Add MS 27697

A Book of Hours, described by John Plummer as ‘one of the finest and most inventive manuscripts illuminated during the fifteenth century’ (Plummer, The Last Flowering, p. 56). The manuscript was created in two or three stages, with an initial phase of production around 1440-50, and a second around 1460-70 (see Decoration, below).

In the initial phase the manuscript was probably intended for the use of a man as the prayer ‘Obsecro te’ uses masculine pronouns. The second phase was apparently done for the woman whose portrait appears on f. 19r. The borders of the manuscript regularly feature the coat of arms argent a chief azure (ff. 14v, 16r, 17v, 19r, 56v, 93r, 98r, 104v, 155v, 175r, 206r), identified as the arms of Saluces of Piedmont, as well as on two occasions the coat of arms vair a chief gules (ff. 77v and 83v), identified as the arms of d'Urfé.

Based on the heraldic evidence, the female owner has traditionally been identified as Aimée (or Amadée) de Saluces (b. 1420, d. 1473), daughter of Mainfroy de Saluces of Piedmont. Aimée married Guillaume-Armand de Polignac around 1441, and their daughter Catherine married Pierre d'Urfé in 1489. However, François Avril questioned this identification, noting that the manuscript does not contain the Polignac arms, despite stylistically dating from the period after Aimée married into the Polignac family. Avril further suggested that the arms of Saluces are probably later additions, given their coarse execution and different colouring compared to the other marginal decoration in the manuscript (Avril, ‘Le Maître des Heures de Saluces’ (1989), p. 9; Avril and Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France (1993), no. 117, pp. 213-14).

More recent scholarship has suggested that both the original and later patrons of the manuscript, with its close similarities to the Hours of Louis of Savoy (Paris, BnF, MS Lat. 9473), were probably members of Savoy's Ducal family. Possibly the first intended owner was Duke Louis I of Savoy (b. 1413, d. 1465), and the second was Yolande of France (b. 1434, d. 1478), wife of Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy (see e.g. Corti e Città, ed. Pagella, Brezzi and Castelnuovo (2006), no. 189, pp. 352-54).

Contents:

ff. 1r-12v: Calendar.

ff. 13r-18v: Gospel Lessons, followed by an indulgence of seven years revealed to an abbess by St Ambrose on his deathbed, 'Incipit oratio gloriosam mariam virginem annunciatem et condeduntur omnibus dicentibus. vii anni indulgenciarum. et sciat scire diem et horam obitus sui priusquam moriatur sicut revelatum et certificatum fuit cuidam abbatisse que in extremis laborabit testificante beato ambrosio doctore sancte matris ecclesie’ (f. 18v).

ff. 19r-28v: Prayers to the Virgin, ‘Obsecro te’ (masculine use, ‘famulo tuo’), ‘O intemerata’, ‘Saluto te beatissima dei genitrix’, ‘O excellentissima et gloriosissima atque sanctissima virgo’, ‘O bone Ihesu per tuam misericordiam’.

ff. 29r-82v: Hours of the Virgin.

ff. 83v-88r: Hours of the Cross.

ff. 88v-92v: Hours of the Holy Spirit.

ff. 93r-105r: Suffrages (including Peter of Luxembourg, f. 104v).

ff. 105v-110r: the fifteen joys of the Virgin Mary, in French (‘Le quinze ioye nostre dame’).

ff. 110r-113r: the seven requests to our Lord, in French and Latin (‘Doulx dieu doulx peres’).

ff. 113r-114r: the seven verses of St Bernard ('Illumina oculos meos ne umquam obdormiam in morte').

ff. 114r-116r: Prayer of the Blessed Bede on the seven words that Jesus spoke while hanging on the Cross (‘Domine Ihesu Xriste qui septem verba die ultimo vite tue in cruce pendens dixisti’).

ff. 116r-117v: Prayer of St Michael.

ff. 118v-155r: Office of the Dead.

ff. 155v-174v: Penitential Psalms and Litany.

f. 175r-180r : Mass for the Trinity.

f. 180r-183r: Mass for the Holy Spirit.

f. 183r-186r: Mass for Our Lady.

f. 186r-190r: Mass for the Dead.

f. 191r-193v: Hours of the Trinity.

f. 194r-196v: Office of the Dead.

f. 197r-220r: Office of All Saints.

f. 220v-205v: Office of St Catherine.

f. 206r-209v : Office of the Corpus Christi.

f. 210r-212r: Passion of the Lord according to St John.

f. 213-219v: Office of the Creation.

