Books of Hours

Its imposing size, exceptionally fresh like-new condition, and original blind-stamped upper cover make this book entirely unusual among surviving Books of Hours. Elegant calligraphy and fine, delicate penwork surrounded by wide clean margins on untrimmed pages gracefully accommodate the numerous brightly colored paintings by the Master of the Beady Eyes.

80 folios, missing calendar, otherwise complete (collation: i-x⁸), quires numbered in the lower right corner of the first folio, ‘a’ through ‘k’ (skipping ‘j’), written in dark brown ink a regular gotica formata on 21 long lines (justification 148 x 102 mm.), rubrics in red, decorated throughout with floral sprays for all the two-line initials, 1-line initials alternating in blue and goldleaf with red and purple penwork, 13 LARGE MINIATURES, 11 small miniatures, larger 5-line initials accompanying all the large miniatures, with full borders of acanthus, flowers, and goldleaf, initials alternating blue and red, infilled with white tracery on a goldleaf ground with floral infill of blue and red vines in excellent, clean condition with very wide margins.  Bound in modern brown calf incorporating original upper cover of stamped plaques of fleur de lis and ivy leaves, attributed to Antoine de Gavere.  Dimensions 260 x 187 mm. (binding 280 x 195 mm.).

Provenance

1. Made in Bruges based on the illumination and the binding, which can both be attributed to craftsmen in that town.  The Master of the Narrow Eyes was a frequent collaborator with other Bruges painters of the third quarter of the fifteenth centu1y, especially Willem Vrelant and the Master of the Gold Scrolls, although he is thought to have worked primarily in Ghent not in Bruges.

The manuscript must have been intended, however, for someone living in St.-Omer because of the presence of St.-Omer saints in the litany:  Winnoc, Audemar, Bertin, in particular. St. Bavo, patron saint of Ghent, is also present.  St.-Omer is located approximately 100 kilometers from Bruges and probably did not have a flourishing school of illumination at the time, thus leading patrons to a nearby and well-known center. 

2. Private Collection USA

Text

f. 1-4, Short Hours of the Cross;

f. 5-7v, Short Hours of the Holy Spirit;

f. 8-10v, Mass of the Virgin;

f. 10v-13, Gospel Sequences;

f. 13-43v, Office of the Virgin, Matins (f. 13v), Lauds (f. 22); Prime (f. 27v), Terce (f. 30); Sext (f. 32v); None (f. 35); Vespers (f. 37v); Compline (f. 47v);

f. 44-48, Advent office of the Virgin;

f. 48v-58, Seven Penitential Psalms and Litanies (ff. 53v-56);

f. 58v-77, Office of the Dead (use of Rome);

f. 77-78v, Obsecro te (for masculine use) and ff. 78v-80, O intemerata

Illustration

The 13 full-page miniatures are:

f. 1, Crucifixion;

f. 5, Pentecost;

f. 8, Virgin and Child enthroned with angels;

f. 13v, Annunciation;

f. 22, Visitation;

f. 27v, Nativity;

f. 30, Annunciation to the Shepherds;

f. 32v, Adoration of the Magi;

f. 35, Presentation in the Temple;

f. 37v, Massacre of the Innocents;

f. 41v, Flight into Egypt;

f. 48v, Last Judgment;

f. 58v, Raising of Lazarus.

The subjects of the 11 small miniatures follow:

f. v, Christ before Pilate (Prime);

f. 2, Flagellation (Terce);

f. 2v, Bearing of the Cross (Sext);

f. 3, Crucifixion (None);

f. 3v, Deposition from the Cross (Vespers); 

f. 4, Entombment (Compline); 

f. 10v, St. John and his symbol, the eagle and the cup;

f. 11v, St. Luke writing and his symbl, the ox;

f. 12, St. Matthew writing and his symbol, and angel;

f. 13, St. Mark writing and his symbol, the lion;

f. 77, Virgin and Child.

The attractive borders and stylistic features of the Annunciation miniature, with its chequered floor, silvered latticed windows, textile hanging and distinctive palette of red and blue, are characteristic of the style associated with the Masters of the Beady Eyes (Maîtres des yeux bridés). Named after a distinctive linear manner of indicating eyes, this group of illuminators was active mainly in Ghent in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. They followed the style of the Masters of the Gold Scrolls who had dominated manuscript illumination in Bruges from the 1410s to the 1450s. The figures are more elongated than those of Vrelant or the Master of the Gold Scrolls, perhaps suggesting the influence of Van Eyck’s famous altarpiece which would have been in place since the 1430s.

Its imposing size, exceptionally fresh like-new condition, and original blind-stamped upper cover make this book entirely unusual among surviving Books of Hours. Elegant calligraphy and fine, delicate penwork surrounded by wide clean margins on untrimmed pages gracefully accommodate the numerous brightly colored paintings by the Master of the Beady Eyes.

Here, Vrelant's somewhat rigid figure types and his compositions with sparse landscapes and the Cold Scroll Master's backgrounds are both evident. Especially in the smaller pictures, the bright fresh colors and the animated figures create a lively impression The music playing angels accompanying the Virgin echo a theme popularized in Memling's paintings. And the unusual inclusion of a sculpted retable of the Sacrifice of Isaac in the Raising of Lazarus reminds us that Brugese and Ghent were  also centers for sculptors, who belonged to the Guild of Saint Nicolas. Bookbinding likewise took a special course in Bruges, and the type of panel stamped binding displayed here was popularized by the famous De Gavere family of binders and shows that leather (instead of velvet and textile) gained acceptance for personal use among the upwardly mobile classes.

Literature

Bousmanne, Bernard and Theirry Delcourt, eds. Miniatures Flamandes, 1404-1482, Paris, 2011.

Clark, G. “Mass production: The Masters of the Gold Scrolls,” Splendour of the Burgundian Netherlands, eds. As-Vijvers, A. M. W. and A. S. Korteweg, Utrecht, Zwolle, and The Hague, 2018, pp. 96-109.

Dogaer, G. Flemish Miniature Painting in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Amsterdam, 1987, pp. 27- 31, and 99 ff.

Kren, Thomas and Scot McKendrick. Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550, London, 2003.

Smeyers, Maurits. L’Art de la miniature flamande, VIIIe aux siècle, Tournai, 1998, pp. 234-236.

Winkler, Friedrich. Die Flämische Buchmalerei des XV und XVI Jahrhunderts: Künstler und Werke von den Brüdern van Eyck bis zu Simon Bening, Leipzig, 1925.

Online Resources

Delaissé, L. Le Siècle d'or de la miniature flamande: le mécénat de Philippe le Bon, Brussels, 1959
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bp

BOH 254