Ask the Scholar

This Dutch Book of Hours was made for a female patron, possibly pictured on fol. 109r, in the mid-fifteenth century. Originally richly illuminated by the workshop of the Master of Catherine of Cleves, the manuscript now lacks all of its full-page miniatures, although the eight surviving historiated initials speak to its original grandeur. Its rebinding in the seventeenth century resulted in the loss of several folios and the reordering of many of the texts. The imagery on this page is especially unusual for its marginal motifs, which include not only mussels, but also scallop shells. These shells were traditionally associated with guiding pilgrims on their path to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. A small painting over one of the shells here may be a depiction of that shrine.