The Annunciation to the Virgin, historiated initial from a Choirbook, in Latin [southern Netherlands (Ghent or Bruges), dated 1471]

cutting, 86x95mm, vellum, initial ‘A’, reverse with remains of two lines of text and music on four-line red staves, rastrum 15mm, small pigment loss, cut to shape, framed

The scene is dated in tiny white script in the background at the top with '1471', followed by 'Ihesus' and 'Maria'. Dated and datable manuscripts have always been of great interest. Various countries participate in the publication of what is commonly called Catalogue des manuscrits datés, a series of volumes of dated and datable manuscripts that was initiated in France in 1959 (for a listing of catalogues arranged by countries, see D. Muzerelle, État des publications on the website of the Comité international de paléographie latine). This census proves most useful for palaeography as the majority of manuscripts that are dated or datable include only minor decoration. Precisely dated illumination, on the other hand, is very rare. The present illumination derives from the style of the so-called Masters of the Gold Scrolls who were active between about 1415 and 1455 probably in Bruges (see Miniatures flamandes 1404-1482, 2011, pp.140-7). Characteristic are oval faces with minimalist features and interiors with diapered floors. The elongated figures wrapped in heavy drapery here are typical of the later date of 1471.