Getty Museum

Ruskin Hours

Date

about 1300

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink

Culture

French

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

Produced in northeastern France around 1300, this manuscript represents an early example of a book of hours, a type of Christian devotional text designed for personal use by lay people. Books of hours allowed individuals to engage in devotional practices modeled after those of monks and nuns, bringing monastic readings and prayers into the lives of the laity. These texts typically included prayers, psalms, and a calendar of Church feasts, helping users structure their daily devotions according to the liturgical hours. This manuscript is richly decorated with over one hundred historiated initials—illustrations incorporated into the initial letters—that depict scenes related to events from the Christian Bible or praying figures. It also features an illustrated litany (a series of short petitions addressed to individual saints), an uncommon addition, alongside additional illuminations in the margins. These marginalia often depict secular or humorous subjects, including men balancing monkeys on their backs and a unicorn and a griffin engaged in battle, which contrast with the religious content in the historiated initials. In some cases, the marginal imagery relates directly to the sacred scenes, creating a layered interaction between the illustrations. The manuscript's illuminations, attributed to an anonymous artist, demonstrate the attention to detail and dynamic style associated with high Gothic art. Its later provenance adds historical interest: in the 19th century, the art critic and medievalist John Ruskin acquired the book, which is now known by his name. Ruskin found the manuscript so compelling that he incorporated designs from it into his influential book *Modern Painters*, contributing to a growing 19th-century appreciation for medieval art and manuscripts.

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