Ms. noted breviary single leaf; written and illuminated in northern Italy, probably the Veneto, ca. 1420-1430.
Decoration: 1 historiated initial D, marginal vinescroll with birds and a human figure. The initial depicts a Benedictine monk at prayer before a monastery; a sparrow sits on the roof and an owl in a niche over the door, these birds providing an unusual literal illustration to verses 6-7 of Psalm 102: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone on the house top. Foliated CLXI at upper center of recto, and 161 in red paint at lower right margin.
Previously attributed to the Austrian Tyrol, see Harrsen, 1958, no. 53; now assigned to Northern Italy, probably the Veneto, see Getty Museum Journal, v. 15 (1987) p. 174, as reflecting the impact of Austrian illumination on an Italian artist.
Text begins on recto with the Hymn for Matins on Saturday; on the verso, the initial D begins Psalm 102.
Musical notation: 2 4-line staves in red ink on recto with square notation.
Other leaves from the same noted Breviary survive in the following collections: J.Paul Getty Museum: 5 leaves, MS 24.86.ML.674; Free library of Philadelphia, John Frederick Lewis Collection: 3 leaves, M64.8-10; another leaf belonging to H.P. Kraus was illustrated in Fifty Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, cat. 88 (1958), no. 17, present whereabouts unknown.