File:Book of Hours for Rome Use (IA 1945 65 8).pdf

Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 1945‑65‑8. Carpentras?, Provence, France, The presence of Saint Siffredus in the calendar (fol. 11v) might suggest Carpentras as this manuscript's place of origin, as the cathedral there was dedicated to this saint; circa 1450. This Book of Hours for the Use of Rome was probably made in the vicinity of Carpentras, in Provence, around the middle of the fifteenth century; Saint Siffredus, patron of Carpentras's principal church, is commemorated in the calendar on 27 November (fol. 11v). It contains a calendar (fols. 1r-12v), the Hours of the Virgin (fols. 13r-69v), the Hours of the Holy Cross (fols. 70r-73r), the Hours of the Holy Spirit (fols. 73v-76r), the Office for the Dead (fols. 76v-110r), the seven Penitential Psalms, a Litany, and prayers (fols. 110v-133v) all in Latin, and a poem dedicated to the Virgin (fols. 137r-143v) in French. Twelve large miniatures with ivy-leaf/ spray borders inhabited by animals, insects, birds, and human figures mark most of the divisions between and within these texts. The subjects depicted are the Annunciation (fol. 13r), the Nativity (fol. 32r), the Annunciation to the Shepherds (fol. 36r), the Presentation in the Temple (fol. 39v), the Adoration of the Magi (fol. 42v), the Coronation of the Virgin (f. 50v), the Crucifixion (fol. 70v), the Trinity (fol. 73v), a funeral (fol. 76v), King David praying (fol. 110v), and the Virgin and Child twice (fols. 129r and 137r). The costume of the black magus in the Adoration of the Magi miniature (fol. 42v) suggests a terminus post quem of circa 1450, rendering the gilt ivy-leaf borders–typical of the earlier fifteenth century–outmoded. The style of this manuscript's miniatures has been described as childlike, but the liberal use of gilding and its extensive colour palette do not suggest second-rate production.