England, London, c 1425 – c 1430. Trinity College, Cambridge, MS B.11.11, fols. 150v–151 (cat no 13). Image courtesy The Master and Fellows, Trinity College, Cambridge.
In this English missal the Sacrifice of Isaac appears in the initial at the Canon of the Mass, the prayer which commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. The Old Testament account of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son at God’s command and receiving a last-minute reprieve by an angel was seen as foreshadowing Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. The coat-of-arms of Anne Plantagenet (1382–1438), daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, features in the lush acanthus-leaf border. Historiated initials and decorated borders by two leading London artists introduce the main feasts. The manuscript was later owned by Anne’s son, Thomas Bouchier (1404–86), Archbishop of Canterbury.