SPIRIT HORAE VERIFICATION

The saints that appear in the Calendar pages are documented in red. The Calendar in the Book of Hours keep track of the days by “…citing the feast that was celebrated on that particular day.” In Medieval times, most of these feasts were saints’ days (Wieck). The Calendar at the beginning of the book has some rubrication. Within these elements are sentences which are headed with a red ‘Ant’, ‘V.’, or ‘R.’ which guide the reader. Each of the Hours includes a hymn, psalm, a brief reading, and a prayer.

These are made apparent through rubrication. Within a Book of Hours, one will find that there are antiphons, versicles, and responses. Rubrication is used throughout this Book of Hours. Although the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis is a beautiful manuscript, the illumination is mild compared to some of the Books of Hours present in other collections.

Due to this fact, as well as the vast array of scribes that produced Books of Hours, there is great variation from book to book. However, the illumination of the book always coincided with the customer’s budget (Brown). Brown stated “Book of Hours were medieval best-sellers….” Most books were illuminated and incorporated miniature set just as the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis includes. Basically, the Book of Hours is a compiled book of different devotional texts, i.e. The Book of Hours is basically a condensed, shorter version of a Breviary, having many of the same rounds of prayers. These books were produced not only for aristocrats, but for ordinary family as well. The fifteenth century was a time when the Book of Hours was a very popular item to own.

SPIRIT HORAE VERIFICATION

This possibly narrows down the time period in which the book was produced, but there is still no verification of the exact time in which the book in particular was produced. François was an illuminator in fifteenth century Paris, who was active 1463-1481 (Wigley). It has been said that this particular Book of Hours was executed in the style of Maître François. This book was produced sometime between the year 14, which is a rather broad time span.

Spirit horae