Pictorial Personalization in the Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves

Kathleen Tousignant
Art History 720, Spring 2015
 The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, duchess of Guelders and countess of Zutphen,

has been regarded as “the absolute peak of Netherlandish book illumination”.1 Its extant

157 miniatures combine with Latin texts to form an unparalleled imaginative pictorial

program. The sheer volume of text and imagery makes the manuscript an atypical

devotional Book of Hours – one with an amalgamation of iconographic, compositional,

and figural motifs so rich in their inventiveness that the book has been described as a

“cathedral in pocket form”.2 In this paper, I will examine the progression of scholarship

conducted on the book’s provenance, pictorial program, and biblical and secular

iconography. By examining the relationship between biblical themes and depictions of

Catherine, I will analyze the importance of her Book of Hours as a vehicle for divine

salvation.

The provenance of Catherine’s book is interesting. It tells the story of a devotional

book that ended up in unscrupulous hands. The ancient town of Cleves was made a duchy

in 1417, the year that Catherine was born.3 Thirteen years later, at the age of twelve,

Catherine was arranged to marry Arnold of Egmond, duke of Guelders, and they were

wed on January 6, 1430.4 Most scholars agree that Catherine commissioned the book for

herself, and that it was likely completed around 1440.5 During this time, Books of Hours

                                                                                                               
1
Dückers, Rob, and Rudd Priem. “Foreword.” In From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of
Catherine of Cleves, 7. Antwerp Ludion, 2009.
2
Van Bergen, Saskia. “Passion, Salvation and Deliverance in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.”
In From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 25. Antwerp: Ludion, 2009.
3
Adams, Frederick B., Jr. “Foreword”. In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 4. New
York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1964.
4
Ibid. 4.
5
Marrow, James H. “Multitudo et Varietas: the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In The Hours of
Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, 19. New York:
Abrams, 2009.    

  1  
in the Northern Netherlands were primarily written in Middle Dutch – the compilation

and translation written by Geert Grote.6 Catherine’s book, on the other hand, was written

exclusively in Latin, implying that a highly educated cohort (likely a spiritual adviser)

was involved in the planning of the manuscript. If we accept that Catherine did indeed

commission the book for herself, the question arises of: “Why have it written in Latin?”

One possible explanation is that which James H. Marrow has offered –

Catherine’s highly educated cleric was responsible for picking the texts.7 Another

possibility is that Catherine was literate in Latin, or that she was at least accustomed to

hearing it. Laura Sterponi explains that in Books of Hours, “the portions in verse and

Latin, often repeated across canonical hours, invite attention to and appreciation of the

written text’s musicality, thereby facilitating sensory attunement and memorization”.8

The musicality of biblical verse evokes the memory of hearing verses recited at Mass.

Coupled with the Latin text is the rare inclusion of a complete series of Hours and Votive

Masses for each day of the week.9 Marrow explains that, “Latin Masses were normally

recited, read or closely followed only by ordained clergy or members of holy orders who

attended Mass regularly, and by aristocratic and other elite patrons for whom clerics

served as private confessors and devotional advisers”.10

Rob Dückers suggests that this ‘private confessor’ or ‘devotional adviser’ was

possibly one (or both) of the chaplains who served Catherine and her husband during this

time. Both Catherine’s chaplain – ‘Broder Johan’ (Friar John) – and Arnold’s – Sir
                                                                                                               
6
Ibid. 19.
7
Ibid. 19.
8
Sterponi, Laura. "Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and books of
hours." Text & Talk 28, no. 5 (September 2008): 676. Communication & Mass Media Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed May 2, 2015).
9
Ibid. 19.
10
Ibid. 19.

  2  
‘Heinrich van Hattem’ (Henry of Hattem) – received gifts of expensive clothing from the

duke and duchess in the years leading up to the manuscript’s construction.11 However,

Dückers leans more toward Sir Simon as the prospective adviser. Sir Simon was

explicitly mentioned as clerk to the duchess in 1437, and became an ordained priest in

1451.12 Dückers states that, “on this occasion, Catherine gave him fourteen Rhineland

Guilders for his first mass and that same year he became her official chancellor”.13 While

the identity of the spiritual adviser cannot be definitively proven, Dückers and Marrow

provide convincing evidence for the involvement of such an adviser in the planning of the

manuscript.

