Rossdhu Book of Hours
Popular
throughout Europe from the late thirteenth to the sixteenth century Books of
Hours were prayer books intended for devout everyday folk who wanted to follow
the Church’s programme of daily devotions.
They always included a series of prayers to the Virgin Mary but also
varied in the choice of other saints recognized and in the number, size and
quality of illustrations. These books could either come readymade or be
specially tailored to a person’s own circumstances and interests.
Some of the saints depicted are those whose cults are centred in Ghent which indicates that the script or the prototype was written for the use by someone in the Low Countries. An early addition to the calendar of Saint Ninian suggests that it was used In Scotland. Most of the significant additions to the calendar are a small group of Scottish saints.
Jesus is
stylistically an unrealistic figure with his arms being very skinny, elongated and
not in proportion to his body. There is
evidence of creating space with the overlapping of figures and the cross looks
somewhat three dimensional with some tonal modelling. There is some fading in the decorative border
with some flowers almost being hard to see.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria/of the wheel was a Christian saint and virgin. She was both a princess and a scholar and in art is usually depicted lavishly dressed with her crown and wheel. In this Book of Hours she has her traditional iconography including the sword which she was executed with. She wears the symbolic colours of red and blue that the Virgin Mary is often depicted it. Blue signifies her spirituality and relationship with god while the red represents her humanity. As she is a saint she is shown with a golden halo which like the rest of the composition is two-dimensional.
Catherine is decorated in gold with her crown and halo appearing to be done in gold pigment rather than gold leaf. There are also accents of gold on her dress and on the wall behind her. There is some evidence of the artist creating a three-dimensional figure with the folds of her dress. The artist has also endeavoured to create depth with the overlapping of objects.
There are a number of smaller miniatures which are incorporated on pages with text. Like with Saint Catherine and the Crucifixion they have the same amount of detail, colour and gold accents which shows the skill of the artist.
There is gold leaf detailing on almost every page. It is this aspect that really makes the book special. It brings the page to life and illuminates the text. The book would have most probably been read by candle light so the pages would have really sparkled.
The scenes throughout the book display the traditional iconography of the figures making them easily recognisable.
The Rossdhu Book of Hours was one of several medieval manuscripts that Sir George Grey purchased in 1863 from the London booksellers Thomas and William Boone. It was among the first consignment of precious books that he donated to the Library in 1887.
Most
Books of Hours display the months of the year and the activities associated
with them. In the Rossdhu Book of Hours
the feast lists for the months are given in full. The calendar also lists which saints are
celebrated on particular days. Special
feast days as well as local saints are written in red or with colour and
illumination. There are also a series of
prayers and hymns which cover a number of events such as death or
forgiveness. The
date of the dedication of the chapel of St Mary of Rossdhu, 6 April 1469, is
recorded in the manuscript’s calendar.
The
Rossdhu Book of Hours was produced by a workshop in the Southern Netherlands,
probably in Bruges, during the last quarter of the fifteenth century. It is believed to have been used by Lady
Elizabeth Dunbar, Countess of Moray who was the second wife of Sir John
Colquhoun. They lived at Rossdhu, near
the village of Luss on Loch Lomond in Scotland.
Colquhoun was a favourite of both King James II and III and in 1457 was
granted a charter of the lands in the shire of Dunbarton. Shortly after this the castle of Rossdhu was
built.
The
Latin text is written on vellum, mainly in dark brown ink, but with the titles
of prayers, chapter headings and instructions in red. It is written in a large
Gothic script in which there is some unevenness in the execution. Many of the words are abbreviated and the
first letter of the word at the beginning of the verses is usually in gold or
blue. Red lines are visible on the page
which outline the space for the text as well as being guidelines to help print
the text straight. Many pages also have
decorative boarders of acanthus leaves, flowers and fruit. The acanthus plant was found throughout
Europe and the carved patterns of the leaves were inherited from classical
architecture most notably Corinthian columns. Strawberries (as seen on the page below) also appear on a number of the illustrated borders with
them symbolising the Virgin, purity and martyrdom.
It
is the size of a regular book so would have been easy to carry around. It is bound in nineteenth-century English
dark-brown morocco. The exterior is brown, glossy and has a debossed floral
design which gives it a sense of importance and value. The contents of the book are standard for the
time with the usual late medieval emphasis on devotion to the Holy Eucharist
and the Passion of Christ. There is no
attempt at historical accuracy however with the figures wearing
fifteenth-century clothing.
There are twenty-five large miniature paintings in the book with most illustrating the Passion of
Christ as well as saints. These
miniatures are surrounded by detailed illustrative borders of leaves, fruit,
and flowers and are illuminated in gold and colour. What is first striking is the vibrancy of the
colours especially the blue and the red, you would be forgiven thinking that it
wasn’t centuries old. The faces of the
figures are generic with no distinguishing features.
Some of the saints depicted are those whose cults are centred in Ghent which indicates that the script or the prototype was written for the use by someone in the Low Countries. An early addition to the calendar of Saint Ninian suggests that it was used In Scotland. Most of the significant additions to the calendar are a small group of Scottish saints.
The
crucifixion, which is probably one of the most recognisable and important
scenes is depicted. In fact the Passion
of Christ series is portrayed chronologically in the book. Christ is shown nailed to the cross with
streams of red depicting bleeding. To
his right look to be his followers as they like Jesus have halos showing them
as divine. The halos are gold leafed
which emphasises their divinity with how it illuminates in the light. There is also gold detailing on the clothes
of the figures. His mother, the Virgin
Mary, is mostly likely the figure who is dressed in blue and red as they are
her traditional iconographic colours. To his right is another group, possibly
those who sentenced him as they are not shown with halos.
Catherine is decorated in gold with her crown and halo appearing to be done in gold pigment rather than gold leaf. There are also accents of gold on her dress and on the wall behind her. There is some evidence of the artist creating a three-dimensional figure with the folds of her dress. The artist has also endeavoured to create depth with the overlapping of objects.
There are a number of smaller miniatures which are incorporated on pages with text. Like with Saint Catherine and the Crucifixion they have the same amount of detail, colour and gold accents which shows the skill of the artist.
There is gold leaf detailing on almost every page. It is this aspect that really makes the book special. It brings the page to life and illuminates the text. The book would have most probably been read by candle light so the pages would have really sparkled.
The scenes throughout the book display the traditional iconography of the figures making them easily recognisable.
The Rossdhu Book of Hours was one of several medieval manuscripts that Sir George Grey purchased in 1863 from the London booksellers Thomas and William Boone. It was among the first consignment of precious books that he donated to the Library in 1887.
The entire
Rossdhu Book of Hours is digitised and can be accessed together with a detailed essay by Manuscripts Librarian, Kate de Courcy via Auckland Libraries website.
Information used in this blog post is from:
- The Medieval Flower Book by Celia Fisher
- ‘Rossdhu Church and its book of hours’ in The Innes Review by George Hay and David McRoberts
- Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in New Zealand Collections by Margaret M. Manion, Vera F. Vines & Christopher de Hamel
- Real Gold by Iain Sharp
This is a guest post written by Ashley, a student who is spending some time with us over her mid-term break.
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