Holding institution title: Book of Hours
Holding institution classification: Book of Hours
Holding institution location: New York, NY
URL: https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/128495
URL2: N/A
Digitization status: Partially digitized
Date: 1295-1354
Language(s): Latin, French
Use: Saint-Omer and the Hospitallers or Thérouanne
Country of production: France
City or region of production: Saint-Omer or Thérouanne
Illumination contents: Pentecost in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. John the Evangelist in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. Peter in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. Paul in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. Andrew in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. James major in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. John the Baptist preaching in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. Philip in initial D, Female owner portrait, Abel’s Sacrifice in initial D, Female owner portrait, Melchizedek before an altar in initial D, Female owner portrait, Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac in initial D, Female owner portrait, Israelites eating manna in initial D, Female owner portrait, Israelites gathering manna in initial D, Female owner portrait, King as soldier with Christ in initial D, Female owner portrait, Elijah sleeping beneath Juniper tree in initial D, Female owner portrait, Christ washing feet of the apostles in initial C, Female owner portrait, St. Martin, Betrayal of Christ in initial D, Female owner portrait, Mocking of Christ in initial D, Female owner portrait, Christ before Pilate in initial D, Female owner portrait, Flagellation of Christ in initial D, Female owner portrait, Christ carrying the Cross in initial D, Female owner portrait, Crucifixion in initial D, Female owner portrait, Descent from the Cross in initial D, Male and female owner portraits, Entombment of Christ in initial D, Female owner portrait, St. Jerome in initial V, Female owner portrait, Crucifixion with sword piercing breast of the Virgin Mary, Arma Christi and Crucifixion, Female owner portrait, Ascension of Christ in initial A, Female owner portrait, Baptism of St. Margaret, St. Margaret with a martyr’s palm, St. Margaret arrested, Margaret before the Provost Olybrius, Flagellation of Christ, Provost Olybrius seated and crowned, St. Margaret tortured, St. Margaret praying as she enters prison, Devil torturing St. Margaret in prison, St. Margaret emerging from the dragon, Devil with pitchfork before a cauldron, St. Margaret wrestling the devil, St. Margaret kneeling in prayer, St. Margaret praying in prison, St. Margaret beheaded, St. Margaret praying, Soul of St. Margaret carried to heaven, Burial of St. Margaret
Text contents: Hours of the Holy Spirit, Hours of the Holy Sacrament, Hours of the Cross, Abridged Psalter of Saint Jerome, Prayers to the Virgin, Ave Maria, Obsecro te, Passion according to John, Life of Saint Margaret in Rhyming French verse
Hours intercalated?:
Personalization: This fragmentary book of hours contains 28 portraits of its first female owner and one portrait of the owner’s husband.
Scribe: Unknown
Illuminator: Alison Stones has called this artist the Master of Morgan Ms M. 754 / Add. 36684
Patron: In this fragmentary book of hours, 28 portraits of the first female owner, and two male owner portraits, presumably depicting the woman’s husband, appear. Additional owner portraits appear in the portion of this book of hours held in the British Library (Add Ms. 36684). In a 1926 publication, Théophile Belin identified the manuscript’s patron as Marguerite de Beaujeu. While this identification has subsequently been rejected, no additional clues about the manuscript’s original owner have been uncovered. Her affinity for Saint Margaret, as evidenced by the book’s inclusion of a verse life of the saint, is one of the only indicators of the original user’s potential name. This saint may have been the namesake of the owner, or the owner may have had a special connection to the saint – perhaps because of her connections to pregnancy and childbirth.
Materials: Vellum
Binding original?: No
Binding description: 16th-century French brown calf, gilt, with double fleurs-de-lis design in corners.
Folio height (in centimeters): 15.6
Folio width (in centimeters): 11
