Da Costa hours
Illuminated by Simon Bening (1483/84–1561)
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), 1910
The Virgin Mary with her hands clasped and Evangelist John, raising his left hand to his cheek, are both nimbed. They flank a tau cross with nail holes at both ends of the horizontal bar and at the lower end of the vertical bar. Each hole is stained with blood. The miniature is at the beginning of the Stabat Mater.
The miniature and text are framed by a border decorated with flowers, including a lily in a vase and a rose, and inhabited by a butterfly.
Image courtesy of Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz/Austria.