The Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague recently received a very valuable 15th-century illuminated book of hours that had long been supposed lost.The value of the manuscript is estimated at nearly six million euros. It is a gift from a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous. As far as known, this is the most expensive private gift ever made to a cultural institution in the Netherlands. Drs H (Hans) Verbeek, sworn appraiser, expert and adviser of paintings and drawings in Amsterdam, has acted as intermediary between the Koninklijke Bibliotheek Museum Collections Foundation and the donor. The appraisal was made in cooperation with a British auctioneering house.
A book of hours was the most important book for private devotion of laymen in the late Middle Ages, and it was often made in commission. In this book of hours the miniatures and other illustrations were made by three of the most important painters of the 15th century, Lieven of Lathem from Antwerp, Simon Marmion from Valenciennes and an illuminator, probably from Ghent, whose name is unknown and who is therefore called the Master of Maria of Burgundy. This master might be called the Rembrandt of medieval book illuminators. The size of the book, which contains 382 pages, is 13x9 centimetres. It is beautifully illuminated with 28 full page miniatures and 16 initials containing images. Nothing is known about the medieval owner, but the manuscript was once part of the famous collection of the princes of Trivulzio of Milan. However, when the city of Milan acquired this collection in 1935, the book of hours was no longer there. It appears that it was purchased at an auction by the family of the present donor at the beginning of the 20th century.
Mr Verbeek has advised the owner to appoint the Koninklijke Bibliotheek as beneficiary, because of "the importance the KB attaches to research and presentation of medieval manuscripts and because of the expert and enthousiastic role played by the curator, dr A.S. (Anne) Korteweg. The book of hours fits very well into the rich collection of manuscripts of the KB."
The KB's collection of illuminated manuscripts is the largest in the Netherlands. Of the c.450 illuminated manuscripts, some 300 contain figurative representations, while the others are embellished with painted decoration and/or penwork. The total number of images is c.8000, varying from painted miniatures and drawings to historiated initials and marginal scenes, and covering all imaginable subjects. The largest group consists of the c.250 books of hours and prayer books, which are usually illustrated with images from the lives of the Mary and Christ. Recently, the KB has paid much attention to providing digital access to this often very fragile material.
The book of hours the KB has now received is an extraordinary valuable addition to the collection of Southern Netherlandish manuscripts, both because of the special character of the manuscript and because of the exceptionally high quality of the images.
On the KB's website there is a webpresentation of the manuscript showing all the manuscript's images (www.kb.nl/trivulzio).
Web exposition
Voor de pers
5 March 2002