The Biography of a Book of Hours

Objects survive long after their original owners have passed away, living an extensive, dramatic, and often colorful life as they pass from owner to owner. This social life is often referred to as an object’s “biography.” Join us today to explore object biography and the life of a special book of hours this week in the Les Enluminures podcast. We will explore the history of a previously unknown and unpublished book of hours.  This manuscript is a discovery that comes to us from Lyons’ Golden Age, one of the most important centers for culture and industry in Europe at the time of its production. The workshop of one of the most important illuminators in the city at the time - the Master of the Entry of Francis I - produced this manuscript which has lived a rather sheltered and prestigious life. Indeed in its rich history it belonged to the great Southern bibliophile, Charles de Baschi, Marquis d’Aubaïs who contributed its elegant binding and armorial bookplates.

 

Resources

Book of Hours by the Workshop of the Master of the Entry of Francis I.