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53-548: According to Thomas Kren and his colleagues, five distinct artists worked on the Spinola Hours, which Kren describes as "the most pictorially ambitious and original sixteenth-century Flemish manuscript". The last portion and perhaps the management of the project was by the Master of James IV of Scotland (of Ghent), usually thought to be the same person as the documented Gerard Hourenbout , whose notname comes from his participation in

106-622: A fashion that spread across Europe from the Valois courts of France and the Burgundy , as well as Prague under Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and later Wenceslaus . A generation later, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy was the most important collector of manuscripts, with several of his circle also collecting. It was during this period that the Flemish cities overtook Paris as the leading force in illumination,

159-521: A knack for depicting narrative, and would frequently use obscure Biblical images when constructing his paintings; his scenes of daily life, designed for calendar illuminations, are considered particularly vivid. Most importantly, the Master was interested in experimenting with the layout of his drawings on the page. Using various illusionistic elements, he often blurred the line between the miniature and its border, frequently using both in his efforts to advance

212-663: A position they retained until the terminal decline of the illuminated manuscript in the early 16th century. The most famous collector of all, the French prince John, Duke of Berry (1340–1416) owned several books of hours, some of which survive, including the most celebrated of all, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry . This was begun around 1410 by the Limbourg brothers , although left incomplete by them, and decoration continued over several decades by other artists and owners. The same

265-523: A set of roundels with small scenes in color illustrating the notable feats of the month, and at bottom a roundel with an image of the relevant sign of the Zodiac , which is named below. Down the opposite side of the page, a narrow field in grisaille has statue-like figures of saints and architectural decoration. Along the top of the page, a band with small brown grisaille figures, with gold highlighting, occupy themselves with games and sports. The artists from

318-593: Is also attributed to him. The Master of the Lübeck Bible is most known for his distinctive figures, as they were smaller in comparison to other figures done by the other artists. The faces, while still expressive, are less detailed and shown to be in a loose technique. The Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 , was perhaps based in Bruges. Normally known for his genre scenes of everyday life, his pair of miniatures in

371-625: Is in the Prayer book of James IV and Queen Margaret , a book of hours commissioned by James and now in Vienna. He has been called one of the finest illuminators active in Flanders around 1500, and contributed to many lavish and important books besides directing an active studio of his own. Stylistically, the Master's miniatures are distinguished by their collections of robust and unidealized figures, set against colorful landscapes and detailed interiors. He had

424-631: Is made up of primarily male saints and includes Evangelist portraits, The Last Judgement (fol. 165v) , Saint John the Baptist Preaching (fol. 276v) , as well as the illustrations to various accessory texts. The Master of the Dresden Prayerbook painted openings for lauds and prime (fols. 119v-120) of the Hours of the Virgin . The Mocking of Christ in the border surrounding Christ before Caiaphas

477-530: Is recorded in 1529 as married to a John Palmer and in England. Book of hours Books of hours ( Latin : horae ) are Christian prayer books , which were used to pray the canonical hours . The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages , and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript . Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours

530-542: Is the coat-of-arms of the Spinola family of Genoa. (Both the Spinola Hours and the Tres Riches Heures share a nearly identical central coat-of-arms, but there is no connection between the two). The first three-quarters of the Spinola Hours reflect visible artistic consistency; however, anomalies in the gatherings and inconsistencies in border size start to appear closer towards the end of the book. The script used throughout

583-614: Is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and psalms , often with appropriate decorations, for Christian devotion. Illumination or decoration is minimal in many examples, often restricted to decorated capital letters at the start of psalms and other prayers, but books made for wealthy patrons may be extremely lavish, with full-page miniatures . These illustrations would combine picturesque scenes of country life with sacred images. Books of hours were usually written in Latin (they were largely known by

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636-558: Is very unusual, if not unique, perhaps mainly included as an act of diplomacy. Some of the borders framing the text pages imitate carved wood or textiles, but most have the usual flowers, berries, and insects, here very carefully depicted. Some of the pages with large miniatures use this style (for example The Stigmatization of Saint Francis illustrated below), but many use the Ghent-Bruges school style of different narrative images in "windows". In some cases these show different aspects of

689-497: The Agpeya of Coptic Christianity or The Brotherhood Prayer Book of Lutheranism. The book of hours has its ultimate origin in the Psalter , which monks and nuns were required to recite. By the 12th century this had developed into the breviary , with weekly cycles of psalms, prayers, hymns , antiphons, and readings which changed with the liturgical season. Eventually a selection of texts

