The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 4, 2026

An ink and tempera manuscript page on vellum features Latin text with gold and blue decorative initials. A spindly vine border frames the page. In the margin to our right, a person in a red hat and green tunic carries buckets on a yoke. At the bottom, a red, two-headed creature reads from an open book. Small birds and butterflies are interspersed among the spindly vines and gold foliage.

Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425): fol. 122r, Text

c. 1405

Master of the Brussels Initials and Associates

(French)
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 20.3 x 15.7 x 7 cm (8 x 6 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1964.40.122.a
Location: 109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture(not visible)

Description

This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
  • Edmond de Rothschild
    Maurice de Rothschild
    Edmond de Rothschild, Paris
    Edmond de Rothschild; Maurice de Rothschild; Edmond de Rothschild, Paris
  • {{cite web|title=Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425): fol. 122r, Text|url=false|author=Master of the Brussels Initials and Associates|year=c. 1405|access-date=04 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.122.a