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Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rouen, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Rouen, c.1460]
92 x 65mm. i + 172 leaves, apparently COMPLETE, later painted title leaf with floral border tipped in on 17th-century flyleaf, 1-26, 3-48, 57(of 8, v cancelled), 6-88, 94, 10-128, 134, 14-168, 176, 18-238, 243(of 6, iv-vi cancelled), 14 lines written in black ink in a lettre batârde between two verticals and 15 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 53 x 31mm, rubrics in red, verse initials touched yellow, one- and two-line initials of burnished gold on grounds of blue or pink with contrasting infill and white pen decoration, similar line-endings, the two-line initials with accompanying marginal sprays of hairline stems with gold disk terminals, three-line initials of blue with white penwork decoration on burnished gold grounds with infill of red and blue foliage, TWENTY LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES WITH FULL-PAGE BORDERS of blue and gold acanthus and sprays of naturalistic flowers and fruit interspersed with hairline tendrils with gold leaf terminals, each containing a tassel, and/or the letter 'A' (angel's head rubbed f.85v, occasional minor pigment loss in a few miniatures, mainly to flesh tones). 17th-century red morocco panelled in gilt, spine tooled in 5 compartments, gilt edges (extremities lightly rubbed, upper joint partially cracked, lacking clasps). Modern red slipcase.
PROVENANCE:
1. Both the offices of the Virgin and of the Dead are for the use of Rouen; feasts highlighted in gold in the Calendar (Romain, 23 Oct and Marcial, 3 July) and the presence of Sts Romain, Mellon and Ouen in the Litany, together with the style of illumination, point to Rouen as this manuscript's place of origin. Prayers are in the masculine, and the man for whom this elaborately decorated Hours was probably a wealthy inhabitant of Rouen itself. The letter 'a', perhaps his initial, and emblem, a tassel, appear throughout, both incorporated within miniatures and placed in borders. The leading mourner marked with an 'a' at the office of the dead, f.126, may represent the owner himself.
2. Gordon A. Block Jnr (bookplate pasted inside upper cover).
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.12-21; Obsecro te ff.21-26; O Intemerata ff.27-32; Office of the Virgin, use of Rouen, ff.33-90v: lauds f.46v, prime f.64, terce f.71, sext f.75, none f.79, vespers f.83, compline f.85v; Hours of the Cross ff.92-96; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.96v-100; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.100v-121v; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen ff.126-161v; Suffrages, to Saints James f.162, Anthony f.163v, Catherine f.165, Barbara f.166v, Apollonia f.168, Christopher f.169v and Sebastian f.171v.
ILLUMINATION:
This charming and richly illuminated manuscript is the work of an illuminator heavily influenced by the Master of the Geneva Latini, more often known as the Master of the Rouen Echevinage, after his principal work, a series of secular manuscripts painted for the library of the magistrates (échevins) of Rouen in the second half of the 15th century. This artist shares the Master's delight in pattern, especially in finely applied gold, and also many of of his compositions, see particularly the Dyson Perrins Hours sold in these rooms from the Foyle Collection (11 July 2000, lot 47) and the Hours with Antiquariat Tenschert in 1998 (Leuchtendes Mittelalter, Katalog XXI, no 74). He works, however, in a more painterly technique to establish convincingly rounded figures whose less schematised contours are seldom defined with the emphatic lines beloved of the Master. His finesse and skilful detailing raise this volume well above the more routine products of the Rouen book trade.
