2-731-781 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 31r, c. 1500. A great lover of Flemish art, Queen Isabella treasured her many devotional books. This deluxe manuscript was created for her private devotions by highly organized and distinctly talented manuscript painters active in Ghent and Bruges. The Ghent-Bruges school represents the culmination of Flemish book painting, whose main features were the use of rich colours, illusionistic effects, a love of landscape, and a strong sense of visual narrative. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for their border decoration featuring a rich variety of realistically painted flowers, scrolling acanthus leaves, birds, and butterflies.