The Folios - f.170r
The Office of the Dead (Matins) -historiated initial and bas-de-page
The opening of the hour of Matins is marked by a historiated initial and a scene in the lower margin (or bas-de-page). The subjects chosen for Matins of the Office of the Dead are firstly, in the lower margin, a funeral procession probably from the church to the graveyard and secondly, in the initial, the burial service over the grave. 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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