Hours of the Virgin Mary

During the Late Middle Ages, the book of hours emerged as the most popular form of manuscript. These small, personalized prayer books were carried on one’s person, usually in a small bag or attached to the belt, as a sign of one’s prosperity as well as piety and as such were adorned with luxury bindings in addition to the rich artistic furnishings of its pages with expensive paints and gold leaf. Their growing popularity was a sign of greater individual autonomy and private piety – both factors in the emerging movements of Humanism and the Reformation. This book of hours contains the Latin text of the Hours of the Virgin, consisting of the various “Hours” or prayers to be said at certain times of day: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. These usually consisted of Psalms in combination with various prayers, hymns, and readings. Eight full-page miniatures, one for each of the first seven hours with the last corresponding to the Office of the Dead, all of them in rich double-pages with sumptuous initials and floral borders resembling altarpieces and triptychs. This small work of art is a fine specimen of 15th century Flemish illumination, arguably the zenith of medieval book art. It likely originated from Bruges, which was the economic and artistic heart of Flanders at the time. The miniatures exhibit the influence of the great masters Hans Memling (ca. 1430–94) and Willem Vrelant (d. 1481/82), even if their artists cannot be identified with certainty. All of this artistic grandeur is contained in a luxury leather binding with gold embossing.