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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Crucifixion, with Catherine of Cleves
Master of Catherine of Cleves
Hours of Catherine of Cleves for Windesheim use, The Netherlands, Utrecht, c. 1440, for Catherine of Cleves (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.917, p. 160). |
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Miraculous Bleeding Host of Dijon
Robinet Testard
Hours for Rome use, France, Poitiers, c. 1475 (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.1001, f. 17v). |
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Man of Sorrows and Virgin Praying
Jean Colombe
Hours of Anne of France for Rome use, France, Bourges, 1470s, probably for Anne of France (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.677, ff. 37v-38r). |
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Vera Icon
Master of Jean Chevrot
Hours for Rome use, Belgium, Bruges, c. 1450 (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.421, f. 13v). |
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Christ Child
Master of Charles V
Hours of Charles V for Rome use, Belgium, Brussels, c. 1540, for Emperor Charles V (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.696, fols. 40v-41r). |
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St. John the Baptist presents the Patron to the Virgin and Child
Master of the “Bible Historiale”
Hours for Paris use, France, Paris, c. 1400 (Private Collection, f. 110). |
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God in Glory at the Last Judgment
Troyes Master
Hours, for Troyes use France, Troyes, c. 1390 and 1450 (Private Collection, f. 131). |
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Crucifixion, with Catherine of Cleves
Master of Catherine of Cleves |
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The manuscript was made for Catherine of Cleves, duchess of Guelders and countess of Zutphen, who clearly asked for, and received, one of the richest Books of Hours ever created. Not only are there 157 miniatures (9 others are missing), but they are also framed by borders of remarkable inventiveness. Planned with extraordinary care, the book luxuriates in pictures and texts. It contains, for example, a cycle of illustrated Weekday Hours plus a complete set of illustrated weekday Masses. Reproduced here is the miniature for the Saturday Mass of the Virgin. The miniature illustrates how Christ--the God-Man--is the uniquely qualified mediator between God and man. It also illustrates how Mary plays the vital roles of mediatrix for mankind, coredemptrix with Christ, and dispensatrix of God's grace.
The anonymous illuminator is named after this masterpiece, the greatest of all Dutch Books of Hours. His rich palette, extraordinary powers of observation, and facility with complex iconography rank the Cleves Master as one of the greatest of all illuminators.
Hours of Catherine of Cleves for Windesheim use, The Netherlands, Utrecht, c. 1440, for Catherine of Cleves (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.917, p. 160). |
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Miraculous Bleeding Host of Dijon
Robinet Testard |
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The Bleeding Host of Dijon was a true late medieval wonder. According to legend, this Communion wafer was desecrated by a Jew and miraculously began to bleed. Installed in the Sainte Chapelle of the Chartreuse de Champmol by Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy, it was destroyed in 1794 by a Revolutionary mob. In the nineteenth century, scientists discovered Micrococcus prodigiosus (microbe of miracles), bacteria that, settling on food or bread kept in the dark, produces a reddish culture resembling blood.
Images of the wafer (less than ten are known) usually accompany the Eucharistic prayer, “O salutaris hostia.” Here, however, the host occurs without the prayer; the owner must have known it by heart. The wafer is stamped with an image of Christ as Judge, arms outstretched and flanked by the instruments of the Passion. Drops of blood dot the surface like wounds from a scourging; some form a ring around the perimeter, a reference, no doubt, to the crown of thorns.
Hours for Rome use, France, Poitiers, c. 1475 (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.1001, f. 17v).
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Man of Sorrows and Virgin Praying
Jean Colombe |
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This Book of Hours has unusually rich cycles of pictures. Among the many unusual pictures in the book are the two reproduced here, a Man of Sorrows and the facing image of Mary in Prayer. They form a diptych introducing the “Stabat Mater.” The beaten and bleeding Christ is painted half-length, bringing his body as close as possible to the picture plane; his humble eyes glance down and away, but they also appear as if, at any moment, they might actually look up at us. The Virgin is presented as the model worshiper--quiet, attentive, thoughtful.
