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Add MS 34294

Record Id:
032-002025331
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
032-002025331
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100000000054.0x0001aa
LARK:
SLARK:
Format:
ISAD(G)
Reference (shelfmark):
Add MS 34294
Title:

Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Sforza Hours')

Scope & Content:

The Book of Hours, known as the 'Sforza Hours' is now divided into four volumes (Add. MS 34294, 1-4), which are foliated continuously: volume 1, ff. 1-40; volume 2, ff. 41-166; volume 3, ff. 167-250; and volume 4, ff. 251-348; with three detached leaves stored separately (Add. MS 45722, Add. MS 62997, Add. MS 80800).

The manuscript is the result of two major campaigns of work. The first was undertaken for Bona Sforza, duchess of Milan, in c. 1490-1494. The artist responsible for its illuminations was the Milanese court painter Giovan Pietro Birago (active between 1471-1513), who according to Evans (1995) worked with assistance of the Muzio Attendolo Master, and the Ferrarese Master (for the division of hand, see the description of decoration in each volume). According to an extant (undated) letter from Birago to an unidentified addressee, a substantial part of the manuscript had already been delivered to Bona in 1494, but the remaining leaves were stolen by a certain Fra Gian Jacopo, who subsequently travelled to Rome and sold them to Fra Biancho, who later gave them to Giovanni Maria Sforzino (d. 1520, son of Francesco Sforza) (see Sforza Hours, facsimile commentary, 1995, Appendix 2, document 1). The stolen portion of the manuscript probably included a calendar, which the manuscript lacks. The three detached leaves, all discovered in the 20th century, may represent some of those stolen from Birago. Two of them are leaves from the calendar (MSS Add. 62997 and 80800) and one includes a miniature of the Adoration of the Magi (Add. MS 45722).

The second campaign was initiated by Margaret of Austria who inherited the manuscript, probably in 1504 (see Provenance). In 1517 the scribe Etienne de Lale was commissioned to replace the missing pages of text; and between 1519 and 1521, the painter Gerard Horenbout of Ghent was commissioned to replace the missing miniatures, and a second scribe was hired by Horenbout in Brussels to supplement missing pages of text (for the accounts of Margaret of Austria which document these commissions, see Sforza Hours, facsimile commentary, 1995, Appendix 2; for the division of hands, see Script below). Horenbout was probably assisted by his workshop.

Decoration:

64 miniatures in colours and gold, 48 of which were executed between 1490 and 1494 by Giovan Pietro Birago; and 16 executed between 1519 and 1521 by Gerard Horenbout and his workshop. Full borders, by Birago (except ff. 48 and 213, by Horenbout) with all'antica elements including gemstones, grotesques, foliate decoration, cameos, putti, masks, vignettes, and cartouches bearing the name of Bona Sforza, and additional scenes including animals, putti and saints in lower margins. Major initials in colours, with grotesque and architectonic decoration, figural decoration, and gemstones.

Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Additional Manuscripts
Hierarchy Tree:
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Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-002025331
Is part of:
not applicable
Contains:
Add MS 34294, ff 1r-40v : Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Sforza Hours'), volume 1
Add MS 34294, ff 41r-166r : Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Sforza Hours'), volume 2
Add MS 34294, ff 167r-250r : Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Sforza Hours'), volume 3
Add MS 34294, ff 251r-348v : Book of Hours, Use of Rome (the 'Sforza Hours'), volume 4
Add MS 34294, ff ivr-viiir : Binding, volume 2
Add MS 34294, ff ixr-xiiir : Binding, volume 3
Add MS 34294, ff xivr-xixr : Binding, volume 4

 

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Hierarchy:
032-002025331
Container:
View / search within Archive / Collection: Add MS 34294
Record Type (Level):
Fonds
Extent:

4 parchment volumes.

