The Helmingham Breviary
Unknown Artist
- Art Funded
- 1993
- Dimensions
- 43.5 x 31 x 10 cm
- Vendor
- Sotheby's
The breviary consists of 205 leaves and its Latin text contains the material necessary for reciting the eight services that make up the daily office arranged according to liturgical year.
This is followed by a psalter and a sanctorale. The page illustrated heads the psalms and portrays the figure of King David, who is traditionally believed to have composed them, seated and playing the harp.
Provenance
Priory of St Leonrad, Norwich until circa 1545; Tollemache family, Helmingham Hall, Suffolk; Sotheby's, 1955; Alan Thomas; Sotheby's, 1993.