Hours of Catherine of Cleves
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (Morgan Library and Museum, now divided in two parts, M. 917 and M. 945, the latter sometimes called the Guennol Hours or, less commonly, the Arenberg Hours) is an ornately
History
Origin
The Hours of
Patrons
The Hours was commissioned for Catherine of Cleves by either her father
The first two full page miniatures celebrate her illustrious
Catherine of Cleves is shown kneeling before The Virgin and the Christ Child, M. 945, folio 1 verso; Plummer, Plate 1. She is shown giving alms in Piety, the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit, M. 917, p. 65; Plummer, Plate 57. Catherine is also shown kneeling, with the Virgin, before Christ, in The Crucifixion, M. 917, p. 160; Plummer, Plate 96.[1][3] Her husband, Arnold, Duke of Guelders, may be the lord shown kneeling before Christ in Fear of the Lord, the seventh gift of the Holy Spirit, M. 917, p. 58; Plummer, Plate 58. In the reconstructed book, his portrait follows that of Catherine's in Piety. And, some of his coinage is shown in the border of M. 917, p. 240; Plummer, Plate 117.[1][3]
Artist
The Master of Catherine of Cleves was the anonymous illuminator, who is named after this masterpiece of Netherlandish illumination. The Cleves Master might have been a member of the van Aken family of painters. A study of the miniatures indicates that the Cleves Master designed and painted over 157 miniatures, as well as the principal border decorations, with minimal assistance from two workshop assistants.[1][7]
The Hours have several anomalies.
Antithesis and unusual iconography conveys irony and humor.[10] Saint James the Less was known for his abstinence, so the border depicts men drinking wine. Saint Gregory, the great Church administrator, is shown with a border of gold and silver coins. Saint Peter is painted with the key of the Church, standing above a triskelion (a reference to the Trinity) of fresh fish as the fisher of men. Saint Lawrence is shown with the grill of his martyrdom, and the alms purse attribute as the patron of the poor. His border shows fresh fish ready for grilling, and the big fish eating the little fish, representing the rich devouring the poor, a common literary and pictorial theme of the 15th and 16th centuries.[5] These fantastic trompe-l'œil borders were to influence the work of the Master of Mary of Burgundy 30 years later.[1]
The Cleves Master was a superb realist who showed scenes of 15th-century Utrecht, especially in the small
The Virgin is seated on the other side of the fire, suckling Jesus in her neat, orderly kitchen.By reconstructing The Hours from the two principal manuscripts, one can see the Master grow as an artist over the several years it took to illuminate The Hours. The early miniatures and iconography are comparable to the contemporary panel paintings of Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck, and share many close similarities. The later miniatures are painted with the imagination, originality, and vibrant colors that characterize Early Netherlandish painting and the later developments of that tradition. This originality of technique and awareness of everyday life prompted Delaissé to call the Cleves Master "the ancestor of the 17th century Dutch school of painting."[2][5]
Modern period
After disappearing from view for some 400 years, the Hours of Catherine of Cleves surfaced in 1856. Jacques Joseph Techener, a
In 1963, Frederick Adams was offered another Cleves Master Horae (M 917) by an unnamed European owner. A comparison of this discovered book with the Guennol Hours (M 945) revealed that not only were they by the same artist, and from the same workshop, but both Horae were incomplete and complemented each other. This observation suggested that they were once a single volume, which had been deliberately disassembled into two separate liturgical books.[1] Scholars believe that sometime in the 1850s, The Hours was separated into two volumes, and several leaves were removed. Microscopic examination revealed that some of the rubrics had been deliberately erased, so the leaves could be reassembled without a tell-tale break in the text.[1] The two volumes have been recovered; but, the 9-12 missing leaves are presumed lost.[2]
