About the Henry VII Hours

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Calendar Leaves
from the "Hours of Henry VII"
By Jean Bourdichon, 1457-1521
Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Lewis E M 11.19

This calendar page shows a man dressed warmly, with two layers of fur-lined garments and a fur-lined hat with ear flaps. The room is furnished with a trestle table with white tablecloth, chair, a cupboard that was probably used to store the glass, pewter and silver plates, jugs, and knife shown here. Behind the man is a large fireplace.

The calendar scene points to a winter month, and we know this is so because of the two fishes in the sky, representing Pisces, the sign of the Zodiac for February in the middle ages. Like our modern calendars, this one shows events for days of the month. Unlike our calendars, they identify feast days and important religious holidays.

The calendar sections of illuminated manuscripts most often come before the main texts. They identify feast days pertinent to the patron and the region, using different colors to highlight important religious holidays, such as Christmas or the Annunciation (so-called red-letter days). Calendars were often illuminated, the two most popular schemes being the labors (depicting the labors appropriate to each of the months) and the zodiac signs. For example June (Reaping: Gemini), August (Sowing, Virgo).

This calendar page is from the "Book of Hours of Henry VII." The illumination is the work of Jean Bourdichon, official painter to the courts of King Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I. Today, scholars think this book was owned by Louis XII, the King of France, instead of Henry VII, the King of England -- but the old name still sticks. Bourdichon introduced a technique known as the "dramatic close-up," in which he places large figures close to the foreground and cut off by the picture frame.

This miniature, titled February: Keeping Warm; Pisces, shows how difficult it was to stay warm and well fed during the winter month of February. It also lists feast days and tells the time by citing the saint or holy event celebrated on that day. The colors of the feast days on the leaf alternate blue and red for decorative reasons. (The red ink has faded badly.) The more important feasts, however, are written in gold.

February, keeping warm
Vellum
Folio: 9-3/8 x 5-7/8 inches (235 x 150 mm)
Text: 5-1/8 x 3-1/8 inches (130 x 80 mm)
French, bâtarde

Leaves of Gold catalog entry #16

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