Hours: MS 149

Titles

Hours

Maker(s)

Artist: Bellini, Leonardo

Entities

• Book of hours
• Use of Rome

Categories

• Illuminated manuscript
• Manuscript

Description

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Parchment, iv parchment flyleaves + 250 fols. + ii parchment flyleaves, 77 x 55 mm (38 x 30 mm), 11 long lines, ruled in plummet, catchwords

BINDING: fifteenth century, red velvet over wooden boards, sewn on three double supports, the insides of both boards have gesso panels with gilt, incised and painted patterns, remains of a silk tie, blue and red endbands, traces of a plaque on upper cover and of labels on spine, gilt and gauffered edges.

CONTENTS:
fols. 1r–12v Calendar
fols. 13v–129v Hours of the Virgin
fols. 130v–140v Mass of the Virgin
fols. 141r–172v Penitential Psalms and Litany
fols. 173r–242v Office of the Dead
fols. 243r–250v Hours of the Cross

DECORATION: Eight full-page miniatures in gold frames within purple or magenta borders: fol. 13v Hours of the Virgin, Matins, Annunciation, with peacock facing the Virgin; fol. 49v Prime, Adoration of the Child; fol. 57v Terce, Presentation in the Temple; fol. 65v Sext, Adoration of the Magi; fol. 73v None, Flight into Egypt; fol. 81v Vespers, Massacre of the Innocents; fol. 94v Compline, Circumcision, with an angel carrying a knife, wool and bandage on a dish; fol. 130v Mass of the Virgin, Christ among the Doctors.

Thirteen historiated initials in pink with white abstract motifs and acanthus extensions on gold grounds, with full or three-sided floral and spraywork borders: fol. 14r Hours of the Virgin, Matins, [D, 7 ll.] Virgin and Child with text presented as part of a trompe-l’oeil architectural piece with putti, doe, rabbit, and a shield left blank; fol. 31v Lauds, [D, 5 ll.] Bishop with fleur-de-lys cope (probably St Louis of Toulouse); fol. 50r Prime, [D, 5 ll.] St Peter Martyr; fol. 58r Terce, [D, 5 ll.] St Lucy; fol. 66r Sext, [D, 5 ll.] St Catherine; fol. 74r None, [D, 5 ll.] St Francis; fol. 82r Vespers, [D, 5 ll.] St Bernardino of Siena; fol. 95r Compline, [C, 5 ll.] St Dominic holding fire; fol. 131r Mass of the Virgin, [S, 7 ll.] Virgin reading; fol. 141r Penitential Psalms, [D, 7 ll.] David penitent, with text presented as a tromp-l’oeil scroll suspended from golden cinquefoils and supported by an angel against a landscape with swans and a doe; fol. 173r Office of the Dead, Vespers, [R, 7 ll.] Skull; fol. 232r Office of the Dead, Matins, [D, 5 ll.] Skull; fol. 243r Hours of the Cross, [D, 7 ll.] Christ as Man of Sorrows, with text presented as a tromp-l’oeil scroll suspended from golden cinquefoils and supported by an angel against a landscape with swans and a leopard killing a doe.

ORNAMENTATION: Alternate gold and blue initials [1–2 ll.] with violet or red pen flourishing; capitals highlighted in yellow.

Notes

History note: Richard, seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (1745–1816), acquired in 1801; his bequest, 1816.