In 1970, the Guennol Hours (M.945) was purchased by the Pierpont Morgan Library through the Belle da Costa Greene Foundation, with additional assistance of various Library Fellows.[6] By studying the text, the iconography, and the physical makeup of the two volumes, John Plummer, Morgan Library Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, reconstructed the original sequence of the original, single volume of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.[2]
In connection with a 2010 exhibition entitled “Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves,” the Morgan Library disbound the two volumes to display 93 of the illuminations in their original order. After the show which ends on May 2, 2010, the library will rebind the book with the leaves in their proper order.[12]
Provenance
- Catherine, Duchess of Guelders, for whom it was made, 1440–1445 (single volume)
- Ermengard of Lochhorst, who allegedly received it from Catherine[7]
- Disappeared for 400 years
- Jacques Techener, Parisian Book dealer, 1856 (divided into 2 volumes: M 945, M 917; and missing leaves)
- M 917
- Baron Maurice de Rothschild, 1936 (M 917)[7]
- Frederick Adams, Bookseller, discovers another Cleves Master Horae, 1963 (M 917)
- Morgan Library and Museum, purchased 1963 (M 917)
- M945
- Prince Charles d’Arenberg, purchased before 1896 (M 945)
- Duchess Julie d’Arenberg (M 945)
- Duke Engelbert d’Arenberg (M 945)
- Duke Engelbert-Marie d’Arenberg exhibited as the Arenberg Hours in Düsseldorf, 1904 (M 945)
- Hans P. Kraus, Bookseller, 1958 (M 945)
- Alistair Bradley Martin (Guennol Collection), 1958 (M 945)
- Exhibited at the Rijksmuseum as the Guennol Hours, 1958 (M 945)
- Hans P. Kraus, Art Dealer, 1970 (M 945)
- Morgan Library and Museum, purchased 1970 (M 945)[1]
Description
The book is a Gothic manuscript and book of hours, illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, and at least two assistants, in
M 945 = Vellum, 193 leaves, 7½ × 5⅛ inches (192 × 130 mm), with 63 miniatures, bound in 19th-century red velvet.[6]
M 917 = Vellum, 328 leaves, 7½ × 5⅛ inches (192 × 130 mm), with 94 miniatures, in a 19th-century binding, with spine marked Heures de Catherine de Cleves / Martyrologie.[13] There are an estimated 9 to 12 leaves missing, based on the series of saints in the Suffrages. Saint Quirinus, Saint Margaret and two other saints are missing; at least five to eight other leaves are missing, too.[1][7] The text is Latin in a Gothic script with black and red ink, by a single scribe; there are catchwords and rubricator's notes in other hands.
Contents
Books of hours were extremely popular in the late medieval times, and by the date of these hours the most common vehicle for lavish illumination. The books were intended for regular use, by lay people, who wished to structure their devotional life. Observing the canonical hours centered upon the recitation, or singing, of a number of psalms, which are accompanied by prayers, specified by the eight hours of the liturgical day.[1]
The core text of a Book of Hours is the
This book contains:
- A Calendar of feast days,
- The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
- The Hours of the Cross,
- The Hours of Eternal Wisdom,
- The Office for the Dead,
- The Seven Penitential Psalms,
- Various Litanies and Prayers,
- A series of seven Offices for each day, with an accompanying Mass; and
- The Suffrages, a Memorial of the Saints.[1][6][13]
Decoration
These volumes come from a period when luxury books of hours for the wealthy were produced for their artistic and decorative effect.[14] The artist chose an unusually wide variety of subject matter for his border illuminations. He decorated his borders with beautiful trompe-l'œil depictions of nature: mussels, fruit, birds, fish, and more.[15] The Master also depicts man-made beauty, such as jewelry, tiles, coins, and furniture. These border decorations would greatly influence the Master of Mary of Burgundy. The Cleves Master was familiar with the details of humble tasks such as milking a cow, selling wine, and baking bread. In spite of the humble occupations depicted in the miniatures and borders, the luxurious details of wealth and elegance dominate the miniatures, to emphasize that this book was made for an aristocratic client.[1][5] Ingenious theological links between the subjects of the main images and the objects in the borders have been suggested by some scholars, though many of these are not generally accepted.
