DOWNLOAD OUR PUBLICATION | The Mildmay Master takes his nickname from “Sir Thomas Myldmaye, knight”, first owner of the Book of Hours illuminated by the anonymous artist in Bruges c. 1460 for the export market to England and today held in Chicago (Newberry Library, MS Case 35). Active in Bruges during the second half of the 15th century, the Mildmay Master is an eminent member of the workshop of Willem Vrelant, the most prolific illuminator active in Bruges at this time. Originally from Utrecht in the Netherlands, where he is documented in 1449, Willem Vrelant settled and worked in Bruges where he played an important role in founding the guild of illuminators of Saint John the Evangelist (from 1454) and where he became a bourgeois (in 1457). Willem Vrelant’s name is known to us thanks to the accounts of the Treasurer of Charles the Bold, which state that the illuminator was paid in July 1468 for sixty miniatures he illuminated in the second volume of the exemplar of Jacques de Guyse’s Chronicles of Hainaut, commissioned by Philip the Good but completed for his successor, Charles the Bold. This manuscript has been identified with the Chronicles of Hainaut today preserved in Brussels (Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 9243). It was translated and written by Jean Wauquelin in 1449 in Mons, and later illuminated by Willem Vrelant and the Master of the Vraie Cronicque descoce. The records of the Treasurer of Charles the Bold also note that Willem Vrelant was paid in 1469 for the paintings in a Vita Christi, which might — though not with certainty — be identified with the one copy now in Valenciennes (Bibliothèque municipale, MS 240). Today, Willem Vrelant’s œuvre includes many manuscripts among which are several works produced for the dukes of Burgundy and their circle: we should mention the Breviary of Philip the Good, illuminated in collaboration with Jean Tavernier c. 1460–1465 (Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 9511, 9026), the Speculum historiale, realized c. 1455 for Louis de Gruuthuse (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 308–311), or the Hours of Willem or Lodewijck van Montfort, painted c. 1450 in collaboration with the Master of Catherine de Clèves, who may have trained Willem Vrelant while he was in Utrecht (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Ser. n. 12878). Willem Vrelant also produced many manuscripts for the export market, such as the Arenberg Hours dating c. 1460 and now in Los Angeles (J. Paul Getty Museum, MS Ludwig IX 8). Willem Vrelant was so prolific, and the manuscripts associated with his name show great variation in quality, that we today consider him as the supervisor of a large workshop where multiple illuminators, including the Mildmay Master, worked and collaborated.

The imposing four-volume copy of Jacques de Voragine’s Golden Legend commissioned by Jean d’Auxy, Knight of the Golden Fleece, attests to the high position of the Mildmay Master within Willem Vrelant’s workshop. This manuscript is a collaborative work and was realized by artists from Willem Vrelant’s workshop, including the Mildmay Master. This copy of the Golden Legend survives today in a fragmentary form across different collections around the world (three volumes in New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M. 672–675; one volume in Mâcon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 3; one single miniature in Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet, Wildenstein Collection MS 197). The exact position of the Mildmay Master within Willem Vrelant’s workshop, however, remains complex. Moreover, it is possible that the Mildmay Master collaborated with other illuminators in Willem Vrelant’s workshop, leading some to speak of the Mildmay Master(s). Given the large size of Willem Vrelant’s workshop and the monopoly he held in Bruges, it has been suggested that a family structure may have existed. For instance, the Master of the Vraie Cronicque descoce could, hypothetically, be identified with Marie Vrelant, Willem Vrelant’s wife. For now, no convincing name has been securely attached to the Mildmay Master.

Stylistically, the Mildmay Master shows strong dependence on Willem Vrelant’s formulas. Undoubtedly trained in this workshop, he borrows from Willem Vrelant’s style the clear and static compositions, the repetitive figure types, the saturated colors and the overall still aesthetic with a taste for playful details. However, unlike Willem Vrelant, the Mildmay Master’s brushstroke is quicker, the contours are finer and the lines are more graphic, creating an overall more diluted effect. The difference between the two Bruges illuminators is striking when comparing the figures’ faces: they are modeled with shadows and black highlights in Willem Vrelant’s works, but modeled with light and flesh-colored highlights in those of the Mildmay Master, creating an overall more luminous painting. The Mildmay Master’s style also recalls illuminations from other Flemish illuminators working at this time. We think, for example, of Loyset Liédet (active in Flanders, second half of the 15th century), who synthesized modeling in a similar manner. Links can also be seen with the Master of the Vraie Cronicque descoce (Marie Vrelant?), especially in the restrained treatment of the static figures. When the Mildmay Master highlights with gold the draperies of his figures in a quick and vivid manner, adding an expressive aesthetic, he can be compared with works by the Master of Margaret of York (active in Bruges, c. 1470–1490; particularly in the leaf of the Legend of the Life of Saint Catherine of Siena preserved in the Bruges Library).

Today, several manuscripts, all realized in Bruges c. 1460-1480, are attributed to the Mildmay Master. These include the Breviary of Adolphe de Clèves (Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS II 5646), the so-called De Grey Hours (Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 15537 C) or the so-called Newton Hours (private collection). The Mildmay Master is also responsible for a Book of Hours (use of Rome) now held in Baltimore (Walters Art Museum, MS W. 177) and a Book of Hours (use of Salisbury) now in London (British Library, Harley 3000). The Mildmay Master’s hand is also found in manuscripts that appeared on the art market (for instance, two Books of Hours for the use of Rome: London, Christie’s, May 11, 2012, lot 61; London, Christie’s, December 11, 2019, lot 218). We also believe we can recognize the hand of the Mildmay Master in two Books of Hours for the use of Rome preserved in Berkeley and Philadelphia (Bancroft Library, MS UCB 030; Free Library of Philadelphia, MS Lewis E 106). Some manuscripts, such as the Book of Hours (use of Rome) held in Madrid (Biblioteca Nacional de España, RES/178), are today attributed to the circle of the Mildmay Master, attesting to the influence the illuminator exercised over his contemporaries and leading some art historians to consider that the Mildmay Master must have had his own workshop in Bruges.

The present Book of Hours appears to have been produced for the French market, as suggested by several prayers in French added as early as the mid-15th century. The first addition, perhaps written by the first owner of the present Book of Hours, is in French (fol. 153v). The three other additions (written by three different owners), unfortunately not all as legible as the first one, are either in French or in Latin with titles in French. These additions most likely date from the late 15th century to the late 16th or even early 17th century. By the early 19th century, the present Book of Hours belonged to Thomas Philip de Grey (1781–1859; 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, and 6th Baron Lucas): his ex-libris is affixed to the upper pastedown of the Book of Hours. Passing down with the estate to the family’s heirs, this Book of Hours remained in the Wrest Park’s library for over a hundred years. The collection of the Earls of Grey, included the copy of the Chronicles produced in northern France at the dawn of the 15th century (Chicago, University Library, ms. 224), the Polyglot compendium of English chronicles executed in England around 1500 (Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS Eng 750), or the superb psalter of Flemish origin (Bruges, c. 1480) recently acquired by the British Library (Add MS 89428), which owes its nickname, the Lucas Psalter, to Thomas Philip de Grey’s great-granddaughter, Nan Ino Cooper (1880–1958), Baroness Lucas. An absolutely fascinating and eccentric personality, Nan Ino Cooper was trained as a nurse and became most renowned for her role during the First World War: she transformed her domain of Wrest Park into one of the first hospitals for wounded soldiers. Shortly after the war, she dispersed the family’s large collection: she donated three thousand drawings and prints to the British Museum and many fossils to the Natural History Museum. The rest of the artworks, including the library, was sold through several auctions and private sales.

Produced in Bruges around 1460 by the Mildmay Master, the present Book of Hours is a perfect witness to the flourishing Bruges manuscript production in the early second half of the 15th century, a particularly rich and dynamic period. Lavishly illuminated with fourteen large miniatures in fresh colors and magnificent borders filled with plants, animals, and hybrids, this Book of Hours was destined for the French market. It was likely sold and acquired directly in France, where its first owners successively added prayers, attesting to the personal use and the intimate nature of the Book of Hours. Preserved for over a century in the Wrest Park library (Bedfordshire, England), in the estate of the Earls de Grey, it is the manuscript’s English stage of its provenance that gives it its nickname: The so-called Wrest Park Hours.

