Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto)

c. 1524

Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto), c. 1524. North Germany, Hildesheim (?), 16th century. Ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum; each leaf: 16.6 x 13.5 cm (6 9/16 x 5 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2006.15.a This leaf and the one nearby were excised from the same prayer book that contained ornamental borders on nearly every page. They represent the intricate decoration found throughout the parent volume, its leaves now dispersed. Virtually every border, recto and verso, or front and back, was decorated with liquid gold and highlighted with a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and animals; here a bird eats grapes while seated below is a satyr, or half goat and half man.