Walters Ms. W.281, Malet-Lannoy Hours

W.281

Malet-Lannoy Hours

Book of Hours

This Book of Hours was made ca. 1420-1440 for use of Rome in northeastern France or Paris, as suggested by the contents in the calendar and the inclusion of a suffrage to St. Avia. Although the identity of the initial patron is unknown, his heraldry was added thirty-five times throughout the book. The manuscript was owned within the first decades of its creation by Thomas Malet of Berlettes and Jeanne of Lannoy, whose heraldry was added early into the manuscript as well. This was likely in the 1430s, coinciding with their marriage, and the addition of a miniature depicting the Marriage of the Virgin at this time supports this. This manuscript contains twenty-seven additional miniatures, some of which are of particular iconographical note, such as St. Luke painting the Virgin (fol. 14v). The inclusion of this depiction, as well as other compositional and style choices, link this book to the Master of Morgan 453.

Ca. 1420-40

Northeastern France (French Flanders)

Book

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Parchment

Medium to thick, carefully selected, and highly prepared parchment; front pastedown of eighteenth-century laid paper with watermark formed of two interlocking C's surmounted by a crown

Foliation: i+242+i

Formula: Quire 1: 8, with first folio missing (fols. 1-7); Quire 2: 8, with eighth folio missing (fols. 8-14); Quire 3: 8 (fols. 15-22); Quire 4: 8, with first folio reattached to second, and eighth folio added later (fols. 23-30); Quires 5-27: 8 (fols. 31-214); Quire 28: 10 (fols. 215-224); Quire 29: 6 (fols. 225-230); Quire 30: 12 (fols. 231-242)

Catchwords: Extant beginning on fol. 22v

Signatures: Somewhat extant beginning on fol. 119r in dark brown ink

Comments:

21.4 cm wide by 21.2 cm high

6.3 cm wide by 11.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 14
3. Ruled in mauve ink; layout does not apply to calendar: written space 11.2 x 6.3 cm, 4 columns of 17 lines

fols. 1r - 242v:

1. Title: Book of Hours
2. Hand note: Text written in textura formata
3. Decoration note: Twenty-seven extant original miniatures, as well as one full-page miniature added early; decorated initials at major text openings marked by miniatures (4 lines); at secondary text divisions and at "K L" in calendar (2 lines); at versals and dominical letters "A" in calendar (1 line); foliate borders at major text openings marked by miniatures, in calendar, and at secondary text divisions; line fillers in litany; rubrics in red; text in black ink

fols. 1r - 13r:

1. Title: Calendar
2. Rubric: Januarius habet dies xxxi. luna xxx.
3. Contents: Calendar filled, graded in gold, blue, and rose, contents suggest Paris and northeastern France; saints of note include Antony (Jan. 17), Marius and Martha (Jan. 19), Ansbert (Feb. 9), Florian (May 4), Wandregisil (May 20, usually Jul. 22, also Nov. 18), Landericus (Jun. 10), Dominic (Aug. 5), Louis of France (Aug. 25), Lambert (Sept. 19), Gabriel (Oct. 16, usually Mar. 18), Quintinus (Oct. 31), Wandregisil (Nov. 18, also May 20), Bibiana (Dec. 2), Barbara (Dec. 4), Sabas (Dec. 5), Damasus (Dec. 11), Nicasius (Dec. 14), Gratianus (Dec. 18)

fols. 15r - 29v:

1. Title: Gospel sequences and two prayers to the Virgin
2. Rubric: Inicium sancti evangelii secundum johannem. Gloria tibi domine.
3. Incipit: In principio erat verbum
4. Contents: Fols. 15r-22r: Gospel sequences: fols. 15r-16v: John 1.1-14; fols. 17r- 18v: Luke 1.26-38; fols. 19r-20v: Matthew 2.1-12; fols. 21r-22r: Mark 16.14- 20; fols. 22v-29v: Two prayers to the Virgin: fols. 22v-26v: Obsecro te, fols. 26v-29v: O intemerata
5. Decoration note: Miniatures on fols. 15r, 17r, 19r, and 21r

fols. 31r - 118v:

