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Image for The Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau
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The Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau

Master of Catherine of Cleves (Netherlandish, ca. 1435-1460) (Artist)
Master of Zweder van Culemborg (Artist)
2nd quarter 15th century
ink and pigments on parchment bound between boards covered with fifteenth- or sixteenth-century brown calf with blind, rebacked, corners repaired in tan calf
(Manuscripts and Rare Books)

The Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau is a masterpiece of Dutch manuscript painting. It was originally produced in the second quarter of the fifteenth century for von Greiffenklau, prebendary of Utrecht from 1446. The manuscript features work by the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg, active in the Utrecht area between 1420 and 1440, so-named after the bishop of Utrecht (1425-1433), for whom they produced a magnificent Missal in the late 1420s (now Bressanone, Bibl. del Seminario Maggiore). This Missal also features work by the celebrated Master of Catherine of Cleves, linking it to possibly the finest Dutch illuminated manuscript ever made; the Hours of Catherine of Cleves of ca. 1440 (Morgan Library & Museum, M.917 and M.945). This extremely elaborate Missal is illuminated with one full-page miniature, fifty-two column miniatures and sixty-eight historiated initials throughout the manuscript, with the temporale and sanctorale sections being particularly richly decorated. In the late fifteenth century, a selection of prayers and sequences were added to the end of the manuscript in Germany, probably Mainz, and the volume was subsequently rebound with its current brown calf over boards, blind, rebacked binding either at that time or in the early sixteenth century.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Eberhard von Greiffenklau (?), Cleves, 15th century. Dr. Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck [1811-1903], Munich; Sale, Munich, Galerie Hugo Helbing, June 6 1904, lot 500; purchased by Jacques Rosenthal, Munich, 1904. Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Exhibitions

2024 Healing the Body, Healing the Soul. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
2016-2017 A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota.
2010-2011 Beasts on Parchment: Picturing Animals in Medieval Manuscripts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
2009-2010 Mirror of a Medieval World. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Museum Het Valkhof Nijmegen, Nijmegen.
2006-2007 For This is My Body: The Medieval Missal. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
1998 The Origins of Dutch Painting: Manuscripts from the Fifteenth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1995 The Book within the Book: Images of Books and Readers in Manuscripts. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1989-1990 The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting. Rijkmuseum Het Catharijneconvent, Utrecht; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
1984-1985 Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1977-1978 Splendor in Books. Grolier Club, New York; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
8/6/1985 Examination examined for condition
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Geographies

(Place of Origin) Netherlands (Place of Binding)

Measurements

Overall H: 10 13/16 x W: 7 13/16 x W: 2 7/16 in. (27.5 x 19.8 x 6.2 cm); Folio H: 7 11/16 × W: 6 13/16 in. (19.5 × 17.3 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

W.174

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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