The Pabenham-Clifford Hours

Office of the Dead

Texts and Images

Recited while mourning the deceased at home and during the church service before burial, the Office of the Dead was also a text for private devotion. It consists of the three liturgical Hours of Vespers, Matins, and Lauds. The first of the three, Vespers, almost certainly would have opened with a large historiated initial, but the leaf containing it is missing. Remaining text divisions are marked by ornamental initials.

Stylised foliate initial on gold ground, and line fillers featuring a dragon and geometric patterns in colours and gold

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