Rohan Hours
Encyclopedia
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
book of hours
Book of Hours
The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and...
, painted by the anonymous artist, the Rohan Master, between 1430 and 1435, in the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
style. It contains the usual offices, prayers and litanies in Latin, along with supplemental texts, decorated with 11 full page, 54 half page, and 227 small miniatures
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
, decorated with tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
paints and gold leaf. The book margins are decorated with Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
miniatures with captions in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
, in the style of a Bible moralisée
Bible moralisée
The Bible moralisée. is a later name for the most important of the medieval picture bibles, sometimes called "biblia pauperum", though they were extremely expensive, to have survived. It is a heavily illustrated illuminated manuscript of the thirteenth century, and from the copies that still...
. The full page illuminations are renowned for the highly emotional and dramatic portrayal of the agonies of Christ and the grief of the Virgin. According to Millard Meiss, "The Rohan Master cared less about what people do than what they feel. Whereas his great predecessors excelled in the description of the novel aspects of the natural world, he explored the realm of human feeling." Meiss concludes that the Rohan Master was the "greatest expressionist in 15th century France." Today, this manuscript is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Patron
The Hours was probably commissioned by Yolande of AragonYolande of Aragon
Yolande of Aragon, , was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son...
(also Iolanthe, Jolantha, and Violant), daughter of Juan I of Aragon, Duchess of Anjou (1380–1443) for her nephew, Charles, the Dauphin of France. Yolande was the widow of Louis II
Louis II of Naples
Louis II of Anjou was the rival of Ladislaus as King of Naples. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou.-Biography:...
, Duke of Anjou (reigned 1384–1417). In 1422, Yolande married her oldest daughter to Charles, in which case this book could have been commissioned as a wedding gift. Yolande was the protector and mentor of Charles, who would be crowned Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
in 1429. Duchess Yolande was a strong supporter of Joan of Arc.
An alternate theory suggests that The Hours was commissioned by the House of Rohan, as indicated by their arms shown on some of the pages (blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
: gules, in chief seven mascles
Lozenge (heraldry)
The lozenge in heraldry is a diamond-shaped charge , usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the lozenge but narrower, though the distinction has not always been as fine and is not always observed even today...
d’or). The commission would have been made in 1431 to celebrate the marriage of Charles of Anjou
Charles of Le Maine
Charles du Maine was the third son of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon.In 1434, he married Cobella Ruffo Charles du Maine (Château de Montils-lez-Tours, 1414 – 1472, Neufvy-en-Touraine) was the third son of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon.In 1434, he married Cobella Ruffo...
, Count of Maine
Maine (province)
Le Maine is one of the traditional provinces of France . It corresponds to the old county of Maine, with its center, the city of Le Mans.-Location:...
, to a daughter of Alain IX of Rohan, however that marriage never took place.
Other scholars suggest that Yolande of Aragon commissioned this book of hours for her daughter, which is unlikely, because the Latin prayers have masculine endings.
Artists
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
attributed to the master, plus a further one there and others elsewhere attributed to artists close to him. The BnF
BNF
BNF may stand for:In science:*Biological nitrogen fixation, a process that converts nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia*British National Formulary, the standard drug reference manual**British National Formulary for Children...
also has a Boccaccio by him and his workshop.
The Rohan Master’s miniatures are highly emotional. He used the angle of the face, hair, gestures, and draping of veils and clothing to convey his figures’ emotions. Such expressiveness was not usual in 15th century France. Meiss suggests that the Rohan Master came from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, or Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, the homeland of his patroness, Yolande.
The majority of the book was illuminated by workshop assistants. The full page Crucifixion (f. 27, Pl. 33) and the majority of the half page miniatures were probably done by a second, lesser illuminator in the workshop. The style of the workshop was greatly influenced by the Bedford
Bedford Master
The Bedford Master was an manuscript illuminator active in Paris during the fifteenth century. He is named for the work he did on two books illustrated for John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford between 1415 and 1435. One is the Bedford Hours, a Book of Hours, in the British Library; the other, a...
and Boucicaut
Master of Boucicaut
The Boucicaut Master or Master of the Hours for Marshal Boucicaut was an anonymous French or Flemish miniaturist and illuminator active in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, particularly active between 1400 and 1430 in Paris...