1. Title: Hours of the Virgin
2. Incipit: Domine labia mea
3. Contents: For use of Rome; Matins 9-lesson
4. Decoration note: Inserted full-page miniature on fol. 30v; miniatures on fols. 31r, 64r, 79r, 85r, 91r, 97r, 104r, and 112r

fols. 119r - 134r:

1. Title: Seven Penitential Psalms
2. Incipit: Domine ne in furore
3. Decoration note: Miniature on fol. 119r

fols. 134r - 142v:

1. Title: Litany, petitions, and collects
2. Rubric: Letania
3. Incipit: Kyrieleison
4. Contents: Particular to Paris and northern France and Belgium as per calendar; fols. 134r-142v: Litany, with nineteen martyrs including Tiburtius, Eustace, Dionysius, Gereon, Maurice, and Lambert; fourteen confessors including Nicolas, Medard, Silvester, Hilary, Leo, Severinus, Remigius, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, Benedict, Maurus, and Aegydius; fifteen virgins, including Mary Magdalene, Columba, Anastasia, Christina, and Susanna; fols. 140v-141r: Petitions; fols. 141r-142v: five collects, headed "Deus cui proprium est misereri semper..."

fols. 142v - 154v:

1. Title: Hours of the Cross
2. Rubric: De cruce servicium
3. Incipit: Domine labia mea
4. Decoration note: Miniature on fol. 143r

fols. 154v - 166v:

1. Title: Devotional sequence
2. Rubric: De sancto spiritu
3. Incipit: Domine labia mea
4. Contents: Fols. 154v-164v: Hours of the Holy Spirit; fols. 164v-166r: eight verses of St. Bernard; 166r-v: prayer to Christ
5. Decoration note: Miniature on fol. 155r

fols. 167r - 227v:

1. Title: Office of the Dead
2. Rubric: Psalmus
3. Incipit: Placebo
4. Text note: Prayers mostly headed "Oratio" except fols. 175v-177v: headed "Deus qui inter apostolicos sacerdotes famulos tuos..."; fols. 225r-227v: Pro patre et matre. oratio."
5. Decoration note: Miniature on fol. 167r

fols. 228r - 242v:

1. Title: Devotional sequence
2. Rubric: De sancta trinitate memoria
3. Incipit: Te adoramus te glorificamus te laudamus o beata trinitas
4. Contents: Fols. 228r-240r: Suffrages to SS. Mary Magdalene, Antony, the Trinity, Michael, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Bartholomew, and Christopher; fols. 237r-238v: suffrage beginning with Seven Joys of Mary Magdalene; fols. 239r-240v: suffrage beginning with Five Joys of St. Catherine; fols. 240v-241v: French verse prayer to St. Avia, headed in French: "De sainte avoye. oroison."; fols. 241v-242v: Prayer for recitation before Christ on the Cross, headed, "Devota oratio ante crucifixum dicenda."
5. Decoration note: Miniatures on fols. 228r, 230r, 231r, 232r, 233r, 234r, 236r, 237r, 239r, and 241r

fol. 15r:

1. 
2. Title: St. John on Patmos
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Gospel Sequences: John

fol. 17r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Luke painting vision of Virgin lactans
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Gospel sequences: Luke

fol. 19r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Matthew writing beneath vision of Virgin
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Gospel sequences: Matthew

fol. 21r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Mark writing
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Gospel sequences: Mark

fol. 30v:

1. 
2. Title: Marriage of the Virgin
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin
5. Comment:

   Added early, ca. 1430

fol. 31r:

1. 
2. Title: Annunciation
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Matins

fol. 64r:

1. 
2. Title: Visitation
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Lauds

fol. 79r:

1. 
2. Title: Nativity
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Prime

fol. 85r:

1. 
2. Title: Annunciation to shepherds and shepherdess
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Terce

fol. 91r:

1. 
2. Title: Adoration of the Magi
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Sext

fol. 97r:

1. 
2. Title: Presentation in the Temple
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: None

fol. 103r:

1. 
2. Title: Flight into Egypt
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Vespers

fol. 112r:

1. 
2. Title: Coronation of the Virgin
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Compline

fol. 119r:

1. 
2. Title: King David penitent
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Seven Penitential Psalms

fol. 143r:

1. 
2. Title: Crucifixion with thieves
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Cross

fol. 155r:

1. 
2. Title: Pentecost
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Hours of the Holy Spirit

fol. 167r:

1. 
2. Title: Funeral service
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Office of the Dead

fol. 228r:

1. 
2. Title: Trinity
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Trinity

fol. 230r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Michael battling devils
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Michael

fol. 231r:

1. 
2. Title: St. John the Baptist
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. John the Baptist

fol. 232r:

1. 
2. Title: St. John the Evangelist
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. John the Evangelist

fol. 233r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Bartholomew revered by male manuscript owner
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Bartholomew

fol. 234r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Christopher carrying Christ-Child
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Christopher

fol. 236r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Antony nourished by angel
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Antony

fol. 237r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Mary Magdalene, Assumption
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Mary Magdalene

fol. 239r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Catherine
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: St. Catherine

fol. 241r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Avia given Communion by Virgin
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Devotional sequence

The binding is not original.

Eighteenth-century red morocco with gilt dentelle floral and foliate decoration on the sides and gilt guilloche pattern on the board-edges; the spine has four raised bands with floral and foliate decoration

Completed in northeastern France in the first half of the fifteenth century (Calendar and litany; miniatures linked with works of by Bedford Master, Master of Morgan 453, and illuminators active in Amiens); male patron is featured on fol. 233r, and his coats of arms throughout.

Thomas Malet of Berlettes and his wife, Jeanne of Lannoy, environs of Lille, owned the book as of ca. 1435-40 (arms of Thomas Malet of Berlettes on fols. 15, 17, 19, 31, 64, 112, 143, 230; arms of Jeanne of Lannoy on fol. 112; both arms on fols. 15 and 19)

Rebound in Belgium in the eighteenth century

Alfred H. Huth (d. 1910), London, owned before 1910

Sold at Sotheby's, London, June 12, 1913 (lot no. 3803)

Léon Gruel, Paris (offer of sale in a letter to Henry Walters dated June 13, 1913, in curatorial files)

Henry Walters bought the book from Gruel and kept it in his house in New York; brought to the gallery in Baltimore, March 7, 1921

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. 797, cat. no. 261.

Panofsky, E., Early Netherlandish Painting, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1953, p. 254, 384, 407, and 460

Diringer, D., The Illuminated Book: Its History and Production, New York, 1958, revised 1967, p. 404, pl. VII-18b, fol. 234r

Meiss, M., with the assistance of K. Morand and E. W. Kirsch, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicaut Master, National Gallery of Art, Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art, New York, 1968, p. 389

Meiss, M., French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries, New York, 1974, p. 365-366

Bowles, E. A., "A Checklist of Musical Instruments in Fifteenth-Century Illuminated Manuscripts at the Walters Art Gallery", Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, 1976, p. 721- 723, 725.

de Winter, P.M., Manuscrits à peintures produits pour le mécénat lillois sous le règnes de Jean sans Peur et de Philippe le Bon," in Artes du 101e Congres National des Sociétés Savantes (1976), Paris 1978, p. 236, 238, figs. 2, 3 (fols. 233r, 17r)

von Euw, A., and Plotzek, J. M., Die Handschriften der Sammlung Ludwig (Cologne, 1979-1985), vol. 2 (1982, by J. M. Plotzek), p. 112, 305

Pächt, O., Jenni, U., and Thoss, D., Die Illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, ser. I/6: Flämische Schule I. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, Denkschriften 160, Vienna, 1983, p. 17, fig. 10 (fol. 263r)

