The Hours of Philip the Bold

Hours of the Virgin

Texts and Images

Each of the eight Hours of the Virgin, recited daily at the canonical times for prayer, opens with a large miniature depicting an event in the Virgin’s life. The eight miniatures are accompanied by fully illuminated ornamental initials and secular scenes in the lower borders.

The miniature exemplifies the tendency of the Master of the Grandes Heures to leave out architecture, even when the subject-matter requires it, and to include only minimal, essential props. The bas-de-page scene depicts an apocryphal story about the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. Asked by one of King Herod’s soldiers whether he had seen the Holy Family pass, a peasant replied that they had come by when he was sowing. With his crops miraculously grown, the soldiers gave up their pursuit.