Object Information
Object ID:2005.013
Creator: Master of Jean Charpentier
Title: The Du Bourg Book of Hours
Date: circa 1475
Culture: French
Dimensions: 6.38 by 4.80 inches
Materials: Paint and gold leaf on parchment
Credit: Purchased with the Newell Bequest Fund for the Permanent Collection at Wheaton College
Provenance research conducted by Josie Ryan-Small, Class of 2014
The Du Bourg Book of Hours is a beautifully illuminated manuscript which is believed to have been created by the Workshop of the Master of Jean Charpentier in Tours, France around 1475-1490. Books of Hours are small personal prayer books that were used for private devotion and use. In the 15th century became very popular, and many lay people had them, in particularly wealthy women.The books were most often in Latin, and featured stunning illuminations. Most Books of Hours contained more or less in this order, 1)a calendar with the feasts of Saints, 2) the Four Gospel Lessons, 3) the Hours of the Virgin, 4) the Hours of the Cross and The Hours of the Holy Spirit 5) the two prayers to the Virgin, Obsecro te and O intemerata, 6) The Littany, 7) The offfice of the Dead, and 8) Suffrages.
In most cases, Books of Hours would have been commissioned for a particular person. The person would have met with the artist who owned either a workshop or a bookshop, and decide which prayers they wanted to be included, and what illustrations they wanted. The artist would then agree upon a price for the book, and the difficult task of creating the book would begin. Once the book was made, the patron would either come and pick up the Book of Hours, or the artist's workshop would send it to the patron.
In the Du Bourg Book of Hours, it appears that the book was comissioned for the woman depicted on folio 55v, who is wearing a yellow dress. We do not know who she was exactly, but she might have been a member of the Du Bourg family. Although the book was created in 1475, it was not owned by the Du Bourg family until the 1600's. We know this because the script enscribed in the front leaves of the book says that their son, Pierre Du Bourg, was born on March 3, 1608 in Vienne, France. However, how the family acquired the book remains to be known. On the other hand, we do know how the book arrived at Wheaton College. In 2005, Professor Staudinger, a professor of art history, purchased the book from the gallery Les Enluminures in Chicago with the Newell Bequest Fund. Since coming to Wheaton, the book has been exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Currently, it is part of the Permanent Collection at Wheaton College.
Text Sources:
Christopher de Hamel, The History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Boston: Phaidon Press Limited, 1986.
Master of Charpentier, Jean. The "Du Bourg" Book of Hours". Translated by Edward Gallagher. Tours: Workshop of the Master of Jean Charpentier, 1475.
Staudinger, Evelyn. Interview discussing the provenance of the DuBourg Book of Hours
Image Source:
http://mdid.wheatoncollege.edu/result.aspx, accessed March 17, 2014.