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Book/Printed Material Beaupré Antiphonary, Volume One.

About this Item

Title

  • Beaupré Antiphonary, Volume One.

Summary

  • Illuminated in Hainaut around 1280 and completed in 1290, this collection of richly decorated Cistercian manuscripts is a rare example of those being produced in Flanders at the end of the 13th century. Eighteen extant large historiated initials, flourished and decorated initials, and an abundance of amusing drolleries facilitate a liturgical narrative from the text. However, additions and removals within the text and imagery tell much about the use and history of the manuscript. Its liturgical contents provide musical settings from Easter to the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15). The volume presented here is the first of a set of three volumes destined for use on the abbess's side of the choir at the Cistercian abbey of Sainte-Marie at Beaupré (diocese of Cambrai, in French Flanders). Two sets of antiphonaries, each composed of three volumes, were originally created for the abbess and prioress of Beaupré. Of these two sets, the Walters Art Museum houses three volumes: two volumes from the set intended for the abbess and one volume from the set designated for the prioress. A fourth associated volume was created later to supplement this one (W.759). Apart from the volumes housed at the Walters, four cutout initials survive from the other volumes. However, in 1865, those volumes regrettably were lost in a fire that spread from a house adjacent to Sotheby's in London, where they were being prepared for sale. In addition to the manuscripts' rich illumination, there is also a wealth of historical evidence throughout. Added at the beginning of this volume is a full-page inscription that details ownership: "Antiphonaire pour servir dans le Coeur du coté de Ma-Dame L'abbesse, À Pâques jusque â L'Assumption de Notre Dame," as well as an anathema for a thief, and a blessing for the faithful and honest user. Further information on provenance can be gleaned from the illumination itself; the manuscripts' patroness who married into the de Viane family is depicted with a younger woman named Clementia on folio 3 verso of this volume. Donations by members of the de Viane family to Sainte-Marie of Beaupré were recorded from 1244 to 1293. In 1475-1500 select 13th-century Offices were replaced in part by revisions and by additions placed at the end of the volume. In the 18th century some 13th- and 15th-century leaves were removed, changes were made to both neumes and text passim, and pages were added at the end of the volume. The first additions were presumably for Abbess Jacqueline Hendricx (1473-1500), the second were likely for the last abbess, Angéline de Lossy (1755-96), after which the abbey was seized during the French Revolution. Drolleries are most often found on pages with historiated initials, and principally focused on centered bas-de-page scenes. While many drolleries were effaced, some traces of these images can be recognized by their shadowy outlines. Many of these erasures are thought to be at the hand of the English art critic and scholar John Ruskin (1819-1900), who is also credited with writing a separate table of contents, as well as several transcriptions of the Latin text found on numerous leaves. Truly a remarkable work, this multi-volume antiphonary was generously given to the Walters Art Museum in 1957 as a bequest of the Hearst Foundation.

Names

  • Toussens, Johannes de Creator.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1290.

Headings

  • -  France--Nord-Pas-de-Calais
  • -  1290
  • -  Antiphonaries
  • -  Cistercians
  • -  Illuminations
  • -  Liturgies
  • -  Miniatures (Illuminations)
  • -  Music
  • -  Musical scores

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Walters Ms. W.759"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 445 pages : parchment ; approximately 48 x 34 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: Walters Art Museum.
  • -  Content in Old French (842-ca. 1400) and Latin.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668192

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Toussens, Johannes De Creator. Beaupré Antiphonary, Volume One. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1290] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668192/.

APA citation style:

Toussens, J. D. C. (1290) Beaupré Antiphonary, Volume One. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668192/.

MLA citation style:

Toussens, Johannes De Creator. Beaupré Antiphonary, Volume One. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1290] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668192/>.