Great example of banderoles, the dialogue-covered scrolls that I consider the antecedent of speech balloons in comics. Well, if not antecedent, at least a distant relative.
Annunciation to Mary, The
This scene of the Annunciation from the Beaufort Hours (probably belonging to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII) is a revealing example of the crisp, flat and colourful style that was standard in commercial workshops in London in the mid 15th century. The figure drawing is competent and the colouring bright, but note how the Virgin gazes down to meet the upward look of the patroness of the book, depicted in the initial below, rather than at the angel of the Annunciation. The patroness is probably Margaret Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset, mother of Margaret Beaufort.
