File:Book of Hours, Use of Rome (IA 1945 65 11).pdf

Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 1945‑65‑11. France, Mid 15th century. This is a small Book of Hours for the Use of Rome produced in Northern France in the mid-fifteenth century. It contains seventeen arch-topped miniatures and one full-page miniature. The book begins with a calendar in Latin (pp. 1-24) and continues with the Gospel Lessons (pp. 25-33). The Hours of the Virgin (pp. 35-125) is introduced with by large miniature of the Annunciation and a border containing a vignette of the Virgin Mary weaving, and includes seven further large miniatures in the usual order. The Hours of the Cross (pp. 127-132) and Hours of the Holy Spirit (pp. 133-138) begin with large miniatures of the Crucifixion and Pentecost, respectively. The following section, introduced by an inhabited initial of the Virgin and Child with an angel, contains the variants of the Hours of the Virgin for Advent and Christmastide (pp. 139-161). The Penitential Psalms, litany, and prayers (pp. 163-193) are introduced by a large miniature of King David in Prayer surrounded by a foliate border inhabited by jesters, musicians, and a woman with a mirror. The Office of the Dead (pp. 195-251) is introduced by a large miniature showing the digging of a grave for a funeral. This is followed by the Credo, in French, and two prayers of the Conception, in a slightly later hand (pp. 252-254). The Obsecro te (pp. 255-265) is introduced by a large miniature of the Virgin and Child with two musical angels. Next comes a prayer in French, O mon dieu et créateur trèspuissant... and the Prayer to Christ on the Seven Words spoken from the Cross (pp. 265-274), followed by a rhyming prayer in French, Ung seul dieu to créateur, tu serviras et ameras... (pp. 275-276). The suffrages, which each begin on a new page introduced by a large miniature, are dedicated to Saints John the Evangelist (pp. 277-278), Anthony (pp. 279-280), Catherine (pp. 281-282), and Margaret (pp. 283-284). A series of prayers to the Virgin are added in a different hand at the end of the volume (pp. 284-285), followed by a miniature of Saint Adrian surrounded by the interlaced initials I-Z, probably added circa 1480-1500. An early inscription on p. 34, in Italian, alludes to Ippolita Maria Sforza, Duchess of Calabria (either Ippolita Maria Sforza, 1446-1484, or her granddaughter of the same name, 1493-1501), while a less formal inscription on p. 262 appears to read Votre serviteur Jeanne. The late-sixteenth-century fanfare binding indicates that the book was owned by the Parisian musical printer, Lucrèce Dugué (1544-1615).