Leaf from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi (recto) and Text with Illustrated Border (verso) (3 of 3 Excised Leaves)

Architectural frames, as in this miniature, became popular with the reception of Renaissance motifs north of the Alps. Winged putti, urns, garlands, masks, and scallop shells surround the main scene. These elements could be assembled in different ways so no two margins were identical. The figures themselves are still Gothic in style, with stiff folds in their clothes’ drapery. Rouen in the late 1400s and early 1500s was an established and important center of book production. Richly decorated literary texts and books of hours, such as the one which held this leaf, were made for sale next to the cathedral.