Northern Italy

This sumptuous illustrated manuscript was made for the first Medici pope, Giovanni di Lorenzo de’Medici, who became Pope Leo X in 1513. It is lavishly painted with miniatures, illuminated initials, and decorative borders. The full-page image shows Christ carrying the cross, with his mother Mary behind him and St. Simeon helping. The illuminated initial P on the opposite page features Mary Magdalene praying at the foot of the cross.

A Book of Hours was a collection of prayers and devotional readings arranged according to the times of the day and the day of the year when they should be read.

Ink and gold on vellum; leather binding, about 1513-21
Museum Purchase, 1957.23