3-044-238 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Hours of Simon de Varie, 1455. Additional Info: Simon de Varie, who served in the French royal treasury under Charles VII and whom the king had recently raised to noble rank, commissioned a book of hours, which was completed in 1455. This richly illuminated private prayer book includes a calendar of church holidays and texts for devotional services inspired by the eight daily services of the divine office. The rise in literacy among the merchant and noble classes and their desire to express a newly emotional personal piety, particularly in veneration of the Virgin Mary, spurred the popularity of books of hours in the 1400s. In their desire for tangible luxury products, many wealthy patrons commissioned sumptuously illuminated books of hours.