Accession number
MS M.1200
Object title
Hours of Gabriel de Chabannes (MS M.1200).
Created
France, Dijon, ca. 1480s
Binding
French 18th-century olive morocco gilt, bund papier endpapers.
Credit line
Gift of Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman, 2021.
Description
i + 124 + iv leaves (1 column, 14 lines), bound : vellum, illuminated ; 232 x 160 (118 x 73) mm
Provenance
Saints revered in Burgundy are included in the sparse calendar, with St. Vincent of Besançon in gold (23 September), Lupus of Chalons-sur-Soâne in blue (27 January), and Claude of Besançon (6 June), and the litany names Philibert (of Tournus Abbey), Gerald (prior of Cluny), Hugh (abbot of Cluny), Maieul and Consortian (Cluny), Benignus (Dijon) and Radegundis (presumably of Bassigny); the pentrial ("rege livre et onnez") of an early owner appears in the margin on fol. 41 and family records have been erased from the margins of the opening calendar leaves; Gabriel de Chabannes (1552-1599), vicomte de Savigny, seigneur de Chaumont, was a "gentilhomme de la chambre du roi," first "echanson de la reine," and "chevalier de l'Ordre du Roi" (his name inscribed on final blank in a 16th-century hand, with monograms and a verse in French opening "Lamour la mort la mer"; further inscriptions in Latin appear to be in a 17th-century hand and include the date 11 October 1[?]61; George Templeton Strong (1820-1875), (inscribed in ink under the cutting from his catalogue on fol. i: "Geo. T. Strong Dec 3rd 1846"); his sale, New York, Bangs & Co., 4 November 1878, lot 820 (lot number is written on the verso of the first flyleaf; description of the lot clipped from the Strong auction catalogue is pasted to fol. i); William Waldorf Astor (1848-1919), 1st Viscount Astor (his MS A.14 [sticker on recto of the first flyleaf]; it may be Astor's handwriting on the clipping from the Strong catalogue pasted on to fol. i that reads "Bought at the Strong Sale/N.Y., November 1878 $250" [a sale price confirmed by the Morgan Library's annotated copy of the Strong catalogue]); inherited by his son Waldorf Aster, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879-1952); inherited by his son William Waldorf Astor II, 3rd Viscount Astor (1907-1966); deposited at the Bodleian Library shortly before the death of the 3rd Viscount in 1966; sold by order of the Trustees of the Astor Family in London, Sotheby's, 21 June 1988, lot 64; Ladislaus von Hoffmann (1927-2014); his sale (Part III of his "Arcana Collection"), London, Christie's, 6 July 2011, lot 22; Heribert Tenschert (his catalogue 71, Tour de France, 2013, I, 278-98, no. 13, illus.); Marguerite Steed Hoffman.
Notes
Ms. book of hours for the use of Rome, written and illuminated in Burgundy, France, ca. 1480s.
This is one of the finest and most imaginative of the works by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates.
The Astor collection apparently had two important Books of Hours illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. The present manuscript (MS A.14) and a second one (MS A.18) that was sold in London, Sotheby's, 1 December 1987, lot 46 (this sale had seven Astor manuscripts: lots 45 to 51); after the sale, Astor MS A.18 was dismembered.
Collation: 1-3⁶, 4-16⁸, 17³ (of 6, iii + vi cancelled blanks)
Contents: Calendar (fols. 2-13v), Gospel Lessons (14-19v), Hours of the Virgin (20-75), Hours of the Cross (75v-79), Hours of the Holy Spirit (79v-83), Penitential Psalms and Litany (84-107v), Office of the Dead (108-125).
Illuminations: 14 full-page miniatures and 3 historiated initials.
Artist: Master of the Burgundian Prelates. Decu Teodorescu and Elsig 2020 distinguish three distinct hands, a master and two family followers, among the works previously attributed to the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. The first Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1465 to ca. 1473 and produced about thirty manuscripts (including MS M.1200); he might be Jean I Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1449 to 1472/73. The second Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1475 to 1505 and produced about thirty manuscripts; he might be Pierre Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1477 to 1503-07. The third Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1480 to ca. 1500 and produced eight manuscripts; he is not identified with any particular member of the Changenet family although he sometimes worked in the shop of the second Master. The Changenet family was thus an important dynasty of painters active in Dijon (and Avignon) from the second half of the fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. In Dijon, they flourished from 1465 to 1505. The association of the Dijon Changenet family with the three (especially the second and third) Masters of the Burgundian Prelates rests on the stylistic similarity between their work and that of the painter Jean II Changenet, documented in Avignon, 1485-95. Comparisons can especially be made between their work and the panel of St. Benigne, part of a commission from Jean II Changenet by Nicolas Bouesseau in 1491. Adam and Caron 2021 agree that Jean I Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1449 to 1468 (dead in 1472/73), is the founder of the dynasty. His five or six children included Pierre Changenet, documented in Dijon 1478-1503 (dead before 1507), and Jean II Changenet, documented from 1484-1495. The work of the Master of the Burgundian Prelates, which the authors do not divide into separate groups, is attributed to Pierre Changenet (including MS M.1200). The work of the earlier but stylistically related Master of Charles de Neufchâtel (for which see, for example, Morgan MS M.28), they argue, could be attributed to Pierre's father, Jean I Changenet.
