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. Philip: Philip Vanquishing Idols and a Demon
Border: Philip Baptizing (fol. 177)
Philip, a native of Bethsaida in
Galilee and a married father of three,
gave up everything to follow Jesus.
In the Apostle's most famous miracle, he cast the Devil, in the form
of a hideous dragon, out of a statue
of Mars.
Statue of Mars
A group of Scythian pagans had attempted to force the saint to sacrifice to a statue of the god Mars, but a huge dragon suddenly emerged from the statue, slaying the son of the priest and the two tribunes who had arrested the saint. The beast's noxious breath of the sickened onlookers.
Poyer's miniature, however,
depicts a horned demon
(instead of the traditional
dragon) fleeing from Philip, and
four statues fall from the altar
of Mars (the golden ones are
men, the white ones women). Beneath the demon are the
fallen bodies of the sick and
wounded, soon to be restored
to health.
Philip told the crowd that if they
broke the statue and adored the
Lord's Cross, the sick would be
cured and the dead would be
brought back to life. The crowd
agreed, and the saint spoke to
the dragon, sending it to a
faraway desert. Philip then
healed the injured and revived
the dead, converting the entire
city.
(Border) In this image the saint baptizes
the first of a long line of new
converts made as a result of
the miracle. (Feast day: May 1)
