Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Fishing (verso)
Unknown Artist
c. 1500–1510
Medium
ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
Dimensions
18.1 × 12.9 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection
Accession Number
2006.13.b
About this artwork
This leaf shows the second half of Psalm 142. The page’s first line reads, “Non avertas faciem tuam a me,” or “Turn not away thy face from me.” This last page of the penitential psalms immediately precedes the litany of saints, which begins on the other side of this leaf. Below the text stands an ape fishing at a small pond across from a large bird, a scene possibly from a fable or simply meant to be amusing or diversionary.