Walters W. 425 calendar pages for October, f. 9v and the primary image for the labor of October, Walters W. 425 f. 10r, both have greenery in their marginalia, though f. 9v also includes some striking blossoms, including a Heart’s Ease or Pansy, and a flower that looks very much like a Chrysanthemum, and one that might…
Tag: books of hours
Books of hours are illuminated personal prayer books. Books of hours usually have a calendar with astrological signs and seasonal images, a list of red letter days associated with local saints’ feast days (and special prayers) near the front. The calendar is followed by prayers, and Biblical texts and psalms associated with specific days. Specific cycles, like the hours of the virgin or the stations of the cross are important parts of the yearly cycle, and were somewhat customized to the location and for the owner. The book usually concludes with the offices of the dead.
Books of hours were generally owned by the wealthy, and tended to be smaller than most medieval manuscripts, generally about the size of a mass-market paperback up to a trade hardcover. These books were for personal use and often elaborately illustrated. They were sometimes specifically commissioned for a specific person, and were often owned by women.
They are consequently not only of interest as beautiful objects, but as beautiful objects that tell us a great deal about daily life.
December from the Hours of Henry VIII
This image for December from the Hours of Henry VIII is a really standard image for the labor of December, so much so that I suspect some master pattern book for books of hours is involved. The pigs, shown fattening on mast in November, are now slaughtered and being prepared for butchering. The butcher with…
November from the Hours of Henry VIII
The labor for November is often a butchering scene; typically, hogs. But another popular labor for November scenes in books of hours is that of feeding acorns or nuts “mast” to swine, as here and in the Très Riches Heures. In this image from the Morgan Library’s Hours of Henry VIII, as in the November…
July from the Hours of Henry VIII
This book of hours image from the Morgan Library’s MS H.8 the Hours of Henry VIII shows the July labor of reaping the wheat. You’ll notice that they’re using short-handled sickles, rather than long-handled scythes. The idea is that you cut the tops of the wheat, the part bearing the grain, and first make a…
June from the Hours of Henry VIII
This image from the Morgan Library’s Hours of Henry VIII’s calendar page for June shows the first mowing of the hay, a fairly common labor for June and one frequently illustrated in books of hours. On the left three men swing long-handled scythes to mow the hay, while on the right, women use rakes to heap…
April from the Hours of Henry VIII
This detail is from the April calendar page of the Morgan Library’s Hours of Henry VIII MS. H. 8. It features one of the most popular past times featured in book of hours calendar images for the labors of April; the courtly springtime pastime of picking flowers. The scene looks to be set in an enclosed…
March from the Hours of Henry The VIII
This March calendar page from The Hours of Henry VIII is a fairly typical March scene in terms of the labors of March depicted in a book of hours. Workers are pruning the grape vines. You’ll notice that it’s early enough that the vines are still without leaves. While it’s possible to prune vines later, it’s…
February from the Hours of Henry VIII
This calendar page for February from the Morgan Library’s Hours of Henry VIII (Morgan MS. H.8 f1v) features a typical scene in terms of the the labors of February featured in books of hours; the master of the house is standing in front of the hearth, warming himself by the fire. He’s wearing expensive clothing, indicated…
January from the Hours of Henry VIII
The calendar page for January from the Hours of Henry VIII (Morgan Library MS. H.8 f.1) features feasting in front of the fire, a typical labor for the month of January as depicted in books of hours. This illustration is an example of the “cutaway” scenes that featured in books of hours, with three…
December from the Da Costa Hours
We often think of December as the entry to winter and to Christmas. In the middle ages, typically, winter featured much more dramatically than Christmas. The calendar pages in Books of Hours showing the labors of December most often feature an image of hog butchering, a boar roast, or a boar hunt (sometimes they feature…