List of illustrations: The following are full-page except for the three evangelists after John, which are historiated initials: John on Patmos, with the Destruction of Diana's Temple and John Turning Sticks and Stones into Gold and Jewels (fol. 14); Luke (15v); Matthew (17); Mark (18v); Annunciation, with Temptation of Adam and Eve and Gideon with the Fleece (20); Visitation, with the Marriage of the Virgin (33v); Nativity, with Moses and the Burning Bush and the Flowering of Aaron's Rod (48); Annunciation to the Shepherds (53); Adoration of the Magi, with Abner before David and the Queen of Sheba before Solomon (57v); Presentation in the Temple, with the Firstborn Presented in Order to be Brought Back and Anna's Presentation of Samuel (61v); Flight into Egypt, with Isaac with Esau and Jacob's Departure from Rebecca (65v); Coronation of the Virgin (72); Crucifixion, with Sacrifice of Isaac and Moses and the Brazen Serpent (75v); Pentecost, with Moses Receiving the Law and the Acceptance of Elijah's Sacrifice (79v); David and Goliath, with David Fleeing Saul from Michol's Window and Saul's Coronation of David (84); Procession of St. Gregory, with the Three Living and Three Dead (99v); Dying Man Receiving His Last Communion, with a Burial (108).
This is one of the finest and most imaginative of the works by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates.
The Astor collection apparently had two important Books of Hours illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. The present manuscript (MS A.14) and a second one (MS A.18) that was sold in London, Sotheby's, 1 December 1987, lot 46 (this sale had seven Astor manuscripts: lots 45 to 51); after the sale, Astor MS A.18 was dismembered.
Collation: 1-3⁶, 4-16⁸, 17³ (of 6, iii + vi cancelled blanks)
Contents: Calendar (fols. 2-13v), Gospel Lessons (14-19v), Hours of the Virgin (20-75), Hours of the Cross (75v-79), Hours of the Holy Spirit (79v-83), Penitential Psalms and Litany (84-107v), Office of the Dead (108-125).
Illuminations: 14 full-page miniatures and 3 historiated initials.
Artist: Master of the Burgundian Prelates. Decu Teodorescu and Elsig 2020 distinguish three distinct hands, a master and two family followers, among the works previously attributed to the Master of the Burgundian Prelates. The first Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1465 to ca. 1473 and produced about thirty manuscripts (including MS M.1200); he might be Jean I Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1449 to 1472/73. The second Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1475 to 1505 and produced about thirty manuscripts; he might be Pierre Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1477 to 1503-07. The third Master of the Burgundian Prelates flourished from 1480 to ca. 1500 and produced eight manuscripts; he is not identified with any particular member of the Changenet family although he sometimes worked in the shop of the second Master. The Changenet family was thus an important dynasty of painters active in Dijon (and Avignon) from the second half of the fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. In Dijon, they flourished from 1465 to 1505. The association of the Dijon Changenet family with the three (especially the second and third) Masters of the Burgundian Prelates rests on the stylistic similarity between their work and that of the painter Jean II Changenet, documented in Avignon, 1485-95. Comparisons can especially be made between their work and the panel of St. Benigne, part of a commission from Jean II Changenet by Nicolas Bouesseau in 1491. Adam and Caron 2021 agree that Jean I Changenet, documented in Dijon from 1449 to 1468 (dead in 1472/73), is the founder of the dynasty. His five or six children included Pierre Changenet, documented in Dijon 1478-1503 (dead before 1507), and Jean II Changenet, documented from 1484-1495. The work of the Master of the Burgundian Prelates, which the authors do not divide into separate groups, is attributed to Pierre Changenet (including MS M.1200). The work of the earlier but stylistically related Master of Charles de Neufchâtel (for which see, for example, Morgan MS M.28), they argue, could be attributed to Pierre's father, Jean I Changenet.
List of illustrations: The following are full-page except for the three evangelists after John, which are historiated initials: John on Patmos, with the Destruction of Diana's Temple and John Turning Sticks and Stones into Gold and Jewels (fol. 14); Luke (15v); Matthew (17); Mark (18v); Annunciation, with Temptation of Adam and Eve and Gideon with the Fleece (20); Visitation, with the Marriage of the Virgin (33v); Nativity, with Moses and the Burning Bush and the Flowering of Aaron's Rod (48); Annunciation to the Shepherds (53); Adoration of the Magi, with Abner before David and the Queen of Sheba before Solomon (57v); Presentation in the Temple, with the Firstborn Presented in Order to be Brought Back and Anna's Presentation of Samuel (61v); Flight into Egypt, with Isaac with Esau and Jacob's Departure from Rebecca (65v); Coronation of the Virgin (72); Crucifixion, with Sacrifice of Isaac and Moses and the Brazen Serpent (75v); Pentecost, with Moses Receiving the Law and the Acceptance of Elijah's Sacrifice (79v); David and Goliath, with David Fleeing Saul from Michol's Window and Saul's Coronation of David (84); Procession of St. Gregory, with the Three Living and Three Dead (99v); Dying Man Receiving His Last Communion, with a Burial (108).
Script
Gothic book-hand
Language
Latin and French
Resources
Century
Catalog link
Classification
Department