The Pabenham-Clifford Hours

Hours of the Trinity

Texts and Images

A frontispiece showing the Throne of Mercy Trinity with the patrons kneeling in supplication introduces this section.

The first of the 8 Hours opens with a large historiated initial D showing Christ enthroned blessing and holding an orb. Joan Clifford is depicted in the margin, alongside heraldic shields, birds and animals.

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1
Detail of the light blue cloak of Christ under magnification (60x). Its FORS spectrum (below) shows the characteristic absorption bands of azurite at 1495, 2211, 2282 and 2351 nm, and of lead white at 1446 nm.
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2
Detail of Joan Clifford’s robe under magnification (7.5x).
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3
Detail of the wounded deer under magnification (20x), showing the shiny, metallic appearance of mosaic gold.
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4
Detail of the bird under magnification (20x). The craquelure pattern visible in the brown area suggests the use of an organic colourant.

Historiated initial D with Christ enthroned and Joan Clifford kneeling in prayer (Hours of the Trinity)

The burnished gold background is patterned with rosettes formed of clusters of small punched dots. The folds of Christ’s light blue cloak are subtly shaded to create the illusion of three dimensions (hotspot 1), unlike the dark blue and orange draperies which are painted in a uniform hue, creating a ‘flat’ effect.

The patron Joan Clifford, kneeling near Christ, wears a ceremonial dress emblazoned with her heraldic arms (hotspot 2). The arms are also represented in the border. Silver is present in the arms and in her robe, where it has tarnished, showing a darkened appearance and frequent losses.

The light brown hues of the animals and figures in the margins were obtained with mosaic gold, as is the case of the wounded deer (hotspot 3), and with an organic brown, in the case of the bird perched on a vine (hotspot 4).

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