Neville Hours
Medieval prayer book
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Neville Hours (Paris, BNF Lat1158; French: Heures de Neville) is a book of hours, an illuminated manuscript made in the first half of the 15th century and preserved in the French national library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris.
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History
The manuscript was made in France, possibly in Paris while the city was under English control during the Hundred Years' War.[1] The style of the painting as well as details such as costumes and architecture are clearly French.[2] Its calendar lists two unusual saints from Britany, namely Paul Aurelian and Lunaire.[3] Conversely, the calendar does not contain mention of any English saints.[4] The book has been stylistically dated to around 1420.[4] It was made by an unknown illuminator artist, for an unknown patron, probably French and probably male.[4] Sometime not long after, it passed into the ownership of Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland or her husband, Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.[2][5] At this point, two full-page miniatures were added to the miniature, attributed to the Master of the Munich Golden Legend.[4] One of these depicts the son of Ralph Neville, Robert, wearing the robes of a bishop. He acquired the position of Bishop of Salisbury in 1427, and thus the miniatures must have been added between 1427 and 1440, the death date of Joan Beaufort.[4] In the 17th century, it entered the collection of Kenelm Digby, who inscribed the book with his motto. Eventually it passed to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, and from him entered the royal, later national, library of France.[2]
Sources cited
- Leroquais, Victor (1927). Les livres d'heures manuscrits de la Bibliothèque nationale. Tome 1 (in French). Paris. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Ungeheuer, Laurent (2015). Le Maître de la " Légende dorée " de Munich, un enlumineur parisien du milieu du XVe siècle : formation, production, influences et collaborations (in French). Paris: École pratique des hautes études - EPHE. Retrieved 29 March 2026.