With the establishment of vernacular languages in European countries and religious instruction primarily directed at laypeople, there was an increasing accessibility to understanding Christian dogmas through written culture that would rise from the 13th century. In response to this growing popularity, Latin saw its use diminish but in contrast, it acquired a value associated with elitism and high nobility. Psalters, which had previously been used for reciting psalms during masses, were diluted by the appearance of books of hours, which catered to the need of the nobility to distinguish themselves and were manufactured specifically for an individual person.
The books of hours represent the consequence of the devotio moderna, which, far from being a disruptive current, aims to enhance the spiritual values of the Middle Ages (López Montilla, 2012, pp. 31-40), but conceives Christianity as an intensified interpersonal relationship between believer and faith, involving meditation and self-critique, considering it a return to the purity that Stoicism sought in its roots and later asceticism.
With this context presented, the phenomenon of books of hours, whose place of origin was presumably France, spread rapidly throughout central Europe and soon reached Spain, introducing itself into Catalonia and Valencia during the 14th and 15th centuries, and then in Castile and Aragon at the end of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th (López Montilla, 2012, pp. 55-56).
The proliferation of books of hours produced in European regions resulted in various types of compositions, also due to the individualistic nature inherent in these manuscripts generating a personalized style. Generally, they are made on parchment with text written in Gothic textual script for greater permeability, framed with illuminated letters and floral, animalistic, and anthropomorphic figures with different colored inks, and some passages accompanied by a miniature on the adjacent page that illustrated the prayer or relevant biblical passage.
It is barely possible to subcategorize these codices due to their immense variety, but a small group stands out distinctly for its pages dyed black. With Duke Philip III, Burgundy flourished as an epicenter of the arts, and from 1445, workshops in Bruges, Valenciennes, Ghent, Brussels, and Tournai became brilliant centers for the production of books of hours, and also specifically for commissioned black manuscripts.
Seven books of hours black are preserved. Probably more were produced, but the aggressive chemical effect of the black pigment, obtained from a solution of iron and copper, has not helped their durability. This type evokes the use in late antiquity and Carolingian times of impregnating or dyeing parchment (but purple) and writing on it with a new color (Montuschi, 2013, p. 703).
Thus their restoration and conservation processes have been complicated, and most are kept in sheets, so that aside from the Black Hours of Morgan (figure 3b), none has a binding that has survived.
Due to the delicacy and availability offered by repositories, some of the black books of hours we will see are facsimiles.
The first book to appear on the scene has a Castilian reception: the Black Book of Hours of the Hispanic Society of America, or also by its more archaic name, Horae Beatae Marie Secundum usum curie romane. The author of this magnificent manuscript probably worked for the Aragonese court due to the calendar including saints' days as well as local festivals in Zaragoza, Catalonia, and Valencia (Manzari, 2012, p. 205). It has been maintained over time remarkably and conserves up to 152 folios but is considered unfinished since several spaces are likely reserved for miniatures. It has been thought that this book was an offering of mourning for the death of her husband Alfonso V in 1458 (A Collection in Context: The Hispanic Society of America).
However, it is important to note that by no means do all black books of hours have a mourning purpose but are purely stylistic. And it was that black became the defining color under the court of Charles I.
The prayer book of Galeazzo Maria Sforza originated in Bruges and was made for Charles the Bold. Its pages are preserved between acrylic plates due to the achieved black paint. It is composed of vivid colors that stand out even more by the splendor of silver and gold finishes, with the gospels decorated in detail and very well-defined miniatures (figure 2a) (Walter and Wolf, 2018, pp. 362-363). How it could have ended up so quickly in the hands of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza is unknown. It is determined that the illuminator of this book was Philipp de Mazerolles, as with the Louvre bifolio (de Schryver, 1999, pp. 50-57).
In connection to this mention, this fragmented black book of hours dedicated to Charles the Bold is conserved in a bifolio at the Louvre's Prints and Drawings Study Room and in a folio at the National Library of France (Nouv. acq. lat. 149). In this bifolio, floral filigree and gold medallions frame the Exodus passage on black parchment (figure 2b).
