“Demons and Devotions: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves” at the Morgan

By: Reggie Lynch

 

   

This winter at the Morgan Library and Museum, the curatorial staff is warming up the city of New York with the glowing, gold-smothered pages of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (1440). Although the manuscript would have originally been one bound book, for this exhibit it has been unbound. The pages are presented and organized by their subject matter and the order in which they would have been prayed throughout the week. For those who are wondering, a book of Hours is a medieval illustrated prayer book made for wealthy lay people. It would guide the religious through a series of daily prayers similar to those prayed by the clergy. These prayers were typically illustrated with images depicting scenes or religious figures that related to the prayer. Aside from linking laymen with the ordained, these books made direct communication with God possible. They also allowed for a personalized prayer experience, since prayers and images could be added or subtracted according to the patron’s wishes.

  In Catherine’s case, her book of Hours is extremely personal. Catherine was born into a wealthy Dutch family in 1417 and, as part of a political maneuver, was promised to Arnold of Egmond at the age of six. Their marriage was an unhappy one and by 1440 the two were no longer living together. The images she included in her manuscript reflect her disappointment and disapproval of her husband. Her inclusion of such images make the work kind of self-assertion of herself and her heritage without any note or influence from her husband. In essence, she wanted anyone who saw the book to know that she financed and commissioned the work without the help of her financially irresponsible husband. Her disassociation from her husband is clear from the start. The book begins with an image of Catherine praying to the Virgin. Although this is common image in a book of Hours, two facets of the image make it uncommon. First, because Catherine is depicted in the left portion of the image, she is the first person the typical left-to-right reader sees, as opposed to a more customary image of the Virgin or Christ. The first page also features several coats of arms, the majority of which represent Catherine’s ancestry instead of her husband’s. The largest coat of arms is a combination of her and her husband’s family crests; however, she dictated that her family’s symbol, a red ox, be prominently placed above the crest. Although modern readers may not see the significance of such a commission, anyone from Catherine’s era who saw this first page would have known from the start that Catherine was making a bold statement of independence.

 

“Catherine Praying to the Virgin” from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Courtesy of the Morgan Library and Museum.

 

In addition to these unabashed displays of Catherine’s superiority over her husband, the sheer grandeur of the work speaks volumes about Catherine’s insistence that this manuscript be as impressive a representation of her as possible. The manuscript features an unusually large number of illustrations, all of which were undoubtedly the result of Catherine’s requests. Since Catherine commissioned more images than were commonly contained in most books of Hours, the artist was faced with the challenge of coming up with enough scenes to fill the book. The result is a collection of rarely depicted scenes and stories. For example, the prayers that would typically be said on Fridays were supposed to be the Hours of the Cross, but, because Catherine requested an Hours of the Passion for an earlier section of the book, the artist had to replace this day with the Hours of the Compassion of God. In order to illustrate this while still maintaining a connection to the typical Hours of the Cross, the artist used this portion of the book to depict the apocryphal Legend of the True Cross. The story of the True Cross involves tales of trees growing out of the deceased Adam’s skull, Solomon and Bathsheba, and holy healing fountains at Bethesda. As such, its inclusion in a legitimate religious text is atypical, to say the least, but, then again, so was Catherine.

If you make it to the Morgan to see the show, it couldn’t hurt to bring a magnifying glass. Many of the images, especially those depicting the Suffrages, feature intricate borders with everything from birds and fish to Catherine’s initials buried in the intertwined knots. Also, be sure to listen to the audio station in the exhibit. It features a recording of some of the prayers read in the original Latin, followed by an English translation. On the sad occasion that you miss this show, have no fear. The online companion includes all of the images from the show, along with a zoom feature so you can take a close look at the all intricacies. Last, but certainly not least, while you’re at the Morgan, take a look at the Flemish manuscripts from the era of Catherine of Cleves. They offer an interesting contrast to the bravado of Catherine’s less-than-humble manuscript. Whatever the case, be sure to check out this show in one way or another – you won’t be sorry.

 

“Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves” at the Morgan Library and Museum runs through May 2^nd

 

The Morgan Library and Museum

225 Madison Avenue

 

Take the N or W train to Herald Square or the 6 train to 33^rd Street

Museum Hours: Tues–Thurs, 10:30-5; F, 10:30-9; Sat, 10-6; Sun, 11-6

Museum Website: www.themorgan.org

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