Book of Hours of the Seven Deadly Sins

Book of Hours of the Seven Deadly Sins

Books of hours, also called horariums, were the most beloved and widely circulated handwritten codices of the Middle Ages by far. No other genre of book has survived to this day in such great numbers. Books of hours were intended for both the clergy and the laity and was essential reading in the Late Middle Ages in the circles of the rich, educated nobility. This type of books is a private prayer- and devotional-book, from which they would pray and meditate in their private chambers. The books of hours experienced the heyday of its artistry and popularity in the late 14th and 15th centuries in France and Flanders. The specimen at hand, the so-called Book of Hours of the Seven Deadly Sins, was designed in Flanders. It is one of the most outstanding examples of this exceedingly-artistic genre of manuscripts and distinguishes itself above all through its rich and unusual illumination.

A Multi-Faceted Book Genre

Even if there were fixed models and rules for books of hours, not every medieval book of hours is designed in the same way. Core elements of the books of hours consist of an Office of the Virgin Mary and the Office of the Dead. The designation ‘book of hours’ refers to the specific prayers that are to be recited at specific hours of the day. Originally beginning at midnight with the Matins, which was combined in the course of the years with the Lauds for practical purposes, from 6 in the morning, one prayed the Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline in three-hour rhythms. In books of hours, one also found the mnemonic Cisiojanus, which helped with the dating of the moveable feast days of the ecclesiastical year. An additional, fixed component of the composition of the book of hours is a text fragment with Penitential Psalms. A special characteristic of the Book of Hours of the Seven Deadly Sins is the splendidly vivid design of its Psalm excerpts.

A Unique Image Program

The Book of Hours of the Seven Deadly Sins was made in Flanders between 1460 and 1470. It contains 75 incomparably beautiful, full-page miniatures in splendid colors. Alongside the large-format miniatures, the masterpiece is additionally adorned with a total of 332 smaller miniatures in the margin strips of the book’s pages. The special characteristic of this gorgeous manuscript is the vivid design of its Penitential Psalms. In seven miniatures, the Seven Deadly Sins are depicted in a terrifyingly-exact manner. The pictures show King David as he commits the various sins of pride, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust and what consequences he must suffer because of his deeds. The sins were represented by animals in the process, e.g. the peacock stands with his erect tail as an example of excessive pride. All in all, this exceedingly-richly illustrated codex is one of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts that was produced in the 15th century.