As the arms of France and the emphasis on the name Anne indicate, this very special manuscript was apparently a gift to Princess Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy. Charlotte employed the artist, Jean Colombe, from 1469 to 1479. Native of Bourges, Colombe established a prolific atelier there from the 1460s to the 1490s. Influenced by both Jean Fouquet and Barthélemy van Eyck, Jean's style is distinctively his own. His finer works, such as these Horae, exhibit a delicate, engagingly fastidious brushwork.
Hours of Anne of France for Rome use, France, Bourges, 1470s, probably for Anne of France (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.677, ff. 37v-38r).
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Vera Icon
Master of Jean Chevrot |
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The prayer to the holy face of Christ, the “Salve sancta facies,” was widespread, especially in Flemish Horae. Pictures thought to reproduce Veronica's Veil, the famous relic preserved since ancient times in St. Peter's in Rome, almost always accompany this petition since indulgences could be gained only if the prayer is recited while looking at an image of the Redeemer's visage. This miniature is of particular interest because it is one of the earliest, most faithful, and most complete of the surviving copies of Jan van Eyck's version of the Vera Icon, the original of which is lost. The image is loaded with gold and (now oxidized) silver inscriptions: the surrounding frame quotes the prayer's second stanza and the opening words of the third, and the four corners are inscribed “Rex Reg[um] D[omi]n[u]s D[omi]nanciu[m]” (King of Kings, Lord of Lords).
The Master of Jean Chevrot was named by Anne van Buren after the two frontispieces he painted in a two-volume manuscript of St. Augustine’s City of God that was made for Bishop Jean Chevrot of Tournai in 1445 (Brussels, Bibl. Roy., MSS 9015-16). He had a firsthand knowledge of Eyckian designs.
Hours for Rome use, Belgium, Bruges, c. 1450 (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.421, f. 13v).
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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Christ Child
Master of Charles V |
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Prayers in Books of Hours were sometimes accompanied by rubrics promising great salvific merit. The miniature reproduced here was clearly inspired by the prayer's opening words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God the all-powerful Father, you who are Lord of the angels, Son of the Virgin Mary....” Paralleling these words, the Savior is represented as the Christ Child holding the cross-surmounted globe of the world, entertained by angels, his sex openly revealed in reference to his humanity.
The Master of Charles V is named after one of his prayer books in Vienna (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1859), a manuscript datable between 1516 and 1519. It is possible that the “Master” of Charles V is more likely a workshop.
Hours of Charles V for Rome use, Belgium, Brussels, c. 1540, for Emperor Charles V (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.696, fols. 40v-41r).
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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St. John the Baptist presents the Patron to the Virgin and Child
Master of the “Bible Historiale” |
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Beginning around 1400, French Books of Hours often include a series of prayers written in French known as the Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, which celebrated the major joyful events of Mary’s life. Divided into two parts, they each begin with a direct address to “Sweet lady” (Doulce dame) and then ask her to intervene for the salvation of the praying soul. The line in the prayer, “and I kneel 15 times in front of your blessed image,” inspired artists to paint the female owner of the book kneeling in prayer before the Virgin. In this miniature, John the Baptist, as a patron saint, presents an elegantly dressed, courtly woman to the Virgin.
Named for a Bible Historiale (Paris, BnF MS fr. 159), a grand manuscript given to the Duke of Berry, this artist is thought to have been trained in the Netherlands, appeared in Paris around 1400, and cannot be traced after 1405. Hours for Paris use, France, Paris, c. 1400 (Private Collection, f. 110).
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| 9. |
Accessory Texts |
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God in Glory at the Last Judgment
Troyes Master |
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Combined with the Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, the Seven Requests to our Lord, written in French, was an almost mandatory inclusion in French Horae of the fifteenth century. Each concluding with an “Our Father,” the Seven Requests beseech the Lord to take pity on the poor sinner as he pitied his Mother, his disciples, Saint Peter, and even the thieves crucified beside him on the cross. In keeping with the text, the prayer was frequently illustrated with a Last Judgment, such as this one, where Christ, showing his wounds, is seated on the rainbow throne as he returns to judge the living and the dead.
This early Book of Hours includes high quality illumination by the individualistic Troyes Master, an artist who produced many manuscripts for patrons located in the area of Champagne, including a Missal for the Church of Evry-le-Chatel near Troyes.
Hours, for Troyes use France, Troyes, c. 1390 and 1450 (Private Collection, f. 131).
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