INTRODUCTION

This blog will examine the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis. This particular manuscript is a Book of Hours, located in the Multnomah County Library’s John Wilson Rare Books Room. It has been determined that this Book of Hours was composed sometime in the fifteenth century, when Books of Hours were at the peak of popularity and were common household possession (De Hamel). A specific date or year is unavailable for this particular book. The creator of this manuscript is also unknown. This paper will examine this book in detail, investigating the context, author, and style in which the book was produced.

CONTEXT

This book was produced sometime between the year 1400 and 1499, which is a rather broad time span. It has been said that this particular Book of Hours was executed in the style of Maître François. François was an illuminator in fifteenth century Paris, who was active 1463-1481 (Wigley). This possibly narrows down the time period in which the book was produced, but there is still no verification of the exact time in which the book in particular was produced.


The fifteenth century was a time when the Book of Hours was a very popular item to own. These books were produced not only for aristocrats, but for ordinary family as well. The Book of Hours is basically a condensed, shorter version of a Breviary, having many of the same rounds of prayers. Basically, the Book of Hours is a compiled book of different devotional texts, i.e. psalms, prayers, etc. (De Hamel) As Michelle P. Brown stated “Book of Hours were medieval best-sellers….” Most books were illuminated and incorporated miniature set just as the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis includes. However, the illumination of the book always coincided with the customer’s budget (Brown). Due to this fact, as well as the vast array of scribes that produced Books of Hours, there is great variation from book to book. Although the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis is a beautiful manuscript, the illumination is mild compared to some of the Books of Hours present in other collections.

Book of Hours: Brandeis University Library Special Collection

Book of Hours: Friend for the University if Sydney Library

Although Books of Hours were present from the tenth century on, the standard form of the book was finally established in the thirteenth century. The book's the standard layout included the Calendar, a Litany of the Saints, Suffrages, Office of the Dead, the Penitential Psalms, the Gradual Psalms, and miscellaneous prayers. Other common sections included Hours of the Holy Spirit, Hours of the Trinity, Hours of the Passion, and the Short Office of the Cross (Brown). Within the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis, sections of the book include the Calendar, gospel lessons, prayers to the Virgin, Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Litany of Saints, Hour of Holy Cross, Hour of the Holy Spirit, and miscellaneous prayers (Wigley).

The exact time period of when this book was developed is unknown, but the location for which it was developed for is not as mysterious. The Book of Hours has a Calendar at the beginning like all Books of Hours. The Calendar can often be used to help establish where the Book of Hours was made to be used (Wieck). The Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis’ Calendar is in French, implying that it was made for French use. There is another way to decipher where the book was intended to be used. The way this is done, is by noting the antiphon and capitulum of the Prime and None in the Hour of the Virgin (a section of the Book of Hours). For example, if the antiphon for the Prime stated “Assumpta est…” and the capitulum stated “Quae est…”, while the antiphon for the None stated “Pulchra es…” and the capitulum stated “In plateis…” that would indicate that the book was meant for the use of Rome (De Hamel).

AUTHOR

The creator of the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis is unknown. The collection that holds the manuscript has credited the Catholic Church as the creator. In truth however, a Book of Hours was not an official book of the Church and was most commonly made by secular book sellers. These book sellers catered to the customer not the Church, and added to the book what the customer required, often adding personal prayers to the end of the book. In some instances, miniatures of the patron were included as well. Due to this fact there was quite a variation from one book to another (De Hamel).

THE BOOK: PHYSICAL CONDITION

This book is of rather small size, measuring 3 ¾ x 4 ¾ inches. In comparison to other Books of Hours that I have run across in my research, this book is very petite. The average measurements seem to be ten inches by eight inches or fourteen by eleven. There are other books on the smaller size, but the Book of Hours at the Multnomah County Library was I smallest I ran across.

This book of hours is written on fine vellum. Vellum is made from stretched calf’s skin, and was a common material used in manuscripts (Brown). This book is in imperfect condition. Five of the 26 folios are now missing from the book, and the top section of the first page has been ripped off.

The book was also bound with a plain vellum binding. Vellum bindings, like the material used for the folios, are made from an untanned calf’s hide. The hide must be soaked in lime, and scraped of all the fur, stretched and dried (University of Miami). There is no clasps presents, nor decoration of any kind on this binding.

COLLATION---HOW IT WAS PUT TOGETHER

This particular Book of Hours is composed of 121 folios. Most pages are composed of 18 lines in a single column. There are two pages with full page miniatures. On those pages there are only four lines of text. There is also ruling on the pages to provide a frame for writing and to guide the hand of the scribe. These marks are in a very faint pink ink. This use of colored ink was common to the fifteenth century Book of Hours (Brown).

SCRIPT/INK

The script used in this book seems to be a Gothic black-letter script. This kind of script is a more formal text script, which would explain why it would be used for a devotional book (Brown). The book is written mainly in Latin with some French. The use of Latin was standard for Books of Hours and, as stated previously, the Calendar pages of the book are in French, indicating French use.

Since this book was produced in medieval times, it is safe to assume that the ink used in this Book of Hours was a solution of gall and gum. Color came to the ink through the addition of iron salts of carbon. The fact that the ink of this book has faded to a reddish-brown color indicates the use of the iron salts (Brown).

RUBRICATION

Rubrication is used throughout this Book of Hours. Within a Book of Hours, one will find that there are antiphons, versicles, and responses. These are made apparent through rubrication. Each of the Hours includes a hymn, psalm, a brief reading, and a prayer. Within these elements are sentences which are headed with a red ‘Ant’, ‘V.’, or ‘R.’ which guide the reader. These will vary from book to book.

