Rohan Hours

The epitome of the Rohan Master's art is the "Lamentation of the Virgin" (f. 135, Pl. 57) from the Hours of the Cross. The grieving Virgin cannot be consoled by the Apostle John, who looks up in consternation at a saddened God.

The Grandes Heures de Rohan (French: The Grand Hours of Rohan; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. Latin 9471; commonly known as The Rohan Hours) is an illuminated manuscript book of hours, painted by the anonymous artist known as the Rohan Master, probably between 1418 and 1425 [1] (though other datings have been suggested), in the Gothic style. It contains the usual offices, prayers and litanies in Latin, along with supplemental texts, decorated with 11 full page, 54 half page, and 227 small miniatures, decorated with tempera paints and gold leaf. The book margins are decorated with Old Testament miniatures with captions in Old French, in the style of a Bible moralisée. The full page illuminations are renowned for the highly emotional and dramatic portrayal of the agonies of Christ and the grief of the Virgin. According to Millard Meiss, "The Rohan Master cared less about what people do than what they feel. Whereas his great predecessors excelled in the description of the novel aspects of the natural world, he explored the realm of human feeling." Meiss concludes that the Rohan Master was the "greatest expressionist in 15th century France."[2] The manuscript is currently housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.

  1. ^ Porcher, Jean (1959). The Rohan Book of Hours. Faber and Faber.
  2. ^ Meiss, Millard, and Marcel Thomas. The Rohan Master: A book of hours. New York: G. Braziller, October 1973. 247 pages. ISBN 0-8076-0690-1