Illuminated Initials With Border Extensions, In A Volume Of Works By Ambrose, Jerome, And Others

The writing of this manuscript was apparently completed in 1458; at the start of the volume is an inscription recording that William Ebchester, Prior of Durham Cathedral, had it made. The decoration of this page uses typical 15th-century English decorative motifs in unusual ways. The initials are in gold and blue, and the penwork flourishing combines gold with purple, and blue with red. A number of the flourishes terminate with trefoils or spiky holly-leaf shapes.