In addition to the unknown spiritual adviser, scholars have failed to come up with

a definitive reason for the commissioning of the illuminated manuscript. Many Books of

Hours were commissioned as a marital gift from a husband to a wife.14 However, due to

the strained relationship between Catherine and her husband, as well as the fact that the

book was constructed at least 10 years after their marriage, makes this highly unlikely.

Dückers suggests that Catherine’s motivation for commissioning the book stemmed from

“bibliophilic jealousy”. Catherine’s family owned many precious books, and her paternal

aunt, Margaret of Cleves, commissioned an extravagant Book of Hours for herself in the

beginning of the 15th century (Lisbon, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Ms. LA 148).15

While Margaret’s book is indeed impressive, hers is not the object of jealousy that

                                                                                                               
11
Dückers, Rob. “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves as an Object: a Codicological Approach.” In
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century,
76-77. New York: Abrams, 2009.
12
Ibid. 77.
13
Ibid. 77.
14
Penketh, Sandra. “Women and Books of Hours.” In Women and the Book: Assessing the Visual
Evidence, 270. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 1997.
15  Dückers.  76.  

  3  
Dückers is suggesting. Catherine’s husband, Arnold, commissioned a breviary (New

York, Pierpont Morgan Library, M.87) a few years prior.16 Dückers explains,

“[Arnold’s] breviary is a dense volume (currently 433 folios, but several pages

were excised at some time in the past), originally decorated with at least four –

but probably more – full-page miniatures, twelve marginal calendar illustrations,

eighty-one column miniatures, and historiated initials and border decorations on

nearly all of its pages”.17

This suggestion of bibliophilic jealousy is intriguing, especially when we consider the

opulence of both books.

Robert Calkins explains the extravagance of Catherine’s book compared to other

manuscripts of the time. Most commonly, Dutch Books of Hours featured illuminated

initials or single miniatures at the beginning of each major text (ie. The Little Office,

Hours of the Virgin, or Hours of the Cross).18 More elaborate manuscripts might add 8

historiated initials and/or full-page miniatures at each Canonical hour.19 Catherine’s

book, on the other hand, features one full-page miniature and one half-page miniature for

each Canonical hour, both in the Office of the Virgin and Office of the Cross.20 Calkins

states, “The result is an unprecedented sixteen miniatures on a continuous narrative

theme”.21 The fact that the amount of miniatures in Catherine’s book was (as Calkins

explains) ‘unprecedented’ must be emphasized, for it leads directly to the deceptive

measures taken by a book dealer in the nineteenth century.

                                                                                                               
16
Dückers. 76.
17
Ibid. 76.
18
Calkins, Robert G. “Distribution of Labor: The Illuminators of the Hours of Catherine of
Cleves and Their Workshop.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 69, No. 5
(August, 1979): 9. JSTOR (accessed May 2, 2015).
19
Ibid.9.
20
Ibid. 9.
21
Ibid. 9.  

  4  
 It is uncertain what happened to the manuscript after Catherine died. Historically,

it was common for a mother to bequeath her illuminated manuscript to her eldest

daughter. However, this is unlikely in Catherine’s case, as her eldest daughter, Mary, had

married the king of Scotland in 1449.22 (Recall that Catherine lived until 1476.) The

book’s whereabouts from the time of Catherine’s death until the late nineteenth century

are unknown, but what happened to the book’s program during this time has received

much scholarly attention. It was deceptively split into two parts sometime in the mid-

nineteenth century.23

The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves was first mentioned in an 1856

publication by the Paris book dealer, Jacques Joseph Techener, who was selling it for

15,000 francs.24 Soon after, Prince Charles d’Arenberg purchased it for his wife, Julie

d’Arenberg.25 She gave it to her nephew, Duke Engelbrecht-Marie d’Arenberg, who later

passed it on to Eric Englebrecht d’Arenberg.26 It was then sold to Hans Peter Kraus, the

famed New York book dealer in 1958.27 Immediately after receiving it, Kraus sold it to

