Cleveland Museum of Art

Pair of Bifolio from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi and Coronation of the Virgin

Date

c. 1415

Medium

ink, tempera, and gold on vellum

Culture

France, Paris

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Books of hours were devotional books popular in the Middle Ages. Meant for laypeople, or those not in the clergy they were used at home and contained daily prayers as well as prayers for specific occasions, such as death, plague, warfare, travel, or bad weather. The heart of every book of hours is the Hours of the Virgin. With this set of prayers, the reader asked the Virgin Mary to intercede on their behalf. The Adoration of the Magi opens sext, the sixth hour of the day or noon. The Coronation of the Virgin begins compline, which is before retiring. All books of hours contain the same basic sections and were highly customizable.

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