5. Showcasing Salvation; Devotion by Design
9 items in collection

The immense popularity of the Book of Hours, which allowed late medieval laypersons to recite prayers and meditate upon images to their hearts’ content, stemmed from their almost infinite capacity for personalization. Though many were purchased off the shelf and passed down generation to generation, they were also frequently commissioned as bespoke products to mark a marriage, promotion, or ennoblement. Core sections of the book—the Calendar, Hours of the Virgin, and Office of the Dead—could contain small variations particular to a region, the so-called “Use.” Specific prayers in the vernacular could be added. The increasing prevalence of possessors’ likenesses mirrored the broadening appeal of portraiture more generally. These images, which show devotees in the act of prayer, present models of the sorts of visionary experiences that effective Books of Hours were meant to provoke. Simultaneously, the presence of heraldry, complemented by mottoes and emblems, became more frequent as coats of arms, previously the preserve of high nobles, were increasingly adopted by lower-ranking individuals. By the end of the fifteenth century, Books of Hours were being printed across Europe, though not as widely as is sometimes assumed. As the examples shown here attest, the infinite variability of the hand-produced Book of Hours accommodated all manner of personal devotional preferences, far outstripping what was possible in print. Though they were still vehicles for traditional piety, these intensely personal objects were a harbinger of the more direct approach to salvation that would soon be championed by the Protestant reformers.