The Cleves Master's originality is in the trompe-l'œil effects, and in the
As a whole, the Cleves Master's decorations concentrate on the great themes of late medieval theology and piety: the Trinity, Christ, the Cross, the Virgin, the Saints, death, salvation, and eternal life. The standard pattern of these devotional prayers provided the framework for the Cleves Master's efforts. The challenge to the artists of his day was to apply their utmost skill in devising sumptuous pictures, which were fresh and delightful, but fully compliant with religious conventions and the expectations of their noble clients.[1][3][13][14]
Reproductions
In 1964, the Morgan Library produced an 83-page catalogue, The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, for the Cleves Hours exhibit held at the Library. Both the cloth and paperback editions contained 30 black and white plates, plus 2 color plates, accompanied with commentaries by John Plummer, Curator of Mediaeval Manuscripts at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Frederick B. Adams, Jr, wrote the foreword, which incorporated comments by Harry Bober, L. M. J. Delaissé, Millard Meiss, and Erwin Panofsky.[2]
In 1966, the publisher, George Braziller, produced a full color, partial facsimile. All 157 of the miniatures were reproduced in color with gold. Three text pages of prayers were reproduced in color. The 160 facsimile pages were accompanied with notes and commentaries by John Plummer. This book was issued as a 359-page leather, or leatherette, hardback volume in a slipcase.[1]
A cloth hardback edition was issued in 1975. And, in 1980, the publisher, George Braziller, produced a paperback facsimile of this book.
In 2002, George Braziller published a third edition as a 360-page hardback. All 157 of the miniatures and three text pages were reproduced in color with gold. Plummer includes a new foreword, along with the 1966 edition Introduction and commentaries, accompanying each facsimile page.
In conjunction with a 2010 exhibition of the manuscript,[17] the Morgan Library prepared a complete digital facsimile of the miniatures and any facing text pages.[18]
Use
The Hours of the Virgin are those for use of the
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is still relevant today as a devotional text. Karlfried Froehlich, Princeton Theological Seminary, makes a statement about the modern usage of books of hours:
In their imaginative use of traditional iconography the artists put us in touch with a wealth of theological tradition that had developed over centuries and had marked with its symbols the meditative road into the depth dimension. Behind the pictures in these volumes we meet not only the theology of an individual Christian but also a theology expressive of the collective witness of many generations who drew their strength from the contemplation of the realities to which their symbols pointed. There is nothing that could prevent a miniature from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves from becoming an effective help of Christian meditation today.[14]
See also
- Canonical hours
- List of illuminated manuscripts
- History of miniature (illuminated manuscript)
References
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9780807614921
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rouse, Richard. Book Review of The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves by John Plummer. Speculum, v. 40, n. 3, 1965. (538-540).
- ^ a b c d e f Morgan
- ^ ISBN 0-8076-1418-1
- ^ a b c d e f Plummer, John. The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, 1964.
- ^ a b c d Morgan
- ^ a b c d Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.
- ^ Morgan image
- ISBN 0-7011-2514-4, and: Lane, Barbara G,The Altar and the Altarpiece, Sacramental Themes in Early Netherlandish Painting, pp. 42–47
- ^ "Border of nets and cages". Archived from the original on 2007-06-17. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ Image
- ^ Roberta Smith, Miniature Visions of Life, Faith and Purgatory’s Gaping Maw, New York Times, Jan. 21, 2010
- ^ a b c Morgan
- ^ a b c d Froehlich, Karlfried, Princeton Theological Seminary link
- ^ Seafood border
- ^ Williams, Rita. Patterns in the Framing: Patience and The Hours of Catherine of Cleves http://www.publications.villanova.edu/Concept/2005/Patterns.pdf
- ^ Morgan Library exhibition
- ^ Digital facsimile of the manuscript
Further reading'
- Calkins, Robert G. "Distribution of labor: the illuminators of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves and their Workshop." In Transactions of the American Philosophical Society; new ser., v. 69, pt. 5. Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, 1979. ISBN 0-87169-695-9
- Calkins, Robert G. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8014-9377-3
- De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. New York: Phaidon Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7148-3452-1
- Merton, Thomas. A Book of Hours. Notre Dame, Indiana: Sorin Books, 2007. ISBN 1-933495-05-7