File:Book of Hours, Use of Chartres (IA 1945 65 10).pdf

Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 1945‑65‑10. France, Circa 1445-1475. This Book of Hours for the Use of Chartres was made circa 1445-1475 and contains a calendar in French (pp. 1-24), Gospel Lessons (pp. 25-35), prayers to the Virgin (pp. 36-50), the Hours of the Virgin (pp. 55-134), the Hours of the Cross (pp. 135-141), the Hours of the Holy Spirit (pp. 142-148), the Penitential Psalms, a Litany, and prayers (pp. 149-182), and the Office of the Dead (pp. 183-208). It contains seven large miniatures, all with full borders, showing Saint John the Evangelist (p. 25), the Virgin and Child (p. 36), the Annunciation (p. 55), the Crucifixion (p. 135), Pentecost (p. 142), King David praying (p. 149), and a funeral (p. 179). These have all been substantially retouched, and this is especially noticeable in the faces and areas of skin. The fifteenth-century painting has, however, also been described as run of the mill especially when compared to the above average script and initials. Compared to many contemporary Books of Hours this manuscript has relatively few miniatures, but this does not seem to result from later excision. Rather, the divisions between the different texts of, for example, the Canonical Hours have been simply marked with large illuminated initials and partial spray borders.