Walters Ms. W.195, Book of Hours

W.195

Book of Hours

Book of Hours

Illuminated in the style of Willem Vrelant, this Book of Hours was completed for Use in Rome ca. 1470. The manuscript contains a calendar in French intended for the diocese of Bayeux that was added in the late fifteenth century, with border miniatures painted in Rouen. Prayers to St. Gregory as well as the large number of female saints included in the litany indicate that the original owner was female. The Hours of the Virgin are illuminated with images of Christ's Passion.

Ca. 1470 CE; added calendar 1500 CE

Bruges: main text; Rouen: calendar

Book

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin. The secondary language of this manuscript is French, Middle (ca.1400-1600).

Parchment

Well-selected and highly prepared parchment of medium weight; added calendar is of lower quality parchment

Foliation: iii+121+iii

Formula: Quires 1-2: 6 (fols. 1-12); Quire 3: 10 (fols. 13-22); Quire 4: 8 (fols. 23-30); Quire 5: 8, with first folio added (fols. 31-39); Quire 6: 8, with fourth and ninth folios added (fols. 40-49); Quire 7: 8, with fourth and tenth folios added (fols. 50-59); Quire 8: 8, with fourth folio added (fols. 60-68); Quire 9: 4, with third folio added (fols. 69-73); Quire 10: 8, with third folio added (fols. 74-82); Quire 11: 10 (fols. 83-92); Quire 12: 4, with first folio added (fols. 93-97); Quire 13: 8, with first folio added (fols. 98-106); Quire 14: 8, with fourth folio added (fols. 107-115); Quire 15: 6 (fols. 116-121)

Comments:

12.1 cm wide by 17.6 cm high

6.5 cm wide by 9.8 cm high

1. Columns: 1-3
2. Ruled lines: 15-17
3. Calendar has 3 columns and 17 lines

fols. 1r - 121v:

1. Title: Book of Hours
2. Hand note: Textura; pauses marked by punctus elevatus or punctus
3. Decoration note: Calendar illustrations in borders (5 lines); thirteen full-page miniatures; two historiated initials (6 lines); decorated borders and initials; rubrics in red; text in brown ink

fols. 1r - 12v:

1. Title: Calendar (added)
2. Rubric: Janvier a xxxi jour. La lune xxx jours.
3. Contents: Calendar added ca. 1500; full, graded in gold, blue, and red; association with Bayeux diocese, western Flanders, Amiens; saints of note include: William (Jan. 12), Ulphia (Jan. 31), Crato (Feb. 15), Modestus (Mar. 13), Joseph (Mar. 18), Anianus (Mar. 24), Regulus (Mar. 30), Elphege (Apr. 19), invention of relics at Bayeux (July 1), Vigor (July 14), Rasyphus and Ravennus (July 23), Taurinus (Aug. 11), Reverentius (Sept. 12), "Saint lennet de flanders" (Oct. 20), All Saints (Nov. 1), All Souls (Nov. 2), Vigor (Nov. 3), Gerebold (Dec. 7)
4. Text note: Major feasts in gold, others alternate between red and blue
5. Decoration note: Twelve border miniatures with the labors of the months as well as foliate decoration

fols. 13v - 19v:

1. Title: Hours of the Cross
2. Rubric: Incipiunt hore de sancta cruce
3. Incipit: Domine labia mea
4. Contents: Ends imperfectly with missing folio after fol. 19
5. Decoration note: Full-page miniature, fol. 13v

fols. 20v - 75v:

1. Title: Hours of the Virgin
2. Rubric: Incipiunt hore beate marie virginis secundum usum romanum
3. Incipit: Domine labia mea
4. Contents: Ends imperfectly at Compline due to missing folio after fol. 75
5. Decoration note: Eight full-page miniatures on fols. 20v, 31v, 43v, 48v, 53v, 58v, 63v, and 71v

fols. 76v - 86v:

1. Title: Seven Penitential Psalms
2. Rubric: Sequuntur septem psalmi penitencial. Antiphona
3. Incipit: Domine ne in furore
4. Decoration note: Inserted full-page miniature on fol. 76v

fols. 87r - 92v:

1. Title: Litany, petitions, and collects
2. Rubric: Letanie sanctorum
3. Incipit: Kyrieleison
4. Contents: For Use of Rome; majority of female saints: sixteen apostles, nine martyrs, seven pontiffs/confessors/doctores, seven monks/hermits/priests/levites, ten virgins/widows

fols. 93v - 97v:

1. Title: Five Prayers of St. Gregory
2. Rubric: Quinque versiculi beati gregorii
3. Incipit: Domine ihu xpi adoro te
4. Decoration note: Inserted full-page miniature, fol. 93v

fols. 98r - 116v:

1. Title: Devotional sequence
2. Rubric: Oratio devota de sancta maria
3. Incipit: Obsecro te domina sancta maria
4. Contents: Prayers for a female supplicant
5. Decoration note: Full-page miniature, fol. 98v

fol. 1r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Feasting
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: January

fol. 2r:

1. 
2. Title: Man by Fire
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: February

fol. 3r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Pruning
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: March

fol. 4r:

