The Sherborne Missal - Pages 17 and 18
Copyright © The British Library Board
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Pages 356 and 367
The right-hand page is part of the 'Ordinary of the Mass', the central canon of the mass which is recited every time the Eucharist is celebrated. This section is famous for its realistically depicted English birds, which seem to be singing in celebration alongside the chant. The birds represent a range of species found chiefly in north-east England and were probably copied from an artist's sketchbook. The bishops of Sherborne appear in a series of miniatures and events in the development of Christianity are described in roundels in the lower margins.
The left-hand page has an illustration of the feeding of the five thousand, showing the biblical characters in stylised clothes, rather than 15th-century dress.
Birdsong: the song of the chaffinch, which can be seen in the bottom right-hand corner of page 18, can be heard here.