Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1500] A personalised Parisian Book of Hours, intended to safeguard its owner during travel. The inclusion of a miniature depicting Tobias and the Angel is unusual: Raphael was venerated as a protector of travellers and as a healer, and the subject matter – taken from the apocryphal Book of Tobit – was popular among 15 th -century merchants . 164 x 110mm. i + 160 + i leaves, complete, modern foliation. 17 lines, ruled space: 85 x 50mm, panel borders throughout, fourteen large arch-topped miniatures with full borders and fifteen small miniatures (occasional pigment flaking on miniatures, noticeable on the faces of Sts John, Katharine and Mary Magdalene, with later retouching). Later 16th-century German panel-stamped pigskin over thin wooden boards, upper cover with Fides-Spes panel, lower cover with Crucifixion panel, clasps. Box. Provenance : (1) The saints included in the calendar indicate that these Hours were produced in Paris; particularly suggestive is the highlighting in gold of the feasts of Sts Genevieve (3 January) and Denis (9 October). (2) Two mottos appear on banderoles in the borders of ff.1-4, which were likely added upon completion of the manuscript around 1500: they read ‘Tart il fut’ and ‘Leale en cueur’, offering a clue as to the identity of the first owner, who also requested the inclusion of the miniature depicting Tobias and the Angel (f.1v) alongside a prayer against ailments and for safe travel. (3) The style of the current panel-stamped pigskin binding suggests these Hours came into German ownership in the second half of the 16th century. Content : ‘Hec sunt verba que papa leo misit ad carolum’: prayers said to have been sent to Charlemagne by Pope Leo, to be said against fire and drowning, to ensure a safe delivery for pregnant women, and to protect a traveller from ailments, ff.1v-4; Calendar, ff.5-16; Gospel extracts, ff.17-25; O intemerata , ff.25-27; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris, ff.28-88; Penitential Psalms, ff.89-100; Litany, ff.100v-105; Short Hours of the Cross, ff.106-109; Short Hours of the Holy Spirit, ff.110-112; Office of the Dead, use of Paris, ff.113-152; Suffrages, ff.153-160. Illumination : The illumination of these Hours was a collaborative effort between Parisian artists working in the circle of the Master of Jacques de Besançon (fl. Paris, c. 1480-1500); now identified as an illuminator named François le Berbier (see M. Deldicque, ‘L’enluminure à Paris à la fin du XVe siècle: Maître François le Maître de Jacques de Besançon et Jacques de Besançon identifiés’, Revue de l ’ Art , 2014, pp.9-18), his style was one of the most influential and widely-emulated in Paris during the second half of the 15th-century. Most recognisable in the present Hours is the hand of the Master of Étienne Poncher – suggested to have been an apprentice of the Master of Jacques de Besançon – and named after the French prelate, diplomat and bishop of Paris for whom he produced a Pontifical (Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat.956) and a second manuscript entitled Les empereurs de Rome et les roys de France (see I. Delaunay, É changes artistiques entre livres d ’heures manuscrits et imprimés produits à Paris vers 1480-1500 , 2000, pp.289-310): characteristic features of his style are the broad, ruddy-cheeked faces with lips dotted in red. The subjects of the large arch-topped miniatures are: Tobias and the Angel, f.1v, with a ship shown in a panel miniature in the border below; St John on Patmos, f.17; Annunciation, f.28; Visitation, f.49; Nativity, f.60; Annunciation to the Shepherds, f.66; Adoration of the Magi, f.70; Presentation in the Temple, f.74; Flight into Egypt, f.78; Coronation of the Virgin, f.84; David and Goliath, f.89; Crucifixion, f.106; Pentecost, f.110; Job on the Dungheap, f.113. The small miniatures are on: ff.18v; 20; 21v; 25;153; 153v; 154; 154v; 155v; 156; 156v; 157v; 158; 158v; 159.