Munich-Montserrat Hours

The Munich-Montserrat Hours is a small book of hours today divided between Europe and United States.

The Biblioteca de la Abadía of Montserrat (Ms. 53), preserves great part of the manuscript; the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (Ms. Lat. 23638) has the leaves containing the calendar and some miniatures; and the miniatures of the Mass of Saint Gregory and the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian are kept at the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (Ms. 3, 84.ML.83).

On the base of its pictorial style the manuscript is dated to the 1530s.

Simon Bening’s Storms and Floods

The renowned artist Simon Bening painted the fine miniatures that embellish this devotional book. The illuminations have a distinctive pictorial subject that focuses on landscapes. The illuminations throughout the book show Bening’s remarkable inventiveness as a painter of natural settings.

Stormy days with dramatic sweep of sea appear in the miniatures of the calendar, a section of the manuscript in which Bening explored the details of diverse atmospheric conditions.

The artist investigated new developments of the traditional representation of the months, showing an artistic originality that is visible in the iconography as well, for example in the representation of the flood or the Old Testament scenes in the cycle of the Virgin.

MS 53: Gold-tooled red morocco, "Devocionar latino" on spine

MS Lat. 23638: Purple velvet with silver corner bosses and central medallions. Clasps.

We have 3 facsimiles of the manuscript "Munich-Montserrat Hours":

Horas de Monaco-Montserrat (Triptico de Montserrat) facsimile edition published by CM Editores, 2014
Triptico de Montserrat (Library Edition) facsimile edition published by CM Editores, 2014
Triptico de Montserrat (Deluxe Edition) facsimile edition published by CM Editores, 2014

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Alternative Titles: Pequeñas Horas de Montserrat -- Horas de Múnich-Montserrat
Physical Features: Manuscript book on parchment − 14 × 10.3 cm − 468 pp.
Origin: 1535–1540 − Bruges, Belgium
Genre(s): Private Devotional Books
Style: Gothic, Northern Renaissance
Language(s): Latin
Provenance: Alonso de Idiaquez
Artist(s) / School(s): Simon Bening
Content: Book of Hours, use of Rome
Illumination: 16 full-page miniatures; 20 small miniatures; 5 historiated initials; 20 historiated borders

Manuscript book description compiled by the publisher.

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