Alastair Bradley Martin – who happened to be in the room when Kraus opened the

package containing the manuscript.28 Martin was a collector of Welsh lineage, which is

where the Guennol Collection gets its name (Guennol is Welsh for Martin).29After being

used as a devotional object at Martin’s daughter’s wedding, he sold it back to Kraus in

                                                                                                               
22
Dückers. 83.
23
Bober, Harry. “Foreword.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 5. New York: The
Pierpont Library, 1964.
24
Plummer, John. “The Cleves Hours and its Master.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of
Cleves, 13. New York: The Pierpont Library, 1964.
25
Dückers. 83.
26
Ibid. 83.
27
Ibid. 83.
28
Ibid. 83.
29
Ibid. 83.  

  5  
1970.30 That same year, Kraus sold it to the Morgan Library, where it survives as part of

the Guennol Collection (MS. M. 945)31

Prior to this acquisition, Plummer states that scholars had mentioned the

manuscript’s calendar; however, when Plummer finally saw the book in the Guennol

Collection, it was without one.32 The Guennol volume did however have the Little Office

of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Litanies, Office of the Dead, and the Hours of the

Cross.33 Additionally, Plummer noted that the volume was normal in size and had more

miniatures than most Books of Hours, stating that, “of the normal components it lacks

only the calendar and the suffrages”.34 For these reasons, prior scholars had assumed that

the Guennol volume was complete, and therefore the Book of Hours of Catherine of

Cleves.

Although John Plummer was the first to realize that the Guennol volume was only

half of the original manuscript, he gives two reasons for the oversight among earlier

scholars. First, he explains that Books of Hours varied because they were items used for

private devotion. Because of the personal nature of each book, they were – to an extent –

customizable. This is not to say that the makers of Books of Hours could add or subtract

any components that they liked. Plummer explains that in order to be considered a Book

of Hours, a manuscript must contain the Little Office of the Virgin.35 As mentioned

above, the Guennol volume included this, and therefore it was not totally out of line to

assume that the book was complete. Secondly, Plummer states that scholars had been so

                                                                                                               
30
Ibid. 83.
31
Ibid. 83.
32
Plummer. 13.
33
Ibid. 13.
34
Ibid. 13.
35
Ibid. 13.

  6  
interested in the miniatures that they overlooked the textual components, which “contain

the only clear evidence of the volume’s incompleteness”.36

The other half of Catherine’s book came into the possession of Baron Adolphe de

Rothschild, who then passed it on to Baron Maurice de Rothschild.37 It was confiscated

by the Nazis on January 21, 1941 from a vault at the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas

(along with other valuables belonging to the Rothschilds), and taken to Neuschwanstein

Castle in Bavaria.38 Four years later, on April 28, 1945, the American army’s occupation

of Neuschwanstein allowed for the book to be seized from Nazi possession and returned

to Baron Maurice.39 After his death in 1957, the Rothschilds’ family merchants sold it to

the Morgan Library, where it remains (as Ms. M. 917) to this day.40

While the Morgan volume (Ms. M. 917) does not possess the Little Office of the

Virgin, and is therefore not recognizable as a Book of Hours, Plummer notes that this

volume bears the inscription “Heurs de Catherine de Cleves/Martyrologe” on its spine.41

This volume does, however contain: the calendar, the Mass for the Dead, the Tuesday

Hours of the Holy Ghost, the Wednesday Hours of All Saints, the Friday Hours of the

Compassion of God and the Mass of the Cross, the Sabbath Hours and Mass of the

Virgin, part of the Office of the Dead, and “an uncommonly long series of suffrages”.42

The suffrages take up a large portion of the volume, and because of the exceptionally

large number of them, it wasn’t obvious that they were part of a traditional Book of

