Book of Hours

Description This Book of Hours of ca. 1430-45 was illuminated by the followers of the Masters of the Gold Scrolls under North Netherlandish influence, suggesting an origin in Bruges. The manuscript, which is partially misbound, is decorated with thirteen extant miniatures (ten full-page, inserted), three historiated initials, and drolleries. In addition to a diverse collection of South Netherlandish, North French, and occasional English saints, this manuscript also features suffrages (namely SS. Margaret, Sebastian, and Anthony) that were added early. The manuscript has traces of different hands and artists throughout: in addition to mismatched borders, where the same design has been painted by different hands, there is also the unusual presence of an artist’s stamp visible in the form of a circle of thistles, which is found on the inside edge of the miniatures. An added frontispiece miniature featuring an armorial shield with an ostrich-plumed helmet crest seemingly attributes the manuscript to a younger son of the de Mailly branch of the Mametz family in Picardy (identified by Michel Pastoureau).

Exhibitions

• Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.
• Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988.

Provenance De Mailly branch of the Mametz family of Picardy (?), mid-to-late 15th century. Rev. Henry White, Litchfield, second half of the nineteenth century; added entry by White (?) of "MCCCL" [1] Suggested by an armorial shield on fol. 7v

Inscriptions [Inscription] Gilded title on spine: Officium M. S.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters