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.
Vespers: Massacre of the Innocents
and Flight into Egypt (fol. 69v)
While the Massacre of the Innocents
is less common than the Flight into
Egypt as the Vesper illustration, Poyer
managed to include both. As the
slaughter takes place in the
foreground, the Holy Family departs
for Egypt in the background—as can
be seen through the stone ruins.
Two mothers futilely attempt to
keep their children from soldiers,
while a woman on the left wails
uncontrollably over her dead
baby. The Holy Innocents were
regarded as the first martyrs,
and their feast day (three days
after Christmas) was already
celebrated by the early Church.
Massacre of the Innocents
Following his unique account of the Adoration of the Magi, Matthew continues the narrative (2:13–18) with the Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents. Herod, learning that a future ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem, ordered the slaughter of all male children two years old and younger living in or near Bethlehem. An angel had already appeared to Joseph in his sleep, telling him to take Jesus and his mother to Egypt until the death of Herod. (Biblical scholars, including Matthew, have recognized that the Massacre and Flight provided the pretext for the fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy [Hosea 11:1] that, like Moses, the Messiah would come up out of Egypt.)
