Beschreibung:

Book of HoursTrilingual, in Latin, Netherlandish and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum. [Southern Netherlands (Bruges), 15th century (3rd quarter)]
i + 237 + leaves, c. 159 × 113 mm, a few leaves ruled, otherwise blank, collation uncertain, the calendar misbound, with June between January and February, apparently very nearly complete with only one leaf obviously missing, before fol. 97, ruled in pale red ink for 16 lines per page, written in a fine gothic textura script, rubrics in red, illuminated with 1- and 2-line initials in gold on red and blue grounds with white ornament, matching line-fillers, one four-line foliate initials with partial border at the ‘Obsecro te’, the beginning of major texts with FIFTEEN FOUR-LINE FOLIATE INITIALS ACCOMPANIED BY FULL BORDERS incorporating a kneeling figure praying the rosary and a figure seated on a bench, mermaids playing musical instruments, a squirrel playing a pipe, and various birds including peacocks, one fine SEVEN-LINE MINIATURE ACCOMPANIED BY A THREE-SIDED BORDER; sewn on three bands and bound in 20th-century blind-tooled brown leather, with two clasps.
PROVENANCEProbably made at and for use in Bruges, to judge by the calendar, litany, and subsequent provenance:St Godelieve is the only addition to the calendar (5 July), perhaps indicating that a late-15th or 16th-century owner lived at or near the Ten Putte Abbey, Gistel (about 13 miles / 20km west of Bruges).? A member of the Medici family: the foot of the spine blind-stamped with the Medici arms surmounted by a coronet.Unidentified 20th-century German(?) owner, with their bookplate depicting a 16th(?)-century scholar consulting a book in his library and the initials ‘CH’ in Fraktur capitals.
TEXT(fols. 1r–12v) Calendar, in Netherlandish, rather sparse, major feasts in red include Sts Basil (14 June), Bavo (1 October), and Donatien (14 October); St Bernardino, canonised in 1450, is included.(fol. 13r–16r) Prayers: Pater noster, Ave Maria, etc.(fols. 17r–24r) Hours of the Cross; this and the following hours with Netherlandish rubrics: ‘Hier beghinne theilighe cruus ghetide te mattene’, followed (fols. 24v–26v) by prayers with rubrics in Netherlandish or French, e.g. ‘Eene devote bedinghe an onsen heere Ihesum Christum’, ‘Salutacion tres devote a nostre s(eigneur)’.(fols. 27r–32r) Hours of the Spirit, ‘Hier beghinnet tghetide van den heilighen gheest te mattene’, fol. 32v ruled, blank.(fols. 33r–43v) Mass of the Virgin, ‘Hier beghint de messe van onser vrauwe’.(fols. 44r–110v) Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, ‘Hier beghint onser vrauwen ghetide naer de costume vanden houe van Rome te mattene.’; with Lauds 64r, prime 77r, terce 82r, sext 87r, none 92r, vespers starting imperf 97r, compline 105r, fols. 111r–113v ruled, otherwise blank leaves.(fols. 114r–147v) The Advent Office of the Virgin, ‘Hier beghint de officie van onser vrauwen die nien leist in den advent voor kerst dach te vesperen’, and ‘... van middewinter …’ (fol. 136r).(fols. 148r–159v) ‘Hier beghinnen de vij zalmen’, followed (fol. 159v–166v) by ‘de letenie’, with Donatian among the martyrs, and collects.(fols. 167r–173r) ‘Dits Obsecro. Obseco te …’, ‘Oratie. O intemerata …’, both using masculine forms.(fol. 173v–177r) ‘Salve sancte facies …’, written in verse; and other prayers including the Seven Verses of St Bernard.(fols. 177r–181r) Memoriae to Sts Cornelius, Adrian, Sebastian, Nicholas, James, and Appolonia.(fol. 181v–194v) Stabat mater and prayers to Michael, John the Baptist, Christopher (‘… michi famulo tuo .N. …’), Anthony, and others, and on various occasions (on entering a church, at the Elevation of the Eucharist, etc.), one with an indulgence of 2000 years granted by Pope Boniface.(fols. 194v–208r) Prayers, largely in French: ‘Oraison en francoys. Sire dieu tout puissant, tout voyant, …’, Oraison. Mon benoit dieu createur …’, etc.; fol. 208v ruled, otherwise blank.(fols. 209r–226v) Prayers, mainly in Latin and Netherlandish, with rubrics in any of the three languages, including (fol. 220v) a prayer to St Anthony of Padua.(fols. 227r–237v) Office of the Dead, of three lessons.
ILLUMINATIONAs is usual in Flemish Books of Hours, each major text starts on the recto of a new leaf, with a large initial and full border, so that the owner had the option of inserting miniatures on single leaves to face them and create double-page spreads; in the present case there is no clear evidence that such miniatures were ever inserted. One miniature, however, is integral and is painted by a far more accomplished artist than the painter of the borders:(fol. 173v) The Veil of Veronica: the face of Christ, on a white cloth, against a starry blue background The style is somewhat difficult to analyse, because the image is a careful copy of a (now lost) panel painting by Jan van Eyck of which many other examples can be found in manuscripts illuminated by Willem Vrelant and his circle: a dozen are reproduced and discussed by Bernard Bousmanne, ‘Item a 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 (Brepols, 1997), pp. 98–101. Standard features include the central parting of Christ’s long hair, his staring gaze, his moustache descending in two diagonals to a bifurcated beard, and the floriated form of the cross-nimbus behind his head. The present illuminator seems to have been particularly struck by van Eyck’s attention to details such as the eyelashes and eyebrows, and the modelling of his cheeks.