Owens, M.B., "Musical Subjects in the Illumination of Books of Hours from Fifteenth-Century France and Flanders," PhD dissertation, University of Chicago, 1987, p. 454-455 figs. 43-45 (fols. 30v, 31r, and 112r)

Clark, G. T., The Master of Morgan 453, and Illuminator in Paris and Amiens, 1415-1440, Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1988, p. 136-157, 196-200, and passim, figs. 172-182, 184, 187, 190, 191, 198 (fols. 15r, 17r, 19r, 21r, 30v, 31r, 79r, 85r, 91r, 97r, 103r, 143r, 155r, 167r, 230r, 239r, and 241r

Verbeke, W. “Kroniek der handschriftenkunde in de Nederlanden - Studie van de middeleeuwse handschriften uit de Nederlanden (nrs. 2518-2635).” Archief- en bibliotheekwezen in België 56 (1985): 394-455; p. 410.

Randall, Lilian M. C. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Vol. 2. France, 1420-1540. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Walters Art Gallery, 1989; pp. 61-68, cat. no. 112; figs. 207, 208, pl. XIc.

Clark, Gregory T. “The Chronology of the Louthe Master and His Identification with Simon Marmion.” In Margaret of York, Simon Marmion, and The Visions of Tondal. Papers delivered at a symposium organized by the Department of Manuscripts of the J. Paul Getty Museum in collaboration with the Huntington Library and Art Collections, June 21-23, 1990. Edited by T. Kren, pp. 195-208. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum Publishers, 1992; pp. 202-203, fig. 173.

Van Buren, Anne H. “Die zweite Kampagne fůr Johann von Bayern: Jan van Eyck,” “The Second Campaign of John of Bavaria: Jan van Eyck,” and “La seconde campagne de Jean de Bavière: Jan van Eyck.” In Heures de Turin-Milan. Edited by Anne H. Van Buren, James H. Marrow, and Silvana Pettenati, 117-128, 313-323, 506-517. Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag. 1996; pp. 127 (n. 39), 322 (n. 39), 516 (n. 39).

Nash, Susie. Between France and Flanders: Manuscript Illumination in Lyons. London: The British Library, 1999; pp. 177-179, 181-183, 186-189, 192-194, 211, figs. 89, 128-129, 132, 134-135, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 152, pl. 22.

Wieck, Roger S. “The Death Desired: Books of Hours and the Medieval Funeral.” In Death and Dying in the Middle Ages. Edited by Edelgard E. DuBruck and Barbara I. Gusick, 431-476. New York: Peter Lang, 1999; pp. 438 (as fig. 12), 447 (n. 13), 460 (fig. 12), 472 (ref. under fig. 24).

Gathercole, Patricia M. The Depiction of Angels and Demons in Medieval French Manuscript Illumination. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004; pp. 21, 38, 63, pl. 22.

Clark, Gregory T. Made in Flanders: The Master of the Ghent Privileges and Manuscript Painting in the Southern Netherlands in the Time of Philip the Good. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2000; pp. 60, 66, 163, illus. 28-30.

Randall, Lilian M.C. “Frontal Heads in the Borders of Parisian and South Netherlandish Books of Hours, ca. 1415-60.” In Tributes in Honor of Jonathan J.G. Alexander: The Making and Meaning of Illuminated Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Art, and Architecture. Edited by Susan L’Engle and Gerald B. Gest, 249-268. Turnhout, Belgium: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2006; pp. 256-257, 263-264.

Gathercole, Patricia. M. The Depiction of Architecture and Furniture in Medieval French Manuscript Illumination. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006; pp. 36-37, Pl. 11.

Gathercole, Patricia M. The Depiction of Clothing in Medieval French Manuscripts. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008; pp. 76, 81.

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Catalogers: Ransom, Allison; Valle, Chiara

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservator: Owen, Linda

Contributors: Brown, Emily; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara; Wiegand, Kimber

The Walters Art Museum

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