Masterpieces of medieval art displayed together for the first time at the British Library
The Bedford Hours: Owners and Illuminators
23 March - 2 July
Admission Free
Press view 16 March 2007 at 10.30am
The Bedford Hours and the Sobieski Hours, two lavishly illustrated medieval manuscripts will be displayed together for the first time at the British Library. These beautiful books showcase the exquisite work of the 15 th century artist known as the Bedford Master. The Bedford Hours is one of the most richly illuminated medieval manuscripts in the British Library's collections, containing a gallery of more than 1000 beautiful images. The Sobieski Hours has been generously lent by Her Majesty The Queen for the purposes of this exhibition.
The Bedford Hours: Owners and Illuminators offers the unique opportunity to see two of the greatest treasures of French 15th century manuscript painting, side by side. At the centre of this small exhibition is the vividly illustrated Bedford Hours, owned by the Duke of Bedford and his wife, Anne of Burgundy. Displayed next to it is the magnificent Sobieski Hours, painted by the same artist - the Bedford Master (named in honour of his noble patron) - and perhaps intended for Anne's sister, Margaret of Burgundy.
John, Duke of Bedford, was English Regent in France from 1422 to 1435. During the Hundred Years War, Henry V had been victorious over the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and was later recognized as heir and regent of France in 1420. When Henry V died in 1422, his son was only nine months old. During the minority of Henry VI, the Duke of Bedford served as regent of France.
The Bedford Hours is the finest manuscript to survive from the Duke of Bedford's renowned library. It had previously been thought that the Bedford Hours was made to commemorate the Duke's marriage to Anne of Burgundy in 1423, as their portraits appear in its pages. However, the manuscript was probably began earlier, around 1410/15, for another patron. Emblems in the borders of the opening pages suggest a noble person of the circle of the French King Charles VI, perhaps one of his sons, the Dauphin Louis de Guyenne.
The Bedford Hours is exquisitely illustrated and painstakingly detailed, the glorious illuminations taking years of dedicated work to produce. It contains a wealth of rich, colourful imagery, such as large miniatures and decorative borders featuring branches of flowering acanthus within spirals of golden ivy leaves and prowling dragons; pairs of medallions decorate each text page and form a continuous biblical narrative comprising about 1250 scenes. In addition to the portraits of the Duke of Bedford and his wife, emblems and heraldic arms appear throughout the painted pages.
The Bedford Hours and the Sobieski Hours will be displayed with other manuscripts produced by the same workshop. A selection of medieval manuscripts illuminated in other workshops, but connected to the owners of the Bedford Hours, will serve to illustrate the tastes of high-ranking book collectors.
Mara Hofmann, curator of the exhibition, commented,
"This exhibition sets the Bedford Hours - one of the most opulent and best preserved medieval manuscripts in existence - in a wider context, allowing visitors to view the manuscript alongside works illustrated by the same artist and other illuminated manuscripts produced in early 15 th century Paris. The display also provides a unique opportunity to see the Bedford Hours side by side with the magnificent Sobieski Hours, normally housed in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and generously lent by Her Majesty The Queen, for the purposes of this exhibition."
Tying in with this exhibition are two new British Library publications. The Bedford Hours by expert on late medieval French illumination, Eberhard König, offers a fascinating insight into the production and history of the manuscript. The Bedford Hours: A Facsimile is a complete full-size fine art reproduction.
For further information or images, contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk
Notes for Editors
The Bedford Hours: Owners and Illuminators is on display in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library from 23 March to 2 July 2007. Admission free.
The Bedford Hours: A Facsimile is published by Faksimile Verlag Luzern for the British Library, price £6,995.00 (578 pages, 263 x 184 mm, 1288 illustrations). Enquiries: Alecto in association with the British Library (tel: +44 (0)20 7602 1848, fax: +44 (0)20 7602 0048, email: Bedford@thedomesdaybook.co.uk
The Bedford Hours by Eberhard König is published in hardback by the British Library, price £20.00 (144 pages, 280 x 210 mm, 60 colour illustrations, ISBN 978 0 7123 4978 9). Enquiries: British Library Bookshop (tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7735, fax: +44 (0)20 7412 7624, email: bl-bookshop@bl.uk or www.bl.uk)
A Book of Hours is a collection of Christian prayers for recitation at different times, 'hours', of the day. Books of Hours were intended for private reading and meditation by the laity. They were a short version of the cycle of daily prayers and psalms recited from the Breviary by members of religious orders, from matins in the morning to compline at night. They were written in Latin, the language of the medieval Church.
The Bedford Hours was owned by the Duke of Bedford and his wife, Anne of Burgundy. It had previously been thought that the Bedford Hours was made to commemorate their marriage in 1423. However, the illumination of the manuscript, which contains over 1000 images, was probably begun earlier, c.1410/15, perhaps for the Dauphin Louis de Guyenne. In 1430, the Duke and his wife offered the Hours as a Christmas gift to their nephew, the nine-year-old Henry VI, who was staying with them at Rouen before his coronation in France.
The Sobieski Hours belonged in 1683 to the future King of Poland, John III Sobieski. An unusual poem in the manuscript, La Vie Sainte Marguerite, might refer to its first owner, perhaps Margaret of Burgundy who got married to Arthur of Richmond in 1423, only a few months after her sister Anne of Burgundy got married to the Duke of Bedford, at which occasion she could have received the Sobieski Hours. It is the finest illuminated manuscript in the Royal Collection. It has been lent to the British Library by Her Majesty The Queen for the purposes of this exhibition. www.royalcollection.org.uk
The Bedford Master - Although the artist of the Bedford Hours was among the leading and most prolific painters of his day, his identity has remained uncertain and he is known simply as the Bedford Master, in honour of his noble patron. However, the Bedford Master has tentatively been identified by some scholars with the Alsatian artist Haincelin of Hagenau who was recorded in Paris as court painter to the Dauphin Louis de Guyenne who died in 1415; the Dauphin might have commissioned the magnificent Book of Hours today kept at the British Library before it belonged to John, Duke of Bedford.
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