# Manuscript Leaf from a Book of Hours (incip. Passionis)

**Unknown artist**  
1390  
pen and brown ink with gouache and gold leaf on vellum  
sheet: 13.6 x 10.2 cm (5 3/8 x 4 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009.87.1. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.144336.html).

## About this work

An unrecorded French artist painted this in 1390. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

This is a drawing of a decorated manuscript page. The image features an ornate design with illuminated letters and intricate floral borders. The text is in Latin, written in a Gothic script, with larger, stylized letters at the beginning of paragraphs. Floral motifs and vine patterns, painted in vibrant colors including gold, blue, and red, frame the text. Illustrations of a bird and a peacock are integrated into the decorative borders. A small heraldic shield appears just below the middle of the page, adding a heraldic element to the composition. The craftsmanship and artistry associated with illuminated manuscript traditions are showcased, inviting viewers to appreciate the detailed embellishments and the skillful blending of text and imagery.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Gold ground.** Gold leaf laid over a red clay and burnished to a mirror shine, often tooled with punches so it flickers in candlelight. Behind sacred figures it stands for heavenly light.
- **Pen and ink.** Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.

## Facts

- Type: Drawing
- Culture: French
- Real size: about 5½ × 4 in (14 × 10 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 14th century
- Subjects: plant, Flower, bird, Writing
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1673.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1673/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/manuscript-leaf-from-a-book-of-hours-incip-passionis-nga-144336).