Book of Hours, Walters Manuscript W.246, fol. 77r

Initial with floral border This Book of Hours was made in Bruges in the middle of the fifteenth century. The place of origin is suggested by the saints in the Calendar, including names of note for that area, such as Amandus and Vedast. The manuscript is highly illuminated, containing a full-page miniature at the beginning of each of the Hours. Style and compositions are comparable with Flemish manuscripts known as the "Golden Scrolls" group; some books of this group are preserved at the University of Chicago (ms 344), and the Bibliothèque Royale of Brussels (ms 9798). The manuscript is interesting for its unusual iconography. The Annunciation with God the Father decorates the Hours of the Virgin; other unusual images are painted throughout the manuscript, for example the "Last Judgment" displays Christ as Judge flanked by John and the Virgin showing her breast. Gold initials mark the minor divisions of the text; rubrics in red, text in black ink.