Despite the unusually small format of this lavish Hours, the miniatures are rich in incident: textiles are patterned and gilt, architecture is highly detailed and interiors include arcades with views onto landscapes beyond. The illuminator has lavished much care and attention on this intimate and personal prayerbook, responding to the requirements the original commissioner. No other known Rouen Hours of this period matches the delightful personalisation of the present manuscript. What is probably the owner's initial and his emblem appear in gold within miniatures and scattered in margins. From the architecture and textiles of the Virgin's chamber, f.33, to the shepherds' tunics, f.71, or the donkey's saddlecloth, f.83, no detail is too tiny to carry marks of ownership to unite the owner with the sacred images in perpetuity. The association does not have to be directly with the objects of his veneration: both St Christopher's sleeve and the tunic of one of St Apollonia's tormentors are marked with 'a'. An exceptional commission gave the illuminator the opportunity to create an exceptional book of hours.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:
f.13 Quadripartite miniature of the four Evangelists
f.33 Annunciation
f.46v Visitation, an angel watching
f.64 Adoration of the Christ Child by Mary and Joseph
f.71 Annunciation to the Shepherds
f.75 Adoration of the Magi
f.79 Presentation in the Temple
f.83 Flight into Egypt
f.85v Coronation of the Virgin, a harp-playing angel in the foreground f.92 Crucifixion
f.96v Pentecost
f.100v David praying
f.126 Funeral Service, with possible portrait of the owner
f.162 St James
f.163v St Anthony Abbot
f.165 St Catherine
f.166v St Barbara
f.168 St Apollonia
f.169v St Christopher
f.171v St Sebastian
[Rouen, c.1460]
92 x 65mm. i + 172 leaves, apparently COMPLETE, later painted title leaf with floral border tipped in on 17th-century flyleaf, 1-2
PROVENANCE:
1. Both the offices of the Virgin and of the Dead are for the use of Rouen; feasts highlighted in gold in the Calendar (Romain, 23 Oct and Marcial, 3 July) and the presence of Sts Romain, Mellon and Ouen in the Litany, together with the style of illumination, point to Rouen as this manuscript's place of origin. Prayers are in the masculine, and the man for whom this elaborately decorated Hours was probably a wealthy inhabitant of Rouen itself. The letter 'a', perhaps his initial, and emblem, a tassel, appear throughout, both incorporated within miniatures and placed in borders. The leading mourner marked with an 'a' at the office of the dead, f.126, may represent the owner himself.
2. Gordon A. Block Jnr (bookplate pasted inside upper cover).
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.12-21; Obsecro te ff.21-26; O Intemerata ff.27-32; Office of the Virgin, use of Rouen, ff.33-90v: lauds f.46v, prime f.64, terce f.71, sext f.75, none f.79, vespers f.83, compline f.85v; Hours of the Cross ff.92-96; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.96v-100; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.100v-121v; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen ff.126-161v; Suffrages, to Saints James f.162, Anthony f.163v, Catherine f.165, Barbara f.166v, Apollonia f.168, Christopher f.169v and Sebastian f.171v.
ILLUMINATION:
This charming and richly illuminated manuscript is the work of an illuminator heavily influenced by the Master of the Geneva Latini, more often known as the Master of the Rouen Echevinage, after his principal work, a series of secular manuscripts painted for the library of the magistrates (échevins) of Rouen in the second half of the 15th century. This artist shares the Master's delight in pattern, especially in finely applied gold, and also many of of his compositions, see particularly the Dyson Perrins Hours sold in these rooms from the Foyle Collection (11 July 2000, lot 47) and the Hours with Antiquariat Tenschert in 1998 (Leuchtendes Mittelalter, Katalog XXI, no 74). He works, however, in a more painterly technique to establish convincingly rounded figures whose less schematised contours are seldom defined with the emphatic lines beloved of the Master. His finesse and skilful detailing raise this volume well above the more routine products of the Rouen book trade.
Despite the unusually small format of this lavish Hours, the miniatures are rich in incident: textiles are patterned and gilt, architecture is highly detailed and interiors include arcades with views onto landscapes beyond. The illuminator has lavished much care and attention on this intimate and personal prayerbook, responding to the requirements the original commissioner. No other known Rouen Hours of this period matches the delightful personalisation of the present manuscript. What is probably the owner's initial and his emblem appear in gold within miniatures and scattered in margins. From the architecture and textiles of the Virgin's chamber, f.33, to the shepherds' tunics, f.71, or the donkey's saddlecloth, f.83, no detail is too tiny to carry marks of ownership to unite the owner with the sacred images in perpetuity. The association does not have to be directly with the objects of his veneration: both St Christopher's sleeve and the tunic of one of St Apollonia's tormentors are marked with 'a'. An exceptional commission gave the illuminator the opportunity to create an exceptional book of hours.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:
f.13 Quadripartite miniature of the four Evangelists
f.33 Annunciation
f.46v Visitation, an angel watching
f.64 Adoration of the Christ Child by Mary and Joseph
f.71 Annunciation to the Shepherds
f.75 Adoration of the Magi
f.79 Presentation in the Temple
f.83 Flight into Egypt
f.85v Coronation of the Virgin, a harp-playing angel in the foreground f.92 Crucifixion
f.96v Pentecost
f.100v David praying
f.126 Funeral Service, with possible portrait of the owner
f.162 St James
f.163v St Anthony Abbot
f.165 St Catherine
f.166v St Barbara
f.168 St Apollonia
f.169v St Christopher
f.171v St Sebastian
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