During the late Middle Ages, books of hours became common tools of private devotion and sought-after status symbols. Carried by fashionable ladies in church and collected by affluent bibliophiles, these books, often richly illuminated, differed greatly in style and ornament but were rather predictable in terms of their choice of pictures. A group of magnificently illuminated Hours produced in France at the time of François I (1494-1547) by members of his court, however, presents enigmatic images that challenge received notions of the relationship between the words of the prayers and their illustrations. Shaped around a nucleus of books in the Walters’ collection, this catalogue, accompanying an exhibition organized by the Walters Art Museum, explores artistic patronage at the French court during a time when controversies over humanism, reformation, and orthodoxy shaped the intellectual life of discerning patrons. These books, including both hand-copied and printed works, demonstrate the vibrant exchange between artists, printers and patrons.

HES & DE GRAAF Publishers is the worldwide distributor for this and other publications of The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore USA