Simon Bening's Flowers Book of Hours

Simon Bening's Flowers Book of Hours

The so-called Flowers Book of Hours is not only one of the most beautiful and splendid masterpieces by the famous illuminator Simon Bening, it is simultaneously counted among the most valuable illuminated manuscripts that was ever made. The religious text of the work is designed according to the internationally available pattern of medieval books of hours. It begins with a calendar, followed by an introductory prayer and excerpts from the four Gospels. Further textual components are an Office of the Virgin, Office of the Dead, as well as penitential Psalms and prayers to high saints. The manuscript displays an incomparable variety of various design patterns. Nearly every page of the private devotional and prayer book is artistically illustrated. Alongside 70 enchanting full-page miniatures, the manuscript contains over 300 pages with uniquely plastic decorations from patterns of plants and animals.

The Flemish Master of Book Art

Simon Bening, son of the miniaturist Alexander Bening, was born in the Belgian city of Bruges ca. 1483. He learned the craft of illumination in the workshop of his father. During his education, he became familiar with the works of great book-artists like Gerard Horenbout, with whom he would produce the greatest illuminated manuscripts of the Netherlands a few years later. Bening began to work independently from 1500 on and in was accepted into the illuminators’ guild of Bruges in 1508. That was a privilege that was awarded to only the most gifted masters of the discipline. By 1525 at the latest, Simon Bening was the undisputed star of the illumination scene in the Late Middle Ages. The Portuguese diplomat and humanist Damião de Góis named him “the best master of book illustration in all of Europe”. His handmade, unique illuminated manuscripts are kept safe in the most-renowned museums worldwide.

Unmistakable Illumination

The Flowers Book of Hours has, for several reasons, a unique and unrivalled position in the history of medieval manuscripts. For a start, there is no other work of this kind that effectively contains decorations on every page of text. Colorful patterns in an unending variety of designs and lavish gold adornment beam across from the beholder on every page. Equally astounding is the manner in which Simon Bening interpreted his artistic examples in his painting. He experimented with the most varied models in his miniatures, from panel paintings from the Old Dutch painter Hugo van der Goes to the engravings of the of the copperplate engraver and painter Martin Schongauer. He modified these masterful examples unbelievably creatively in his own pictures, combining them with new artistic ideas and expanded them with unmistakable individual motifs.

The Charming and Creative Likenesses of the Work

The full-page miniatures of the Flowers Book of Hours reproduce an astonishingly broad spectrum of typical medieval activities and customs. 12 lovingly designed calendar pictures show everyday scenes from the life of the predominantly peasant population. One shows farmers, as they perform their work in the field through the course of the year. Likewise, the miniatures show typical leisure activities that one pursued as pastimes in the Middle Ages. Boat parties and sled-rides are among them, even a knight’s tournament is depicted. The fantastical pictures were accompanied by unbelievably imaginative and plastic-looking marginal decorations. Playful patterns of buds and flowers of every kind, of little birds and insects, were set in the bordures of the scenes. Bening was able to lend his fantastical depictions an incomparably plastic and real appearance through his shadowy outlines. Without a doubt, the Flowers Book of Hours is a unique masterpiece of medieval book art.