Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[South Eastern France c. 1460]
214 x 150 mm., 146 leaves, COMPLETE, collation: 112, 2-108, 112, 12-168, 176, 184+1 [inserted leaf after 18/2], 198+1, ruled in red, justification 100 x 72 mm., written in brown ink in a gothic textura, rubrics in red, versals, two- and three-line initials in gold on red and blue ground with white tracery, similar line-fillers, 14 large miniatures in arched compartments, with full border of painted flowers and acanthus leaves, gold ivy leaves and bezants on scrolled hairline stems. Contemporary French calf over wooden boards, panels tooled in blind, circular rose stamps within borders of repeated floral and hunting tools (slightly rubbed, rebacked) edges gilt. WITH WIDE MARGINS.
PROVENANCE: The calendar is composite with saints for every day of the year and difficult to localize. It contains Agapit (18 August, also in the Litany), Ferreolus (5 September) and Claude, Bishop of Besançon (6 June), all of them pointing to Besançon. Made for a woman named Agatha whose portrait appears in the final miniature on f.145.
TEXT: Calendar (f.1-12); Gospel Sequences (f.13); Obsecro te (f.17v); Hours of the Virgin, Matins (f.21); Lauds (f.41v); Prime (f.54); Terce (f.59); Sext (f.64); None (f.68v); Vespers (f.73v); Compline (f.81v); Hours of the Cross (f.87); Hours of the Holy Ghost (f.90); Penitential Psalms (f.93); Office of the Dead (f.110); Prayer of Pope John xxii (in French, f.133); Suffrages and Memorials of the Saints (f.133v) SS. Barbara, Nicolas, David, Claude, Nicolas (Pope), John the Baptist, Peter, Lazarus, Sebastian, Michael, Mary Magdalen, Catherine, Priscianus; Commemoratio beate Agathe (f.145v, possibly added later).
DECORATION: This appears to be by an artist greatly influenced by the Master of the Saluces Hours, after the manuscript in the British Library (Add.27697) made around 1460 for the daughter of Manfroy de Saluces, Marshal of Savoy. The style, however, is simplified and provincial, and the figures are flat, mostly with round faces, and often set in rocky landscapes. The interiors have a green checkered ground. Some related manuscripts are described by John Plummer, The Last Flowering, nos. 73 and 75 (artist B).
THE SUBJECTS OF THE MINIATURES ARE:
folio 21. The Annunciation. The Virgin and the Angel in a gothic chamber with a green checkered floor
folio 41v. The Visitation. Mary and Elizabeth in a rocky landscape, mountains and a large house in the background
folio 54. The Nativity, in a shed with broken green roof
folio 59. Annunciation to the Shepherds, in a rocky landscape, a river and a town behind
folio 64. Adoration of the Magi
folio 68v. The Presentation
folio 73v. The Flight into Egypt
folio 81v. Coronation of the Virgin. She is kneeling before God in His Majesty, being crowned by an angel
folio 87. Crucifixion. Mary and John each side of the Cross
folio 90. Pentecost
folio 93. King David at Prayer, his harp at his side, a castle, a river and a house behind. Five Seraphim above
folio 110. A Funeral Service. The priest praying while the body is put into the grave
folio 136. St. Nicolas blessing three children in a tub
folio 145v. St. Agatha holding pincers. The first owner of the book, wearing a large black bonnet, kneeling before her. This may have been added slightly later.
[South Eastern France c. 1460]
214 x 150 mm., 146 leaves, COMPLETE, collation: 112, 2-108, 112, 12-168, 176, 184+1 [inserted leaf after 18/2], 198+1, ruled in red, justification 100 x 72 mm., written in brown ink in a gothic textura, rubrics in red, versals, two- and three-line initials in gold on red and blue ground with white tracery, similar line-fillers, 14 large miniatures in arched compartments, with full border of painted flowers and acanthus leaves, gold ivy leaves and bezants on scrolled hairline stems. Contemporary French calf over wooden boards, panels tooled in blind, circular rose stamps within borders of repeated floral and hunting tools (slightly rubbed, rebacked) edges gilt. WITH WIDE MARGINS.
PROVENANCE: The calendar is composite with saints for every day of the year and difficult to localize. It contains Agapit (18 August, also in the Litany), Ferreolus (5 September) and Claude, Bishop of Besançon (6 June), all of them pointing to Besançon. Made for a woman named Agatha whose portrait appears in the final miniature on f.145.
TEXT: Calendar (f.1-12); Gospel Sequences (f.13); Obsecro te (f.17v); Hours of the Virgin, Matins (f.21); Lauds (f.41v); Prime (f.54); Terce (f.59); Sext (f.64); None (f.68v); Vespers (f.73v); Compline (f.81v); Hours of the Cross (f.87); Hours of the Holy Ghost (f.90); Penitential Psalms (f.93); Office of the Dead (f.110); Prayer of Pope John xxii (in French, f.133); Suffrages and Memorials of the Saints (f.133v) SS. Barbara, Nicolas, David, Claude, Nicolas (Pope), John the Baptist, Peter, Lazarus, Sebastian, Michael, Mary Magdalen, Catherine, Priscianus; Commemoratio beate Agathe (f.145v, possibly added later).
DECORATION: This appears to be by an artist greatly influenced by the Master of the Saluces Hours, after the manuscript in the British Library (Add.27697) made around 1460 for the daughter of Manfroy de Saluces, Marshal of Savoy. The style, however, is simplified and provincial, and the figures are flat, mostly with round faces, and often set in rocky landscapes. The interiors have a green checkered ground. Some related manuscripts are described by John Plummer, The Last Flowering, nos. 73 and 75 (artist B).
THE SUBJECTS OF THE MINIATURES ARE:
folio 21. The Annunciation. The Virgin and the Angel in a gothic chamber with a green checkered floor
folio 41v. The Visitation. Mary and Elizabeth in a rocky landscape, mountains and a large house in the background
folio 54. The Nativity, in a shed with broken green roof
folio 59. Annunciation to the Shepherds, in a rocky landscape, a river and a town behind
folio 64. Adoration of the Magi
folio 68v. The Presentation
folio 73v. The Flight into Egypt
folio 81v. Coronation of the Virgin. She is kneeling before God in His Majesty, being crowned by an angel
folio 87. Crucifixion. Mary and John each side of the Cross
folio 90. Pentecost
folio 93. King David at Prayer, his harp at his side, a castle, a river and a house behind. Five Seraphim above
folio 110. A Funeral Service. The priest praying while the body is put into the grave
folio 136. St. Nicolas blessing three children in a tub
folio 145v. St. Agatha holding pincers. The first owner of the book, wearing a large black bonnet, kneeling before her. This may have been added slightly later.