BOOK OF HOURS FOR THE USE OF SAINT GUDULE OF BRUSSELS AND SAINT WAUDRU OF MONS Manuscript in Latin and French, Flanders (Bruges), circa 1450. MATERIAL DESCRIPTION In-4°, [142] leaves on parchment, 17 to 18 long lines, 195 × 150 mm (130 × 90 mm). Carbon ink, red ink rules, foliation missing. Writing in textualis formata and cursiva formata for the later leaves. Decoration: One full-page miniature and 11 mid-page miniatures, all framed by a wide border decorated with gilded vine leaves, acanthus leaves and flowers, sometimes animated with drollery or birds. Gilded initials on a gold background set with a rinceaux or chequerboard decoration over four lines at the beginning of each miniature; gilded initials with a filigree background over one or two lines in the rest of the text. Borders composed of a fine variegated column and a wide band with small flower motifs on each page. Binding: Full XVIIIᵉ century havana basane on wooden aisles, four-ribbed spine decorated with compartments partitioned and flowered with irons with peony motifs, framing roulette on the boards, cold roulette on the edges, red edges. Rubbing and small epidermal marks on the boards; top cover slightly split; corners and headpieces rubbed. A remarkable manuscript, executed with great skill by an artist from Bruges around 1450, probably designed for a patron from Mons. This large-format, entirely painted Book of Hours stands out for the richness and finesse of its illuminations. TEXT - f. 1v-3v: Later prayers in French: Oraison a dire devant le sacrement; devant le Crucifix; Contre la tentation charnelle; Contre les mauvaises pensées; Pour obtenir la miséricorde. - f. 4r-15v: Calendar in French for the use of Mons(?), with particular attention to Saint Waldeltrude (or Waudru). Colloquialisms: the 'ch' pronounced 'k' "Saint march ewāgłe" or 'S' pronounced 'ch' "Saint franchois" typical of the pronunciation of northern France and French-speaking Belgium. - f. 16r- 22r: Hours of the Cross in Latin. - f. 22v-28v: Hours of the Holy Spirit in Latin. - f. 29r-31v : Pericope of Saint John. - f. 32r-76v : Hours of the Virgin Mary in Latin for the use of Sainte Gudule de Bruxelles with variants corresponding to Sainte-Waudru de Mons (complete collation on request). - f. 77-86 : Penitential Psalms. - f. 87-92r : Litanies: Sancta Waldetrudis and Aldegondis follow Sancta Maria Egyptiana and introduce the rest of the saints. - f. 92v-116v: Office of the Dead in Latin: list of responses 14, 72, 38. The rest is not extensive enough to be significant. - f. 117r-124v: Suffrages (headings in French and text in Latin): Psalme de la Foy, Les viii vers saint Bernard; Les v joies à la Vierge Marie; Memore de Saint Antoine; Memore de Saint Nicoholay; Memore de Sainte margherite; Memore de Sainte barbre. - f. 125r-142: Later prayers in French: Oraison à la Vierge Marie; O interemata en franchois; Oraison a dieu et aux sainctz; Pour ceulx qui sont en tribulation; Sen sieult le Regina celi en franchois; La prose Sancti Spiritus en franchois; La prose de Veni Sancte Spiritus en franchois; Aultre oraison du meisme; A saint sever oraison; Oraison à son ange; Quant vous serez levez. Orais ; Oraisons. The prayers in French at the beginning and end of the volume were added towards the end of the 15th century. ICONOGRAPHY The artist of the miniatures appears to have trained in Bruges. He probably came from the circle of the Maîtres aux rinceaux d'or, who were active in Bruges between 1420 and 1450. The stereotyped compositions borrowed from the Parisian workshops of previous decades are to be found here: soft, pale faces, slender figures, slender fingers, brightly coloured draperies, saturated backgrounds and deep blue skies. The frames of the miniatures are also fully in keeping with the Bruges tradition of the period: fine vines with golden leaves blossom into polychrome acanthus leaves or a variety of flowers, and are sometimes enlivened by the presence of stilt-walkers or colourful chimeras. This manuscript contains one full-page miniature, the Visitation, and 11 half-page miniatures. - f. 16r: Crucifixion - f. 22v: Pentecost - f. 32r : Annunciation - f. 41v: Visitation (full page) - f. 50v: Nativity - f. 55r : Announcement to the shepherds - f. 58v: Adoration of the Magi. - f. 62r: Visit to the temple - f. 65v: Flight into Egypt - f. 71v: Massacre of the Holy Innocents. - f. 77r: Last Judgement - f. 92v: Resurrection of Lazarus PROVENANCE The patron was probably from Mons, as attested by the presence of Saint Waudru in the calendar and litanies. The Hours of the Virgin, although mainly based on the usage of Saint Gudule of Brussels, also contain variants based on the usage of Saint Waudru of Mons. Founded in the VIIᵉ century, the collegiate church of Sainte Waudru de Mons, which became a chapter of secular canonesses in the XII century, played a leading role in the production of books in Hainaut at the end of the Middle Ages. Two chapter acts, in 1265 and 1545, show that part of the income of the canonesses was devoted to the purchase, maintenance and restoration of books and liturgical ornaments. Between 1306 and 1623, the registers of the collegiate church mention payments for the production and maintenance of liturgical books, revealing that around eighty lay and ecclesiastical craftsmen, including scribes, illuminators and bookbinders, were involved. It is likely that this was a private commission from one of the canonesses, all of whom came from the nobility and were exempt from the vows of poverty or the obligation to renounce their possessions. - Handwritten notes from the 15th-16th centuries in cursiva currens, in two different hands, on the back of the month of February in the calendar: "Le premier jour de marsce c'est le iour de nostre angele" and in a later hand "Sur ch(?) jour". - Sixteenth-century handwritten note on the front flyleaf: Hora gallanica. - Printed bookplate of T. Froissard on upper flyleaf. - Modern notes in pencil on upper flyleaf. BIBLIOGRAPHY Flemish Miniatures, 1404-1482; catalogue edited by Bernard Bousmanne and Thierry Delcourt, 2012. - Clark, Gregory Thomas. Made in Flanders the Master of the Ghent Privileges and Manuscript Painting in the Southern Netherlands in the Time of Philip the Good. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2000. - Anne Jenny-Clark, Book Commissions in the Noble Women's Chapter of Sainte-Waudru's Collegiate, Mons (Hainaut), The Case of London, British Library, MS Egerton 2569, Queeste, Volume 32, Issue 1, Oct 2025, p. 144 - 159. Laura Lebarbey