Historiated Initial ‘A’ from a Bible showing a Nun at Diepenveen Convent
Unknown Artist
Historiated Initial ‘A’ from a Bible showing a Nun at Diepenveen Convent
Deventer, Netherlands, about 1450-53
Ink, pigments and gold on parchment, 308 x 210 mm
Victoria and Albert Museum (No. MSL/1902/1663 (Reid 23)) [parent bible]
This leaf comes from a fifteenth-century Netherlandish manuscript illuminated by a Nun at the Diepenveen Convent. A scribe is shown sat within an illuminated initial, engrossed in the physical act of writing. Above the decorated initial are traces of red and white thread alongside small, uniform holes that indicate these areas were formerly covered by small curtains now lost.
On this leaf (Image 4) from a bible, the series of sewing holes for a protective cover over the illuminated initial, which was typical of medieval practice, gives us an insight into how previous owners devoted their time to protect such images.
The parent bible, which survives in only a fragmentary state, is rare as we know where and by whom it was likely to have been made. A nun from the convent of Diepenveen near Deventer in the fifteenth century left two inscriptions in the volume to document her authorship. The nun practised a new style of physical worship called the Devotio Moderna (‘Modern Devotion’), which invited laypeople to focus more on personal devotion through prayer, reading and meditating on the Holy Scriptures.