                                                                                                               
36
Ibid. 13.
37
Dückers. 83.
38
Ibid. 83.
39
Ibid. 83.
40
Ibid. 83.
41
Plummer. 13.
42
Ibid. 14.  

  7  
Hours. Plummer explains, “At first glance, it was thought to be a book of miscellaneous

prayers”.43

Plummer was suspicious of this strange volume, especially since the inscription

on the binding linked it with Catherine. He asked to examine both volumes side-by-side

for comparison. After his examination, Plummer stated, “It was immediately evident that

not only were the two volumes illustrated by the same artist, but also that they were both

products of the same scriptorium – the sizes of the leaves, the number of text lines per

page, the script, the decoration of the text pages, all were the same”.44

These similarities alone were not enough to confirm that the two volumes were

separate halves of the same whole, so Plummer investigated further. He found that the

texts from both volumes complimented each other, and (more convincingly) that the text

from a page in one volume often ran off – “sometimes in the middle of a sentence” – and

continued on another page in the other volume.45 Additionally, sometimes the titles for

texts appear in a different volume than the actual texts they are meant to introduce.46 The

final proof indicating the relationship between the two volumes came when the Morgan

volume was removed from its binding, showing the extent to which “the havoc of severed

leaves [had been] rearranged and pasted together”.47

Numerous deceptive measures were taken that support that the splitting of the

manuscript was intentional, and that it most likely stemmed from an entrepreneurial

motivation. Plummer highlights two major pieces of evidence. First, he states that,

                                                                                                               
43
Ibid. 13-14.
44
Ibid. 14.
45
Ibid. 14.
46
Ibid. 14.  
47
Ibid. 15.

  8  
 In at least two instances, Morgan p.178 and Guennol f.192v, the devious mind that

dismembered the book has obliterated the shift in the text from one volume to the other,

although the erasure in the Guennol volume can still be read under a microscope.48

Secondly, nearly all of the breaks were made in the middle of gatherings. Plummer

explains that by doing this, “the catchwords at the end of one gathering would run on

directly to the next gathering in the same volume”.49 These carefully calculated measures

support the argument that whoever split the book did so secretly and without regard for

the moral integrity that the manuscript’s pages were meant to evoke.

Dückers explains that, “mesmerized by the beauty of the illustrations, the viewer

may forget that the texts were the principal reason behind the production of these

books”.50 Though this notion may appear trite, it must be remembered that the splitting of

the book did not happen in the fifteenth century. Dückers maintains that it most likely

happened shortly before the Techener publication in 1856.51 By this point, it is highly

unlikely that whoever split the book felt the same devotional attachment to it that

someone like Catherine did. I think it is fair to assume that by 1856, the book was more

likely to be viewed as an art object than a sacred text.

Not only did the Master of Catherine of Cleves create a manuscript filled with

fantastic pictorial realizations of biblical themes, but he also made sure to carefully

personalize the book for Catherine. Frederick B. Adams, Jr. states that the book’s

“pictorial program intended to serve at one level as a constant reminder to Catherine of

                                                                                                               
48
Ibid. 15.
49
Ibid. 15.
50
Dückers. 75.
51
Dückers. 83.

  9  
her special privileges and obligations”.52 The Master of Catherine of Cleves made this

connection visually obvious, as she is physically depicted in 3 miniatures.

Catherine first appears in the owner portrait – the first image in the manuscript

that prefaces the Hours of the Virgin (fig. 1). She is shown kneeling just outside of the

cathedral-like space occupied by the Virgin and Child. She holds her Book of Hours in

her hands, out of which rises a banderole. It reads “O mater dei memento mei” (Oh

mother of God remember me)53 and flows upwards as though it is on its way to the

standing Virgin. The Virgin glances downwards and to the left to acknowledge that she

hears Catherine’s prayer. On her left arm hangs an open case, most likely for the quill

that the Christ child holds in his hand – dipping it into the inkbottle between the Virgin’s

fingers. A scroll is laid out across Christ’s lap, and though it is illegible, it shows that He

has heard Catherine’s prayer and is writing her a personal response.

Additionally, the edges of Catherine’s ermine-lined red mantle extend into the

space occupied by the Virgin and Child, symbolizing the intercession that is taking place.