Decoration:

The manuscript was illuminated in two or three stages. The first stage is attributed to Peronet Lamy, an artist who worked for the court of Savoy from 1432 to his death in 1452, whose work is particularly apparent in the miniature of St John the Evangelist (f. 13r). A contemporary artist, known as the Master of the Hours of Louis of Savoy (after Paris, BnF, ms lat. 9473) also contributed to several miniatures (ff. 39r, 49r, 52v, 60r, 83v, 88v, 118v and 155v), as well as the historiated initials which accompany them. The rest of the work was completed by Antoine de Lonhy (fl. c. 1460-1490), who partly retouched the earlier illumination and who might have painted on underdrawings (see Avril, ‘Le Maître des Heures de Saluces’ (1989), 24-29; Avril and Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France (1993), no. 117, pp. 213-14).

34 Large miniatures in colours and gold with borders of rich foliate and floral decoration, sometimes incorporating figures, animals, hybrids and heraldry: St John the Evangelist with the Trinity (f. 13r); St Luke the Evangelist (f. 14v); St Matthew the Evangelist (f. 16r); St Mark the Evangelist (f. 17v); the Virgin and Child with a portrait of a kneeling woman presented by two Franciscan saints, perhaps St Bernardino and St Anthony of Padua (f. 19r); the Marriage of the Virgin (f. 29r); the Entry into Jerusalem (f. 39r); the Wedding at Cana (f. 49r); the Baptism of Christ (f. 52v); the Adoration of the Magi (f. 56v); the Temptation of Christ (f. 60r); the Massacre of the Innocents (f. 64v); the Resurrection of Christ (f. 71v); the Annunciation (f. 77v); the Crucifixion (f. 83v); Pentecost (f. 88v); Sts Andrew, Peter, John and Paul (f. 93r); Sts Sebastian, Michael, Anthony, Laurence and George (f. 95r); Sts Nicholas, Fiacre, Maur and Claudius (f. 98r); Sts Catherine, Barbara, Margaret, Apollonia, Clare of Assisi, and Lucy (f. 100v); the Mass of St Gregory (f. 103v); St Peter (f. 104v); the Virgin and Child enthroned and surrounded by angelic musicians (f. 105v); the Agony in the Garden (f. 110v); the Raising of Lazarus (f. 118v); the Last Judgement (f. 155v); the Trinity (f. 175r); the Trinity as the Throne of Mercy (f. 191r); a funeral procession (f. 94r); All Saints (f. 197r); St Catherine breaking the wheel (f. 200v); Christ blessing the Host and Chalice with Ecclesia and Synagoga (f. 206r); the city of Jerusalem with scenes from the life of Christ (f. 210r); God speaking to Adam while Eve sleeps (f. 213r).

13 historiated initials in colours and gold: St John the Evangelist with a cup of poison (f. 13r); the Virgin and Child as the Apocalyptic Woman clothed in the sun; the Annunciation (f. 29r); the Visitation (f.39r); the Nativity (f. 49r); the Annunciation to the Shepherds (f. 52v); the Presentation at the Temple (f. 60r); the Flight to Egypt (f. 64v); the Harrowing of Hell (f. 83v); Doubting Thomas (f. 88v); a funeral service (f. 118v); the Penitent David (f. 155v); St Catherine being beheaded (f. 200v); the Harrowing of Hell (f. 210r).

Marginal panels in colours and gold: scenes from the life of St John the Evangelist (f. 13r); the Expulsion from Paradise (f. 29r); scenes from the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ (f. 210r).

Foliate initials in white-patterned blue or pink on gold grounds. Gold initials on pink and blue white-patterned grounds. Pink and blue geometric pen-work line-fillers with gold.

Three-quarter ivy-leaf borders with bars on the long sides in gold and colours throughout, sometimes incorporating hybrids, figures and animals.