Illuminated Manuscript: Leaf with Miniature Depicting Job
"Because He hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from sliding."
Striking vellum leaf with large, colorful miniature of the classic scene of Job on the dunghill.
On recto:
Two-part miniature featuring Job. In the center of the top image is Job, wearing only a loincloth, on a dunghill, with three men dressed in lavish robes on his left. In the background is a castle surrounded by greenery; in the distance, there are buildings on a hill, painted in shades of blue. The bottom image features the Devil pursuing Job. Golden ornate pillars border the two scenes. Top image measures 95 x 60 mm (approx. 3.7 x 2.4 inches); bottom image measures 20 x 60 mm (approx. 0.8 x 2.4 inches). Miniature (including border) measures 135 x 95 mm (approx. 5.3 x 2.4 inches) in its entirety.
One illuminated three-line foliate initial (the letter “D”) in burnished gold, blue, and green. The text is from Psalm 114.
On verso:
22 lines of text written in Latin gothic script with brown ink on vellum. 9 single-line illuminated initials in burnished gold and red/blue. Colorful border along left margin with pink and blue flowers against a burnished gold background, alternating with blue and gold acanthus leaves. The text is from Psalm 114 (continued from recto).
Paris: c. 1510. Size: 160 x 105 mm (approx. 6.3 x 4.1 inches). Small abrasions to the sky and bottom image of Job in the miniature. A bright, clean leaf.
The text in Latin:
Recto:
Dilexi, quoniam exaudiet Dominus …
Verso:
Vocem orationis meae. Quia inclinavit aurem suam mihi: et in diebus meis invocabo. Circumdederunt me dolores mortis: pericula inferni invenerunt me. Tribulationem, et dolorem inveni: et nomen Domini invocavi. O Domine, libera animam meam, misericors Dominus, et iustus: et Deus noster miseretur. Custodiens parvulos Dominus: humiliatus sum, et liberavit me. Convertere anima mea in requiem tuam: quia Dominus benefecit tibi. Quia eripuit animam meam de morte: oculos meos a lacrymis, pedes meos a lapsu. Placebo Domino: in regione vivorum.
English translation:
Recto:
I have loved, because our Lord …
Verso:
… our Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. Because He hath inclined His ear to me: and in my days I will call upon Him. The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the pains of hell have found me. I have found tribulation, and sorrow: and I called on the name of our Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul, merciful Lord, and just: and our God hath mercy. Our Lord keepeth little ones: I was humbled, and He hath delivered me. Turn O my soul into thy rest: because our Lord hath done good to thee. Because He hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from sliding. I will please our Lord in the country of the living.
Price: $3,900 .