Saskia van Bergen states,

By meditating on the texts in her Book of Hours, Catherine of Cleves allowed the

meeting with the Madonna to take place in her head, but by simultaneously

looking at the image, the Madonna would have appeared literally in front of her

eyes.54

By extending her mantle into the frame of the cathedral, the Master of Catherine of

Cleves implies that through prayer, Catherine can bridge the gap between her worldly

existence and the divine nature of the Virgin and Child. Henry L.M. Defoer explains that,

                                                                                                               
52
Adams. 5.
53
Marrow. 29.
54
Van Bergen. 12.  

  10  
“the images in Northern Netherlandish Books of Hours…evoke a sense of intimacy and

familiarity that was calculated to bring the faithful closer to the sublime and the

sacred”.55

Two angels are depicted in the turrets above, playing music and watching the

scene unfold below. Each corner of the margin is occupied by a heraldic shield –

depicting the arms of four of her great-great-grandfathers – Count Diderik of Cleves,

Count Engelbert of Mark, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, and Duke Ludwig of Liegritz.56

Plummer states, “This auspicious and aristocratic atmosphere is eminently appropriate for

the prayer-book of a young duchess of distinguished ancestry and considerable wealth”.57

Yet, what is most interesting about the inclusion of so many coats of arms is the heraldic

absence of Arnold’s.

In the top left corner of the margin, we see the heraldry for Cleves, and in the top

right, the coat of arms for the County of Mark. These coats of arms, along with those of

her great-great-grandfathers emphasize her ancestry, and have nothing to do with her

husband. Depicted in the bottom center of the margin is a shield bearing Arnold’s

(Guelders) coat of arms on the left half, and a combination of the coats of arms for Cleves

and Mark on the right half. A red ox-head – the crest of her father – crowns the top of

Catherine’s shield. Roger Wieck calls this “a heraldic no-no”, as it should have been

                                                                                                               
55
Defoer, Henry L.M. “The Golden Age and the Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In The
Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, 36.
New York: Abrams, 2009.
56
Plummer. 25.
57
Ibid. 3.

  11  
Arnold’s arms – not her father’s – crowning Catherine’s.58 By doing this, Catherine made

a conscious effort to remove Arnold from her book.

The second physical representation of Catherine is illustrated in the half-page

miniature corresponding to the Tuesday Hours of the Holy Spirit (fig. 2). The miniature

represents piety, the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit – which Plummer states is interpreted as

charity.59 Catherine appears just outside of an open doorway. The open door indicates

that she has made a conscious choice to come out and meet with the three less-fortunate

men. We recognize that this woman is Catherine by her ermine-lined red mantle and her

hair, which is “worn in pointed templers under a goffered veil”60, just as it was in the

owner portrait. The dove of the Holy Spirit rests on top of her head, as though – in this

moment of charity – Catherine is the personification of the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit.

She holds her coin-purse in her left hand, while delicately placing a coin in a

beggar’s bowl with her right. She makes eye contact with the man as she does this.

Behind him stand two additional beggars – one is crippled, the other elderly. The crippled

man extends his arm toward Catherine, asking her to fill his bowl next. The elderly man

has already received Catherine’s charity, as we can see two silver coins sitting in his

bowl, which he is in the process of withdrawing from her. Out of his mouth flows a

banderole quoting Luke (11:41): “Give alms, and all things are clean unto you”.61 I find

the fact that the banderole is protruding from the mouth of the already-served man

                                                                                                               
58
Wieck, Roger. “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.
Accessed May 5, 2015. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves.
59
Plummer. 40.
60
Ibid. 54.
61
Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 64-65”. Hours and Masses for the Seven Days of the Week. Accessed
May 6, 2015. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/38.  

  12  
significant. He offers this quotation as a sign of thanks, not as a bribe for her to give him

money.

At the bottom of the page, one of the Corporal Acts of Mercy is depicted in the

border. A woman kneels down to offer food to a jailed man. She passes the bowl through

the bars of his cell, which he reaches out to accept. The man dons a cruciform halo,

symbolizing the Middle Age interpretation of this Corporal Act of Mercy – that by giving

food to a prisoner, you are really giving food to Christ himself.62 Defoer states that “these

images illustrate the words ‘what thou hast done for the poor man, thou hast done for

me’”.63

The border scene seems to be a continuation of the larger miniature. By

showcasing Catherine distributing alms to the beggars above a more religious scene, the

Master of Catherine of Cleves has likened her charity to that of the woman feeding

Christ. Anne Margreet W. As-Vijers explains, “What makes the work of the Master of