Digitised Content:
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_34294 (digital images currently unavailable)
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Languages:
Latin
Scripts:
Latin
Start Date:
1490
End Date:
1521
Date Range:
1490-1521
Era:
CE
Access:
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Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 130 x 95 mm (text space: 65 x 50 mm).

Foliation: ff. 348, bound in 4 volumes: volume 1: ff. 40 (+ 6 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and a block of unfoliated modern paper leaves at the end); volume 2: ff. 126 (+ 6 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and 8 at the end); volume 3. ff. 84 (+ 5 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and 2 at the end); volume 4: ff. 98 (+ 1 unfoliated original parchment flyleaf at the end; + 5 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and 7 at the end). A modern paper leaf is inserted after each page.

Collation: the gatherings were dismantled and the bifolia split into separate leaves when the manuscript was rebound; the following collation is a reconstruction proposed by Brinkmann and Evans (Sforza Hours, facsimile commentary, 1995). i8 (ff. 1-8; bifolium 3-6 added in the second campaign); ii4 (ff. 9-12; added in the second campaign); iii-v8 (ff. 13-36); vi4 (ff. 37-40); vii8 (ff. 41-48; bifolium 41-48 added in the second campaign); viii8 (ff. 49-56); ix8 (ff. 57-64; bifolium 60-61 added in the second campaign); x8 (ff. 65-72; bifolia 65-72 and 68-69 added in the second campaign); xi8 (ff. 73-80); xii8 (ff. 81-88; bifolia 82-87 and 83-86 added in the second campaign); xiii8 (ff. 89-96; bifolium 91-94 added in the second campaign); xiv8 (ff. 97-104; bifolia 97-104, 98-103 and 99-102 added in the second campaign); xv8 (ff. 105-112; bifolium 106-111 added in the second campaign); xvi8 (ff. 113-120; ff. 114-119 added in the second campaign); xvii8 (ff. 121-128; bifolia 121-128 and 124-125 added in the second campaign); xviii8 (ff. 129-136; added in the second campaign); xix8 (ff. 137-144; bifolia 139-142 and 140-141 added in the second campaign); xx8 (ff. 145-152); xxi8 (ff. 153-160; ff. 154-159 added in the second campaign); xxii8 (ff. 161-168; bifolium 163-166 added in the second campaign); xxiii8 (ff. 169-176; bifolia 171-174 and 172-173 added in the second campaign); xxiv8 (ff. 177-185; added in the second campaign); xxv8 (ff. 186-193; f. 189 added in the second campaign); xxvi-xxvii8 (ff. 194-209); xxviii3 (ff. 210-212); xxix7 (ff. 213-219, ff. 213 and 217 added in the second campaign); xxx8 (ff. 220-227; bifolia 221-226 and 222-225 added in the second campaign); xxxi8 (ff. 228-235; bifolia 228-235 and 229-234 added in the second campaign); xxxii8 (ff. 236-243; ff. 237-242 added in the second campaign); xxxiii4 (ff. 244-247; bifolium 244-247 added in the second campaign); xxxiv2 (ff. 248-249); xxxv8 (ff. 250-257; bifolia 250-257 and 253-254 added in the second campaign); xxxvi-xxxvii8 (ff. 258-273); xxxviii8 (ff. 274-281; bifolia 274-281, 276-279 and 277-278 added in the second campaign); xxxix8 (ff. 282-289; bifolium 282-289 added in the second campaign); xl8 (ff. 290-297; bifolia 291-296 and 292-295 added in the second campaign); xli8 (ff. 298-305; bifolia 298-305 and 300-303 added in the second campaign); xlii (ff. 306-313; bifolia 307-312 and 308-311 added in the second campaign); xliii8 (ff. 314-321; bifolia 315-320 and 317-318 added in the second campaign); xliv8 (ff. 322-329); xlv8 (ff. 330-337; bifolium 330-337 added in the second campaign); xlvi6-1 (ff. 338-242; f. 338 added in the second campaign; 1 folio after f. 342 canceled); xlvii6 (ff. 343-348; added in c. 1600).

