The Folios - f.162r
The Office of the Dead (Vespers) - historiated initial.
The opening of the office is marked by a historiated initial. The subject chosen for the initial to Vespers of the Office of the Dead is that of a service (probably 'Vigils of the Dead', that is the Office of the Dead) being said, probably in a church, in the presence of a body and of mourning laymen and laywomen. 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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