Catherine of Cleves so extraordinary is its boundless inventiveness within the functional

framework of the marginal decoration”.64 The artist is utilizing the pages of Catherine’s

Book of Hours to illustrate her devotional duties. L.M.J. Delaissé describes that the

manuscript’s “marginal decoration and its miniatures depict for us [(and for Catherine)]

the less important attributes of living as well as the complex reactions of the human

soul”.65

                                                                                                               
62
Ibid.
63
Defoer. 38.
64
As-Vijers, Anne Margreet W. “Spotlight on the Margin: Border Decoration According to the
Master of Catherine of Cleves.” In From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of Catherine of
Cleves, 60. Antwerp: Ludion, 2009.  
65
Delaissé, L.M.J. “Foreword.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 7. New York: The
Pierpont Morgan Library, 1964.

  13  
 This portrayal of the human soul is depicted on the following page of the

manuscript. Here, the artist has illustrated Catherine’s husband, Arnold, praying to Christ

(fig. 3). The scene represents the seventh gift of the Holy Spirit – fear of the Lord.

Arnold, Christ, and a demon are depicted in a triangular composition that represents a

conversation regarding Christ’s judgment of Arnold. Kneeling at the foot of Christ,

Arnold looks up at the Savior, his hands clasped in prayer. A banderole rises from his

mouth reading, “Make my flesh tremble from fear of the Lord” (Psalm 118, verse 120).66

A demon, with winged arms and hoofed feet stands opposite Arnold, paying no attention

to him. Instead, its yellow eyes focus on Christ, while pointing upwards at the banderole

protruding from its mouth: “There is no fear of the Lord before God’s eyes” (Psalm 35,

verse 2).67 Wieck describes this demon as the embodiment of the devil’s advocate,

arguing for the damnation of Arnold.68

Rather than responding directly to either Arnold or the demon, Christ raises his

bleeding palms to both sides. The banderole extending from his mouth reads a “rather

neutral reply” from Ecclesiastes (12:13): “Fear God and follow his commandments; this

is true for all men”.69 Wieck explains that the placement of these sequential portraits

place Catherine and Arnold in “starkly contrasting contexts”.70 While this illustration

does cast a darker light on Arnold, I find that a different image of Catherine better

illustrates Wieck’s point.

                                                                                                               
66
Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 68-69.” Accessed May 6, 2015.
http://www.themorgan.org/collections/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/39.
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid.  
70
Ibid.

  14  
 An image of the Virgin and the crucified Christ interceding for Catherine (fig. 4)

opens the Saturday Mass of the Virgin. Wieck explains that Luke’s Gospel reading from

this Mass alludes to Mary’s role as intercessor –

At this time, as Jesus spoke to the multitudes, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up

her voice, said to Him: ‘Blessed is the womb that bore thee and the breasts that gave thee

suck’, but He said: ‘Yay, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.71

While Wieck states that this illumination is meant to depict Luke’s Gospel, the scene

differs greatly from the reading. Similar to the depiction of Arnold’s judgment, this

illumination features a triangular composition. Again, the crucified body of Christ

occupies the center of the image. However, this is an interior scene, lending more visual

intimacy to the event that is taking place. The golden background makes the viewer

aware of the scene’s symbolic representation.72

Catherine kneels in the bottom right corner, this time wearing a mauve-colored

robe and a more translucent veil. Behind her stands a saint (possibly Saint Leonard)73,

who places his gloved hand on her shoulder. Catherine’s Book of Hours is pictured again,

though this time it rests upon a footstool. Her eyes glance downwards at its open pages

and her hands are clasped in prayer. In addition to her Book of Hours, two of Catherine’s

possessions are depicted. Her pet poodle lays on the tiled floor at her feet, and her rosary

– which is depicted in the margin of MS M. 917, p. 237 (fig. 5) – hangs over her left arm.

The scene is meant to be read from right to left. The saint looks down at

Catherine, who in turn looks down at her book. Her clasped hands point in the direction

                                                                                                               
71
Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 160-161.” Accessed May 6, 2015.
http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/73.
72
As-Vijers. 130.
73
Ibid.

