The Larochefoucault Hours, Use of Autun, in Latin [east-central France (probably Autun), c.1460-70; last quire added (Paris), c.1500]

200×145mm, vellum, ii+152+iv leaves, COMPLETE: i-ii6, iii-xi8, xii6, xiii-xvii8, xviii-xix6, xx8, xxi2, catchwords, 15 lines, 98×67mm, 18 LARGE MINIATURES with full borders, 3 SMALL MINIATURES added, small illuminated initials and line-fillers, PANEL BORDERS ON TEXT PAGES WITH TWO-LINE INITIALS, 19th-century dark green velvet, the front cover with an applied Crucifixion and dense foliate ornaments in red coral, the lower cover with a winged putto head at each corner, Christ’s right arm detached

A PERSONAL COMMISSION FOR A COUPLE WITH THE INITIALS 'G' AND 'M' AND THE MOTTO 'BONNE VOLENTE', A COLLABORATION BETWEEN SEVERAL LOCAL ARTISTS WORKING IN A VERY UNUSUAL STYLE AND PERHAPS ACTIVE IN AUTUN

PROVENANCE

(1) Made for the owners depicted on f.139r, with their initials ‘G’ & ‘M’ (ff.113r, 139r, 143r), and their motto ‘Bonne volente’ (ff.5r, 13r, 107r-v, 139r, 143r). (2) Supplemented a few decades later for the woman depicted with her husband on f.147r, with her/their arms in the lower margin. (3) According to a printed note stuck to the first flyleaf, the book was given by the pope to CARDINAL FRANÇOIS DE LAROCHEFOUCAULT (1588–1645), and given by him in 1624 to the church of the monastery (suppressed at the Revolution) of Ste-Geneviève, Paris, of which he was abbot. (4) With the loosely-inserted 19th-century calling card of ‘Le duc de Mouchy’. It was perhaps the duc who was responsible for the added Larochefoucault arms, ‘burelé d’argent et d’azur, à trois chevrons de gueules’ (f.20v).

TEXT AND ILLUMINATION

Calendar (f.1r); Gospel extracts (f.13r); Hours of the Virgin, Use of Autun (f.21r); Hours of the Cross (f.77r); Hours of the Holy Spirit (f.81v); Penitential Psalms (f.85r), litany (f.99r); Office of the Dead, Use of Autun (f.103v); Obsecro te (f.139r); Salve mater dolorosa (f.143r); Suffrages (f.145r); last quire added in c.1500: O intemerata, with feminine forms (f.147r), and suffrages to Sebastian and Claude.

The main style in the book is unusual and characterised by figures with oval heads and blushing cheeks; a preference for blues, greens and greys conveys a generally cool palette. The last quire was added in Paris around c.1500 by the workshop of Jean Pichore.

The subjects of the large miniatures are: (1) St John (f.13r); (2) Matthew (f.15r); (3) Mark (f.17r); (4) Luke (f.18v); (5) Annunciation (f.21r); (6) Visitation (f.33v); (7) Nativity (f.46r); (8) Annunciation to the Shepherds (f.52v); (9) Adoration of the Magi (f.56v); (10) Presentation in the Temple (f.60v); (11) Flight into Egypt (f.64v); (12) Coronation of the Virgin (f.70v); (13) Crucifixion (f.77r); (14) Pentecost (f.81v); (15) David in Prayer (f.85r); (16) Funeral Service (f.103v); (17) Madonna and Child flanked by kneeling patrons (f.139r); (18) Pietà (f.143r). The small added miniatures are: (1) Madonna and Child flanked by kneeling patrons (f.147r); (2) Sts Sebastian (f.149v); (3) Claude (f.151r).