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artist or maker

Bourdichon, Jean (b.c 1457, d.1521)

maringal decorations by Master of Claude, Queen of France (French, active 1511-1516)
binding by Hippolyte Duru (French, d.1884)

Date

c 1515-c 1520

1855

{binding}

Place of production

Tours, France

Medium

vellum, ink, paint, gold, paper and morocco leather

Type of object

Illuminated manuscripts

Accession number

3020

Manuscript book of hours in Latin and French, 109 leaves of vellum with 12 calendar illustrations in the margins and 19 miniatures. Contains: Calendar fols 1r-6v; Gospel Extracts fols 7r-15v; Hours of the Virgin intermixed with Short Hours of the Cross and Holy Spirit fols 16r-62r; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany fols 63r-77r; Office of the Dead fols 78r-99r; Suffrages fols 99v-102r; Prayer to Virgin ‘Obsecro te’ fols 103r-106r.

Illuminator to French kings and queens, Jean Bourdichon painted the sumptuous flowers in this jewel of a book of hours. Illusionistic full-page miniatures, also by Bourdichon, were designed to transport the imagination of its wealthy patron into another world. Unusual marginal decorations indicate a rare instance of collaboration between Bourdichon and another master.

Commentary

Rich in colour, varied in detail and striking in design, it was once thought that Bourdichon created this manuscript for Anne of Brittany, Queen of France (1477-1514). She commissioned another spectacular manuscript from him in 1508 (Paris, Bib. Nat. lat. 9474). There are very few clues about the probable patron, other than they must have been very important. The nudity of Bathsheba may indicate a man (fol. 63v). He would have used this book to pray at set times throughout the day and cope with common experiences such as illness, death, or temptation to sin by contemplating certain prayers, readings or images.

Bourdichon's talent for creating jewel-like arrangements of plants, flowers and insects is notable (e.g. fols 12r and 45r). The colours are more saturated than in real-life, creating a vividness that complements the higher world depicted in the full-page miniatures.

The distinctive 'Renaissance candelabra' marginal decorations are now thought to be by the Master of Claude, Queen of France (e.g. fol 99r). He also appears to have produced a manuscript based on the Waddesdon example (London, British Museum, MS add. 18855). It was rare for Bourdichon to collaborate in this way. Perhaps the patron wanted to emphasise the cutting-edge Italianate features of his style.

Although the calendar decorations are plainer than elsewhere in Bourdichon's work, with only a single border and a repetition of subject matter in April and June, the full-page miniatures allow his talent to shine. Bourdichon's conception of miniatures as intimate, icon-like images, akin to the small private altarpieces used by his clientele, is fully evident.

Italianate architectural frames enhance his placement of figures close to the picture surface, as if they are about to enter our space. Saint Mark as a scribe, preparing his quill before dipping it into the ink, is particularly accomplished (fol. 13v). Unusual choices of imagery - such as Job on the Dung Hill for the Office of the Dead (fol. 78v) - may indicate they were tailored to its intended patron.

For a detailed list of the illustrations and text content, please see the Physical Description tab.

Phillippa Plock, 2015

Physical description

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

260 x 183 x 37

Physical details

109 folios gathered in 13 quires, including 16 inserted leaves; bound in 19th-century brown morocco leather in 1855.
12 marginal calendar illustrations and 19 full-page miniatures; numerous painted initials; decorative borders; and many decorated paragraph signs and line endings all in colours and gold.

List of illustrations:

Borders:
1. Renaissance candelabra on text pages which do not face miniatures in brown and gold
2. Fruit, flowers and insects surrounding text on pages facing miniatures

Calendar:
Labours of the Months and signs of the Zodiac, fols 1r-6v

Miniatures:

1. Saint John on Patmos (Gospel Extract), fol. 7v
2. Saint Luke (Gospel Extract), fol. 9v
3. Saint Matthew (Gospel Extract), fol. 11v
4. Saint Mark (Gospel Extract), fol. 13v
5. The Annunciation (Hours of the Virgin, Matins), fol. 16v
6. The Visitation (Lauds), fol. 24v
7. The Crucifixion (Short Hours of the Cross, Matins), fol. 32v
8. Pentecost (Short Hours of the Holy Spirit, Matins), fol. 34v
9. The Nativity (Prime), fol. 36v
10. The Annunciation to the Shepherds (Terce), fol. 40v
11. The Adoration of the Magi (Sext), fol. 44v
12. The Presentation in the Temple (None), fol. 48v
13. The Flight into Egypt (Vespers), fol. 53v
14. The Virgin in Glory (Compline), fol. 58v
15. David and Bathsheba (Seven Penitential Psalms), fol. 63v
16. Job on the Dung-hill (Office of the Dead), fol. 78v
17. Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Suffrage), fol. 99v
18. Saint Catherine (Suffrage), fol. 101v
19. The Virgin and Child (Obsecro te), fol. 103v

Text content:

Calendar fols 1r-6v; Gospel Extracts fols 7r-15v; Hours of the Virgin intermixed with Short Hours of the Cross and Holy Spirit fols 16r-62r; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany fols 63r-77r; Office of the Dead fols 78r-99r; Suffrages fols 99v-102r; Prayer to Virgin ‘Obsecro te’ fols 103r-106r.

