Illuminated Page from a French Book of Hours c. 1505 - 1510
thielmankerver1
aged paper
toned paper
water colours
personal sketchbook
coloured pencil
coffee painting
france
watercolour bleed
watercolour illustration
sketchbook art
watercolor
This illuminated page from a French Book of Hours, created by Thielman Kerver around 1505-1510, showcases the intricate artistry of the early 16th century. The page features a detailed border filled with delicate floral motifs and playful figures, framing a central scene of a man reading from a book. The book is likely a religious text, as indicated by the Latin script and the presence of a figure of the Virgin Mary in a smaller panel. This miniature demonstrates the craftsmanship and artistic style prevalent in the production of illuminated manuscripts during the Renaissance.
Comments
Thielman Kerver was a highly successful Parisian publisher, whose business continued for generations within his family. In the early 16th century, he published several Books of Hours that conceptually followed the segmented border format used in the manuscript shown nearby. For him, the advantage lay in making small metal printing plates that could be recombined and reused. The plates were attached to wooden blocks to make them the same height as the type for the text. The pictorial metalcuts are so densely overpainted that it is hard to see that the images are printed. Kerver inked his types in both red and black in emulation of manuscript text. The main type font, however, is very different from French manuscripts of a few years earlier and signals a shift in orientation from medieval monasticism to renaissance humanism. The text is meant for the knowledgeable, for many of the words are severely abbreviated.
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