Illuminated around 1500 by the artist
Jean Poyer, The Hours of Henry VIII
receives its name from the possible but
unproven eighteenth-century tradition
that holds King Henry of England once
owned this splendid manuscript. By
following the simple instructions, you
can explore every painting of this
Renaissance masterpiece and learn
how Books of Hours helped their readers
to pray.
Books of Hours contain more or less
standard texts—Calendar, Gospel
Lessons, Hours of the Virgin, Hours
of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit,
Penitential Psalms with Litany, Office
of the Dead, and Suffrages—as well as
a number of common accessory
prayers. Based on the frequency and
variety of added devotions, it appears
that scribes included these for owners
who wished to personalize their prayer
books.
March: Pruning (fol. 2)
In the early spring month of
March, work begins outdoors
with the typical labor of pruning
the vineyard. Workers trim the
leafless vines and tie them to
the grape arbor. A wood cask
for drink is in the foreground.
Among the scenes depicted in
the margins are, at bottom left,
St. Gregory with a vision at the
altar of Christ (for the Feast of
St. Gregory, March 12), and the
Annunciation (March 25), at
bottom right. Above the seated
Virgin is St. Helena, discoverer
of the True Cross, whose May
22 feast has been entered here
mistakenly on March 31. The
zodiacal sign is Aries, the Ram.
