Lecture : 3 minutes
A book has just listed dozens of books of hours in Brittany, works of piety with sometimes sumptuous illuminations that shed some light on Breton medieval society.
In very religious societies, like the Europe of the end of the Middle Ages, time is punctuated by a certain number of spiritual meetings. They concern in the first place the members of the clergy, in particular the monks, and the nones. However, the laity, particularly in large aristocratic families, wish to organize their days following the canonical “hours”, moments of prayer from sunrise to sunset. Prayers begin with matins, follow lauds, premiums, thirds, sexes, nuns, vespers and complines. This countdown of time, announced by the bells of churches and convents, constitute essential landmarks for men and women of the 15th century.
Prestigious works
In the great noble families, but also among the merchants and the middle-class, one thus acquires “books of hours”, liturgical works which are distinguished from the breviary, intended for the clerics. In addition to the daily prayers, these books of hours included a calendar, gospel or psalms readings and offices of the dead, to solicit the rest of the souls of the deceased. Penitential psalms were sometimes found there to ask for forgiveness of sins.
The hour books developed in Western Europe in the 13th century, before experiencing a real golden age in the 15th century. They are of variable size, some are very small, others more voluminous, with treasures of illuminations and decoration. “Even if it responds to a private logic, the book of hours is an object of prestige, remarks Jean-Luc Deuffic, specialist in these works for Brittany. They obey an ostentatious will. They are displayed on lecterns to impress its visitors ”.
Breton particularities
Several tens of pounds of Breton hours are kept. The Rennes municipal library has around thirty of them. Many are also found in the United States, particularly in New York bookstores. “A Breton book of hours, with its illuminations, can sell for several hundred thousand euros at auction,” notes Jean-Luc Deuffic.
The latter have, in fact, singularities, starting with representations of the owner in prayer. “He is often kneeled before his patron saint,” remarks Jean-Luc Deuffic. This also tells us about the important devotion to the local saints. Thanks to his hour books, we also know the liturgical calendars of the time and of the reality of the cults of the Breton saints ”.
Art
Some of his works are real works of art, like that of Jean de Montauban, preserved in Rennes. It includes 110 illustrations which are as much a source of information, for example for small clothing details, on 15th century society. There are, for example, around twenty hunting scenes. Another historical interest is the genealogical information that these works keep in dedication.
The best known of these hour books is undoubtedly that of Anne of Brittany. Realized between 1503 and 1508, it would have cost 600 crowns of gold. It is a magnificent work of art, with magnificent illuminating works, including more than 300 plants represented and commented on in French and Latin. It was produced by the workshop of one of the most renowned craftsmen of his time, that of Jean Bourdichon in Tours.
Many of its treasures have left Brittany or disappeared. “We must not despair,” says Jean-Luc Deuffic. They are found in private sales. We are, therefore, looking for that of the Abbey of Daoulas which disappeared in 1910 in a sale in Germany. We can hope that it will reappear one day ”.
At the end of the 15th century, the development of printing disrupted publishing, particularly that of the hour books. From a single object, it becomes more massive. He participated in the development of the cult of saints in Brittany from the Renaissance. One of the later will be edited by a priest of the Poher, Gilles de Kerampuil, in 1576.
To know moreJean-Luc Deuffic, “The book of hours illuminated in Brittany. Because without hours no one can pray God ”, Brepols editions, 742 p, 125 color illustrations.
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