Script: Gothic (Rotunda), written by one scribe; except ff. 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 41, 48, 60, 61, 65, 68, 69, 72, 82, 83, 86, 87, 91, 94, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 106, 111, 114-119, 121, 124, 125, 128-136, 139-142, 154-159, 163, 166, 171-174, 177-185, 189, 213, 217, 221, 222, 225, 226, 228, 229, 234, 235, 237-242, 244, 245, 247, 250, 253, 254, 257, 274, 276-279, 281, 282, 289, 291, 292, 295, 296, 298, 300, 303, 303, 307, 308, 311, 312, 315, 317, 318, 320, 330, 337, 338; written by two hands one of which was identified with Etienne de Lale (Hand A) and the other, Hand B, with the scribe comissioned by Gerard Horenbout in Brussels (see Brinkmann (1995), in Sforza Hours, facsimile commentary, ff. 501-07, 521-22). Hand A copied the majority of the text on added leaves; Hand B copied ff. 177-185, 189, 213, 237-242, 277, 278; ff. 343-348: Cursive script of c. 1600.

Binding: the manuscript was disbound between 1871-1893 (in possession of John Malcolm) and bound in 4 volumes, each with a separate binding of red tooled and gilded leather; gilt edges.

Custodial History:

Origin: Italy (Milan); Southern Netherlands (Ghent and Brussels).

Provenance:

Bona of Savoy (b. 1449, d. 1503), Duchess of Milan, 2nd wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan: inscriptions of Bona's name, e.g. 'Diva Bona' (ff. 80r, 122v) and 'Bona Duc[issa]' (f. 210v) and her initials 'B.M.' (ff. 56r, 88v); her motto 'Sola fata, solum Deum sequor', and her emblem of the phoenix (f. 93r).

Philibert II (b. 1480, d. 1504), Duke of Savoy (1497-1504): probably given to him by Bona Sforza, his aunt, or inherited by him at her death in 1503.

Margaret of Austria (b. 1480, d. 1530), Archduchess, Princess of Asturias, Duchess of Savoy (1501), and governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (1507-1515 and 1519-1530): probably passed to her from Philibert II, her husband: commissioned in 1517 the scribe Etienne de Lale to replace some of the missing text, and between 1519 and 1521, the Flemish illuminator Gerard Horenbout (b. c.1465, d. c.1540) to complete the manuscript; her portraits as St Elizabeth (f. 61r) and a woman attending the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (f. 104v); portrait of her father Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor, as Simeon (f. 104v).

Charles V (b. 1500, d. 1558), Holy Roman Emperor (1519-1558), perhaps bequeathed to him by Margaret of Austria, his aunt: his portrait in a cameo bust in the margin on f. 213r with the mongram KR (Karolus Rex).

In Spain c. 1600: the prayer added on ff. 343r-348v.

Sir John Charles Robinson (b. 1824, d. 1913), museum curator and art collector, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures: purchased by him from an unknown Spanish noble in October 1871.

John Malcolm of Poltalloch (b. 1805, d. 1893), art collector and landowner: presented by him to the British Museum in 1893.

Administrative Context:
Italy (Milan); Southern Netherlands (Ghent and Brussels).
Information About Copies:

Full digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Digitised Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.

Publications:

Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1888-1893 (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1894), pp. 287-89.

The Palaeographic Society: Facsimiles of Manuscripts and Inscriptions, Second series, ed. by Edward Augustus Bond, Edward Maunde Thompson, and George Frederic Warner, (London: Cloves and Sons, 1884-1894), II, pls 204, 205.

Giuseppe Mongeri, ‘L’Arte del minio nel ducato di Milano dal secolo XII al XVI’, Archivio Storico Lombardo, 12 (1885), 330-56.

George F. Warner, Miniatures and Borders from the Book of Hours of Bona Sforza, Duchess of Milan in the British Museum (London: Trustees, 1894).