742-509: The Hours of James IV of Scotland , now in Vienna . He alone is credited for forty-seven of the illuminated pages. The other four artists are likely to have worked to his overall plan, in their own workshops. One or more artists from the workshop of the 'Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximilian' painted twenty-four miniatures, eight were credited to the ' Master of the Lübeck Bible ', three to

795-624: The "Vatican Hours" and two detached miniatures in the Cloisters Museum . On large projects he often collaborated with other masters. For example, in the Mayer van den Bergh Breviary , he was one of at least 12 artists who contributed to the decoration. Gerard Horenbout was court painter, from 1515 to about 1522, to Margaret of Austria , Regent of the Netherlands. He then went, with his son Lucas Horenbout and daughter Suzanna , to England, where he

848-487: The ' Master of the Dresden Prayerbook ', and two to the ' Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 ', these two last of Bruges . No signs of collaboration on individual illuminations were identified in this manuscript. The identity of the specific patron is still unknown. Margaret of Austria , daughter of Mary of Burgundy and Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515, is one possibility, as some of

901-511: The 15th and 16th centuries as well as the iconography of medieval Christianity. Some of them were also decorated with jewelled covers, portraits, and heraldic emblems. Some were bound as girdle books for easy carrying, though few of these or other medieval bindings have survived. Luxury books, like the Talbot Hours of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury , may include a portrait of the owner, and in this case his wife, kneeling in adoration of

954-478: The 15th century, there are also examples of servants owning their own Books of Hours. In a court case from 1500, a pauper woman is accused of stealing a domestic servant's prayerbook. Very rarely the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners, but more often the texts are adapted to their tastes or gender, including the inclusion of their names in prayers. Some include images depicting their owners, and some their coats of arms . These, together with

1007-712: The Boussoit family (Bouswa in Dutch); Kren & McKendrick suggest these are not the same. The 18th-century leather binding of the Spinola Hours has a central coat-of-arms indicating it then belonged to the Spinola family of Genoa , whose name it has retained. Ambrogio Spinola was the highly successful Captain-General of the Army of Flanders for the Spanish Habsburgs from 1603 to 1629, which might explain how it passed to them. The book

1060-567: The Cross . Most 15th-century books of hours have these basic contents. The Marian prayers Obsecro te ("I beseech thee") and O Intemerata ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass , and meditations on the Passion of Christ , among other optional texts. Such books of hours continue to be used by many Christians today, such as the Catholic “Key of Heaven” prayer books,

1113-566: The Holy Spirit, Penitential psalms, litanies, prayers for the dead, and suffrages to the Saints. The book's goal was to help his devout patroness to structure her daily spiritual life in accordance with the eight canonical hours, Matins to Compline, observed by all devout members of the Church. The text, augmented by rubrication, gilding, miniatures, and beautiful illuminations, sought to inspire meditation on

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1166-516: The Master of James IV, showcases a framed panel in a special red text "incipiu[n]t hore beate marie virginis secundu[m] usu[m] Romanu[m]. Ad matutin[as]" , 'Beginning the Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to the usage of Rome. Matins '. The Holy Trinity Enthroned (fol.10v) is one of the earliest fully painted illustrations featured in the Spinola Hours by the Master of James IV. Each of

1219-532: The Spinola Hours (fols. 125–126) follow the style of the book, with the landscape in ' The Adoration of the Shepherds continued in another "window" baside it. The Hours of the Virgin Mary is a principal text in the Spinola Hours; unlike many other book of hours where the leading text is presented during the beginning, it does not begin until a third of the way into the book. The Annunciation (fol. 92v) illustrated by

1272-418: The Spinola Hours from H.P Kraus. Later that same year, the entire Ludwig collection was sold en bloc to the new J. Paul Getty Museum. The Spinola Hours is larger than many other Books of Hours , consisting of ink on parchment with tempera colors and gold leaf . The manuscript is bound in eighteenth-century dark red leather with a gold floral border on both front and back covers. In the center of each cover

1325-504: The Spinola Hours is Gothic. Both red and gold coloring would be used to emphasize a particular text. In addition to the fairly invariable texts for a book of hours , such as the Hours of the Virgin and the Office for the Dead , there is a "special series of weekday offices and masses", mostly illustrated by images including those of saints such as Saint Francis of Asissi . The prayer by Pope Leo X

1378-558: The Virgin and Child as a form of donor portrait . In expensive books, miniature cycles showed the Life of the Virgin or the Passion of Christ in eight scenes decorating the eight Hours of the Virgin , and the Labours of the Months and signs of the zodiac decorating the calendar. Secular scenes of calendar cycles include many of the best known images from books of hours, and played an important role in

1431-463: The artists had worked for this major patron. Also the binding is similar to that of the Tres Riches Heures , which many scholars believe to have once belonged to her. In addition, Gerard Hourenbout , a court artist who illuminated the Sforza Hours and served under Margaret of Austria, was either the same person as, or was at least associated with, the Master of James IV. The only unusual element in

1484-455: The borders and decor surrounding the miniatures can be credited to him as well; these borders apparently acted as the base example for the other four artists. He, probably with help from his workshop, also produced the calendar pages. These have several different parts: at the bottom a wide scene showing the relevant Labour of the Month , below the "window" with the actual calendar, then along one side

1537-399: The choice of saints commemorated in the calendar and suffrages, are the main clues for the identity of the first owner. Eamon Duffy explains how these books reflected the person who commissioned them. He claims that the "personal character of these books was often signaled by the inclusion of prayers specially composed or adapted for their owners." Furthermore, he states that "as many as half

1590-673: The early history of landscape painting . From the 14th century decorated borders round the edges of at least important pages were common in heavily illuminated books, including books of hours. At the beginning of the 15th century these were still usually based on foliage designs, and painted on a plain background, but by the second half of the century coloured or patterned backgrounds with images of all sorts of objects, were used in luxury books. Second-hand books of hours were often modified for new owners, even among royalty. After defeating Richard III , Henry VII gave Richard's book of hours to his mother, who modified it to include her name. Heraldry

1643-446: The eight canonical hours of the day, the reasoning behind the name 'Book of Hours'. Many books of hours were made for women. There is some evidence that they were sometimes given as a wedding present from a husband to his bride. Frequently they were passed down through the family, as recorded in wills. Until about the 15th century paper was rare and most books of hours consisted of parchment sheets made from animal skins. Although

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1696-494: The emerging middle-class could afford to buy a printed book of hours, and new manuscripts were only commissioned by the very wealthy. The Kitab salat al-sawai (1514), widely considered the first book in Arabic printed using moveable type , is a book of hours intended for Arabic-speaking Christians and presumably commissioned by Pope Julius II . As many books of hours are richly illuminated, they form an important record of life in

1749-614: The hours typically centered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers. A typical book of hours contains the Calendar of Church feasts , extracts from the Four Gospels , the Mass readings for major feasts, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary , the fifteen Psalms of Degrees , the seven Penitential Psalms , a Litany of Saints , an Office for the Dead and the Hours of

1802-502: The images found within these books would be personalized to the owners—such as localized saints and local festivities. By at least the 15th century, the Netherlands and Paris workshops were producing books of hours for stock or distribution, rather than waiting for individual commissions. These were sometimes with spaces left for the addition of personalized elements such as local feasts or heraldry. The style and layout for traditional books of hours became increasingly standardized around

1855-445: The main works decorated in the related metalcut technique. In the 14th century the book of hours overtook the psalter as the most common vehicle for lavish illumination. This partly reflected the increasing dominance of illumination both commissioned and executed by laymen rather than monastic clergy. From the late 14th century a number of bibliophile royal figures began to collect luxury illuminated manuscripts for their decorations,

1908-409: The manner of later family bibles. Some owners had also collected autographs of notable visitors to their house. Books of hours were often the only book in a house, and were commonly used to teach children to read, sometimes having a page with the alphabet to assist this. Towards the end of the 15th century, printers produced books of hours with woodcut illustrations, and the book of hours was one of

1961-518: The middle of the thirteenth century. The new style can be seen in the books produced by the Oxford illuminator William de Brailes who ran a commercial workshop (he was in minor orders ). His books included various aspects of the Church's breviary and other liturgical aspects for use by the laity. "He incorporated a perpetual calendar, Gospels, prayers to the Virgin Mary, the Stations of the Cross, prayers to

2014-429: The most heavily illuminated books of hours were enormously expensive, a small book with little or no illumination was affordable much more widely, and increasingly so during the 15th century. The earliest surviving English example was apparently written for a laywoman living in or near Oxford in about 1240. It is smaller than a modern paperback but heavily illuminated with major initials, but no full-page miniatures. By

2067-415: The mysteries of faith, the sacrifice made by Christ for man, and the horrors of hell, and to especially highlight devotion to the Virgin Mary whose popularity was at a zenith during the 13th century." This arrangement was maintained over the years as many aristocrats commissioned the production of their own books. By the end of the 15th century, the advent of printing made books more affordable and much of

2120-505: The name horae until "book of hours" was relatively recently applied to them), although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. The closely related primer is occasionally considered synonymous with books of hours – a medieval horae was referred to as a primer in Middle English  – but their contents and purposes could deviate significantly from

