Germany, late sixteenth or early seventeenth century

This manuscript is illustrated throughout with lovely biblical scenes drawn in a pastoral style. The manuscript itself appears to have been intended for use by a priest--prayers for the sacraments (e.g., Extreme Unction), and for before and after Mass, are interspersed among the otherwise standard contents. Two notable inclusions are a prayer "to the seven altars" and several votive prayers in German. The pages shown here illustrate the Hours of the Cross: on the left, the Crucifixion, and the Entombment on the right.

Parchment, 172 folios, 80 x 57 (67 x 50) mm, 1 column, 20 - 25 lines, in Latin and German, written in Humanistic cursive.