John C. Robinson, ‘The Sforza Book of Hours', Bibliografica, 1 (1895), 428-36.

Paul Durrieu, La Miniature flamande au temps de la cour de Bourgogne (1415-1530), (Paris and Brussels, 1921), pl. CI.

Joseph Duverger, ‘Gerard Horenbault (1465?-1540): Hofschilder van Margareta van Oostenrijk’, De Kunst: Maandblad voor Oude en Jonge Kunst, 1 (1930), 81-90.

Robin Flower, ‘Margaret of Austria and the Sforza Book', British Museum Quarterly, 10 (1935-1936), 100-02.

Élisabeth Pellegrin, La bibliothèque des Visconti et des Sforza ducs de Milan, au XVe siècle, Publications de l’Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes, 5 (Paris, 1955), p. 364.

Bogdan Horodyski, ‘Birago, Miniaturiste des Sforza’, Scriptorium, 10 (1956), 251-55.

Mirella Levi D'Ancona, The Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations: The Lombard School, (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1970), p. 6.

Nicholas Mann, Petrarch Manuscripts in the British Isles, Censimento dei Codici Petrarcheschi, 6 (Padua: Editrice Antenore, 1975), p. 246 n. 1.

Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures from the British Library, ed. by T. Kren (London: British Library, 1983), no. 15.

Mark L. Evans, 'A Newly Discovered Leaf of the "Sforza Hours"', British Library Journal, 12 (1986), 21-27.

Mark L. Evans, ‘New Light on the “Sforziada” Frontispieces of Giovan Pietro Birago’, British Library Journal, 13 (1987), 232-47.

Henry VIII: A European Court in England, ed. by David Starkey (London: Collins & Brown, 1991), no. 42 [exhibition catalogue].

Mark L. Evans, The Sforza Hours (London: British Library, 1992).

William M. Voelkle and Roger S. Wieck, The Bernard H. Breslauer Collection of Manuscript Illuminations (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1992), p. 216.

The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination 1450-1550, ed. by Jonathan J. G. Alexander (London: Prestel, 1994), pp. 32, 72, 226.

The Sforza Hours: Add. MS. 34294 of the British Library, London, commentary by Mark L. Evans and Bodo Brinkmann with Hubert Herkommer (Luzern: Faksimile Verlag, 1995).

Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), no. 209.

Maurits Smeyers, Flemish Miniatures from the 8th to the mid-16th Century (Leuven: Brepols, 1999), p. 440.

Jonathan Alexander, 'Notes on Some Veneto-Paduan Illuminated Books of the Renaissance'' in Alexander, Studies in Italian Manuscript Illumination (London: Pindar Press, 2002), pp. 106-33 (pp. 116-18). [Reprint].

Thomas Kren, and Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe (2003), cat. no. 129, pp. 428-431.

Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London, 2003), pls. 120-6.

Cristina Quattrini, 'Maestro delle Ore di Sforza' in Dizionario Biografico di Miniatura. Secoli IX-XVI, ed by Milva Bollati (Milan: Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004), pp. 575-76 (p. 576).

Treasures of the British Library, ed. by Nicolas Barker and others (London: British Library, 2005), p. 141.

Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. by Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), p. 225. [exhibition catalogue].

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch, ed. by Susan Doran (London: British Library, 2009), no. 79 [exhibition catalogue].

Les Enluminures 1991-2011, 20 Then, 20 Now, Catalogue 16 (Paris, 2011), p. 5.

