Book of Hours

Suffrages to saints

Texts and Images

Each suffrage (short prayer) opens with a large miniature showing the saint – or an event from his or her life – and a full architectural or strewn-flower border.

St Peter holds a book and keys, St Paul a sword. The saints’ images exemplify the Master of James IV of Scotland’s remarkable skill as a portraitist. The architectural border was supplied by the Painter of Additional 15677.

Like the other two miniatures painted by the Master of James IV of Scotland, this image is characterised by the exclusive use of lead-tin yellow in yellow areas, the lack of significant impurities in the blue azurite, the presence of indigo in grey areas and of a copper pigment mixed with the clay-rich ochre, and the use of a copper carbonate or sulphate mixed with lead-tin yellow in green areas. The three architectural borders on these folios are the only ones amongst those analysed which contain mosaic gold.