The Breslau Psalter

The Breslau Psalter Exceptionally sumptuous and imposing, the Breslau Psalter is one of the most impressive manuscripts to have survived from the Middle Ages. This treasure is kept at the world-renowned Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, who say that this ‘Psalter displays the piety, wealth and cosmopolitan tastes of its ducal patrons’. A perfect facsimile of…

Read More

The Sobieski Hours

The Sobieski Hours … exquisite detailed scenes… illuminated text that will not only visually delight but will gratify with their intricate compositions and “stories”… and an enigma as to who commissioned the work; and for whom intended. Written in Latin, the 234 vellum folios were created after 1420. Sixty full page miniatures; and more than…

Read More

Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscripts The Lindisfarne Gospels The Book of Kells The St. Albans Psalter The Trinity Apocalypse The Corpus Christi Apocalypse The Queen Mary Psalter The Peterborough Psalter The Bedford Book of Hours The Sobieski Hours The Hunting Book of Gaston Phoebus Romance of Alexander The Book of Hours of Marguerite d’Orléans The Flemish Book of…

Read More

Gaston Phoebus – Hunting Book

Gaston Phoebus – The Hunting Book A best seller, straight from the Middle Ages. In the years 1387-1389, Gaston III, count of Foix and Báarn in the south of France, also known as “Phoebus”, after the Greek sun god, wrote his Livre de Chasse, or The Hunting Book. This work is the most famous record…

Read More

Romance of Alexander

Romance of Alexander Myths and legends – the life of Alexander the Great, exemplar soldier and king In 1757 King George II donated to the British Museum the Old Royal Library which included a manuscript with the deceptive reference of MS Royal 20 B XX. In the flyleaf of this remarkable manuscript was added ‘HR’…

Read More

The Bedford Book of Hours

The Bedford Book of Hours One of the richest Books of Hours ever to have left an illuminator’s workshop, The Bedford Book of Hours is famous all over the world. Miniatures from the Bedford Hours, such as the Ark of Noah or the Creation, are among the most frequently cited examples of the Medieval art…

Read More

The Book of Hours of Marguerite d’Orléans

The Book of Hours of Marguerite d’Orléans Exquisite examples of fifteenth-century French illumination giving a glimpse of life in the Middle Ages. Marguerite d’Orléans is remembered for the Book of Hours that bears her name. The magnificent miniatures are among the most striking of the time but it is the inspired marginalia illustrating aspects of…

Read More

The Flemish Book of Hours of Marie de Medici

The Flemish Book of Hours of Marie de Medici Not much is known about this treasure from the Bodleian Library which is referred to as The Flemish Book of Hours of Marie de Medici. It was probably commissioned by a wealthy female patron in Ghent or Bruges and produced between 1515 and 1520 by an…

Read More