CODART Canon

Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy

Master of Mary of Burgundy, ca. 1477
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna

The Vienna Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy introduced an influential style of book illumination, which caused a sensation in Flanders in the 1470s. It features work by the best miniaturists of their time: Lieven van Lathem, Simon Marmion and the anonymous artist who owes his nickname to this book, the ‘Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy’. The same artists’ collective also worked on a prayer book for Mary’s father, Charles the Bold. In this period, the leading figures in the art world were being granted commissions by the highest echelons of Burgundian society.

We do not know who commissioned the Trivulzio Book of Hours, which has been kept in the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague since 2001, but it was probably another individual who moved in the court circle. The same artists collaborated on this work as on the Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy in Vienna. It is my relationship with the Hague Book of Hours that led to my fascination with the Vienna Book of Hours.

— Ed van der Vlist, Curator of medieval manuscripts, National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague