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Walters Ms. W.321, Calendar illustrations from a Book of Hours

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Shelf mark

W.321


Manuscript

Calendar illustrations from a Book of Hours


Text title
Miniatures for January and February

Abstract

These two illuminations were cut out of a deluxe Book of Hours that was originally created ca. 1450-60. It is likely that they are by an artist based in Bruges, as they are stylistically related to works from that region in that period (see, for example, W.240). They have been compared to the miniatures in the Hours of Juana EnrĂ­quez (Madrid, Biblioteca de Palacio, unnumbered), as well as to the work of the Master of Girart de Roussillon, active in Brussels ca. 1450-70. The images came from the January and February calendars, although they were framed in the reverse order, with February on the left, and January on the right. A frame of tortoise shell and gilded copper was created for their display, likely in the seventeenth century, and the date of the frame may suggest when the images were removed from their original manuscript context.


Date

Ca. 1450-60 CE


Origin

Bruges (?)


Form

Leaves


Genre

Devotional


Language:

No linguistic content; Not applicable


Extent

Foliation: Two small cuttings from a Book of Hours

The size given is for the manuscript fragments alone without their frame; frame size is 5.3 x 8.5 cm


Dimensions

3.0 cm wide by 3.0 cm high


Contents:
fols. Front - Back:
  1. Title: Miniatures for January and February
  2. Decoration note: Two small miniatures cut from the calendar of a Book of Hours, representing January and February (3 x 3 cm each)

Decoration:

Front:

  1. W.321, Front
  2. Title: Left: Miniature for February with man warming self by fire; Right: Miniature for January with man feasting by fire
  3. Form: Two small miniatures (3 x 3 cm each)
  4. Text: Calendar: January and February

Binding

Inapplicable.

Enclosed in tortoise shell frame with decorative gilt copper device for hanging, possibly seventeenth century


Provenance

Originally from calendar of a deluxe Book of Hours, likely created in Bruges ca. 1450-60

Two miniatures cut from original manuscript before seventeenth century, when they were framed as they are now

Henry Walters, Baltimore, acquired before 1931


Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest


Bibliography

De Ricci, Seymour, and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935; p. 797, cat. no. 257.

Randall, Lilian M. C. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Vol. 3, Belgium, 1250-1530. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Walters Art Gallery, 1997; pp. 250-251, cat. no. 249.


Contributors

Principal cataloger: Randall, Lilian M.C.

Cataloger: Herbert, Lynley

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Huber, Terra; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Wiegand, Kimber


Publisher

The Walters Art Museum


License

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.