  15  
of the Virgin, whose eyes glance up at Christ. Christ then looks up at his father, whose

banderole flows across the top of the page. On Catherine’s scroll is her petition; she is

asking the Virgin to intercede for her. Wieck describes the conversation that is taking

place in the scene:

[The Virgin] bares her breast. She petitions her Son, on the cross, to be gracious to

Catherine, for His mother’s sake, whose breasts have nursed him. Christ, on the cross,

dying, is being asked by His mother, and indirectly by Catherine, to take time out from

dying to seek intercession on behalf of Catherine from His father, and He does this with

his scroll. God the Father, on the upper left, answers in the affirmative that he hears

Catherine’s prayer.74

Even without the inclusion of the banderole texts, a medieval viewer likely would have

understood what was happening in the scene via visual clues. Catherine kneels on a blue

carpet – the color most commonly worn by the Virgin – while she is in conversation with

her. In turn, the Virgin kneels on a red carpet, with her body pointed back toward

Catherine. The Virgin shows her Son her bare breast, clasping it in such a way that milk

can be seen spurting from it. This reminds her Son, as Wieck mentions, of the time that

she nursed him as an infant.

Christ, hanging on the cross, bleeding from his wounds and from the crown of

thorns on His head, is not yet dead. He does not appear to be in a great amount of

anguish, but instead is more focused on asking His father to hear Catherine’s prayer. God

the Father, who wears a tiara and holds a globe, looks His son in the eye as he tells him

“Your prayer has been heard with favor”.75 This is a much less neutral answer than

                                                                                                               
74  Wieck, Roger. “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.

Accessed May 5, 2015. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves.  

75
Plummer. 53.

  16  
Arnold received from Christ in the judgment image and it speaks to Catherine’s superior

relationship with the divine.

Marrow states that Catherine’s Book of Hours “should relate purposefully to [her]

and to the efforts of prayer and devout life that can effectively bring her closer to

salvation”.76 This is most likely the reason that the Master of Catherine of Cleves chose

to include objects marked with her ownership.77 Catherine’s prayer beads in the border of

the Suffrage page corresponding to the Adoration of the Magi (fig. 5) are illustrated on a

scale that is true to size. The string of coral beads loops over itself in the top and bottom

right corners, as though it was a real rosary that was just casually laid on the page.

Attached to the rosary is a blue coin purse (similar to that seen in Catherine Distributing

Alms fig. 1), which bears the letters CD (Catherina Duxissa?78). Marrow explains “This

representation of the duchess’s [sic] prayer beads is self-referential in a double sense,

alluding both to Catherine’s ownership of the book and to its function as one of several

vehicles of her prayer”.79

Dückers maintains that, “the primary function of the decoration (including the

miniatures) of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves was to help the viewer navigate the text,

not to enhance the appearance of the manuscript”.80 While this is impossible to prove or

disprove, Dückers’ sentiment seems largely oversimplified. He goes on to explain that

marginal decoration served a similar purpose in the 15th century that page numbers do

today – both are tools for the viewer to quickly find his or her place.81 Since the

                                                                                                               
76
Marrow. 30.
77
Ibid. 30.
78
Plummer. 60.
79
Ibid. 20.
80
Dückers. 75.
81
Ibid. 75.  

  17  
marginalia helps you find your place, you have to remember what to look for. In this

way, border decoration can function as a mnemonic device, allowing the viewer to

connect the border imagery with the religious theme illustrated in the accompanying

miniature.

Marrow explains, “Border decoration need not illustrate particular metaphorical

tropes, nor refer to particular activities linked traditionally with the pedagogy of memory,

to be ‘memorable’”.82 Because of this, Catherine could recognize her rosary in the border

and (ideally) connect herself to the scene depicted in the miniature. Marrow reiterates,

“[the border] nonetheless create[s] a visual and thematic counterpoint that insistently

moves the reader back and forth from overtly sacred imagery to that familiar with daily

life”.83 In this particular case, not only would Catherine be familiar with the rosary as an

object of daily life, she would be specifically and intimately familiar with it as a

devotional object of her daily life.