1. 
2. Title: Man with Flowers
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: April

fol. 5r:

1. 
2. Title: Couple on Horseback
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: May

fol. 6r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Shearing Sheep
3. Form: Marginal Miniature
4. Text: June

fol. 7r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Scything
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: July

fol. 8r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Bundling Wheat
3. Form: Marginal mniature
4. Text: August

fol. 9r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Sowing
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: September

fol. 10r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Treading Grapes
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: October

fol. 11r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Slaughtering Pig
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: November

fol. 12r:

1. 
2. Title: Man Baking
3. Form: Marginal miniature
4. Text: December

fol. 13v:

1. 
2. Title: Salvator Mundi
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Cross: Matins
5. Comment:

   Originally illustrated a now lost section of text; was rebound to begin Hours of the Cross

fol. 20v:

1. 
2. Title: Agony in the Garden
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Matins

fol. 31v:

1. 
2. Title: Betrayal and Arrest
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Lauds

fol. 43v:

1. 
2. Title: Christ before Pilate
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Prime

fol. 48v:

1. 
2. Title: Flagellation
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Terce

fol. 53v:

1. 
2. Title: Christ Carrying the Cross
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Sext

fol. 58v:

1. 
2. Title: Crucifixion
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: None

fol. 63v:

1. 
2. Title: Deposition
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Vespers

fol. 71v:

1. 
2. Title: Entombment
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours the Virgin: Compline

fol. 76v:

1. 
2. Title: Last Judgement
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Seven Penitential Psalms

fol. 93v:

1. 
2. Title: Mass of St. Gregory with instruments of the Passion
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Five Prayers of St. Gregory

fol. 98v:

1. 
2. Title: Virgin and Child
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Prayer to the Virgin

fol. 108v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "U" with St. Anthony
3. Form: Historiated initial "U," 6 lines
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Anthony

fol. 110v:

1. 
2. Title: St. John the Evangelist
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Devotional sequence

fol. 111v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Catherine of Alexandria
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Devotional sequence

The binding is not original.

Rebound in London by Riviere and Son first quarter of the twentieth century; black morocco style with imprinted decoration; spine has five raised bands with ornament in all compartment except second and third which have gold gilt lettering that reads "Horae/ B.V.M. // Ms. Gall/ Saec. XV."

Created for Use of Rome, ca. 1470; prayer sequences indicate female owner

Calendar for diocese of Bayeux added ca. 1500; feasts indicate western Flanders and Amiens

Rebound in England first quarter of twentieth century

Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore, between 1895 and 1931

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

De Ricci, Seymour, and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935; p. 802, cat. no. 288.

Kessler, Herbert. "A Book of Hours from the Atelier of Willem Vrelant." Scriptorium 18, no. 1 (1964): 94-99; p. 97 (Pl. 13b).

Bowles, Edmund A. "A Checklist of Musical Instruments in Fifteenth-Century Illuminated Manuscripts at the Walters Art Gallery." Quarterly of the Music Library Association 32, no. 4 (1976): 719-726; pp. 720, 723, 724.

Stones, M. Alison, and John W. Steyaert. Medieval Illuminations, Glass, and Sculpture in Minnesota Collections. Exhibition Catalogue, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Gallery. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1978; p. 70 (fig. 54).

Marrow, James H. Passion Iconography in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance: A Study of the Transformation of Sacred Metaphor into Descriptive Narrative. Kortrijk, Belgium: Van Ghemmert, 1979; p. 175 (n. 758), fig. 125.

Owens, M.B. "Musical Subjects in the Illumination of Books of Hours from Fifteenth-Century France and Flanders." Ph.D. diss, University of Chicago, 1987; p. 400.

Wieck, Roger Seymour. Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life. Exhibition Catalogue. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. New York: George Braziller, 1988; pp. 30, 68, 214, cat. no. 95, fig. 64.

Christie's. London, December 6, 1989; ref. under lot 18.

Maggs Brothers. Catalogue 16. London, 1990; ref. under lot 6.

Rubin, Miri. Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991; p. 310 (n. 152).

Christie's. New York, June 9, 1993; ref. under lot 4.

Bousmanne, Bernard. "Prolégomènes à la constitution et à l'interprétation d'un corpus des manuscrits attribués au groupe Vrelant: Un aspect de l'enluminure dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux aux XVe siècle." Ph.D. diss., Université Catholique de Louvain, 1994; pp. 25, 210-214.

Bousmanne, Bernard. Item à Guillaume Wyelant aussi enlumineur: Willem Vrelant, un aspect de l'enluminure dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux sous le mécénat des ducs de Bourgogne Philippe le Bon et Charles le Téméraire. Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997; pp. 58, 112, 165, 214-215 (no. H.IV.1), 315, 377.

Randall, Lilian M. C. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Vol. 3, Belgium, 1250-1530. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Walters Art Gallery, 1997; pp. 326-331, cat. no. 265.

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Cataloger: Shartrand, Emily

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Brown, Emily; Emery, Doug; Herbold, Rebekah; Noel, William; Schuele, Allyson; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Wiegand, Kimber

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.