The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
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Book Summary Information
Editor: John PlummerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09
ISBN: 0807614920
Number of pages: 360
Publisher: George Braziller, Inc.
Book Reviews of The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
Book Review: Enjoyable, but less than ideal
Summary: 3 Stars
The local museum in my city currently has a hundred pages from this magnificent book on loan from the Pierpont Morgan Library. With the real thing so freshly imprinted on the mind, this reprint from the 1960s cannot but disappoint. The picture resolution is insufficient to allow the viewer to discern the very tiniest details, and overall the colours are too saturated, at times even somewhat harsh, compared to the freshness, brilliance and translucency of the originals. Sometimes this, too, goes at the expense of detail; e.g., in the Trinity in an Apse (nr. 32) the border around the image seems to consist of crude red onionshapes; it is only from reading the accompanying text that the viewer will know that these actually contain depictions of angels: the orange angels are invisible against the red. Also, the paper on which the artwork was painted appears almost yellow in this reprint, whereas in the book itself it is near-white. Don't expect too much either from the gold detailing mentioned in the editorial review above; gold is reproduced as a kind of beige with a slight shine to it, but obviously doesn't come close to the glittering sparkle (and doesn't even try to emulate the relief) of the original's gold leaf. (Still, the effect is much better than the awful reddish brown found in the horrible edition of the Duc de Berry's Tres Riches Heures from this same publisher.)
But all that said, there is no alternative to this book if you want to really get to know Catherine's Hours (unless you are a very determined and very rich collector and want to go for the new limited-edition facsimile that a Swiss publisher is coming out with - it has a whopping 14.000 dollar price tag, and even that version doesn't quite match the original, as I found out when I perused a copy on view at the museum). This is a well-made, heavy little volume that offers more than enough to give you a fair impression of these dazzling miniatures, and even if it is far from perfect, that will hardly mar your enjoyment of this Master's inventive borders, where surprising and sometimes funny little scenes from daily life contrast with the more serious religious matter they frame. Also, some decorative work involving muscles and butterflies is quite stunning in its realism. But there is room for an affordable modern reprint of this gem. Until that comes along, do grasp the opportunity to see the original pages when they are on view!
Summary of The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
When this magnificent volume first appeared in 1966, it was celebrated for its extraordinary beauty. Now, it is available once again.
Illustrating one of the great art treasures of the world, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is a fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript containing a series of some of the most beautiful illustrations of the Bible ever made. Many of the great scenes from the Old Testament and many more from the New Testament are included, besides the Stations of the Cross and portraits of the saints.The work of an unidentified Dutch master painter, the manuscript was made for Catherine of Cleves on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of Guelders. All the 157 surviving miniatures are reproduced to actual size and in exquisite color with gold, together with three samples of pages containing the Latin prayers. Page after page reveals the elaborate program and rich illumination of the original. The progression from beginning to end shows an artist increasing in skill, relying in his earlier work on tradition and later emerging as an independent artist of bold, clear colors, dynamic brushwork, and lively imagination. He stands as one of the supreme painters of fifteenth-century Northern Europe.
Each page is accompanied by a descriptive and explanatory commentary by John Plummer. His introduction discusses the development of the Book of Hours as a liturgical form in general, and the history of the Cleves Hours specifically, and describes the place it holds in the history of Northern painting. 160 color illustrations with gold embellishment
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