.jpg?w=1)
Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Bourges, c.1490]
225 x 150mm. 219 leaves: 112, 28, 36, 4-58, 67 (of 8, lacking vi), 7-88, 9-106, 11-148, 156(of 8, lacking ii and vi), 16-198, 204, 21-288, 294, 18 lines written in brown ink in a bâtarde script between 19 horizontals and 2 verticals ruled in pink, text justification: 226 x 150mm, rubrics in dark pink, one-line initials of liquid gold on grounds alternately of blue and brown with liquid gold fern-like decoration, similar two-line initials on brown grounds only, line-endings of the same colours, the staves of the two-line initials opening matins and lauds of the Office of the Virgin blue modelled with white, every page with a two-line initial having a panel border usually with shaped grounds of liquid gold with sprays of red, blue or pink flowers among fields of bare parchment with acanthus scrolls and occasional insects, birds or grotesques, TWENTY-THREE LARGE MINIATURES, all but one extending the full height of the page within an architectural or decorated gilt frame, the text-opening as though on a scroll placed in front of the frame and the scene, frequently with pairs of putti or angels in the area of the bas-de-page (first gathering loose, slight wear to most miniatures, lower half of the miniature of David and Bathsheba smudged). 18th-century French sheep, spine gilt (extremities rubbed, covers scuffed, spine split at foot).
PROVENANCE:
1. Ferrières de Presle. The arms of this family are painted in the borders of folios 27, 29v, 39v, and the manuscript was most likely painted for Jean I de Ferrières (d. 1497), much of whose career was spent in the service of successive dukes of Bourbon. After the death of Jean II de Bourbon, de Ferrières became counsellor and chamberlain to Pierre de Beaujeu. This association with the Bourbons would account for the belt with the motto 'SPERANCE DE BOURBON' in the border of f.38v. Jean de Ferrières was highly regarded by his contemporaries and was included in Jean Lemaire's Le Temple d'honneur et de vertu.
2. T.E. Mionnet: his ex-libris inside upper cover.
CONTENTS:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-19; Obsecro te and other prayers ff.19v-26; Office of the Virgin use of Rome ff.27-78: matins f.27, lauds f.42v, prime f.52v, terce f.56v, sext f.60v, none f.64, vespers f.68, compline f.74v; Hours of the Passion ff.78v-89v: matins f.78, prime f.80, terce f.81v, sext f.83, none f.84v, vespers f.86, compline f.87v; Abbreviated Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.89-93v; 7 Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.94-111v; Office of the Dead ff.112-149; Hymns and prayers to the Virgin opening with Gaude flore virginali honoreque speciali.. ff.152-155v; Prayer to Christ opening Deus propicius esto.., followed by Seven verses of St Bernard, Psalm 67 and the Athanasian Creed ff.156-164; Obsecro te.. ff.165-167v; Litany followed by prayers for the Pope, benefactors etc. ff.168-174; Prayers, Psalms and Suffrages including indulgenced prayers, O intemerata... and suffrages to Sts Christopher, Edmund, Denis, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist, James, Stephen, Lawrence, Maurice, Sebastian, Adrian, Cosmas & Damian, Cyricus & Julita, Hilary pont., Antony, Louis, Francis, Antony of Padua, Bernardino, Fiacre, Martin, Claude, Katherine, Radegunda, Geneviève, Barbara, Mary Magdalene, Margaret, Clara, Agnes, Agatha, Cecilia, followed by further psalms and prayers to Sts Claud, Peter, the Holy Cross, St Michael and finishing with the prayers of St Gregory beginning 'Adoro te domine Ihesu Christe in cruce pendentem...' ff.176-217; recipes for various cures, including an ointment to treat worms, added in a 16th-century hand ff. 218-219.
ILLUMINATION:
The style of illumination in this richly and extensively decorated Book of Hours combines various qualities from the leading illuminators in Bourges in the final decades of the 15th century. The miniatures have the restrained tonality and extensive use of gold highlighting that is characteristic of the work of Jean Colombe while the compositions and figure style show a close contact with Jean de Montluçon. The three-tier arrangement of the page with the bas-de-page element, text and miniature unified within an architectural framework recalls the Moneypenny Breviary; the presence of putti supporting the owner's coat of arms can be matched in Jean de Montluçon's miniatures in the Chappes Hours in the Bibliothèque d'Arsenal: F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520 (Paris, 1994), pp.338-341.
The subjects and settings of the miniatures are as follows:
f.13 St John on Patmos, within a patterned gold frame and the setting extending below the text with a goose and goslings swimming
f.14v St Luke, within an architectural frame and the setting extending below the text with two putti supporting it
f.16 St Matthew, within an architectural frame and two putti supporting the text
f.18 St Mark, within a gold frame and with putti supporting the text
f.19v Pietà, within a gold frame and with putti supporting the text
f.27 Annunciation, within an architectural frame with the setting extending below the text, two putti holding a coat of arms and supporting the text
f.42v Visitation, an arch-topped miniature with a border of divided fields of gold with naturalistic flowers and creatures, acanthus sprays of blue and gold against bare parchment, and red-brown with scrolling gold foliage
f.52v Nativity, within an architectural frame with the setting extending below the text with two putti supporting the text
f.56v Annunciation to the shepherds, within a jewelled gold frame, the setting below the text containing shepherds and a shepherdess dancing to bagpipes
f.60v Adoration of the Magi, within a gold frame with two putti supporting the text
f.64 Presentation in the Temple, within an architectural frame extending below the text, containing two putti holding a swag
f.68 Flight into Egypt, within a gold frame with the Massacre of the Innocents below the text
f.74v Coronation of the Virgin, within an architectural frame, two music-making angels below the text
f.78v Arrest of Christ, within an architectural frame
f.80 Christ before Pilate, within a gold frame, the Flagellation of Christ below the text
f.81v Way to Calvary, within a gold frame, the Mocking of Christ below the text
f.83 Nailing to the Cross, within a gold frame, soldiers dicing for Christ's robe below the text
f.84v Crucifixion, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text
f.86 Descent from the Cross, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text with two putti
f.87v Entombment, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text, two putti supporting the text
f.89 Pentecost, within an architectural frame, two putti below the text and supporting it
f.94 David and Bathsheba, within a gold frame, David protecting his sheep from a lion below the text
f.112 Job on the dunghill, within a gold frame, a rotting corpse with its head on a skull lying below the text
[Bourges, c.1490]
225 x 150mm. 219 leaves: 112, 28, 36, 4-58, 67 (of 8, lacking vi), 7-88, 9-106, 11-148, 156(of 8, lacking ii and vi), 16-198, 204, 21-288, 294, 18 lines written in brown ink in a bâtarde script between 19 horizontals and 2 verticals ruled in pink, text justification: 226 x 150mm, rubrics in dark pink, one-line initials of liquid gold on grounds alternately of blue and brown with liquid gold fern-like decoration, similar two-line initials on brown grounds only, line-endings of the same colours, the staves of the two-line initials opening matins and lauds of the Office of the Virgin blue modelled with white, every page with a two-line initial having a panel border usually with shaped grounds of liquid gold with sprays of red, blue or pink flowers among fields of bare parchment with acanthus scrolls and occasional insects, birds or grotesques, TWENTY-THREE LARGE MINIATURES, all but one extending the full height of the page within an architectural or decorated gilt frame, the text-opening as though on a scroll placed in front of the frame and the scene, frequently with pairs of putti or angels in the area of the bas-de-page (first gathering loose, slight wear to most miniatures, lower half of the miniature of David and Bathsheba smudged). 18th-century French sheep, spine gilt (extremities rubbed, covers scuffed, spine split at foot).
PROVENANCE:
1. Ferrières de Presle. The arms of this family are painted in the borders of folios 27, 29v, 39v, and the manuscript was most likely painted for Jean I de Ferrières (d. 1497), much of whose career was spent in the service of successive dukes of Bourbon. After the death of Jean II de Bourbon, de Ferrières became counsellor and chamberlain to Pierre de Beaujeu. This association with the Bourbons would account for the belt with the motto 'SPERANCE DE BOURBON' in the border of f.38v. Jean de Ferrières was highly regarded by his contemporaries and was included in Jean Lemaire's Le Temple d'honneur et de vertu.
2. T.E. Mionnet: his ex-libris inside upper cover.
CONTENTS:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-19; Obsecro te and other prayers ff.19v-26; Office of the Virgin use of Rome ff.27-78: matins f.27, lauds f.42v, prime f.52v, terce f.56v, sext f.60v, none f.64, vespers f.68, compline f.74v; Hours of the Passion ff.78v-89v: matins f.78, prime f.80, terce f.81v, sext f.83, none f.84v, vespers f.86, compline f.87v; Abbreviated Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.89-93v; 7 Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.94-111v; Office of the Dead ff.112-149; Hymns and prayers to the Virgin opening with Gaude flore virginali honoreque speciali.. ff.152-155v; Prayer to Christ opening Deus propicius esto.., followed by Seven verses of St Bernard, Psalm 67 and the Athanasian Creed ff.156-164; Obsecro te.. ff.165-167v; Litany followed by prayers for the Pope, benefactors etc. ff.168-174; Prayers, Psalms and Suffrages including indulgenced prayers, O intemerata... and suffrages to Sts Christopher, Edmund, Denis, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist, James, Stephen, Lawrence, Maurice, Sebastian, Adrian, Cosmas & Damian, Cyricus & Julita, Hilary pont., Antony, Louis, Francis, Antony of Padua, Bernardino, Fiacre, Martin, Claude, Katherine, Radegunda, Geneviève, Barbara, Mary Magdalene, Margaret, Clara, Agnes, Agatha, Cecilia, followed by further psalms and prayers to Sts Claud, Peter, the Holy Cross, St Michael and finishing with the prayers of St Gregory beginning 'Adoro te domine Ihesu Christe in cruce pendentem...' ff.176-217; recipes for various cures, including an ointment to treat worms, added in a 16th-century hand ff. 218-219.
ILLUMINATION:
The style of illumination in this richly and extensively decorated Book of Hours combines various qualities from the leading illuminators in Bourges in the final decades of the 15th century. The miniatures have the restrained tonality and extensive use of gold highlighting that is characteristic of the work of Jean Colombe while the compositions and figure style show a close contact with Jean de Montluçon. The three-tier arrangement of the page with the bas-de-page element, text and miniature unified within an architectural framework recalls the Moneypenny Breviary; the presence of putti supporting the owner's coat of arms can be matched in Jean de Montluçon's miniatures in the Chappes Hours in the Bibliothèque d'Arsenal: F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520 (Paris, 1994), pp.338-341.
The subjects and settings of the miniatures are as follows:
f.13 St John on Patmos, within a patterned gold frame and the setting extending below the text with a goose and goslings swimming
f.14v St Luke, within an architectural frame and the setting extending below the text with two putti supporting it
f.16 St Matthew, within an architectural frame and two putti supporting the text
f.18 St Mark, within a gold frame and with putti supporting the text
f.19v Pietà, within a gold frame and with putti supporting the text
f.27 Annunciation, within an architectural frame with the setting extending below the text, two putti holding a coat of arms and supporting the text
f.42v Visitation, an arch-topped miniature with a border of divided fields of gold with naturalistic flowers and creatures, acanthus sprays of blue and gold against bare parchment, and red-brown with scrolling gold foliage
f.52v Nativity, within an architectural frame with the setting extending below the text with two putti supporting the text
f.56v Annunciation to the shepherds, within a jewelled gold frame, the setting below the text containing shepherds and a shepherdess dancing to bagpipes
f.60v Adoration of the Magi, within a gold frame with two putti supporting the text
f.64 Presentation in the Temple, within an architectural frame extending below the text, containing two putti holding a swag
f.68 Flight into Egypt, within a gold frame with the Massacre of the Innocents below the text
f.74v Coronation of the Virgin, within an architectural frame, two music-making angels below the text
f.78v Arrest of Christ, within an architectural frame
f.80 Christ before Pilate, within a gold frame, the Flagellation of Christ below the text
f.81v Way to Calvary, within a gold frame, the Mocking of Christ below the text
f.83 Nailing to the Cross, within a gold frame, soldiers dicing for Christ's robe below the text
f.84v Crucifixion, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text
f.86 Descent from the Cross, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text with two putti
f.87v Entombment, within a gold frame the setting extending below the text, two putti supporting the text
f.89 Pentecost, within an architectural frame, two putti below the text and supporting it
f.94 David and Bathsheba, within a gold frame, David protecting his sheep from a lion below the text
f.112 Job on the dunghill, within a gold frame, a rotting corpse with its head on a skull lying below the text