By Canon Ian Morter
A few weeks ago, the Cathedral’s new Treasures Gallery received The Fortescue Book of Hours, on extended loan from the Countess of Arran. The Dean recently wrote about this amazing treasure telling us that: “The book in question was undoubtedly of the highest status, created for Sir John Fortescue, who was born at the end of the fourteenth century. Having started as an MP in Devon, he became a lawyer – rising to King’s Serjeant and then Chief Justice of the King’s bench. Sir John’s son Martin married Elizabeth Denzill of Castle Hill, Filleigh, in 1454 and that is where this beautiful Book of Hours has resided ever since – in the Library, quietly enjoyed by many generations of the Fortescue family, but never on public display”.
This re-invigorated my interest in the tradition of the Book of Hours. Back in 2004, I was fortunate to have a sabbatical when I was able to study in London on a diploma course on art history and had the opportunity to visit a number of European cities where there are world famous art collections. One of the fascinating things that I came across was the mediaeval private prayer books that wealthy individuals had commissioned for their private devotions.
The Golden Age of the creation of the Book of Hours in Europe was from 1350 to 1480. They consisted of a collection of Christian prayers said at certain key times of the day following the monastic pattern. These private and personalised prayer books were often commissioned to include beautiful calligraphy and illustrations from the scriptures and religious feast days. One such Book of Hours is ‘Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry’. It was created perhaps between the years 1412 and 1416 for the Duke of Berry, who was a French prince, the brother of King Charles V of France. There are extensive records that testify that he was a great patron of fine arts that he gathered in his mansion at Saint Chapelle. When he died in 1416, his estate contained sixteen Books of Hours, one of which was incomplete and unbound and listed as “tres riches heures” – a very richly decorated hours. All these prayer books were sold to cover the debts he had amassed during his lifetime collecting beautiful things.
‘Tres Riches du Duc de Berry’ consists of 206 pages of very fine parchment measuring 30cm by 21cm. The book is one of the most amazingly lavish late medieval illuminated prayer books following the late International Gothic Style. It is beautifully decorated with some sixty-six large and sixty-five small illustrations. It was produced by the Limbourg Brothers, Paul, Johan and Herman, but skilled scholarly examination reveals that it has undergone many changes and is in fact the work of a number of artists who contributed to the marginal decorations, calligraphy, the initial letters and the one hundred and thirty-one detailed miniatures. The style of the artistic work suggests that their provenance was probably from the Low Countries.
When the Duc de Berry died in 1416 along with the Limbourg brothers, possibly due to plague, the manuscript was unfinished, but is thought to be completed some seventy years later by Jean Colombe when it was purchased by the Duke of Savoy. It subsequently went through various ownerships finally belonging to Henri d’Orleans, the Duke of Aumale who was exiled in Twickenham, London. He returned to France in 1871 where it entered his library in the Chateau de Chantilly, North of Paris. He subsequently bequeathed his library to the Institut de France creating the Musee Conde, where the Duc de Berry Book of Hours remains to this day.
We may think that Books of Hours are the treasures of past wealthy persons, but that is not the case! The custom of having one’s own Prayer Book has continued down the centuries and on my confirmation, aged 12, I was given a copy of the Book of Common Prayer by my Godmother which contained prints of the treasures of religious art. Additionally, various people in the 21st century have produced ‘Devotional Art Books’ for us, to help us on our spiritual journey. I have collected a number over the years. Jane Williams – Angels; Sr Wendy Becket – The Art of Mary and The Art of Faith; Karen Sullivan – Sacred Moments; J Philip Newell – Celtic Benediction, Morning and Evening Prayers. Do explore not only the possibility to seeing The Fortescue Book of Hours in our Cathedral’s Treasures Gallery but also look for others that are available in the British Library in London and perhaps some of the contemporary and financially accessible collections I have mentioned.