The rosary border, along with the three physical depictions of Catherine in her

Book of Hours, emphasizes the visual personalization utilized by the Master of Catherine

of Cleves to construct a highly original manuscript. Margreet W. As-Vijers states, “For

Catherine of Cleves the Book of Hours functioned not only as an aid for prayer, but also

as an exclusive object that she could show with pride to family and friends”.84 As we

have seen through the juxtaposition between images of Catherine and Arnold in the book,

the manuscript highlights the superior divine relationship that Catherine hoped to achieve

through prayer. By studying such a wonderfully preserved and well-documented

                                                                                                               
82
Marrow. 28.
83
Ibid. 30.
84
As-Vijers. 60.  

  18  
example, contemporary audiences are able to appreciate the pivotal role that this 15th

century Book of Hours played in Catherine’s private devotional worship.

  19  
 Image List

fig. 1
Catherine of Cleves Praying to the Virgin and Child
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin
Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves
Utrecht, the Netherlands
ca. 1440
Tempera on vellum
7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (192 x 130 mm)
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund and with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.945, f. 1v

  20  
 fig. 2
Catherine of Cleves Distributing Alms
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin
Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves
Utrecht, the Netherlands
ca. 1440
Tempera on vellum
7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (192 x 130 mm)
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund and with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.917, p. 65

  21  
 fig. 3
Arnold of Egmond, Catherine of Cleves’ Husband, Praying to Christ
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin
Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves
Utrecht, the Netherlands
ca. 1440
Tempera on vellum
7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (192 x 130 mm)
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund and with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.917, p. 68

  22  
 fig. 4
The Virgin and the Crucified Christ Intercede for Catherine of Cleves
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin
Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves
Utrecht, the Netherlands
ca. 1440
Tempera on vellum
7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (192 x 130 mm)
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund and with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.917, p. 160

  23  
 fig. 5
Adoration of the Magi
Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin
Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves
Utrecht, the Netherlands
ca. 1440
Tempera on vellum
7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (192 x 130 mm)
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund and with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.917, p. 237

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 Bibliography

Adams, Frederick B., Jr. “Foreword”. In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 4. New York:
The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1964.

As-Vijers, Anne Margreet W. “Spotlight on the Margin: Border Decoration According to the
Master of Catherine of Cleves.” In From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of Catherine of
Cleves, 60. Antwerp: Ludion, 2009.

Bober, Harry. “Foreword.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 5. New York: The
Pierpont Library, 1964.

Calkins, Robert G. “Distribution of Labor: The Illuminators of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves
and Their Workshop.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 69, No. 5
(August, 1979): 9. JSTOR (accessed May 2, 2015).

Defoer, Henry L.M. “The Golden Age and the Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In The
Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, 36.
New York: Abrams, 2009.

Delaissé, L.M.J. “Foreword.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 7. New York: The
Pierpont Morgan Library, 1964.

Dückers, Rob, and Rudd Priem. “Foreword.” In From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of
Catherine of Cleves, 7. Antwerp Ludion, 2009.

Dückers, Rob. “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves as an Object: a Codicological Approach.” In

The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century,
76-77. New York: Abrams, 2009.

Marrow, James H. “Multitudo et Varietas: the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In The Hours of
Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, 19. New York:
Abrams, 2009.

Penketh, Sandra. “Women and Books of Hours.” In Women and the Book: Assessing the Visual
Evidence, 270. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 1997.

Plummer, John. “The Cleves Hours and its Master.” In The Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves,
13. New York: The Pierpont Library, 1964.

Sterponi, Laura. "Reading and meditation in the Middle Ages: Lectio divina and books of hours."
Text & Talk 28, no. 5 (September 2008): 676. Communication & Mass Media Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed May 2, 2015).

Van Bergen, Saskia. “Passion, Salvation and Deliverance in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” In
From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 25. Antwerp: Ludion, 2009.

Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 64-65”. Hours and Masses for the Seven Days of the Week. Accessed
May 6, 2015. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/38.

  25  
Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 68-69.” Accessed May 6, 2015.
http://www.themorgan.org/collections/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/39.

Wieck. “MS M.917, pp. 160-161.” Accessed May 6, 2015.

http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/73.

Wieck, Roger. “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” The Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Accessed
May 5, 2015. http://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves.  

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