Marks

[arms of Baron James de Rothschild]
Owner's mark
[outer binding, centre of both sides]

Duru 1855
Maker's mark
[binding, on front turn in]

2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
Maker's mark
[pencil, lower left on first page of quires 2-13, 19th century hand, bookbinder]

No. 56
Owner's mark
[on fly-leaf, on book plate of Baron James de Rothschild]

Ms 19
Owner's mark
[on fly-leaf, pencil, inventory number of Baron James de Rothschild]

Language

Latin
French

History

Provenance

Owned by Antoine-Augustin Renouard (b.1765, d.1853); his sale, Paris, 20 November - 23 December, 1854, lot 50; where acquired by Baron James de Rothschild (b.1792, d.1868); by descent to his son Baron Edmond de Rothschild (b.1845, d.1934); by descent to his son James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); inherited by his wife Dorothy de Rothschild (b.1895, d.1988); given to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1971.

Collection

Waddesdon (National Trust)
Gift of Dorothy de Rothschild, 1971

Bibliography

Catalogue des dessins, estampes et livres à figures que renferme la bibliothèque de feu M. Antoine-Augustin Renouard... [...]; 1854; Paris; lot 50; pp. 2-3 of published extract of sale catalogue.
Léopold Delisle; Les grands Heures de la reine Anne de Bretagne et l'atelier de Jean Bourdichon; Paris; Libraire Damascène Morgand; 1913; pp. 21-24, 103-108, pl. 48-64.
Raymond Limousin; Jean Bourdichon, peintre et enlumineur, son atelier et son école; Lyon; Bibliotheque des Erudits & Presses Academiques; 1954; pp. 78-9.
Émile Mâle; Art et Artistes en Moyen Age; Paris; Flammarion; 1968; pp. 208-12, ill.; [trans. as "Art & artists of the Middle Ages" (1986), pp. 204, 207]
L M J Delaissé; The Importance of the Book of Hours for the History of the Medieval Book; Ursula E. McCracken, Lilian M C Randall, Richard H. Randall Jr., Gatherings in Honor of Dorothy E. Miner, Baltimore, The Walters Art Gallery, 1974; pp. 203-225; p. 205, n. 5.
L M J Delaissé, James Marrow, John de Wit; Illuminated Manuscripts: The James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre; 1977; pp. 416-445, cat. no. MS 20, ill.; as c. 1505.
John Plummer; The last flowering: French painting in manuscripts, 1420-1530 from American collections; New York; Pierpont Morgan Library, Morgan Library and Museum; 1982; pp. 83-84.; as c. 1515.
Christopher de Hamel; Medieval Craftsmen - Scribes and Illustrators; London; British Museum; 1992; p. 28, fig. 22; fol. 13v.
François Avril, Nicole Reynaud; Les manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440-1520; Paris; Bibliothèque nationale de France; 1993; p. 300.
Isabelle Delaunay, Le manuscrit enluminé à Rouen au temps du cardinal Georges d'Amboise : l'œuvre de Robert Boyvin et de Jean Serpin, Annales de Normandie, 45, 1995, 211-44; p. 227, n. 65.
Christopher de Hamel; Les Rothschild collectionneurs de manuscrits; France; Bibliothèque nationale de France; 2004; pp. 34-35, figs 10, 11b, pp. 60, 62, 107; fol. 40v, binding.
Christopher de Hamel; The Rothschilds and their Collections of Illuminated Manuscripts; London; The British Library; 2005; pp. 22-24.
Gordon Campbell; The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art; 3 vols; Oxford; Oxford University Press; 2009; vol. 1, p. 233
Nicholas Herman; «Ut certius et melius ipsum depingeret»: observations sur la production et l’activité tardive de Jean Bourdichon; Elsig Frédéric, Peindre en France à la Renaissance: Courants stylistiques au temps de Louis XII et de François 1er, Milan, Biblioteca d'arte Silvana Editoriale, 2011; 209-25; p. 221, 223-4, fig. 143; fol. 17r, as. c. 1515-1520.
Laura Regnicoli; Il Libro D'Ore di Maddalena De' Medici; Modena; Franco Cosimo Panini; 2011; pp. 185-7, pl. 51; fol. 12r.
Alexander Moore; Unearthed: Photography’s Roots; London; Dulwich Picture Gallery; 2020; pp.22 fig.14
Nicolas Herman, Anne-Marie Eze; Jean Bourdichon's Boston Hours; United States of America; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Paul Holberton Publishing; 2021; p31, fig 20

Related files

- Entry from (Delaissé, Marrow & de Wit, 1977), http://api.waddesdon.org.uk/docs/IlluminatedManuscripts/3020.pdf

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