Leaf from a Book of Hours: Annunciation to the Shepherds (recto)

Download2491 × 3400 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Boethius Illuminator (Flemish, ?–1420)
Medium: Ink, tempera and gold on vellum
Size: Leaf: 17 x 12.1 cm (6 11/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Culture: France, Paris (?), 15th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This finely preserved leaf with its large miniature is stylistically consistent with the work of the Boethius Illuminator. An unusual and very original painter, he was named after a manuscript copy of the works of the Roman philosopher Boethius (AD 480-524), which he illuminated in 1414. The artist favored bright, sweeping colors and expressionistic compositions. He used tessellated (mosaic-patterned) grounds in his miniatures, as is the case here. The Boethius Illuminator and his assistants participated in the illustration of over a dozen manuscripts between 1414 and 1418/20. It was not unusual for artists working in different styles to collaborate on a single book of hours during the 1400s and 1500s.