Title

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic

Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximillian (Flandes, ca. 1440 - ?, ca. 1519)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Inscriptions / Marks

Left scroll: TANTO::MONTA

Right scroll: SVB:VMBRA:ALLARU[M]:TUARU[M]:PROTEGE:NOS

Object history

Illuminated Book of Hours produced in Flanders (Ghent or Bruges) between 1492 and 1504 for Queen Isabella I of Castile. The presence of the pomegranate in the coat of arms (fol. 1 v.) indicates a post quem date following the conquest of the Muslim kingdom of Granada at the beginning of 1492, and no later than the Queen’s death in November 1504. The coat of arms is that of the Catholic Monarchs, quartered with the arms of Castile-León in the first quarter, and Aragón and Aragón-Sicily in the second, which are reversed in the third and fourth quarters. It also features the yoke and arrows. However, in this case, it belongs to the sovereign herself, as it includes the motto used by the queen, "Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos" ("Protect us under the shadow of your wings"), a reference to her devotion to the Evangelist John, symbolized by an eagle with outstretched wings.

The manuscript's illumination was likely carried out in Ghent or Bruges within the circle of the most prominent miniaturist, Alexander Bening (d. 1519), and is specifically attributed to the so-called Master of the First Prayer Book of Emperor Maximilian. There is no record of who commissioned it, though the queen may have ordered it. However, it is more likely that a notable figure commissioned it and later gifted it to her. In this regard, it is worth considering the trips made by Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca to Flanders during negotiations for the dual marriage between the children of Maximilian I—Philip the Handsome and Margaret of Austria—and the Infanta Juana (later Juana I) and Prince John. Nevertheless, the number of individuals who could have gifted it to the queen is too large, and we currently lack data to narrow it down.

Given its small size and function as a prayer book, it could have traveled with the queen, who spent the last months of her life in the Alcázar of Segovia and in Medina del Campo, where she died in the royal palace on November 24, 1504. Afterward, its whereabouts are unknown, and it cannot be definitively linked to any of the queen’s book inventories (Ruiz Garcia, Los libros de Isabel la Católica, p. 607). It may have been one of the books owned by the Spanish monarchs, but during the inventorying process, the focus was often on the binding, which was frequently changed over time, making it impossible to identify with certainty. Neither in the list of the queen's books compiled by Sánchez Cantón (Libros, tapices y cuadros que coleccionó Isabel la Católica), nor in Antonio de la Torre's Testamentaría de Isabel la Católica, does any book appear that is inventoried with the royal coat of arms on the first folio. This does not mean it was not one of those listed, but given that binding was the primary means of identification, its trail is lost. In any case, it is one of the three known Books of Hours belonging to Isabella I, along with those held in Spain, in the Royal Palace Library and the Library of El Escorial.

By around 1800, the book was documented in the possession of the Rothschild family, who retained it until 1954. It was then handled by the dealers Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York, NY, who sold it to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1963, where it currently remains, though not on display.

Description

This manuscript is richly decorated with vegetal and animal elements, such as birds, butterflies, and flowers. Additionally, some of its folios feature themes alluding to the seasons of the year or religious motifs.

Locations

• Early XVI^th c.

  private collection

  Isabella I of Castile, Segovia (Spain) *

• ca. 1800 - 1934

  private collection

  Baron Edmond de Rothschild collection, Paris (France) *

• 1934 - 1954

  private collection

  Baron Maurice de Rothschild collection, Paris (France) *

• 1954 - 1963

  dealer/antiquarian

  Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York, New York (United States) *

• 1963 - present

  museum

  Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland (United States)