Kalendarium

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Made ca 1300

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 16,5 x 11,8 cm

Inventory numberNMB 1655

AcqusitionPurchase 1951

Other titlesTitle (sv): Kalendarium

DescriptionDescription: NMB 1655-1656 A Book of Hours from Arras. [Arras, c. 1300] Catalogue raisonné: NMB 1655-1656 A Book of Hours from Arras. [Arras, c. 1300] Physical Description MATERIAL: Parchment. BINDING: (NMB 1655) Tight spine binding in light tobacco pigskin done during the 19th century. Simple gold tooling on the boards and spine with a double wheel. Leather worn away around the edges, corners, and the spine. Does not have endbands. Modern blue endpapers affected by discolouration caused by the leather turnings. (NMB 1656) Tight spine binding in light tobacco pigskin done during the 19th century. Simple gold tooling on the boards and spine with a double wheel. DIMENSIONS: (NMB 1655) 165 × 118 mm (pages)/172 x 128 x 13 mm (binding). (NMB 1656) 164 x 122 mm (pages), 159 x 124 x 47 mm (binding). NUMBER OF LEAVES: (NMB 1655) 11ff/ (NMB 1656) 176ff. RULING: 17 lines ruled in black. LANGUAGE: Latin and Old French. SCRIPT: Gothic textura. RUBRICATION: Rubrics in red. Text NMB 1655: Calendar missing January and half of February. NMB 1656: Fol. 1-59: Hours of the Virgin Mary. Fol. 60-74: The penitential psalms. Fol. 74-82: The litany. Fol. 83-115: Hours of the Holy Spirit. Fol. 116-153: Deus psalms. Fol. 154-170: Maria hymns and prayers. Fol. 170-176: Passion of St John the Baptist. Decoration Includes full page initials. Various initials along the text with vegetal, animal, and humanoid decorations. NMB 1655: 11 images of the months and 12 images of signs of the Zodiac. NMB 1656: A large number of marginal illuminations, with seven large miniatures. Fol. 19v: Christ before Pilate. Beginning of Laudes in the Hours of the Virgin Mary. Fol. 83r: The Throne of Grace. Beginning of Hours of the Holy Spirit. Fol. 100v: Noli me tangere. Christ stands before the Virgin Mary. Beginning of Prime in the Hours of the Holy Spirit. Fol. 103v: Mary Magdalene meets with apostles. Beginning of Terce in the Hours of the Holy Spirit. Fol. 116r: King David in prayer before Christ. The penitential psalms. Fol. 168r: The owner of the Book of Hours kneels before the Virgin Mary and Christ Child. Initial to the hymn Gaude virgo. Provenance Parent volume 1. Made in Arras, c. 1300. 2. Ferdinand Auguste Mathon in the 16th century 3. Friherre Carl Bonde purchased the book in France in 1801. 4. Purchased in 1951 by the Nationalmuseum from Alfred Gripenstedt, Nynäs Slot. Exhibited 1. Copenhagen, National Museum, Gyldne Böger, April-May 1952. 2. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Gyllenne böcker, May-September 1952. Commentary According to Nordenfalk, (1979) NMB 1655 and NMB 1656 were both part of the same volume. Page 7 (NMB 1655) was misplaced during the rebinding; it corresponds to November and should have been placed accordingly. In the decades around the turn of the 14th century there was a marked production of religious and lay books in the Northern French cities and towns. One of these places was the city of Arras, the capital of the County of Artois, that blossomed under the protection of art connoisseur Mahaut, Countess of Artois (r. 1302-1329). A number of religious books made from the same workshop to NMB 1655/1656 are preserved in Arras Bibliothèque Communale (639/729, 717/412 and 905/229) and Arras Bibliothèque Nationale (lat. 1328 and lat. 622). Others can be found in Baltimore (Walters, W. 104) and New York (Morgan Library, Glazier 57). The same workshop also produced profane books from Arras such as Le Chansonnier d’Arras (Arras, Bibliothèque Communale, cod. 139/657) and Brunetto Latini’s Trésor (Arras, Bibliothèque Nationale, franc. 1105) dated to 1310. Bibliography Manuscrits à penitures du XIIIᵉ siècle, Exposition Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, (1955), nos. 70-74. Nordenfalk, Carl, Bokmålningar från medeltid och renässans i Nationalmusei samlingar (Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren, 1979), no. 12, pp. 60-64. Sandgren, Eva Lindqvist, Illuminated Manuscripts in Swedish Collections, https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/resultList.jsf?dswid=7830&p=1&searchType=EXTENDED&sortString=creationYear_sort_asc&noOfRows=10&af=%5B%22ARCHIVE_ORG_ID_facet%3A67%22%5D&query=&aq=%5B%5B%7B%22HOST%22%3A%22alvin-record%3A471052%22%7D%5D%5D&aqe=%5B%5D Research project 2022-2023, Illuminated Manuscript, Christian Etheridge, Art Historian.

Collection

Geographical origin

MaterialParchment