Walters Ms. W.425, Prayer Book (fragment)

W.425

Prayer Book (fragment)

Prayer Book

This Prayer Book was created ca. 1520-30, likely in Brussels, in the style of the Master of Charles V. It consists entirely of single folios that were added in or moved around in the book, rendering collation unfeasible. Many of intricate and high-quality miniatures were reproduced through chromolithography by Léon Gruel in his Petites Heures, published in Paris in 1875. The calendar is especially charming and features seasonally relevant illustrations, such as children having a snowball fight in December. The suffrages contain detailed and illusionistic figures, including one for St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The contents of the calendar suggest a Franciscan affinity.

Ca. 1520-30 CE

Brussels (?)

Book

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Parchment

Carefully selected and prepared medium-weight parchment; fols. 1-12 edged with nineteenth-century parchment

Foliation: iv+58+iv

Modern pencil foliation, upper right corners rectos

Formula: Collation cannot be completed due to entire manuscript consisting of single folios

Comments:

6.5 cm wide by 9.0 cm high

3.9 cm wide by 5.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 13
3. Ruled in rose ink

fols. 1r - 58v:

1. Title: Prayer Book
2. Hand note: Written in littera gotica rotunda
3. Decoration note: Twenty-one extant miniatures (fourteen full-page miniatures, seven large miniatures, all misbound singletons); twenty-four calendar illustrations, each with zodiac symbol in roundel; decorated initials at text openings opposite full-page miniatures (4 lines), at text openings opposite large miniatures (3 lines), at secondary text divisions and "K L" in calendar (2 lines), and at versals and dominical letters "A" in calendar (1 line); rubrics in red; text in brown and black ink

fols. 1r - 12v:

1. Title: Calendar
2. Rubric: Januarius habet dies/ xxxi. luna vero xxx.
3. Contents: Calendar incomplete with each month lacking feasts after the 18th, graded in red and brown ink; contents suggest affinity with Franciscan order; saints of note include Julianus (Jan. 7), Gilbert (Feb. 4), Dorothy (Feb. 6), Faustina and Jovita (Feb. 15), Gabriel (Mar. 18, "archangeli"), Euphemia (Apr. 7), Monica (May 4), Godehard (May 5, "Gotardi epi., bishop of Hildesheim), Theodora (May 13, irregular date), Bernardinus (May 17, Franciscan, Translation), Justinus (Jun. 1), Henry II (Jul. 12, "imperatoris, German ruler, 973-1024), Virgin of the Snow (Aug. 5, "Festum niuis"), Tiburtius and Susanna (Aug. 11), Rochus (Aug. 16, "rocho confessoris"), Moses (Sept. 4, "Moysi confessoris"), Maximinus (Sept. 12, "maximianus," bishop of Treves), Victor and Corona (Sept. 18), Francis (Oct. 4), Vitalis and Agricola (Nov. 4), Dedication of the Basilica of St. Salvator in Rome (Nov. 9), Gregory of Tours (Nov. 17, "Gregori turonensis"), Bibiana (Dec. 2), Sabas (Dec. 5), and Miltiades (Dec. 10, "Melchiadis")
4. Decoration note: Labors of the month illustrated on rectos of every folio in calendar

fols. 17r - 17v; 15r - 15v; 40r - 40v; 50r - 50v:

1. Title: Hours of the Virgin
2. Rubric: Ad laudes
3. Incipit: Incipit missing
4. Contents: Four extant pages containing texts from Laudes (fol. 17r-v); Prime (fol. 15r-v); Terce (fol. 40r-v); Vespers (fol. 50r-v)
5. Decoration note: Full-page miniatures on fols. 17v, 15v, 40v, and 50v

fols. 26v - 26v:

1. Title: Seven Penitential Psalms (fragment)
2. Contents: Extant illustrated singleton, text of Seven Penitential Psalms lost
3. Decoration note: Full-page miniature on fol. 26v

fols. 27r - 27v; 37r - 37v; 38r - 38v; 43r - 43v; 44r - 44v; 45r - 46v; 49r - 49v; 52r - 52v; 53r - 53v; 58r - 58v; 19r - 19v; 16r - 16v; 47r - 47v; 48r - 48v; 54r - 54v; 41r - 41v; 56r - 56v; 20r - 20v:

1. Title: Suffrages
2. Rubric: Antiphona
3. Incipit: Michael princeps bone.
4. Contents: Fols. 16r-v, 19r-v, and 47r: Suffrage for St. Anne, headed on fol. 19r, "De sancta anna matre virginis marie."; fols. 20r-v and 56r-v: Suffrage for Elizabeth of Hungary, headed on fol. 20r, "Oratio de sancta elysabeth."; fols. 27r-v and 37r-v: Suffrage for St. Michael, headed on fol. 27r, "Michael princeps bone."; fols. 37r, 38r-v, and 52r-v: Suffrage for St. John the Baptist, headed on fol. 37v, "De sancto Johanne babtista commemoratio."; fols. 43r, 52v, and 53r-v: Suffrage for St. Andrew, headed on fol. 53r, "De sancto andrea apostolo."; fols. 43v and 44r-v: Suffrage for St. Sebastian, headed on fol. 44r, "De sancto sebastiano."; fols. 45r and 55r-v: Suffrage for St. Christopher, including ".N." for name of suppliant, end of antiphon missing after fol. 55v, text completed on fol. 45r, headed on fol. 45r, "Sancte christophore martyr dei preciose rogo te per nomen xristi"; fols. 45v-46v and 58r-v: Suffrage for St. Jerome, headed on fol. 46r, "De sancto hieronimo."; fols. 58v and 49r: Suffrage for St. Anthony, headed on fol. 49r, "De sancto Anthonio."; fols. 49v: Suffrage for St. Rochus, text missing, maybe ending on fol. 19r; fols. 47v, 48r-v, and 54r: Suffrage for St. Catherine, headed on fol. 48r, "De sancta catharina." fols. 54v: Suffrage for St. Mary Magdalene, text image, miniature extant; fols. 41r-v and 56r: Suffrage for St. Margaret, headed on fol. 41r, "De sancta margareta."
5. Decoration note: Full-page miniatures on fols. 19v, 38r, 43v, 45v, 47v, 49v, 54v, 56v, and 57v; large miniatures on fols. 27r, 53r, and 55r

fols. 14r - 14v; 42r - 42v; 21r - 23v; 24r - 24v; 39r - 39v; 25r - 25v; 13r - 13v; 28r - 29v; 31r - 36v; 51r - 51v; 18r - 18V; 57r - 57v:

1. Title: Devotional texts
2. Incipit: Peccata mea que si volo abscondere non possum tibi domine.
3. Contents: Fols. 14r-v, 42r-v, and 21r-23r: prayer beginning imperfectly, similar to "O intemerata": "peccata mea que si volo abscondere non possum tibi domine."; fols. 23r-v, 24r-v, and 39r-v: Seven Verses of St. Gregory, ending imperfectly, promising 14,000 years of indulgence granted by St. Gregory for penitent when confessed kneeling before the saint on fol. 23v; fols. 25v, 13r-v, and 28r-29v: first of two prayers to St. Augustine, headed "Oratio sancti augustini a spiritu sancto ut dicitur sibi revelata"; fols. 29v, 31r-36v, and 51r-v: second of two prayers to St. Augustine, to be recited while on one's knees for thirty-three days, suppliant specified as ".N." on fols. 31v, 32v, and 51v, text beginning on fol. 31r and ending imperfectly on fol. 51v; fol. 30r: end of unidentified prayer: "Sancti spiritus assit nobis gratia Amen. Dulce nomen domini ihesu xristi et gloriosissime virginis marie matris eius..."; fol. 18r-v: Seven Joys of the Virgin, rhyming and incomplete, headed "Septem gaudia beate marie virginis."; fol. 57r: end of an unidentified prayer, headed "tuum. qui tecum viuit et regnat in unitate spiritus"
4. Text note: Devotional texts misbound and incomplete throughout book
5. Decoration note: Miniatures on fols. 23v, 13r, 30v, and 57v

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding by Léon Gruel with enamel plaque of Christ
3. Form: Binding (upper board)
4. Comment:

   Binding and enamel plaque are nineteenth-century creations. Plaque is copy of seventeenth-century medallion attributed to Jean Limosin.

fol. 1r:

1. 
2. Title: Interior eating scene with marginalia Aquarius
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: January

fol. 2r:

1. 
2. Title: Two men chopping wood with marginalia Pisces
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: February

fol. 3r:

1. 
2. Title: Three men doing yardwork with marginalia Aries
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: March

fol. 4r:

1. 
2. Title: Lady with rosary talking to maid in garden with marginalia Taurus
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: April

fol. 5r:

1. 
2. Title: Lady on white horse with two youths with marginalia Gemini
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: May

fol. 6r:

1. 
2. Title: Three figures farming with marginalia Cancer
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: June

fol. 7r:

1. 
2. Title: Two men reaping with sickles with marginalia Leo
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: July

fol. 8r:

1. 
2. Title: Two men in barn with calendar illustration Virgo
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: August

fol. 9r:

1. 
2. Title: Man plowing with marginalia Libra
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: September

fol. 10r:

1. 
2. Title: Two men crushing grapes with marginalia Scorpio
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: October

fol. 11r:

1. 
2. Title: Man and woman slaughtering pig with marginalia Sagittarius
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: November

fol. 12r:

1. 
2. Title: Snowball fight with marginalia Capricorn
3. Form: Calendar illustration
4. Text: Calendar: December

fol. 13r:

1. 
2. Title: Mass of St. Gregory
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Devotional texts

fol. 15r:

1. 
2. Title: Monogram "H M" of original owner
3. Form: Monogram

fol. 15v:

1. 
2. Title: Annunciation to one shepherd
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Prime

fol. 17v:

1. 
2. Title: Visitation
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Lauds

fol. 19v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Anne enthroned with Mary lactans
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Anne

fol. 23v:

1. 
2. Title: Mass of St. Gregory
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Devotional texts: Seven Verses of St. Gregory

fol. 26r:

1. 
2. Title: Emblematic design: sheaf of wheat within laurel wreath
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   Added early

fol. 26v:

1. 
2. Title: David penitent
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Seven Penitential Psalms (fragment)

fol. 27r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Michael defeating the Devil
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Michael

fol. 30v:

1. 
2. Title: Virgin mary bestowing milk upon St. Bernard
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Devotional texts

fol. 38r:

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

fol. 40v:

1. 
2. Title: Annunciation to two shepherds
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Terce

fol. 41r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Margaret issuing from dragon
3. Form: Large miniature

fol. 43v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Sebastian martyrred
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Sebastian

fol. 45v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Jerome in penance
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Jerome

fol. 47v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Catherine
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Catherine

fol. 49v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Rochus healed by an angel
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Rochus

fol. 50r:

1. 
2. Title: Flight into Egypt with falling idol in background
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Vespers

fol. 53r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Andrew
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Andrew

fol. 54v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Mary Magdalene
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Mary Magdalene

fol. 55r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Christopher carrying Christ on his shoulder
3. Form: Miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Christopher

fol. 56v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Elizabeth of Hungary giving bread to a beggar
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages: Suffrage to St. Elizabeth of Hungary

fol. 57v:

1. 
2. Title: God as Salvator Mundi
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Devotional texts: conclusion of unidentified prayer

Lower board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding by Léon Gruel with enamel plaque of Virgin as Mater Dolorosa
3. Form: Binding (lower board)
4. Comment:

   Binding and enamel plaque are nineteenth-century creations. Plaque done in imitation of seventeenth-century style.

The binding is not original.

Rebound during the nineteenth century by Léon Gruel in Paris; black leather; modern sewing; sixteenth-century style designs on sides with red, brown, and green inlays framing gilded fillets; enamel oval plaques (3.5 x 2.6 cm) of Christ (upper board) and the Virgin (lower board) inlaid at center of upper and lower boards; spine rounded and backed, "GRUEL" in gold at tail-edge; modern endbands in blue, yellow, and red; modern gilded edges; two gold edge-pin fastenings and clasps at fore-edge

Created ca. 1520-30 by workshop influenced by the Master of Charles V in Brussels (?) for owner or owner-couple with the monogram "H M" on fol. 15r

Inscription in lower margins on fols. 47v ("S. Catalina") and 54v ("Sancta Magdalen") indicate Spanish ownership, nineteenth century

Léon Gruel, Paris bookbinder and seller, ca. 1850-75, rebound; "GRUEL" stamped in red capitals on front endleaf

Peter Marié, New York City, 1903, his sale, lot 567, number written in pencil on front endleaf above entry "1100 [crossed out]/ 949/ Coat arms 56 1/2"; "hgx[?]" written in pencil on top right of last endleaf

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from George Richmond, New York City bookseller, between 1903 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. 807, cat. no. 313.

Marrow, James H. "Book of Hours: In Latin (with some marginal inscriptions in Dutch), Southern Netherlands, 1544, NYPL MA 60." In The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library. Edited by Lucy Freeman Sandler, James H. Marrow, and Jonathan J. G. Alexander. Harvey Miller Publishers, 2005: 301-4; p. 304, ref. under cat. no. 67.

Diringer, David. The Illuminated Book: Its History and Production. Revised edition. NY: Philosophical Library, 1967; p. 452, Pl. vii-33.

Verdier, Philippe. Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance at the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1967; cat. no. 206, illus. (lower cover).

Fox, Sally. The Medieval Woman: An Illuminated Book of Days. Boston: Bullfinch, 1985; illus. (f. 4).

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. 470.

Wieck, Roger S. Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life. Exhibition Catalogue. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. NY: George Braiziller, 1988; pp. 48-51, 218, cat. no. 105, fig. 15.

Collins, Marie and Virginia Davis. A Medieval Book of Seasons. London: HarperCollins, 1991; p. 131 (illus.).

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, 1992; p. 444 (ref. under cat. no. 192, W. 430).

Gathercole, Patricia M. Animals in Medieval French Manuscript Illumination. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995; p. 60.

Hindman, Sandra. "Times to Remember." Rare Book Review 34 (2006): 40-44; p. 43.

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. 531-39, cat. no. 297.

Henisch, Bridget Ann. The Medieval Calendar Year. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999; pp. 7 (as fig. 6-19), 66 (as fig. 3-7), 68 (fig. 3-7), 72 (as fig. 3-7), 76 (as fig. 3-7), 161 (as fig. 6-19), 162 (fig. 6-19), 163 (as fig. 6-19), 176 (as fig. 3-7).

Wieck, Roger S. "Prayer for the People: The Book of Hours." In A History of Prayer: The First to the Fifteenth Century. Edited by Roy Hammerling, 389-440. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2008; p. 423 (fig. 4).

Hammer, Gabriel. Bernhard von Clairvaux in der Buchmalerei: Darstellungen des Zisterzienserabtes in Handschriften von 1135-1630. Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2009; p. 420.

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Cataloger: Ransom, Allison

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Wallace, Susan

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Brown, Emily; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Schuele, Allyson; Shartrand, Emily; 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.