note (text)
This high-quality Flemish Book of Hours, probably produced in Bruges around the turn of the sixteenth century, is written in a fine Northern Rotunda script. It contains nine full-page miniatures attributed to the Master of Edward IV (active in Bruges between about 1470 and 1500), each of which is on the verso side of an inserted folio, facing the first page of the relevant text. Miniatures and their facing incipit pages are surrounded by lavish strewn-flower borders typical of the so-called Ghent-Bruges school. The flowers are painted in a naturalistic manner over a thin gold-wash ground, which is frequently inhabited by moths, birds, flies, and occasional zoomorphic or anthropomorphic creatures. The book's calendar is followed by the prayer to the Face of Christ, the "Salve sancta facies," introduced by an image of the Salvator Mundi along whose neckline the words "DOMINUS. DOMINUS" are discernable (fol. 16v). In a manner typical of Flemish Books of Hours, the Hours of the Cross and Hours of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Mass of the Virgin, precede the Hours of the Virgin; these sections are introduced by miniatures of the Crucifixion (fol. 18v), Pentecost (fol. 23v), and Virgin and Child (fol. 28v). The Hours of the Virgin itself contains miniatures of the Annunciation (fol. 35v) and Visitation (fol. 47v) for Matins and Lauds respectively, but no miniatures for the subsequent hours, which follow seamlessly without page breaks. The Penitential Psalms occur next, introduced by a miniature of the penitent King David (fol. 78v). The Office of the Dead begins with a miniature showing the Raising of Lazarus (fol. 91v). The final section, opening with an image of the Agony in the Garden (fol. 116v), contains readings from the Passion according to the four Evangelists. The upper and lower pastedowns of the book are original ruled blank pages, and are integral to the book block.
note (deco)
full-page miniatures with full inhabited floral bordersred, blue, and gold decorated initials and line fillers throughout