Masters. And, the iconographic models for many of the assistants’ illuminations came from the Limbourg Brothers
Limbourg brothers
The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg , were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy, working in the style known as International Gothic...
, and the Angevin Bible, Bible moralisée. The copied Bible moralisée illuminations in the margins were done rather quickly and imperfectly by two or three minor painters from the Rohan workshop.
Provenance
After Yolande’s death, the manuscript passed to her son, René of AnjouRené I of Naples
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...
. In the early half of the 15th century, it was in the possession of Isabella Stuart, Duchess of Brittany
Duke of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the northwestern peninsula of Europe,bordered by the Alantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north with less definitive borders of the Loire River to the south and Normandy to the east...
(ca. 1426-1494), who added her arms in the corners of folio 135r, left. Her youngest daughter, Mary of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, married John II, Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
of Rohan. The Hours may have passed to the House of Rohan at that time. In the 17th century, it was owned by the Jesuits. In 1784, it was sold to the Royal Library by the Duke of La Vallière. Currently, The Rohan Hours is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Description
VellumVellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
, 239 folios, 11.4 x 8.3 in. (290 x 210 mm), with 11 full page, 54 half page, and 227 small miniatures, decorated with egg tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
colors and gold leaf
Gold leaf
right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
. An Old Testament miniature is painted in the margin of each page, which does not have a full page miniature. Each Old Testament miniature has a caption in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
. This marginal series forms a secondary book, a Bible moralisée. Several folios are missing; the manuscript originally had 15 full page miniatures. The four missing full color pages are: The Nativity; The Adoration of the Magi; the first page of the Penitential Psalms, usually depicting King David; and the first page of the Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, usually depicting the Virgin.
Contents
Books of hours were extremely popular in the late medieval times. In the 15th century, these books were becoming status symbols. The books were intended for regular use, by lay people, who wished to structure their devotional life. Each book of hours starts with a calendar. The feasts of the saints are usually marked out in gold, blue, or red; hence the term, red letter day. The particular saints invoked in the Litany can provide clues to the area where the book was made, or the place where the book was intended to be used. Each month in The Rohan Hours depicts the appropriate zodiacZodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
sign, a list of saints’ days, and a miniature scene of the work usually done in that month. By the beginning of the 15th century, the calendar was followed by a Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
lesson from each of the evangelists. In The Rohan Hours, the Gospels are accompanied by evangelist portrait
Evangelist portrait
Evangelist portraits are a specific type of miniature included in ancient and mediæval illuminated manuscript Gospel Books, and later in Bibles and other books, as well as other media. Each Gospel of the Four Evangelists, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, may be prefaced by a portrait of...
s, showing the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
writing as medieval scribe
Scribe
A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...
s, and showing their symbols: John, an eagle; Luke, an ox; Matthew, an angel; and Mark, a lion.
Observing the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
centered upon the recitation, or singing, of a number of psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, which are accompanied by prayers, specified by the eight hours of the liturgical day. The core text of a Book of Hours is the Little Office of the Virgin
Little Office of Our Lady
The Little Office of Our Lady also known as Hours of the Virgin is a liturgical devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in imitation of, and usually in addition to, the Divine Office in the Roman Catholic Church...
. This series of hourly prayers was prayed to the Mother of God, who co-mediates and sanctifies the prayers to God. Two prayers, Obsecro te, "I beseech thee," and O intemerata, "O chaste one," were extremely popular. They are personal addresses to the Virgin. This was the logical place for the person, who commissioned the book, to include his or her portrait. The Latin masculine or feminine endings used in these personal prayers can provide a clue to the gender of the original owner. The Rohan Hours was intended for a male owner.
