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Add MS 35311
- Record Id:
- 040-002088789
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002088787
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001490.0x000142
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100161508307.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 35311
- Title:
- Breviary, Use of Rome (the 'Breviary of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria')
- Scope & Content:
-
Breviary of the Use of Rome, known as the 'Breviary of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria'.
This manuscript comprises the winter portion of the Breviary made for John the Fearless (b. 1371, d. 1419), Duke of Bavaria, and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria (b. 1363, d. 1423). It originally formed a single volume together with Harley MS 2897, which contains the summer portion of the Breviary, now bound with a calendar and Psalter of its own.
Contents:
ff. 1r-6v: Calendar, with the feast day of St Francis (4 October) in gold, his translation (25 May) in red, and stigmata (17 September) in black.
f. 7r-v: A set of hymns to be used on certain Sundays.
f. 7v: An added inscription relating to the gift of the manuscript by a certain 'D. Verplanken', canon of St Jacques at Antwerp, to the monastery of Lieu St Bernard in 1718, written in an 18th-century hand.
ff. 8r-107r: Psalter.
ff. 107r-120r: A set of hymns to be used on special occasions.
f. 120r-v: A set of absolutions and benedictions for the whole year.
f. 121r-340r: Temporale (Advent to Easter Eve), imperfect at the beginning.
ff. 341r-388v: Suffrages to the Saints, imperfect at the end, breaking off with Sts Soter and Caius (22 April), and wanting half the calendar year.
ff. 389r-413r: Common of Saints.
ff. 414r-434v: Hours of the Virgin Mary, wanting a leaf at the beginning.
ff. 435r-438v: Office of the Dead, imperfect at the beginning.
ff. 340v and 413v are blank.
Decoration:
The illumination of the manuscript's two large miniatures (ff. 8r, 333v) was completed by an artist known as the 'Master of the Breviary of John the Fearless', named after this manuscript and its companion volume (Harley MS 2897).
2 large miniatures with full borders of rinceaux, blossoms, and acanthus scrolls with birds (ff. 8r, 333v).
43 framed miniatures with decorated initials and full or partial rinceaux borders in colours with gold (ff. 26v, 37r, 45v, 53v, 64v, 74r, 85r, 158v, 180v, 190r, 193r, 199r, 208r, 216r, 221v, 238v, 279r, 286r, 294r, 302r, 310v, 322v, 327r, 329r, 333v, 337r, 342r, 345r, 348v, 352r, 354r, 357v, 360r, 360v, 362r, 364v, 367v, 371r, 374v, 377v, 379r, 384r, 435r).
17 historiated initials in blue or rose on gold grounds, with partial borders in colours with gold (ff. 8r, 333v, 341r, 346r, 351r, 351v, 355v, 381v, 382r, 388r, 419r, 422v, 424r, 425r, 426v, 427v, 430r).
Framed initials in red, rose and blue on gold grounds, some with partial rinceaux borders. Small initials in alternating blue with pen-flourishing in red or in gold with pen-flourishing in black.
The subjects of the miniatures and historiated initials are as follows:
f. 8r: God the Father looking down from a semi-circular dome, blessing with one hand and holding an orb in the other, flanked by angels holding a cloth of honour behind him, and a double ring of seraphs beneath him (above), with David depicted twice, on the left kneeling in penitence, with his harp on the bench behind him and his crown on the ground, on the right shown as the Psalmist, seated at a writing stand with a pen in one hand and a knift in the other; a historiated initial 'B'(eatus) of the Virgin and Child, at the beginning of Psalm 1.
f. 26v: David kneeling on the ground outside a castle to a bearded God in heaven at the beginning of Psalm 26.
f. 37r: David kneeling pointing to his mouth with a devil with birds claws and a groping hook attacking him from behind, at the beginning of Psalm 38.
f. 45v: David kneeling before God in a rocky landscape with a fool capering behind, at the beginning of Psalm 52.
f. 53v: David, naked in water, praying to God in heaven at the beginning of Psalm 68.
f. 64v: David enthroned, ringing bells at the beginning of Psalm 80.
f. 74r: David with a music book, directing a group of singers at the beginning of Psalm 97.
f. 85r: The Trinity with God and Christ holding hands and a dove between them, at the beginning of Psalm 109.
f. 158v: The Nativity.
f. 180v: The Martyrdom of St Thomas; two soldiers attacking him with swords and one pulling off his mitre.
f. 190r: The Baptism of Constantine the Great.
f. 193r: St Jerome, seated, holding an open scroll, dictating to a scribe, who writes in a book.
f. 199r: The Adoration of the Magi.
f. 208r: The Annunciation to the Shepherds.
f. 216r: The Baptism of Christ; St John the Baptist holding a golden bucket and anointing him, an angel holding a cloak.
f. 221v: St Paul holding a sword and handing a book to a kneeling figure.
f. 238v: St Paul preaching to men and women.
f. 279r: The Temptation of Christ.
f. 286r: Isaac on his deathbed, Esau standing beside him.
f. 294r: Joseph sold by his brothers.
f. 302r: Moses kneeling before the burning bush.
f. 310v: Jeremiah prophesying before a group of people who are lamenting.
f. 322v: The Entry to Jerusalem, with a figure laying down his garment in the road before the donkey.
f. 327r: A man in a cloak giving alms.
f. 329r: Jeremiah lamenting outside the walls of Jerusalem.
f. 333v: The Crucifixion, with Christ on the Cross, andthe thieves on either side. The Virgin faints in the foreground, comforted by the two Marys and St John the Evangelist. Two angels above, and beneath Christ is tied to a pillar and flogged. In the border, parrots, a woodpecker (?), a cockerell, and a jay.