2173-759: The narrative of his scenes. The Master's work is sometimes associated with the work of the Master of the Lübeck Bible . Major works include the largest contribution to the Spinola Hours in the Getty Museum , "the most pictorially ambitious and original sixteenth-century Flemish manuscript", the Grimani Breviary in Venice, the Holford Hours in Lisbon (1526, probably his last work), the " Rothschild Prayerbook " (or "Hours"),

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2226-482: The same episode; in others the scenes are on the face of it showing completely different incidents, and their connection is more subtle. There is only one full-page miniature with no text in it in the manuscript; this is Saint John the Baptist Preaching (fol. 276v) . The Master of James IV of Scotland is attributed the first 14 pages of the Weekday Hours , with pairs of illuminated pages facing each other. Many of

2279-485: The simple recitation of the canonical hours. Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, in libraries and private collections throughout the world. The typical book of hours is an abbreviated form of the breviary , which contains the Divine Office recited in monasteries . It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. Reciting

2332-425: The surviving manuscript Books of Hours have annotations, marginalia or additions of some sort. Such additions might amount to no more than the insertion of some regional or personal patron saint in the standardized calendar, but they often include devotional material added by the owner. Owners could write in specific dates important to them, notes on the months where things happened that they wished to remember, and even

2385-488: The text is the inclusion of a prayer written by the Medici Pope Leo X (f. 290v), who became pope in 1513 and died in 1521. It seems likely that the manuscript (which no doubt took several years to complete) largely dates from his reign, which does not conflict with other approaches to dating, such as the artists' careers. Christiane Van den Bergen-Pantens suggested in 2000 that a coat-of-arms on f. 185 may be those of

2438-650: The three figures is distinguishable from the waist up but share only one robe, this symbolism is part of the Christian belief that Trinity is made up of three persons and one substance. Red encased text identifies the following text as the prayer of Matins of the Hours of the Holy Trinity, naturally to be read on Sunday. The black text begins with a line from Psalm 50: " Domine labia mea aperies", ' Lord, open my lips'. Master of James IV of Scotland The Master of James IV of Scotland ( fl. ca. 1485 – ca. 1526)

2491-423: The workshop of the Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximilian made the second largest contribution to the miniatures in the book, creating twenty-four. Thomas Kren sorts his figures into two categories, the first set of figures are identified as primarily female saints. There were more distinct pink tones in the skin, large broad heads, and exhibited no gray undertones often found in his illuminations. The second set

2544-525: Was a Flemish manuscript illuminator and painter most likely based in Ghent , or perhaps Bruges. Circumstantial evidence, including several larger panel paintings , indicates that he may be identical with Gerard Horenbout . He was the leading illuminator of the penultimate generation of Flemish illuminators, and the Ghent-Bruges school . The painter's name is derived from a portrait of James IV of Scotland which, together with one of his Queen Margaret Tudor ,

2597-486: Was in a private collection and "completely unknown" to specialists when it was put up for auction at Sotheby's on July 5, 1976. The Royal Library of Belgium was prepared to bid up to $ 500,000, but the dealer Hans P. Kraus secured it for $ 750,000 (£370,000), at the time "a staggering figure for such a late book of hours". In 1983, Dr. Peter Ludwig (1925-1996) and his wife Irene Ludwig (1927-2010) of Aachan and Cologne , chocolate billionaires and art collectors, purchased

2650-488: Was produced in much shorter volumes and came to be called a book of hours. During the latter part of the thirteenth century the Book of Hours became popular as a personal prayer book for men and women who led secular lives. It consisted of a selection of prayers, psalms, hymns and lessons based on the liturgy of the clergy. Each book was unique in its content though all included the Hours of the Virgin Mary, devotions to be made during

2703-566: Was recorded in 1528 (Lucas had been there since 1525 at least), and later returned to the Continent, probably after 1531; he had died in Ghent by 1540. It has been suggested that their move was in connection with an attempt by the King, or possibly Cardinal Wolsey , to revive English manuscript illumination by establishing a workshop in London, but this is controversial. Susanna, who was also an illuminator,

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2756-471: Was true of the Turin-Milan Hours , which also passed through Berry's ownership. By the mid-15th century, a much wider group of nobility and rich businesspeople were able to commission highly decorated, often small, books of hours. With the arrival of printing, the market contracted sharply, and by 1500 the finest quality books were once again being produced only for royal or very grand collectors. One of

2809-493: Was usually erased or over-painted by new owners. Many have handwritten annotations, personal additions and marginal notes but some new owners also commissioned new craftsmen to include more illustrations or texts. Sir Thomas Lewkenor of Trotton hired an illustrator to add details to what is now known as the Lewkenor Hours . Flyleaves of some surviving books include notes of household accounting or records of births and deaths, in

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