Black Hours, Hispanic Society, New York on:
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The Black Hours now in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America museum in New York City is a black book of hours made around 1458.
The calendar is appropriate for the Crown of Aragon, and it has been suggested it was a gift, on her bereavement, to Maria of Castile, queen of
The Black Hours now in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America museum in New York City is a black book of hours made around 1458.
The calendar is appropriate for the Crown of Aragon, and it has been suggested it was a gift, on her bereavement, to Maria of Castile, queen of Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...
who died in Valencia in 1458. The black vellum and her coat of arms, no longer blazoned with that of Aragon support this theory. The illuminator was Flemish, perhaps working in Spain at the time.
Description
The book is anilluminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
on black parchment, consisting of 152 folios, each measuring about 14.7 x 10.1 cm. The text is a version of the usual book of hours
The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...
text, formally the ''Horae Beatae Marie Secundum usum curie romane'' (''Hours of the Blessed Mary Following the Use of Rome'').
The manuscript has space on the page facing the start of each office, for a miniature. The inclusion of St. Vincent Ferrer
Vincent Ferrer, OP ( ca-valencia, Sant Vicent Ferrer , es, San Vicente Ferrer, it, San Vincenzo Ferreri, german: Sankt Vinzenz Ferrer, nl, Sint-Vincent Ferrer, french: Saint Vincent Ferrier; 23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was a Valencian D ...
, who was canonized in 1455, gives us a '' terminus post quem''. Folio 13 r bears the coat of arms of Castile (believed to be that of Maria of Castile).
See also
* Purple parchmentReferences
Black books of hours 15th-century illuminated manuscripts {{Catholic-Church-book-stub