Exhibitions:
Art in Lombardy from the Viscontis to the Sforzas, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 12 March 2015 - 28 June 2015
British Library Treasures, (online), 27 February 2016-
Dürer's Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist, National Gallery, London, 20 November 2021 - 27 February 2022
Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)
Notes:
Single Folio from the Sforza Book of Hours -- Single Folio from the Sforza Book of Hours. Exhibited: Art in Lombardy from the Viscontis to the Sforzas, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 12 March 2015 - 28 June 2015
Names:
Birago, Giovan Pietro, illuminator, fl. c 1471/4-1513
Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Milan, 2nd wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, duke of Milan, 1449-1503
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 1500-1558,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000120965852
Horenbout, Gerard, painter, c 1487-1541
Lale, Etienne, scribe, fl 1517
Malcolm, John, art collector and landowner, 1805-1893
Margaret of Austria, archduchess, princess of Asturias, duchess of Savoy, and governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, 1480-1530
Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, 1480-1504
Robinson, John Charles, museum curator and art collector, 1824-1913
Related Material:
Extract from the Catalogue of Additions (1894): 'BOOK OF HOURS, in Latin, containing:-(a) Cursus Evangelii. f. 1;-(b) Hours of the Holy Cross. f. 13;-(c) Hours of the Holy Spirit. f. 28;-(d) Hours of the Virgin. f. 41;-(e) Lessons of the Passion, viz. St. Luke xxii. 1-xxiii. 53. f. 137;- (f) Prayers to Our Lord, on the Passion. f. 167 b;-(g) Prayers to the Virgin. f. 169 b;-(h) Memorials of Saints, consisting of a short prayer on a single page, with a miniature (for the names see below). f. 186;-(i) The Seven Penitential Psalms. f. 213;- (k) Litany, etc. f. 236;-(l) Office of the Dead. f. 258;-(m) "Oratio de Nomine Iesu ex Paulinis Epistolis congesta": an addition of the 16th-17th cent. ff. 343-348. Vellum; ff. 348. Written and illuminated for Bona of Savoy, wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan [1444-1476], the device of a phoenix with the motto "Sola fata (? facta), solum Deum sequor," which she adopted after her husband's death, appearing in the border of f. 93. In several other borders (ff. 66 b, 79 b, etc.) are inscribed the words "Diva Bona," and on the front of a building in a miniature on f.210b is"Bona Duc[issa]." Some other borders (ff. 56, 88, etc.) also contain the initials "B. M.," which probably refer to Bianca Maria, daughter of the Duchess Bona, although on f. 66 the words "Bona Maria" have been introduced in order to fill up a line. The probability is that the MS. was intended by the Duchess for a wedding gift to her daughter on her marriage to the Emperor Maximilian I. on 30 Nov. 1493, and from the use of the epithet " Diva," as above, it may be inferred that it was not completed until after Bona's death, which is said to have occurred in or about 1494. Less than half the MS. in its original form now remains, but it still includes 48 miniatures and a large number of borders exquisitely illuminated in the finest style of Milanese art of the end of the 15th cent. On the death of Maximilian in 1519 (Bianca Maria having died in 1510) the MS. presumably came into the possession of his son and successor Charles V. Although otherwise well preserved, it had by this time been seriously mutilated by the abstraction of leaves. These losses were now made good; the inserted miniatures, fifteen in number, being by Flemish artists and of the highest excellence, while the text is in two or more hands inferior to that of the original Italian scribe. From the blackness of the ink and on other grounds it is probable that this part of the MS., though distinctly Flemish in style, was executed in Spain. Its date lies between 1519 and 1521. On the miniature of St. Mark (f. 10b) is inscribed "NRVAS. FNOARVIMI: 1519"; on a fine medallion portrait of Charles V. in the border of f. 213 is the date 1520; and in a prayer on f. 253 Pope Leo X. (ob. Doe. 1521) is spoken of as still living. The subjects of all the miniatures are as follows (those by Flemish artists being marked by an asterisk):-

1. St. John. f. 1.

2. St. Luke. f. 4

3. St. Matthew. f. 7.

4. *St. Mark. f. 10 b.

5. *Christ nailed to the Cross. f. 12 b.

6. Descent of the Holy Spirit. f. 28.

7. *The Annunciation. f. 41.

8. *The Visitation. f. 61.

9. *Adoration of the Angels at Bethlehem. f. 82 b.

