Book of Hours of the family de la Porte, Annunciation to the Shepherds, Walters Manuscript W.433, fol. 87r

This sixteenth-century Book of Hours was created by one of the followers of the Master of the Prayer Books of Bruges for the usage of Rome in 1510. In 1577, it was acquired by Charles de la Porte, who commissioned its rebinding, and had the armorial shield of his family added to a decorated initial on fol. 136r. While the manuscript's illuminations are relatively spare in their renderings, they include a number of unusual details. The margins of the Crucifixion (fol. 17v-18r) and the beginning of the Devotional Sequence (fol. 140r) contain segmented borders divided by red and white tree trunks with peeling or "bleeding" bark, thus unifying the two sets of prayer. Also of note is the miniature depicting the Pentecost, where Mary is shown kneeling in prayer. Decorated initials are present throughout the manuscript. This manuscript appears to have been used infrequently by its original owner, with limited dirt and wear on most of the pages. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.