waiting for the master

found on pinterest, believed PD. on p f.50v-51r

This quiet and domestic vignette is found in the Book of Hours of Joanna of Castile (Libro d'Ore di Giovanna di Castiglia, 1486-1506 - here is the link to the digitised book at the British Library).  Also known as the "Hours of Joanna the Mad," the book contains a calendar, devotional texts, and prayers.  There are holy scenes from the life of Christ, but there are also pages and pages of open margins with scattered flowers, birds, and charming animals both everyday and fanciful.  It's a serene thing to behold, which makes it all the more poignant to me that Joanna's life was complicated and subject to politically motivated cruelties.