Leaf with historiated initial F showing St Jerome and possibly St Ambrosius, from the Hastière Bible, Southern Netherlands, 14th century.
A duplicate number MS.213 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.

Recto: historiated initial F depicting St Jerome and probably St Ambrosius. Jerome is writing on a scroll, Ambrosius holds an open book. The dove of the Holy Spirit descends between them.
In the borders: dog and stag, animals including a lion holding bellows, a bird, a cat, a squirrel, dragons, angel playing bells.
Rubric: Incipit prologus sancti Iheronimi presbiteri ad Paulinum de omnibus divine hystorie libris. Frater Ambrosius mihi tua…
2 columns, 40 lines
Mounted onto card; verso not visible.

This initial introduces Jerome's prologue to the Vulgate, his translation of the Bible and this leaf once was the first page of the Bible.

Probably commissioned by the couple depicted in the Crucifixion scene (Museum no. 279:1) identified by the scrolls they hold as Johans de Hastières and Magrite de Matetio (?) Voisia. The cleric depicted kneeling before Christ (?) (Museum no. 246:10), called 'Egidius de Romereet' would also have been involved in the commissioning of the Bible, which was in multiple volumes. May have been made in the region of Hastière, south of Namur.
Purchased from J. and S. Goldschmidt as part of three portfolios (now Museum nos 234-296) designated as a 'Illuminations: a collection of 338 specimens, pages and cuttings' for the total sum of £100.0.0, received on 15 October 1872; passed on for Register in April 1874 (see Register of Drawings).
Cuttings from the same manuscript in the V&A collection: 246:7, 246:8, 246:9, 246:10, 260:1, 260:2, 260:3, 260:4, 260:5, 260:6, 260:7, 279:1, 279:2.

Cuttings from the same manuscript in other collections: Philadelphia, Free Library; Nuremberg, Nationalmuseum; Paris, Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts; Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung; Zeileis collection and on the market. For full details, see Peter Kidd, 'Leaves and Cuttings from the Hastière Bible', in Medieval Manuscripts Provenance blog, 2016.

260:1