Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Rome, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Ghent, c.1460]180 x 120mm. 187 + 10 leaves:1 1 2, 2 8(of 9, lacking i), 3 8, 4 8(of 9, lacking v), 5 6(of 7, lacking ii), 6 8, 7 5(of 4 + iv miniature leaf), 8 8, 9 8(of 10, lacking ii and vii miniature leaves), 10 8(of 10, lacking ii and vii), 11 8(of 9, lacking ii), 12 8(of 10, lacking i and vi), 13 4, 14 8(of 9, lacking i), 15 8(of 9, lacking viii), 16 8(possibly lacking miniature leaf as vii), 17-19 8, 20 6, 21 5(of 4 + i miniature leaf), 22 8, 23 6, 24 8, 25 4(of 5, lacking ii), 26 3(of 2 + i miniature leaf) + 27 1 0, the lacking leaves inserts with miniatures, some catchwords written in centre of lower margin of final versos, TEXT COMPLETE, 17 lines written in a gothic bookhand in brown ink between two verticals and 18 horizontals ruled in violet, justification: 97 x 61mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one- and two-line initials and line-endings of burnished gold on divided grounds of pink and blue patterned with white, three similar four-line initials with single gold bars and partial borders of hair-line sprays linking gold disks and blue and pink flowers, TWENTY-FOUR SMALL CALENDAR ILLUSTRATIONS of the occupations of the months and the signs of the zodiac with similar partial borders, EIGHTEEN LARGE INITIALS ON GOLD GROUNDS WITH THREE-SIDED GOLD BARS AND FULL BORDERS of acanthus and flower and fruit sprays in shell-gold, blue, green, red, pink and ochre, inhabited by human figures, grotesques, birds and beasts, interspersed with burnished gold disks flourished in ink, TWELVE HISTORIATED INITIALS with similar bars and full borders, SEVENTEEN LARGE MINIATURES above large foliate initials on gold grounds with similar full borders, FIVE FULL-PAGE MINIATURES with similar full borders (margins worn and spotted, occasionally into text, slight smudging to some borders, paint losses to several miniatures, affecting faces ff.15, 24v, 180v and 185v, devils partially erased f.30, drapery added to nudes f.154v). Seventeenth-century red gilt, lettered on upper and lower covers DON PEDRO DE ARAGON with his coat of arms on a cartouche with putto masks, leaves and flowers, flanked by four cherubs, under a coronet supported by two angels, spine gilt in five compartments, green cloth box (spine repaired, scuffed). PROVENANCE: 1. The style of decoration and Calendar suggest an origin in Ghent, with Sts Amalberga, 13 July (correctly 10 July) and Macarius, 10 May, for the elevation of his relics in Ghent, 9 May. The first male owner appears in the miniature opening the unusual series of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit f.24v; his coat of arms, azure, a bend argent between two bendlets or, are integrated into the initials or borders on ff.13, 38, 122; in the border on f.38 are the initials E N and V N, enclosed by rooting pine branches with pine cones. The arms were borne by several families, including the L'Enfant, later L'Enfant de Louzy, of Anjou and Brittany. Prayers are in the masculine. The text Litany includes a special section of monks and hermits and St Clara, the sister of St Francis, among the Virgins; St Francis and the Franciscan St Bernardino, canonised in 1450, appear in calendar and memorials. St Catherine of Siena was a Dominican. It is very rare to find a memorial and miniature of St Basilissa; if featured at all, she is usually with her husband, St Julian the Hospitaller, with whom she lived in chastity. Many southern Netherlandish towns had hospitals dedicated to St Julian. 2. Later in the fifteenth century, a gathering of prayers in Latin and Italian, in an Italian hand was added to the end of the book. Don Pedro de Aragon, Duke of Segorbe and Cardona, viceroy of Naples 1665-1671, where he could have acquired the book; his armorial binding. CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-12, Hours of the Cross ff.13-24: matins f.13, prime f.15, terce f.17, sext f.18v, none f.20, vespers f.21v, compline f.23; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.25-32: matins f.25, p