id:			171425
accession number:	2014.23.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2014.23.b
updated:		2023-03-22 03:05:01.908000

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso), c. 1430. Northeastern France, 15th century. Ink, tempera and gold on vellum; leaf: 17 x 12.5 cm (6 11/16 x 4 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2014.23.b

title:				Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1430
creation date earliest:		1425
creation date latest:		1435
current location:		
creditline:			The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection
copyright:			

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culture:	Northeastern France, 15th century
technique:	ink, tempera and gold on vellum
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Manuscript Illuminations
type:		Manuscript
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Leaf: 17 x 12.5 cm (6 11/16 x 4 15/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Medieval Top Seller: The Book of Hours (Gallery 115 rotation)
	opening date:   2022-08-26T04:00:00
	<i>The Medieval Top Seller: The Book of Hours (Gallery 115 rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-July 30, 2023).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	[Bruce Ferrini, Akron]
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Representing God's entry into the world, the Nativity remains one of medieval painting's most poignant Christian images. In the Gospels, only Matthew and Luke directly described this event. Perhaps the brevity and absence of detail in these texts allowed artists to devote so much creativity to amplifying the Christmas story. This miniature's simplicity makes it compelling. Only the three principals—Mary, Joseph, and the newly born Christ child—appear in the scene. The Virgin kneels before an elegant canopied bed made sumptuous by a richly embroidered textile, which stands in contrast to the nearby rustic fence and receding landscape. This scene probably follows the mystical visions of Saint Bridget of Sweden who visited Bethlehem in 1370, and whose written accounts circulated widely after her canonization in 1391: "When her time came she took off her shoes and her white cloak and undid her veil. . . . Then she made ready the swaddling clothes which she put down beside her. When all was ready she bent her knees and began to pray. While she was thus praying with hands raised the child was suddenly born, surrounded by a light so bright that it completely eclipsed Joseph's feeble candle."
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 43, cat. no. 39; Recto Reproduced
	url:		https://archive.org/details/BlackburnIlluminations/page/n55

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2014.23.b/2014.23.b_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2014.23.b/2014.23.b_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2014.23.b/2014.23.b_full.tif