. Just like this leaf, which was probably made in France at the beginning of the 14th century, the pages of the Books of Hours often show elaborate decoration to invite the reader to take a closer look. After the great plague, individual piety flourished and the Book of Hours also experienced its heyday, especially in France and Flanders.

Provenance
[Bruce Ferrini (1949-2010), Akron, OH, sold to Mrs. Jeanne Miles Blackburn]
?-1999
Ms. Jeanne Miles Blackburn (Durham, NC), gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1999-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 26, cat. no. 17 archive.org
Exhibition history

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000).

Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.126