Leaves From Famous Books of Hours

Leaves from Famous Books of Hours

The book of hours was among the most popular subjects for medieval illuminated manuscripts. Personal devotional codices were the most popular kind of manuscript during the Late Middle Ages, when book production and artistry reached its zenith, and as such they are the most common type of medieval manuscript to survive to the present. The production of books of hours mainly occurred in the ateliers of secular artists. A book of hours was meant to be carried on one’s person throughout the day and intended as an aide for participating in public church services. Moreover, their name comes from the fact that they contain prayers for specific times of day, called offices. The book of hours was a central part of daily life for those possessing the proper piety and wealth, some of which are considered to be true masterpieces of medieval illumination and occidental art as a whole, and were the commissions of royals and the wealthiest members of society.
These eleven folios represent some of the finest specimens of books of hours to survive the Middle Ages:
1. Initial Page “D”, Grey-Fitz Payne Book of Hours, England, ca. 1300/08
2. “The Three Lives and the Three Deaths”, Hours of the Bonne de Luxembourg, Paris, 1st half of the 14th century
3. “Flight to Egypt”, Hours of Marschall Jean de Boucicault, Paris, early-15th century
4. “The Duke of Berry at the Dinner Table”, Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry, Paris, 1411/16
5. “Jesus in Gethsemane”, Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry, Paris, 1411/16
6. “Annunciation with coat of arms and initial H”, Stephan Lochner Prayer Book of 1451, Cologne, ca. 1451
7. “The Creation of Eve”, Visconti Book of Hours, Upper Italy, ca. 1431/40
8. “St. Margaret and Olibrius”, Hours of Etienne Chevalier, Tours, ca. 1453
9. “Laudate Dominum”, Sforza Hours, Upper Italy, ca. 1490
10. “Saint Katherine”, Hastings Book of Hours, Flanders, late-15th century
11. “The Tower of Babel”, Breviarium Grimani, Ghent and Bruges, 1510–20