ABSTRACT
The practice of lectio divina or the prayerful reading of the Scriptures and spiritual classics was an integral part of monastic life and both the texts and accompanying illumination in Michelino’s prayer-book preserve and foster this tradition. Yet a knowledge of the content of Latin prayers and of the devotional tradition from which they stem is important to appreciate the evocative and expressive qualities of the accompanying illumination. Each of the prayers begins on the recto of the folio and is introduced by a full-page miniature on the facing verso. The prayers in honour of Saints Peter, Paul and Monica contain more fragmentary excerpts. The prayer for The Washing of the Feet imaginatively absorbs the reader into the solemn rite traditionally enacted within the celebration of the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday.
