Book of Hours, Annunciation to the Shepherds, Walters Manuscript W.95, fol. 28r

This Book of Hours was completed in 1320-30 in the region of Ghent. The presence of the Hours of the Cross attributed to Pope John (XXII, 1316-1334) is piece of evidence for dating the manuscript. The text is written in three languages, with the main text in Latin, Flemish prayers on fols. 123r-125v, and 131r-141r, and French rubrics throughout. Made for a woman portrayed kneeling before the cross on fol. 116v, this manuscript is decorated with twenty-four extant historiated initials and drolleries for each canonical hour. Gold initials mark minor divisions of the text; for the Hours of the Cross some of the initials are written as nomina sacra or inhabited by animals. Rubrics in red; text in brown ink. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.