The book of hours of Mary of Burgundy (figure 3a) is considered one of the most important books of the Late Middle Ages and a true masterpiece in itself (Hamel, 2019, p. 598). Made in Flanders, either from Ghent or Bruges, it is attested that its first recipient was Charles I but also theorized to be a mourning book for his daughter Mary upon his death. Whichever the case, with certainty Margaret of York would have gifted this book to her stepdaughter Mary of Burgundy, and thus it is known by the duchess's name (Walter and Wolf, 2018, pp. 366-367). As for authorship, several artists are associated, including the Master of Mary of Burgundy as miniaturist or Spierinc for calligraphy. It is not entirely black: its first 34 pages consist of intense-colored miniatures and texts framed within a black vignette on white parchment.
Considering this disposition, the Valenciennes Ms. 836 (618) (Flanders, 15th century) in its municipal library is also considered a black book of hours. The prayers are composed within a black rectangle but not on the rest of the parchment page.
But without a doubt, the Black Hours of Morgan (figure 3b) is the black book of hours par excellence. It could have been made around 1470 and finished almost in 1480 in a workshop in Bruges or Ghent. Its archival history is unknown, but it may have remained in its place of origin until the 19th century before being received by Cardinal Yemeniz (Walter and Wolf, 2018, pp. 372-373), passing through various collections until reaching John Pierpont Morgan's library in 1912 after he purchased it from Leon Gruel at a Chicago auction.
With excellent miniatures of the Hours of the Virgin and the life of Jesus, what is special about this book is the use of an intense blue on its pages not seen elsewhere, which could have been obtained using pigments like azurite, ultramarine, and lapis lazuli. Its great elaboration suggests that it was intended for someone in a very important position.
One reason for its good condition is the use of thick vellum that better resisted the chemicals of the colors. It is also the only one conserved as a codex, bound in 19th-century pigskin. This factor has made experts question whether re-binding it would be advisable since each page has a very strong binding and it is difficult to open without breaking the paint, making this book hard to fully open (Trujillo and Wieck, 2020).
Lastly, we have the black manuscript of hours Vat.lat.9488, digitized and conserved in the Vatican Apostolic Library (Montuschi, 2013, pp. 701-767) in restored plates.
After explaining the seven preserved ones, as a synthesis, we can gather that black books of hours emerged mid-fifteenth century with specialized production in various Flemish workshops of Flanders for distinction and elegance that black imposed in many aspects of court life, such as clothing. As to content and other formal aspects, they do not differ from common books of hours and their purpose remained the personal delight of the devotion of their patrons. Despite being costly and made with great refinement, few have survived due to the highly corrosive alloy of copper and iron used for obtaining the black pigment. Additionally, illustrations and texts were drawn using other components that contributed to their fragile protection. It is thus why most are conserved laminated in plates and rarely found bound.
Bibliography
A Collection in Context: The Hispanic Society of America. https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/hispanic/
Hamel, C. (2019). Grandes manuscritos medievales. Ático de los Libros.
Manzari, F. (2012). A book of hours illuminated for Alfonso V of Aragon. Influences of German engravings in the miniatures of the Crown of Aragon mid-fifteenth century. In M. C. Lacarra Ducay (Ed.), La miniatura y el grabado de la Baja Edad Media en los archivos españoles (pp. 203-224). Institución «Fernando el Católico» (CSIC).
Montuschi, C. (2013). La rara eleganza della pergamena nera: il libro d'Ore Vaticano latino 9488. Studi e testi, 478, 701-767.
López Montilla, M. J. (2012). The Book of Hours: A Selective Private Devotional Book. La Ergástula.
De Schryver, A. (1999). Philippe de Mazerolles: le livre d'heures noir et les manuscrits d'Ordonnances militaires de Charles le Téméraire. Revue de l’Art, 126, 50-67.
Trujillo, F., & Wieck, R. S. (2020). The Black Hours at the Morgan Library & Museum. Perspectives from a Conservator and a Curator [Webinar]. The Morgan Library & Museum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTz0JIw5xys&t=55s
Walther, I., & Wolf, N. (2018). Codices illustres. The Most Beautiful Illuminated Manuscripts in the World from 400 to 1600. Taschen.
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