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Book of Hours (Doulce dame de misericorde)

F-fte2

Utopia, armarium codicum bibliophilorum, Private Collection, Canada, Fr.G1-3

Private Catalogue, Canada, 2023. (Born Digital)

General Information

Title Book of Hours (Doulce dame de misericorde)
Material Parchment
Place of Origin Paris, France

Original Condition

Numbering

p. 175

Current Condition

Dimensions 155 x 110 mm
More about the Current Condition

There is light soiling on the top left of the leaf.

Book Decoration and Musical Notation

Description

The recto and verso both contain illuminations. The letter T at the beginning of each section of the prayer is illuminated with gold, red pigment, and lapis. Both sides likewise contain nearly identical marginal panels with hairline vines and gold ivy, as well as acanthus leaves flanked by pink and blue flowers.

Content

  • Content Item
    • Content Description

      The leaf contains three sections from Doulce dame de misericorde (also known as the “15 Joys of the Virgin”), a vernacular prayer commonly found in French books of hours from the fifteenth century. Each section of the Doulce dame references an event (or, “joy”) from the Life of the Virgin – in this case, the Visitation, feeling Christ move within her womb, and the Nativity. The sections then conclude with petitions addressed to the Virgin that correlate with the referenced joys. For example, the section on the Virgin feeling Christ move within her womb concludes with “Doulce dame priez lui que il vueille esmouvoir mon cuer a lui servir et amer.”

      Phrasing in sections of the prayer can vary across manuscripts. This leaf varies at the end of the section on the Visitation (fol. 175r). While the section usually concludes with “Doulce dame priez lui que il me vueille rassazier,” the leaf expands upon the petition (“….que il me vueille rassazier en vraye ioye pardurable”). Based on a comparison of this section from 68 manuscripts and 2 fragments, the petition concludes similarly in Vat. lat. 15177 and the Coëtivy Hours (CBL W 082).

      There is also an instance of scribal error by way of repetition at the beginning of the section on the Visitation (“Tres doulce dame pour ycelle grant ioye que vous eustes quant vous eustes quant vous alastes…”).  

History

Origin

The leaf appears to have been produced, or at least intended for use, in Paris. This is evidenced by a March calendar leaf from the same book of hours (likewise sold by Pirages), wherein the feast day of Pope Innocent I is listed as March 14. While the medieval feast of Pope Innocent was often celebrated on July 28 from the thirteenth century onward, it was celebrated in Paris on March 14.

The leaf is originally from the same manuscript as Fr.G1-2.

Bibliography

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