The Larochefoucault Hours, use of Autun, illuminated manuscript, [East-central France, c. 1460-1470]

The Larochefoucault Hours, Use of Autun

illuminated manuscript in Latin on vellum. [East-central France (probably Autun), c.1460–70; last quire added in Paris, c.1500]

ii+152+iv leaves, c.200×145mm, COMPLETE, collation: 1–2⁶, 3–11⁸, 12⁶, 13–17⁸, 18–19⁶, 20⁸, 21², catchwords, written in gothic script, 15 lines per page (98×67mm), with two rubrics apparently in Spanish or Spanish and Latin mixed (‘Oras de cruce’, f.76v, ‘Oras de sancto spiritu’, f.80r), ILLUMINATED WITH 18 LARGE MINIATURES WITH FULL BORDERS, and an added full-page armorial, 3 SMALL MINIATURES added, small illuminated initials and line-fillers, PANEL BORDERS ON EACH TEXT PAGE WITH A TWO-LINE INITIAL; bound in 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

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 19th-century printed note stuck to the first flyleaf, and the reverse of a loosely-inserted 19th- or early 20th-century calling card of ‘Le duc de Mouchy’, the book was given in 1624 by the pope (i.e. POPE URBAN VIII) to:

(4) CARDINAL FRANÇOIS DE LAROCHEFOUCAULT (1588–1645), when he was ambassador in Rome, and given by him to the monastery (suppressed at the Revolution) of Ste-Geneviève, Paris, of which he was abbot.

(5) The presence of the card of a Duc de Mouchy suggests that he owned it, and it may be relevant that Henri Antoine Marie de Noailles, 7th Duc de Mouchy (1890–1947) was married to Marie de La Rochefoucauld (1901–1983): the La Rochefoucauld / Larouchfoucault provenance would have provided him with a reason for acquiring the manuscript.

TEXT

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); four suffrages (f.145r), the first to St Ursus; last quire added in c.1500: O intemerata, with feminine forms (f.147r), and suffrages to Sebastian and Claude.

ILLUMINATION

Several artists contributed to this volume, which therefore provides valuable evidence for a little-studied centre of illumination. The first illuminator provided the miniature at the start of the Gospel extracts; St John has a scalloped halo and sits amid a hazy landscape reminiscent of Loire Valley artists such as the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. A second artist was responsible for the most of the other miniatures; his interior scenes have an expanse of green tiled floor in the foreground, and a lower wall covered with rich brocade in the background; most of his landscapes have deep blue skies with evenly-spaced stars and a radiant sun at the top; the figures tend to be tall, and the women have oval faces and blushing cheeks; the Funeral scene and the Patrons before the Virgin have different borders, but may be by the same artist. A third artist was perhaps responsible for King David, although he shares with the first artist the unusual detail of reflections in water. The Pietà is perhaps by yet another illuminator, although, like the first, he seems to be strongly influenced by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. The last quire was added in Paris around c.1500 by the workshop of Jean Pichore.

The subjects of the large miniatures are

(f.13r) St John on Patmos and the eagle

(f.15r) St Matthew and the angel

(f.17r) St Mark and the lion (here without wings)

(f.18v) St Luke and the ox (here without wings)

(f.21r) The Annunciation, the Virgin kneeling at her prie-dieu before an altar in an ecclesiastical interior

(f.33v) The Visitation

(f.46r) The Nativity

(f.52v) The Annunciation to the Shepherds

(f.56v) The Adoration of the Magi

(f.60v) The Presentation in the Temple

(f.64v) The Flight into Egypt

(f.70v) The Coronation of the Virgin

(f.77r) The Crucifixion

(f.81v) Pentecost

(f.85r) David in Prayer

(f.103v) Funeral Service

(f.139r) The Virgin and Child flanked by kneeling patrons

(f.143r) Pietà

The small added miniatures are:

(f.147r) Madonna and Child flanked by kneeling patrons

(f.149v) Sts Sebastian

(f.151r) Claude

(f.20v) The Larouchefoucault arms, ‘burelé d’argent et d’azur, à trois chevrons de gueules’, were added within a foliate border, facing the Annunciation miniature, probably in the 19th century