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.
St. Barbara: Decapitation of Barbara
Border: Barbara Before Her Tower (fol. 190v)
Legend has it that Barbara was the
daughter of an Eastern governor,
Dioscurus of Heliopolis, who
imprisoned her in a two-windowed
tower so that no man could see her.
Seeking religious fulfillment she wrote
to the Church father Origen (ca. 185–ca. 254), who sent his disciple
Valentine to instruct her. Disguised as
her doctor, he gained access to the
tower and eventually baptized her.
Poyer depicted the two
shepherds who saw Barbara fly
up to a mountain, where they
kept their sheep, and betrayed
her. At their feet, their flock of
sheep, through divine retribution,
were transformed into insects.
(Feast day: formerly December 4)
Dioscurus handed his daughter
over to the Proconsul Marcian
for torture, but she steadfastly
refused to renounce Christianity.
Out of anger and frustration, the
governor dragged his daughter
by the hair to the mountaintop
and cut off her head.
When her father was away on
a trip, Barbara had workmen
add a third window—in honor of
the Trinity—in her tower. Upon
his return, she told her father
that the three windows
symbolized the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, who had
illuminated her. Furious,
Dioscurus forced her to take
refuge at the top of her tower,
from which angels carried her
away to a secret hiding place.
