Walters Ms. W.431, Book of Hours (Use of Rome)

W.431

Book of Hours (Use of Rome)

Book of Hours

Created in the fifteenth century and rebound slightly later, this small Book of Hours may still appear much as a sixteenth-century viewer saw it. In that period, it was covered in either Belgium or England with an opulent red velvet embellished with silk and silver embroidery. The manuscript itself was produced in Flanders around 1480-1490, and was likely destined for Cambrai, as indicated by the selection of saints in the calendar. Painted by a group of artists referred to as the Associates of the Master of Antoine Rolin, the manuscript contains several interesting full-page miniatures representing St. John the Evangelist and the Pentecost painted in blue grisaille; a similar grisaille technique was used in the Suffrages to create sculpture-like figures of the saints evoked in the prayers. Full-color miniatures introduce each hour, while illusionistic borders enhance several folios throughout the book.

Ca. 1490-1500 CE

Flanders (Mons?)

Supplied name: Associates of the Master of Antoine Rolin

Book

Devotional

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

Parchment

Thin to medium-weight, well-prepared parchment; considerably cropped, sometimes trimming tops of calligraphic ascenders at top of page or catchwords and signatures at bottom page; gilt edges

Foliation: i+145+iii

First folio and last three folios are ruled but left blank

Formula: Quire 1: 2, with first folio bifoliate with front pastedown (fol. 1); Quire 2-15: 8 (fol. 101 skipped in foliation in quire 14), (fols. 2-114); Quire 16: 8, with sixth folio cancelled (fols. 115-121); Quire 17-18: 8 (fols. 122-137); Quire 19: 8, with ninth folio hooked at end (fols. 138-146); Quire 20: 4, with fourth folio used as back pastedown (fols. 147-149)

Catchwords: Some catchwords beginning on fol. 25v, on last verso of quire, lower right corner, between vertical ruling and spine-edge

Signatures: Visible on lower right corners, rectos, fols. 138r-141r, "qi" to "qiii"

Comments:

8.5 cm wide by 11.5 cm high

4.8 cm wide by 7.1 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 16

fols. 2r - 146r:

1. Title: Book of Hours
2. Hand note: Written in well-formed littera batarda
3. Decoration note: Eight full-page miniatures, two in blue grisaille and the others in full color; illusionistic borders throughout book; initials on blue and pink ground for major text divisions (3-4 lines); smaller initials for minor divisions (1-2 lines); rubrics in red; text in brown ink

fols. 2r - 13v:

1. Title: Calendar
2. Rubric: Januarius habet dies xxxi. luna xxx.
3. Contents: Calendar one fourth- to half-full, graded in red and brown; contents suggest Cambrai; some saints added early; saints of note include: Hilary (Jan. 12), Anspert (Jan. 24, "Aubert," bishop of Rouen), Waldetrudis (Feb. 3, normally Apr. 9), Landelinus (June 15), Margaret (July 12), Christopher (July 26), Gaugeric (Aug. 11), Hermes (Aug. 27), Gaugeric (Sept. 24, "Elevatio sancti gaugerici), Maxellendis (Nov. 13), Autbert (Dec. 13), Nicasius (Dec. 14)

fols. 14r - 14v:

1. Title: Prayers for confession in French
2. Rubric: Sensuivent les trois verite que a fait et compose mestre Iehan Gerson iadis chancelier de Paris ... (line 13) La premiere.
3. Incipit: Sire dieu iay pechiet contre ta bontet
4. Contents: Three prayers for confession written by Jean Gerson (1363-1429), former chancellor of the University of Paris

fols. 17v - 22v:

1. Title: Gospel sequence
2. Rubric: Initium sancti evangelii secundum Iohannem. gloria tibi Domine.
3. Incipit: In principio erat verbum
4. Hand note: Full-page miniature with decorated borders fol. 17v

fols. 23r - 26r:

1. Title: Hours of the Cross
2. Incipit: Domine labia mea
3. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 23r

fols. 26v - 29v:

1. Title: Hours of the Holy Spirit
2. Incipit: Domine labia mea
3. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 26v

fols. 30r - 77r:

1. Title: Hours of the Virgin
2. Incipit: Domine labia mea
3. Contents: Use of Rome
4. Hand note: Full-page miniature with decorated borders fol. 30r

fols. 77v - 80r:

1. Title: Prayer on the Sorrow of the Virgin
2. Incipit: Stabat mater dolorosa
3. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 77v

fols. 82r - 92r:

1. Title: Seven Penitential Psalms
2. Incipit: Domine ne in furore tuo
3. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 82r

fols. 92r - 97v:

1. Title: Litany, petitions, and collects
2. Rubric: Letania
3. Incipit: Kirieleyson
4. Contents: Fols. 92r-95r: Litany, with fifteen apostles/evangelists/innocents from Peter to Mark; twenty-three martyrs including Quintinus, Eustace, Maurice, Dionysius, Erasmus, and Blasius; sixteen confessors/doctors/priests including Leonard, Bernard, Francis, Louis, Eligius, Aegydius, and Dominic; thirteen virgins, including Mary Magdalene, Mary Egyptian, Clare, Juliana, and Ursula; fols. 95r-97r: Petitions, cues, and invocations; fols. 97r-v: Two collects

fols. 98r - 114v:

1. Title: Devotional sequence
2. Incipit: Obsecro te Domina sancta maria mater dei
3. Contents: Devotional sequence: fols. 98r-103r: Obsecro te; fols. 103r-105v: O intemerata; fols. 105v-114r: Suffrages, to the Holy Spirit and the Cross; eight single and one pair of male saints, namely, SS. Michael, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, Christopher, Sebastian, Adrian, Anthony, Nicholas, and Quintinus; SS. Mary Magdalene and Barbara; a single suffrage to five male privileged saints, namely, Dionysius, George, Vincent, Blasius, and Aegydius; a single suffrage to five female privileged saints, namely, Catherine, Margaret, Martha, Christina, and Barbara
4. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 98r; images of saints fols. 106v, 107r-v, 108r-v, 109v, 110r-v, 111r-v, 112r-v, and 113v

fols. 115r - 146r:

1. Title: Office of the Dead
2. Rubric: Antiphona
3. Incipit: Placebo [Domino]. Dilexi quoniam exaudiet Dominus
4. Contents: Use of Rome; five collects, the first specifying "N" for name of the deceased
5. Hand note: Full-page illumination with decorated borders fol. 115r

fol. 17v:

1. 
2. Title: St. John on Patmos
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Gospel Sequence: John 1:1

fol. 23r:

1. 
2. Title: Crucifixion
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Cross: Matins

fol. 26v:

1. 
2. Title: Pentecost
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Hours of the Holy Spirit: Matins

fol. 30r:

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

fol. 77v:

1. 
2. Title: Lamentation
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Stabat Mater

fol. 82r:

1. 
2. Title: David kneeling in prayer
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Seven Penitential Psalms

fol. 98r:

1. 
2. Title: Virgin and Child
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Obsecro te

fol. 106v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Michael slaying the dragon
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Michael

fol. 107r:

1. 
2. Title: St. John the Baptist with Lamb
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. John the Baptist

fol. 107v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Peter and Paul
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to SS. Peter and Paul

fol. 108r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Christopher
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Christopher

fol. 108v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Sebastian
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Sebastian

fol. 109v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Adrian
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Adrian

fol. 110r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Anthony
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Anthony

fol. 110v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Nicholas blessing three resuscitated youths at left, revered by three female recipients of dowries at right
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Nicholas

fol. 111r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Quintinus martyred
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Quintinus

fol. 111v:

1. 
2. Title: St. Mary Magdalene
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Mary Magdalene

fol. 112r:

1. 
2. Title: St. Barbara
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to St. Barbara

fol. 112v:

1. 
2. Title: Five male saints
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to five male saints
5. Label: St. Dionysius carrying his head; St. George slaying dragon in foreground; SS. Blasius, Christopher, and Aegydius in background

fol. 113v:

1. 
2. Title: Five female saints
3. Form: Marginal illumination
4. Text: Devotional sequence: Suffrage to five female saints
5. Label: SS. Catherine and Margaret in foreground; SS. Martha, Christina, and Barbara in background

fol. 115r:

1. 
2. Title: Skeleton with arrow and black mirror
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Office of the Dead: Vespers

The binding is not original.

Sixteenth-century tawed skin over thin boards; covered with red velvet case embroidered with triple silver thread wound around yellow-brown silk thread, outline design on both covers of two inverted hearts, surrounded by foliate flowers

Made in the region of Mons for the use of Cambrai, ca. 1490-1500

Leo Olschki, Florence, ca. 1900; inv. no. 31351 penciled on fol. 1r

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Olschki and unpacked in Baltimore on Nov. 10, 1912, according to James Anderson inventory (now in WAM archives)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

Brinkmann, Bodo. Die flamische Buchmalerei am Ende des Burgunderreichs. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997; pp. 219, 221, 229, Amm. 346.

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. 806, cat. no. 309.

Legaré, Anne-Marie. "The Master of Antoine Rolin: A Hainaut Illurninator Working in the Orbit of 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. 209-222. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1992; pp. 214, 215: fig. 201, 218, 222.

Miner, D. The History of Bookbinding, 525-1950 A.D, exhibition catalogue. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1957; p. 144, cat. no. 343.

Oikonomides, N.A. "Σημείωμα γιὰ τὸ Τραπεζουντιακὸ Εὐαγγέλιο 531 τῆς Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore)." Ἀρχεῖον Πόντου 39 (1984). 145-148.

Wieck, R.S., L.R. Poos, V. Reinburg, and J. Plummer. Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life, exhibition catalogue. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. New York, 1988; pp. 105, 136, 217: no. 101, figs. 75, 131.

Legaré, Anne-Marie et al. Le livre des échecs amoureux. Paris: Chêne, 1991; pp. 85, 93, 94, fig. 17.

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. 455-459, cat. no. 285.

Bütner, Frank O. "Ce Sera Moy." In "Als Ich Can": Liber Amicorum in Memory of Professor Dr. Maurits Smeyers, edited by Bert Cardon, Jan Van der Stock, and Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, vol. 1, 243-315. Leuven: Peeters Press, 2002; p. 254.

Kren, Thomas. "Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy and/or Workshop/Followers, Simon Marmion, Master of the Dresden Prayerbook, and Lieven van Lathem." In Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, edited by Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick, 142-146. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003; p. 146 (ref. under cat. no. 20).

Millet, Hélene. "Eustache Deschamps, précoce témoin de la dévotion aux a saints privilégies." In Eustache Deschamps, témoin et modèle: Littérature et société politique (XIVe-XVIe siècles), edited by Thierry Lassabatere. Paris: Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2008; pp. 163, 165, 170.

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Cataloger: Valle, Chiara

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Wallace, Susan

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bucca, Lauren; Emery, Doug; 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.