The Calendar at the beginning of the book has some rubrication. The Calendar in the Book of Hours keep track of the days by “…citing the feast that was celebrated on that particular day.” In Medieval times, most of these feasts were saints’ days (Wieck). The saints that appear in the Calendar pages are documented in red. It was also common for those saints’ names to be written alternately in red and blue (Hamel). This technique is not used in this particular Book of Hours. The saint names that appear in the Calendar pages include St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Eloy, St. Genevieve, St. Vincent of Sargossa, and St. Marcoul

ILLUMINATION/PAINTING

Within this Book of Hours, there are ten miniatures in total. There are eight smaller miniatures, and two full page miniatures. These tiny pictures are depicted with the use of many colors and are surrounded by full page illuminated borders. These borders are very elegant, and include flowers, fruit, and on a couple occasions, birds. The borders could possibly be considered a rinceaux border, due to the intertwined, fine foliated branched. Rinceaux was an ornament common to fifteenth century as well as the fourteenth century (Brown).

The first miniature in the book is on the recto side of the 13th folio. Here you see St. John of Patmos. In this miniature, you see the saint writing on a scroll near what appears to be water. Next to him is a bird of some sort. Red, gold, green and blue are the colors used in this miniature. Again, the picture is surrounded by a very floral and colorful border. The appearance fruit is most noticeable in this border. This page also includes 18 lines of script in black ink as well.

The next miniature is on the recto side of the 21st folio. This is the first full page miniature, which depicts the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. In this picture you see the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel. In the background a tent structure and a dove are present. Red, blue and gold are the colors that dominate this miniature. The border that surrounds this picture is floral, and on the right side, there is a rooster.

On the recto side of the 87th folio you see a miniature of King David in prayer. In this picture, King David is kneeling in prayer with his crown and a harp sitting next to him on the ground. Above him is an angel that appears to be holding a sword. In the background is a building structure. King David is wearing robes of blue, red and gold. The floral border is present, and on the right side there is a bird of some sort.

The rest of the remaining miniatures are smaller than the previous two. Along with the pictures, there are also floral borders, and 18 lines of text on each of these pages. The first of these is on the verso side of the 113th folio, and depicts the Man of Sorrows. This picture shows Christ wearing the crown of thorn, and shows the wound on his hands and side. He is standing in a white box and there is landscape in the background. White and green are the main colors seen here. This miniature is not as colorful as the others. The next miniature illustrates the Crucifixion and is located on the verso side of the 115th folio. You see Christ on the cross, with the halo. There is a landscape in the background. Like the previous miniature, this one is not as colorful as the others. White and green are the main colors seen. Yellow is used in the halo.

The remaining miniatures show various saints. The first is St. John the Baptist. This is located on the verso side of the 117 folio. St. John is dressed in a red and gold robe, holding a blue cushion with a small lamb sitting on it. There is use of a landscape background here are well. St. Anthony is next and is located on the recto side of the 118th folio. St. Anthony is dressed in a robe of gold and black. He is holding a walking stick. Standing next to him is lamb or goat that appears to be eating. There is also something red and flame-like at his feet. The next miniature is on the recto side of the 119th folio. This picture shows St. Marcoul reading from a book and holding a staff. He is dressed in a black robe. Behind him is a wall of red and black. A faint gold design on the red background is also apparent. This miniature appears to be a bit rubbed out compared to the others, making its color a bit dull. St. Catherine is found on the verso side of the 119th folio. This saint is dress in blue, with a gold cape. She is holding a black staff in one hand and an open book in the other. Again, you see the red and black background with the gold pattern on the red. The gold pattern stands out more in this miniature. The final saint that is depicted is on the verso side of the 120th folio. This is St. Barbara. She is wearing a blue dress with a red and gold cape. There seems to be a castle structure in the background.

The 10 miniatures are not the only illuminated elements of Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis. There are several very ornate initials throughout the book. The letters are embellished with gold, purple, blue, white, green, and red. Inside each of the letters is a colorful of flower. Gilt capitals are also used to indicate new sections in the book. Blue and red ink is used as well. Throughout the book the scribe alternated between the use of blue and red or blue and gold to make certain initials stand out. Gilt is also used in the line fillers, along with blue. Gilt capitals are also seen in the calendar pages to indicate the new month.

SUMMARY

The Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis located in the collection belonging to the Multnomah County Library is an excellent representation of a common Book of Hours that would be seen in fifteenth century France. This book contains all the basic elements of a standard Book of Hours. The beautiful miniatures, elegantly embellished initials, ornate borders, and gothic script provide an excellent example of the workmanship that went into these Books of Hours in the fifteenth century. “Books of Hours are now more widely scattered around the world than any other object made in the Middle Ages.” Many are in the hand of private collectors, though fair amounts are also in national and public libraries (Hamel). Patrons of the Multnomah County Library are fortunate to have access to such materials to gain insight to the time period.

REFERENCES

Brown, Michelle P. (1994). Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. Getty Publications.

De Hamel, Christopher (1994). A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. Phaidon Press Limited. 168-198.

University of Miami. Fine Leather Bindings: Vellum of Parchment Bindings. Retrieved
March 18, 2010, from http://scholar.library.miami.edu/bound/bindings.php?typeNo=1

Wieck, Roger S. (1997). Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art. George Braziller, Inc. (New York).

Wigley, D.D. (1976). The 15th Century Horae Beatae Maria Virginis in the Multnomah
County Library. Found in the John Wilson Rare Books Room.