At the beginning of each hour, the artists portrayed a standard cycle of illuminations, based on the life of the Virgin. The Rohan Hours contains The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Annunciation to the Shepherds, The Presentation in the Temple
Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante...
, The Flight into Egypt
Flight into Egypt
The flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of Matthew , in which Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary and infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi because they learn that King Herod intends to kill the infants of that area...
, and The Coronation of the Virgin
Coronation of the Virgin
The Coronation of the Virgin or Coronation of Mary is a subject in Christian art, especially popular in Italy in the 13th to 15th centuries, but continuing in popularity until the 18th century and beyond. Christ, sometimes accompanied by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove,...
. The Nativity
Nativity of Jesus in art
The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...
and The Adoration of the Magi from the cycle are presumed lost.
The Penitential Psalms
Penitential Psalms
The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 . These are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'penitential psalms' by St. Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century...
were recited to help one resist the temptation of committing any of the Seven Deadly Sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
. The prayers in the Office of the Dead
Office of the Dead
The Office of the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours in the Roman Catholic Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day for all souls in Purgatory, and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent...
were prayed to shorten the time a loved one spent in Purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
. Supplementary texts were added to celebrate any personal patron, family saint, special circumstances, or a fortuitous event.
The Suffrages are short prayers to saints, asking them to intercede on behalf of the petitioner. The prayers were often accompanied by portraits of the saints, with the symbols or their martyrdom, or the attributes of their patronage. The Suffrages were arranged in a particular hierarchy: God, Christ, the Virgin Mary, the angels, Saint John the Baptist, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and women saints. This standard pattern of daily prayer provided the framework for the artists' efforts.
This book of hours contains:
-
-
- A Calendar of feast days,
- Fragments of the four Gospels,
- Fragments of the Passion,
- Various prayers to Christ and the Virgin,
- The Five Sorrows of the Virgin,
- The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
- The Seven Penitential PsalmsPenitential PsalmsThe Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 . These are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'penitential psalms' by St. Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century...
, - Various litanies and prayers,
- The Hours of the Cross,
- The Hours of the Holy Spirit,
- The Fifteen Joys of the Virgin,
- The Seven Petitions to Our Lord,
- Prayer to the True Cross,
- Office of the DeadOffice of the DeadThe Office of the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours in the Roman Catholic Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day for all souls in Purgatory, and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent...
, - The Suffrages, a Memorial of the Saints, and
- Stabat Mater.
-
On every page not occupied by a full page miniature, The Hours has a marginal scene from the Old Testament. As a whole, this series of marginal miniatures forms a secondary book, a Bible moralisée
Bible moralisée
The Bible moralisée. is a later name for the most important of the medieval picture bibles, sometimes called "biblia pauperum", though they were extremely expensive, to have survived. It is a heavily illustrated illuminated manuscript of the thirteenth century, and from the copies that still...
. Each marginal miniature depicts an Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
scene that is somehow related to the principal New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
picture on the same page. The purpose of the marginal scene was to show how the Old Testament paved the way for that particular New Testament scene, according to the theological theory called typology
Typology (theology)
Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...
. Some marginal scene captions are mere descriptions of the biblical vignette. Other captions contain a moralization or short explanation of the moral of the scene, for the spiritual education of the reader; hence the name, Bible moralisée.
The Hours ends abruptly at the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
. Either the ending pages are missing, or more likely, this book of hours was never completed.
Text and script
The text is written according to the useRoman Rite
The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...
of Paris. The principal Latin text was written in Gothic script
Gothic script
Gothic script may refer to:* Blackletter* Gothic alphabet* Schwabacher...
by two scribes. The first scribe has a somewhat unskilled hand; the second has a clear, elegant Parisian hand. The calendar text was written in red, gold, and blue ink, depending on the particular feast. The Gospels were written in alternating lines in blue, gold, and red inks. The text specific to the liturgical hours was written in Latin with black, and rarely blue, ink. In the margins, the Bible moralisée is written in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
with black ink.
