Hours of Engelbert of Nassau

Hours of Engelbert of Nassau

This small but lavishly adorned book of hours arose from the collaboration of the Master of Mary of Burgundy and the Ghent copyist Nicolas Spierinc ca. 1480. It contains a book of hours in the Dominican rite, which is considered to be a highpoint of Flemish Illumination and contains miniatures more elaborate than those found in contemporary manuscripts like the Prayer Book of Charles the Bold or the History of Alexander by Quintius Curtius and went on to serve as a template for several miniatures in the splendid Heures Voustre Demeure. The manuscript is named after Count Engelbert II of Nassau (1451–1504), the leader of the Privy Council of the Duchy of Burgundy and member of a wealthy and powerful noble family who served as officers at the Burgundian Court in Bruges for three generations. Originally consisting of a single codex, the Hours of Engelbert of Nassau was rebound and separated into two volumes at the end of the 18th century.

New Innovations in Flemish Illumination

7 full-page and 31 half-page miniatures of the highest quality with intricate and innovative frames are presented in this Flemish masterpiece. The newly devised trompe-l'oeil technique, which creates an optical illusion making objects appear three-dimensional, was employed not only in the miniatures, but in the marginalia as well. Therefore, typical flat decorative elements are replaced by realistic flowers, birds, and insects as well as still-life objects such as shelves displaying bowls, plates, vases, jugs, and even skulls. Numerous playful human figures and drolleries can be found in the manuscript: e.g. a monkey on foot with a long lance resting on his shoulder followed by a lion dressed as a knight, mounted on a caparisoned unicorn, and accompanied by a monkey riding pillion (fol. 160r).

The Contested History of the Manuscript

Although he certainly was wealthy and sophisticated enough to commission a manuscript as magnificent as the one at hand, it is still debated whether Count Engelbert was the original patron or had the manuscript, perhaps first commissioned in the 1470’s, completed with the decorative marginalia in the early-1480’s. The martial and chivalric iconography as well as the emphasis on Saint Sebastian, Saint Christopher, and David the Warrior certainly points to a member of the Burgundian court. Regardless of who the original patron was, it passed into the possession of Philip I of Castile (1478–1506), the titular Duke of Burgundy, whose coat of arms, surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, was painted over previous coats of arms throughout the manuscript. It then disappeared from all records for 250+ years before turning up in the possession of Charles-Adrien Picard (d. 1799) in 1767. After passing into the hands of the Paris family in 1780, it was sold to Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (1720–94) in 1791 before being acquired by the famous English antiquarian Francis Douce (1757–1834), who bequeathed it along with the rest of his collections to the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where it resides today.