#presentationinthetemple

Book of Hours, f.68v, (184 x 133 mm), 15th century, Alexander Turnbull Library, MSR-02. This Book of Hours was copied in Eastern France between 1425 and 1475. The featured illustration is one of twelve large miniatures in gold frames, arched at the top and with three or four lines of text underneath. This leaf at the beginning of None for the Hours of the Virgin shows the Presentation in the Temple when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth. The full floral-acanthus border includes a peacock at the base and an urn of flowers. Immediately below the miniature is a 3-line initial in red and blue with white tracery on a gold ground. The last line of text is completed with a line filler. The Book of Hours was a medieval prayer book used by laymen for private devotion. These books were created for both men and women, but their place in female devotion is particularly noteworthy. The text centres on the Hours of the Virgin, a series of prayers to be said at the eight canonical hours of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. by National Library NZ on The Commons http://flic.kr/p/adjvtV