This manuscript dates from about 1420 and contains the "Conspiracy of Catilin " and the "Jugurthine War" by Sallust. Miniature illuminations in grisaille were added by Bedford-Meister and assistants in his workshop, followed by a commentary by Jean Lebègues, who wrote a guide to the illustration of historical scenes in the above-named works of Sallust in 1417. During the 17th century the manuscript was owned by the Petau family. In 1720 Ami Lullin of Geneva purchased the codex and donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève. (jeg)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

This liturgical manuscript (Sharaknots or Sharakan) contains a collection of over a thousand hymns, organized into eight groups, for use in the Armenian Church. Many of these hymns were composed by prominent figures in the Armenian Church, while others are early translations from sacred hymns of the early Christian Church. The texts include Armenian khaz notation. This manuscript was written by the scribe Simeon in the year 1662 in the city of Brnakot, in the province of Siounik, an important center for liturgical manuscript production in southern Armenia. The book decoration consists of 8 headpieces, 120 ornamental and zoomorphic initials, and numerous simple red initials. The manuscript features its original Moroccan limp vellum binding with blind tooling. (ber)

Online Since: 07/04/2012

This book of hours, addressed to a woman, contains an entry that can only be read in ultraviolet light (f. 27v) and that mentions a Jaquette de la Barre; she probably was part of the Parisian family of organ builders who, between 1401 and 1404, built the organ of Notre-Dame. The miniatures were created around 1410 by a leading Parisian master, who can be identified as the Master of the Mazarin. Subsequently, borders were added to the manuscript, probably by a Provençal hand. Several scenes stand out from the conventional iconographic program: instead of the penance of David, there is the glory of Christ on Judgment Day (f. 101r); instead of the Mass for the dead, there is the Raising of Lazarus (f. 141r); also unusual is the depiction of the prayer of St. Jerome (f. 139v) in the full vestments of a cardinal. (ber)

Online Since: 12/20/2012

In addition to the unusual book for King Charles VIII described in Utopia Cod. 111, there is another book of hours that was painted by the same artist. Its border decoration remained incomplete, and all the large images follow not the usual canon of images for books of hours, but instead depict unconventional motifs. What strikes the eye in both manuscripts is the motif of the family tree of Adam, which creates an optical link between the volumes and which is not found in other of the book decorator's manuscripts. The almost identical mass of foliage also suggests that the two volumes could belong together, produced for the king at a certain time interval from one another. The premature and unexpected death of Charles VIII after his accident at the Château d'Amboise may explain why the second manuscript was never completed. (net)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This manuscript from the second half of the 15th century is a book of hours for use in the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours. Six large miniatures remain, of which two pertain to the life of Christ, two are dedicated to the Annunciation, one to St. Joseph, and the last to St. Barbara. The calendar indicates the thirteen unlucky days (dies eger) of the year. With its old crimson velvet binding, its painted decorations and careful script, this manuscript had enriched the collection of the Petau family before it came to Geneva. (jeg)

Online Since: 12/18/2014

The design concept of this manuscript, both the text and the execution, typify the Parisian 'Horae' tradition of the early 15th century ('Boucicaut-Meister'). The top-level organizational elements in the book's decorative program are seven pages decorated with miniatures; multi-line colorful initials mark the secondary textual divisions. The extremely squared illustrations on the decorated pages include scenes with figures enclosed on three sides by staffs entwined by tendrils with decorative gold, red and blue thorny leaves which completely fill the broad parchment margin. Four lines of text, introduced by a large colorful initial, are inserted between the illustration and the lower decorative staff. The beginning of each of the various offices is marked with such an ornamental page. This book of hours is not only the oldest item in the Carl Meyer collection in the Cantonal Library of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, it is one of its best and most valuable items. It is not know who originally commissioned the manuscript. (eis)

