Angels delivering Souls from Purgatory, historiated initial from a manuscript [Spain, 16th century]

cutting, c.175x215mm, vellum, initial 'L', reverse with part of very large script on four lines, each line c.43mm, including Psalm 121, 7-8 ('Fiat pax in vi[rtute tua et abu]ndantia in tur[ribus tuis. Propter fratres [meos et proxy]mos meos...'), cockled, considerable rubbing, gold flaking, framed

The idea of Purgatory, a place where the souls of moderate sinners would go for a period of purification before being allowed into heaven, was accepted as a doctrine of the Catholic Church in the 1200s. The torment in purgatory, often depicted as a cleansing fire has given way to a sea of blood in the present manuscript.