Material description
Illuminated manuscript on parchment, Book of Hours (use of Rome), in Latin, with handwritten additions in French, 168 folios, preceded and followed by 2 leaves of modern paper (approx. 123 x 90 mm; collation impracticable due to tight binding, but string is visible between folios 16v-17, 66v-67, 76v-77, 86v-87, 93v-94, 112v-113, and 121v-122; missing a few leaves, notably the month of January in the calendar and between fol. 4v-5), written in brown and black ink in Gothic Textura by at least two scribes (the main scribe assisted by at least one other, on fol. 6v–7v, 154–154v), ruling in red ink for 16 lines, one column, with rubrics in red; calendar written in red and brown ink and decorated with the initials “KL” (two lines high) on each page. 14 large miniatures, all framed by borders illuminated on four sides; 176 decorated initials (1 seven-line high initial, framed by borders on three sides, 2 four-line high initials, 24 three-line high initials, 149 two-line high initials); hundreds of flourished initials (all one line high); 178 borders with small illuminated rinceaux. Very good overall state of preservation. Usual signs of age: some smudges and ink stains, light craquelure and minor paint losses (notably in the miniatures on fol. 1, 70, and 100, and on fol. XIv, 99v, and 148), slight water damage (on fol. 14v–15 and 153), traces of former labels (?) (fol. 34v), and a small cut (fol. 107). Old foliation in brown ink (in upper corners), modern foliation in pencil (in lower right corners), modern foliation in pencil in Roman numerals for the calendar (in upper right corners), a modern inscription in pencil (“B2”, first modern paper leaf, verso, beside other erased inscriptions), ex-libris of Thomas Philip de Grey (Wrest Park) on the upper pastedown. Fine 19th-century binding in dark navy blue leather (134 x 95 x 30 mm), soberly decorated with gilt lines and bearing the engraved inscription “horae” (modern, pasted over an earlier engraved inscription, “misal”) on the spine. The manuscript is preserved in a custom-made box covered in leather (153 x 111 x 59 mm).

Text
I-XIv: Calendar
1-7v: Little Hours of the Cross (ad primam, fol. 2; ad terciam, fol. 3; ad sextam, fol. 3v; ad nonam, fol. 4; ad vesperas, fol. 4v)
8-12v: Little Hours of the Holy Spirit (ad primam, fol. 9; ad nonam, fol. 9v; ad vesperas, fol. 11v; ad completorium, fol. 12)
13-18: Votive Mass of the Virgin (Introibo ad altare dei)
18v-22v: Gospels Sequences (secundum Johannem, fol. 18v; secundum Lucam, fol. 19v; secundum Matheum, fol. 20v; secundum Marcum, fol. 22)
23-28v: Obsecro te (masculine form: “et mihi famulo tuo”, fol. 25) and O Intemerata
29-34v: Orations (prayers to Saint John the Baptist, Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Christopher, Saint Sebastian, Saint Adrian, Saint Catherine, Saint Barbara, Saint Mary, Saint Apollonia)
35-89: Hours of the Virgin (ad laudes, fol. 51; ad primam, fol. 61; ad terciam, fol. 66; ad sextam, fol. 70; ad nonam, fol. 74; ad vesperas, fol. 78; ad completorium, fol. 85) with an added prayer, in French (excerpt from a méditation pour l’espace d’une basse messe), fol. 65–65v
89: Added prayer, in French and Latin (Vespre pour le dimenche)
89v-90: Prayer to the Virgin (Ad salutandum Mariam)
90-90v: Added prayer, in French (continuation of an excerpt from a méditation pour l’espace d’une basse messe)
91-98v: Office of the Virgin
98v-99: Added prayer, in French (continuation of an excerpt from a méditation pour l’espace d’une basse messe)
99: Blank
100-116v: Seven Penitential Psalms (with the litanies, fol. 109v–114v)
117-154v: Office of the Dead (with added prayers to the Virgin, in Latin, fol. 150v–153, and a prayer to Jesus, in French, fol. 153v
154v-157v: Added prayers and orations, in Latin and French (Quand on veut recevoir son créateur)

Miniatures
Fol. 1: Crucifixion (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 8: Pentecost (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 13: Virgin and Child (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 35: Annunciation (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 51: Visitation (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 61: Nativity (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 66: Annunciation to the Shepherds (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 70: Adoration of the Magi (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 74: Presentation in the Temple (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 78: Massacre of the Innocents (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 85: Flight Into Egypt (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 91: Coronation of the Virgin (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 100: Last Judgment (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)
Fol. 117: Raising of Lazarus (large miniature with illuminated borders on all four sides)