3-042-445 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Decorated Text Page; Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, about 1525-1530. Additional Info: A text discussing the Five Wounds of Christ faces a picture of those wounds being venerated. Some scholars consider the monogram in gold on a red field to the lower right to be the Initial of the artist, Simon Bening, appropriately found on the last illuminated page. In the upper right, an elaborate golden pedestal supports a statue of the Virgin and Child. By alluding to the beginning of Christ's life, this subject complements the facing scene, which makes reference to the end of his life. In this way, the final opening encompasses the entire life of Christ, which is the subject matter of the book.