Hore Beate Marie Virginis Secundum Consuetudinem Anglie

The book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary According to the Custom of England

15th-century vellum Book of Hours (use of Sarum), Flanders (Bruges?), ff.128.12mo (duodecimo), 120×84 mm

Illuminator of the minatures: Nicolas Brouwer (collaborator with the Masters of otto van Moerdrecht)

Provenance:  John webbe

There is no record of accession in Cambridge University Library, but it appears in the catalogue compiled from 1754–56 

f.15v

f.16v

f.25v

f.45v

f.49v

f.53v

f.58v

f.66r

In the course of searching for comparable miniatures, similar examples were identified in the National Library of Israel, Ms. Yah. Var. 5. This manuscript, a 15th-century Horae (Use of Sarum), was produced in Flanders for the English market—just like Cambridge, Dd.15.25. Based on the distinctive curly border patterns, the illuminations in Ms. Yah. Var. 5 have been attributed to the school of the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht. This group shares numerous artistic motifs with Nicolas Brouwer, the illuminator of Dd.15.25, who also collaborated on the illumination of the Brussels Bible. The close match between the miniatures provides strong evidence for identifying what—or who—was likely erased, with a high degree of probability.

CUL MS. Dd.15.25 VS Ms. Yah. Var. 5

Ms. Yah. Var. 5 f.46V

CUL dD.15.25 f.58v

Deposition:

In Dd.15.25 f.45, Christ’s image has been smeared from head to toe. The depositors, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, have had their faces deliberately erased in different erasure method