Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Hours of Henry VIII

001. Front cover
002. MS H.8, inside front cover–first front fly leaf recto
003. MS H.8, first front fly leaf recto–second front fly leaf recto
004. MS H.8, second front fly leaf verso–fol. [i] recto
005. MS H.8, fol. [i] verso–fol. [ii] recto
006. MS H.8, fol. [ii] verso–fol. [iii] recto
007. MS H.8, fol. [iii] verso–third front fly leaf verso
008. Calendar, fol. 1r
009. MS H.8, fols. 1v–2r
010. MS H.8, fols. 2v–3r
011. MS H.8, fols. 3v–4r
012. MS H.8, fols. 4v–5r
Two figures, one male and one female holding hands while walking on a path with a small white dog to the right.

Illuminated around 1500 by the artist Jean Poyer, The Hours of Henry VIII receives its name from the possible but unproven eighteenth-century tradition that holds King Henry of England once owned this splendid manuscript. By following the simple instructions, you can explore every painting of this Renaissance masterpiece and learn how Books of Hours helped their readers to pray. 

Books of Hours contain more or less standard texts—Calendar, Gospel Lessons, Hours of the Virgin, Hours of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit, Penitential Psalms with Litany, Office of the Dead, and Suffrages—as well as a number of common accessory prayers. Based on the frequency and variety of added devotions, it appears that scribes included these for owners who wished to personalize their prayer books.

Also by Jean Poyer: The Prayer Book of Anne de Bretagne »