Hours of the Virgin and suffrages to saints
Texts and Images
The Hours of the Virgin, the core text in Books of Hours, received a large historiated initial for each of its eight offices, recited daily at the canonical times for prayer. Painted by two artists (Hands C and D), the initials show scenes from Christ’s Passion. Not found in contemporary Parisian manuscripts, this Passion cycle was common in Books of Hours from Brabant and Hainaut, and the diocese of Liège. Manuscripts from the same regions contain parallels for another unusual feature in this volume – the inclusion of the suffrages (short prayers) to saints within the Hours of the Virgin, after its second office, Lauds. Each suffrage received a historiated initial showing the relevant saint. Painted by a single artist (Hand C), the scenes are set against highly burnished gold grounds, occasionally combined with diapered patterns in blue or pink – a new type of background that would become more widely used in Parisian manuscript of the 1270s.
Ornamentation of the Hours of the Virgin, Matins
This type of gold and black initials and line fillers on blue and pink grounds characterise the work of the most skilled assistant (Hand 4). This is the only quire (17) with red and blue pen-flourished ornamentation added in the upper and lower borders. This is the work of another assistant, who was also responsible for the pen-flourished verse initials and ‘justification’ on the right side of the text, which appear in this and other quires. Quire 17 contains the beginning of the Hours of the Virgin and the additional ornamentation signals the importance of this text.