AN ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF WITH A RICHLY DETAILED MINIATURE OF THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE FROM A BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN.

TEXT FROM THE OPENING OF NONE.

      Paris, ca. 1460 - The Virgin in Need of Purification MeetsDoubting Simeon in the Temple Courtyard Single column three lines of text on verso nine lines on recto in a fine regular gothic book hand. Attractively matted. Rubrics in red recto with two one-line initials as well as three line fillers all in colors and burnished gold the same side with a swirling quarter panel border featuring flowers acanthus leaves and many burnished gold ivy leaves on hairline stems the verso with a large three-line initial in blue and white with enclosed scrolling flowered stems the whole on a burnished gold ground; the verso WITH A FULL INHABITED BORDER featuring much acanthus and other vegetation and fruit as well as two lively doves the border FRAMING A RICHLY DETAILED ARCH-TOPPED ILLUMINATED MINIATURE OF THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE (measuring approximately 65 x 44 mm.) the scene showing the Virgin in pink and blue accompanied by a pink-gowned attendant a doll-sized Christ seated in the palm of the hand of St. Simeon the Righteous. Top margin very narrow (but nothing cut into) the faces and robes of the two women with a bit of paint erosion (very minor loss also in the two men's necks) otherwise very fine with the vellum fresh bright and clean. Although this miniature begins a text that is usually accompanied by a painting of the Presentation in the Temple our particularly iconographic rendering of this scene shifts its emphasis toward the mother rather than the son. The painting actually recounts a moment in the celebration of the Purification of the Virgin since Mary has come to the temple to be purified in accordance with the Jewish law that prescribes a ceremony to be submitted to by all mothers 40 days after giving birth. Unlike many depictions of the Presentation in the Temple then our miniature does not show a priest receiving the infant Jesus at an altar indoors but rather shows St. Simeon intercepting the Virgin in the courtyard outside. According to tradition Simeon one of the 72 translators of the Septuagint had puzzled over Isaiah 7:14 (Behold a virgin shall conceive) wondering how this could happen and even considering that his text could have been copied wrong. As he pondered an angel appeared to tell him that the prophecy was correct and that he would not die until he himself had seen its fulfillment in the form of the Virgin Mary and her child Jesus. And so it came to pass that he was at the Temple when the Blessed Mother brought her son 40 days after his birth. (Simeon is depicted in our scene as elderly but he is nevertheless very well preserved for a person who historically would have had to be well over 200 years of age at the time of this meeting.) The woman behind the Virgin carries a basket of turtle doves a frequent feature of the Presentation scene but this female is not normally seen as here with a nimbus. It is possible that she could be St. Anna the prophetess whom Luke describes as (also) coming in that instant to the temple. (However Anna was of a great age while our figure seems still rather young.) The scene is well designed with Simeon and an attendant acolyte on the left nicely balancing the pair of women on the right the Christ Child being in the middle. The elaborateness of the architectural backdrop here attests to the skill and patience of the artist and the bright green lawn colored roofs and abundant use of gold lend a pleasing context to the scene. The rich background detail includes a slender fountain (symbolizing the waters of life) in the center a massive gateway with mosaic roof behind our principals and a cloister wall above which rise the peaks of two houses roofed in red and blue as well as two large tufted trees. A poignant note is introduced by the mournful expression on the face of the Virgin something that can easily be interpreted as reflecting her contemplation of the painful future prophesied for her son.