Book of Hours of James IV

The Book of Hours of James IV

The medieval book of hours was a very personalized type of book and is best exemplified in the prayer book of James IV and his wife Margaret Tudor. The wedding of the Scottish king and the daughter of the English sovereign Henry VII – a political dream of many who hoped for durable peace between the two countries – was celebrated in 1513 at Holyrood. The so-called Book of Hours of James IV probably constitutes the wedding gift of the groom to his bride. Whoever commissioned this work had entrusted one of the leading illuminator’s workshops with the production of his present.

65 Miniatures by Masters of Illumination

The design and layout of the manuscript is from the hands of several artists of the Ghent-Bruges school, among them are famous names of Flemish book painting: Gerald Horenbout, court painter Margaret of Austria, General Governor of the Netherlands, and the so-called Maximilian Master. Their style is identifiable due to the perfect execution and the extremely imaginative and elaborate decoration of the page borders. The calendar conveys a distant atmospheric effect through 12 sensational half-page landscape illustrations. The days of the months are arranged in pairs placed on opposing pages. Both writing and text are framed in Gothic tracery architecture and form a harmonious composition. The patrons’ portraits depicting King James himself and his wife Margaret Tudor give reference to the original owners of the manuscript.

Unbelievable Richness of Detail

The prayer book is illustrated by 65 full-page miniatures which mark the chapter beginnings or are dispersed throughout the text. The rich and detailed decoration makes them unique examples of their kind. Both miniature and text pages are framed with borders showing blossoms, rinceaux and tiny creatures in a stunningly naturalistic style. The Prayer Book of James IV owes its outstanding significance not only to its position in history but also to its high art-historic value. It ranks among the most important works ever made in a workshop of the Gent-Bruges school where Flemish illumination flourished and ultimately blossomed. Of the 3,487 miniatures (72 of them full-page) 59 illustrate the essential and secondary texts, which are arranged under 10 headings: the calendar, extracts from the four Gospels, Hours of the Holy Ghost, Mass of Our Lady, Hours of Our Lady, Hours of the Passion of Jesus Christ, Office for the Dead, Penitential Psalms, various prayers and Intercession of the Saints. The other miniatures illustrate the large number of additional themes. We find an abundance of borders with traditional acanthus garlands, flowers, fruit, human figures, birds and small animals, as well as a large number of decorated capital letters (87 large, 181 medium and 2,964 small) , with a variety of decorations including burnished gold. The Gothic lettering of the written text is in black and red ink.