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Source Description
This book of hours was written in Dutch in the fifteenth century for the use of Utrecht. The Hours of the Virgin and of the Cross are accompanied here by the Dutch translation of Henry Suso's "Cursus aeternae sapientiae," a text that was particularly popular for private devotion in the Netherlands. Once owned by the English collector Lord Amherst, the manuscript is exceptional for its extensive illumination. Webs of foliage cover every margin, most sprouting medallions containing flora and fauna. The divisions in the text are marked by twenty richly painted full-page miniatures, often accompanied by related marginalia. Further illumination in the form of historiated and foliate initials marks minor breaks in the text, and the overall effect is a visual feast for the reader.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
27276
label
Amherst Hours
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
27276
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Amherst Hours
description
This book of hours was written in Dutch in the fifteenth century for the use of Utrecht. The Hours of the Virgin and of the Cross are accompanied here by the Dutch translation of Henry Suso's "Cursus aeternae sapientiae," a text that was particularly popular for private devotion in the Netherlands. Once owned by the English collector Lord Amherst, the manuscript is exceptional for its extensive illumination. Webs of foliage cover every margin, most sprouting medallions containing flora and fauna. The divisions in the text are marked by twenty richly painted full-page miniatures, often accompanied by related marginalia. Further illumination in the form of historiated and foliate initials marks minor breaks in the text, and the overall effect is a visual feast for the reader.
provenance
Reynold Gideon Bowyer, Goettingen, Germany [date and mode of acquisition unknown];William, Baron Amherst, London, before 1908 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Amherst Sale, London, December 3, 1908, no. 462; Lady William Cecil Sale, London, December 12, 1911, no. 57; Bishop (?), London, 1911 by purchase; Sotheby Sale, London, January 17, 1921, no. 58; Herzberger, London, 1921, by purchase; Henry Walters, Paris, 1925, by purchase [through Paul Gruel (?)]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1400-1500
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
illuminated manuscripts
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
16
height
11
dimensionsRaw
Overall H: 6 5/16 x 4 5/16 in. (16 x 11 cm); Folio H: 6 1/8 × 4 7/16 in. (15.5 × 11.3 cm)
Source extras
cul
Christian; Dutch
med
ink and pigments on well finished, very thin to medium-weight, worn parchment bound between pulp- or paste-board covered with gilt tooled, eighteenth-century green morocco
creator_ids
6227
20411
collection_ids
MSS
exhibition_ids
22
2387
2825
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
b607d7ddf4d7165a