10. *The shepherds at Bethlehem. f. 91.

11. *Adoration of the Magi. f. 97.

12. *Presentation in the Temple. f. 104 b.

13. *Flight into Egypt. f. 111.

14. * "Salve, Regina." f. 133 b.

15. *Entry into Jerusalem. f. 136 b.

16. Payment of Judas. f. 137.

17. Last Supper. f. 138 b.

18. Gethsemane. f. 145 b.

19. Christ led away captive. f. 147 b.

20. Christ before Annas. f. 149 b.

21. Christ before Caiaphas. f. 151 b.

22. "Ecce Homo." f. 153 b.

23. The Crucifixion. f. 161.

24. Pietà. f. 165.

25. Symbols of the Passion. f. 167.

26. Assumption of the Virgin. f. 170.

27. *Virgin and Child: "O Intemerata." f. 177 b.

28. St. Michael. f. 186 b.

29. Baptism of Christ. f. 187 b.

30. St. Peter. f. 188 b.

31. St. Andrew. f. 189b.

32. St. James. f. 190 b.

33. St. Stephen. f. 191 b.

34 St. Laurence. f. 192 b.

35. St. Sebastian. f. 193 b.

36. St. Julian. f. 194 b.

37. St. George. f. 195 b.

38. St. Gregory. f. 196 b.

39. St. Jerome. f. 197 b.

40. St. Ambrose. f. 198 b.

41. St. Augustine. f. 199 b.

42. St. Bernard. f. 200 b.

43. St. Henry the Bishop. f. 201 b.

44. St. Antony. f. 202 b.

45. St. Giles. f. 203 b.

46. St. Albert [of Trapini], "liberator a febribus " [canon. 1476 6]. f. 204 b.

47. St. Peter Martyr. f. 205 b.

48. St. Francis, "Pater Minorum." f. 206 b.

49. St. Bernardino [of Sienna]. f. 207 b.

50. St. Katharine of Alexandria. f. 208 b.

51. St. Katharine of Sienna. f. 209 b.

52. St. Clare, "Discipula S. Francisci." f. 210 b.

53. St. Mary Magdalen. f. 211 b.

54-60. *David in penitence. ff. 212 b, 215, 218, 225, 227, 232, 233. Only the first is Flemish.

61. All Saints: "Kyrie [e]leyson." f. 236.

62. *Raising of Lazarus. f. 257 b.

63. Death of the Virgin. f. 272.

Both series are by more than one hand, and of the Italian miniatures nos. 1-3, 55-60 show a marked difference in style from the rest. With two exceptions (ff. 48, 213) the borders belong to the original part of the MS. They are of the usual Italian renaissance character, but are remarkable for richness of colouring and great variety and beauty, in the designs. Many of them include small miniatures at top and bottom, among which are the following series:-Symbols of the Passion, and of patriarchs, apostles and saints, the latter in connection with Putti. ff. 13-27 -Angels playing on different musical instruments. ff. 29-39 b Incidents of the Passion. ff. 167 b-169 ;-Bible heroines, with "Theodorina," Queen of the Lombards, St. Pelagia and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. ff. 251-256;-Putti playing with skulls, wrestling with serpents, etc., and miscellaneous subjects. ff. 258-341 b. In some of the borders are painted figures of birds and animals, notably ermines and white rabbits; and in others are medallions contaning portrait-busts and copies of ancient engraved gems. Among the heads that of a young girl on f 55 is specially remarkable for its delicate beauty, and those on ff. 74 b, 76, 85 b and 101 may also be noted. The MS. was brought to England from Spain by Sir J. C. Robinson in 1871. It was then bound in a single volume, but has since been divided into four. Duodecimo. Presented by John Malcolm, Esq., of Poltalloch.

For additional leaves, see Add. 45722, 62997 and 80800.'

Related Archive Descriptions:
Add MS 45722
Add MS 62997
Add MS 80800