The Folios - f.54r
The Hours of the Virgin (Lauds) - historiated initial
The beginning of the office for the hour of Lauds is marked by a historiated initial. The scene in the initial is the Annunciation to Mary and is based on the account in Luke 1.26-38. The Angel Gabriel's scroll is inscribed with the words 'AVE:MARIA:GR(AT)IA' ('Hail Mary [full of] grace'). The artist belongs to the 'Cholet Group' of Parisian illuminators. The very fine scrolls painted in gold paint on the burnished gold background are a feature found in only a small number of luxurious manuscripts of the late 13th century such as the Alphonso Psalter in the British Library and the Breviary of Philippe le Bel in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
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