University of Pittsburgh
Frick Fine Arts Library
Book of Hours
A Description of the Manuscript
University of Pittsburgh
Frick Fine Arts Library
Book of Hours
A Description of the Manuscript
(Much of the following description and stylistic attribution are based on the unpublished paper, "Another Manuscript from the shop of Maître François: The Frick Hours and its Date," by Susan Blackman.)
Shelf number: ND3363.P23B5 Book of Hours in Latin and French, Calendar in French, use of Paris; Hours of the Virgin and Hours of the Dead, use of Paris.
France (Paris), c. 1475-1485
Parchment, ii+5+210+i (7 fly-leaves, 3 of which are paper including the 2 at the beginning and the 1 at the end of the manuscript). 134 x 94 mm. Written space 76 x 46 mm, ruled in light red ink for 15 lines of text which is written in brown ink, with rubrics in red. Quires consist generally of 8 leaves. Decorated/foliated initials with foliate borders containing a variety of leaf and flower motifs and creatures. 39 small miniatures in half of a text column or in the borders of major miniatures; 10 one-half page miniatures with foliate initials and borders, many with an elaborate architectural frame including distinctive rose-window and spandrel tracery.
The binding is 18th century brown leather with gold tooling.
The illustrations are all closely based on models used in the workshop of the so-called "Maître François," a painter documented as egregius pictor Franciscusand chiefly known for executing the illustration of the French translation of St. Augustine's City of God(Paris, B.N. fr. 18-19) made in 1473 for Charles de Gaucourt, governor of Paris. The workshop also illustrated numerous Books of Hours with slight variations of iconography and style. This manuscript is illustrated by three painters, identified as A, B, and C to differentiate one from another. The work of Hand A is artistically the most distinguished, and may be related to the work of one of Maître François' collaborators known as the "Chief Associate", who completed two manuscripts attributed to the Master (Paris, B.N. fr 244-5 and The Hague, Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum 10 A II). However, the compositions and artistic conventions used by all three of the painters closely parallel work in the Books of Hours attributed to the workshop. Notable comparisons: Book of Hours, Cracow, Bibl. Czastoryskich MS 2422; the Hours of Dom Louis de Busco of 1489, Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery W286; three major manuscripts attributed to Maître François: London, B.L. Egerton 2045; the Wharncliffe Hours Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria MS Felton 1072/3, and a Book of Hours in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
The artistic contributions of the three painters:
Artist A: Portrait of John the Evangelist, f. 22r; Annunciation to the shepherds, f. 84r; Portrait of David, f. 115r; Crucifixion f. 135v; Pentecost, f. 143r; Dance of death, f. 149.
Artist B: Portrait of Mark the Evangelist, f. 29r; miniatures for the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Coronation of the Virgin, ff. 35r, 63v, 77r, 94r, 99r, 107v.
Artist C: Calendar illustrations, ff. 1-12v; miniatures for prayers to the Virgin, ff. 14, 19v; portraits of evangelists Luke and Matthew, ff. 24, 26v; miniatures of Sts. Michael, James, Christopher, Sebastian, John the Baptist and Catherine, ff. 205r, 205v,206v, 208v, 209v, 210r.
Provenance unknown until the late 18th century. On the verso of the second parchment flysheet at the front is the name of Henry Zouch (1726-1795, clergyman of Sandal Magna in the West Riding of Yorkshire) and the date 1791 written in ink; on the recto of the first parchment flysheet at the back are the initials HZ and the number 1500 written in ink; an erased ex donoinscription in ink appears on the verso of the second parchment endpaper; the description from the sale at Sotheby's on 20 April 1920, lot 308, is glued to the front paper flysheet, with the annotation in ink of the purchase price of 182; book plate, with a sailing ship, of Dr. James Stewart Geikie, M.D., appears with a note written in ink saying "This book is given by me to Mary Murray this day 26th Sep 1939 with many happy wishes, J.S. Geikie"; Murray's items were sold at Sotheby's, 20 July 1954 (lot 383). Purchased by the Frick Fine Arts Library from Maggs of London on 3 April 1956.
Copyright: Images, Frick Fine Arts Library, University of Pittsburgh; Text, Susan Blackman and Judith Golden. Created by Judith Golden. Questions or comments may be addressed to Judith Golden at jkgst7+@pitt.edu