The Latin prayers have masculine endings. Even though this book was commissioned by a woman, it was meant for use by a man.
Decoration
These volumes come from a period when Books of Hours were produced for their artistic and decorative effect. The Master’s border decorations are delicate, foliate motifs reminiscent of the Anjou family’s Bible moralisée. The miniatures are stylistically similar to those of the Grandes Heures and the Belles Heures, which Yolande purchased from her brother-in-law, the Duke de Berry’s estate, after his death in 1416. The dark and dramatic tone of The Hours may reflect the tragic defeat of the French at Battle of AgincourtBattle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
, 25 October 1415.
The Rohan Master broke with convention by portraying the unexpected and the shocking. He illuminates the calendar in vertical boxes, which normally would contain the calendar text. In The Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
(f. 159, Pl. 61), the Master unexpectedly depicts Christ, identified by the wounds of his Passion, as an aged man on a rainbow. Perhaps, this was his attempt to show the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
in a new and different way. In The Coronation of the Virgin (f. 106v., Pl. 54), the coronation is not conducted by Christ, as was usually the case; rather, she is received by God the Father
God the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
, while his angels honor her by reciting from the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
of the Feast of the Assumption. The Master shows the glorious Resurrection of the Dead in a shocking way. The faithful are resurrected in the same state in which they had died: feeble infant, maiden, and infirm elder. This contradicts the 15th century expectation that every Christian would be resurrected in a young, strong, beautiful body—in the prime of life.
The Master’s flat landscapes and background are unconventional. The Master and his assistants did not take much interest in the developing depiction of three-dimensional space and naturalistic lighting found in most of the best quality manuscripts of this date. The Master was not interested in depicting realistic scenes. The backgrounds provide a stage for his emotionally expressive figures. Many seemingly plain blue backgrounds upon closer examination show a flurry of activity as a multitude of angels are discovered delicately traced in gold. He portrays profound emotions by using intense colors, comparing motion with stasis, and contrasting lean and plump figures. By contrasting beauty and joy with ugliness and pain, the Rohan Master creates a unique and dramatic spiritual art. The epitome of the Master's art is the Lamentation of the Virgin (f. 135, Pl. 57) from the Hours of the Cross section, of The Rohan Hours. The grieving Virgin cannot be consoled by John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, who looks up in consternation at a saddened God.
The marginal Bible moralisée subject matter and treatment were based on a book in the possession of Yolande of Aragon, Duchess of Anjou. Her husband, Louis II of Anjou, brought a Bible moralisée from Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, but it was probably made in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. It is known as the Angevin Bible (Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. fr. 9561). There is no doubt the Rohan atelier assistants charged with decorating the margins used the Duke’s book as their model. Not only was the subject matter copied from the Angevin Bible, but the errors in the captions were copied, too.
Reproductions
In 1973, the publisher, George Braziller, produced a partial facsimileFacsimile
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
. All the miniatures are reproduced in full color with gold. Millard Meiss provided an artistic and historical Introduction to the manuscript. The facsimile pages were accompanied with notes and commentaries by Marcel Thomas. This book was issued as a 247-page crimson cloth hardback.
In 1994, the publisher, George Braziller, released a 248-page, hardback edition. ISBN 0807613584
In 2006, a complete color facsimile bound in leather, issued with a separate 377-page commentary in Spanish (Grandes Horas de Rohan) was produced by A y N Ediciones, Madrid, Spain. ISBN 8493405450
See also
- Book of hoursBook of HoursThe book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and...
- Canonical hoursCanonical hoursCanonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
- Illuminated manuscriptIlluminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
- List of illuminated manuscripts
- Miniature (illuminated manuscript)Miniature (illuminated manuscript)The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
- History of miniature (illuminated manuscript)
Further reading
- Calkins, Robert G. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983. ISBN 0801493773
- De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. New York: Phaidon Press, 1997. ISBN 0714834521