Online Since: 05/20/2009

Philibert de Viry's manuscript is one of the rare Books of Hours for use in the Diocese of Geneva to have survived until today. Illuminated in Lyon by the Maître de l'Entrée de François I, it contains miniatures directly inspired by Albrecht Dürer's (1511) woodcuts Petite Passion. This is an early witness of the reception of this series of images in France and an example of the often unsuspected influence of engraving on book decoration. (jeg/rou)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

Liturgical manuscript (Sharaknots), written by the copyist Awetis in Khizan in the province Van in the year 1647 (1096 according to the Armenian calendar). It contains 11 large miniatures and 28 miniatures in the margins, executed and signed by the painter Yovanes Gharietsi. He was one of the most fascinating artists of the late School of Vaspurakan. The manuscript is part of certain hymnals, created for private customers in the region of Lake Van and characterized by bright colors and interlace ornamentation. The manuscript features the Armenian Khaz-notation. The text contains the collection of hymns in use in the Armenian Church, in the same order as in a Hymnarium printed as a first edition in Amsterdam in the year 1664. Three more hymnals of this type, also the result of the collaboration of these two artists, are known: two in Jerusalem and one in Jerewan. Attached in the beginning and at the end are two sheets of parchment containing a part of the Proprium de Sanctis from a Latin breviary from the 13th/14th century. (ber)

Online Since: 04/23/2013

This book of hours belonged to Johannes Huber (†1500), chaplain at the Grossmünster in Zurich. It contains parts of prayers related to the Liturgy of the Hours for the daily routine of clerics. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

Liturgical music to be sung during night prayer hours on the feasts of the saints, from the early period of the Cistercian cloister of Saint Urban. (kam)

Online Since: 07/25/2006

This book of hours contains primarily the Office of the Dead and the Office of the Virgin. The initials are clearly set off from one another by color and enliven the text. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

This prayer book is from the first quarter of the 16th century and was meant for a woman. It contains primarily prayers to Mary and the Liturgy of the Hours for the Passion of Christ. (szu)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This manuscript contains the prayers and instructions for the Liturgy of the Hours. It was made for the nuns of the double monastery of Muri; the manuscript came to Hermetschwil when the convent of nuns relocated there. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

Book of Hours following the custom of the Diocese of Besançon, with the calendar in French. Its decoration is incomplete, which makes it possible to reconstruct the various stages of its production. (rer)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

This diurnal contains the texts for the Liturgy of the Hours of the day. It was made for the convent of the Benedictine nuns of St. Agnes in Schaffhausen. Later it was owned by Anna von Hertenstein, conventual of Hermetschwil. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

This monastic antiphonary contains the chants for the Liturgy of the Hours. Throughout, melodies are denoted by neumes without lines and by tonary letters. The supplements on paper are from the end of the 16th century. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

This manuscript has not survived intact: the beginning, the end, and several quires from the middle are missing. The Latin texts for prayers and instructions for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours occasionally are accompanied by rubrics in German that refer to local customs. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

Book of hours, composed for an unknown female convent in the diocese of Basel: excellent example of early Gothic book art. With a Calendar, 14 miniatures of the life of Christ and Mary, the Psalter, Canticles and an All Saints' Litany. (smu)

Online Since: 06/12/2006

This manuscript was made for the female part of the double monastery of Muri since the prayers feature female terms. This work contains the readings, responsories and prayers for the Liturgy of the Hours; the Penitential Psalms; the benedictions for the daily life in the monastery; and the Office of the Dead. (szu)

Online Since: 11/10/2016

At the request of Charles the Bold, in 1470 Vasco de Lucena translated Xenophon's Cyropaedia from the Latin translation by Poggio Bracciolini (Institutio Cyri, 1445) and titled it “ Traitté des faiz et haultes prouesses de Cyrus”.  The manuscript was illuminated by the “Maitre des prières de 1500” and contains seven miniatures that tell the story of Cyrus and that inspired the Duke of Burgundy in his political and military actions. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/04/2018