The Book of Hours was the "bestseller" of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Picturing Piety
presents two dozen Books of Hours mostly dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Examples from France and the Netherlands are presented chronologically with illustrations in color for each entry. Highlights include a fine early Dutch Book of Hours with illuminations closely related to those by the artists of the Utrecht History Bibles (active c. 1430-45). There is also a lavish Book of Hours signed with marks by one of the Masters of Otto von Mordrecht; and a high-quality Parisian Book of Hours with an unusual sequence of miniatures by the Master of Jacques de Besançon. Many of these Books of Hours are previously entirely unknown and unpublished. An introductory essay explores how illuminated Books of Hours encouraged their readers to picture piety through the reading of texts accompanied by visual aids.
Roger Wieck is curator of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. Sandra Hindman is professor emerita of art history at Northwestern University. Ariane Bergeron-Foote is an archivist and palaeographer.