f. 337r: The Deposition.
f. 341r: Two kneeling saints are martyred.
f. 342r: St Andrew with an X-shaped cross.
f. 345r: St Nicholas the Bishop with three children in a tub.
f. 346r: St Ambrose writing.
f. 348v: A sailing ship at sea with Helsinus saved from drowning by the Virgin Mary, who is with angels in the starry sky above.
f. 351r: St Melchiades, Pope.
f. 351v: St Damasus, Pope, blessing a figure in a shroud.
f. 352r: The martyrdom of St Lucy; she is stabbed in the neck and kneels in a ring of fire.
f. 354r: St Thomas praying as idols fall and break before three pagan kings.
f. 355v: St Felix praying and a golden idol falling from a pedestal.
f. 357v: St Anthony in the desert with a bell.
f. 360r: St Fabian is beheaded.
f. 360v: St Sebastian shot with arrows by two archers.
f. 362r: Seven virgin martyrs in Heaven, with kneeling figures praying.
f. 364v: A saint, possibly St Vincent, lying in a forest with animals.
f. 367v: The Conversion of St Paul, falling from his horse, with rays from God lighting his face.
f. 371r: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
f. 374v: The martyrdom of St Agatha; her breasts are cut off.
f. 377v: St Peter as Pope on a throne, preaching.
f. 379r: St Matthew with a book.
f. 381v: St Gregory with a book and staff.
f. 382r: St Benedict as an abbot with a crozier.
f. 384r: The Annunciation.
f. 388r: ?The martyrdom of a saint.
f. 419r: The Visitation with St Elizabeth.
f. 422v: The Nativity.
f. 424r: The Annunciation to the Shepherds.
f. 425r: The Adoration of the Magi.
f. 426v: The Presentation in the Temple.
f. 427v: The Flight to Egypt.
f. 430r: The Virgin Mary with God the Father.
f. 435r: Job on the dung heap, insulted by his wife and friends.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002088787
040-002088789 - Is part of:
- Add MS 35310-35324 : Rothschild Bequest
Add MS 35311 : Breviary, Use of Rome (the 'Breviary of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria') - Hierarchy:
- 032-002088787[0002]/040-002088789
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Add MS 35310-35324
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_35311 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1413
- End Date:
- 1419
- Date Range:
- 1413-1419
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 245 x 170 mm (written space: 145 x 100 mm).
Foliation: ff. 438 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning and the end).
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Modern binding of red velvet; gilt and painted edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Paris, France.
Provenance:
John II 'the Fearless' (b. 1371, d. 1419), Duke of Burgundy (1404-1419), and his wife (married in 1385), Margaret of Bavaria (b. 1363, d. 1423): their arms in the companion volume (Harley MS 2897, f. 188v).
'D. Verplanken' (fl. 1718), canon of St Jacques at Antwerp: given by him to the monastery of Lieu St Bernard in 1718 (see inscription, f. 7v). The companion volume Harley MS 2897 was acquired for the collection Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724) in 1715.
Ferdinand James Anselm de Rothschild (b.1839; d. 1898), baron de Rothschild, art collector and politician: one of 15 manuscripts (Add MSS 35310-35324) bequeathed by him to the British Museum in 1889.
- Information About Copies:
- Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1894-1899 (London: British Museum, 1901), pp. 252-53.
[J. A. Herbert], Illuminated Manuscripts and Bindings of Manuscripts Exhibited in The Grenville Library, Guide to the Exhibited Manuscripts, 3 (Oxford: British Museum, 1923).
Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Late XIV Century and the Patronage of the Duke, 2 vols, National Gallery of Art Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967), II, pp. 321, 355, 357.
Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries (London, 1974), I, pp.325-26.
James Douglas Farquhar, Creation and Imitation: The work of a fifteenth-century manuscript illuminator, Nova University Studies in the Humanities, 1 (Fort Lauderdale: Nova University Press, 1976), pp. 45-46, pls 24-25.
Sandra Hindman and James Douglas Farquhar, Pen to Press: Illustrated Manuscripts and Printed Books in the First Century of Printing (College Park: University of Maryland, 1977), pl. 20.
Lilian M. C. Randall and others, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery, 3 vols (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989-1997), I: France, 875-1420, no. 100.
Maximilian P. J. Marten, ‘The Master of Guillebert de Mets: An Illuminator between Paris and Ghent?’, in 'Als Ich Can': Liber Amicorum in Memory of Professor Dr. Maurits Smeyers, ed. by Bert Cardon and others, 2 vols (Paris: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2002), II, pp. 921-39 (p. 931).
Paris 1400: Les arts sous Charles VI (Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004), no. 166 [exhibition catalogue].
Art from the Court of Burgundy (1364-1419) (Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2004), p. 122 [exhibition catalogue].
The Limbourge Brothers: Nijmegen Masters at the French Court 1400-1416, ed. by Rob Duckers and Pieter Roelofs (no pl.: Ludion, 2005), nos 114-15 [exhibition catalogue].
Gregory T. Clark, 'The Master of Guillebert de Mets, Philip the Good, and the Breviary of John the Fearless', Quarendo, 38 (2008), 279-98.
Gregory T. Clark, Art in a Time of War (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2016), pp. 32, fig. 30.
A l'Escu de France: Guillebert de Mets et la peinture de livres a Gand a l'epoque de Jan van Eyck (1410-1450), ed. by Dominique Vanwijnsberghe and Erik Verroken, 2 vols (Brussels: IRPA, 2017), I, pp. 26, n. 39, 214, 340, nn. 103, 108, figs 8.71, 74,76,78,80,82, II, p. 711.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)