Black Hours - Leafing through the facsimile edition

Facsimile Finder - Illuminated Manuscript Facsimiles The Black Hours M. 493 today in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York were made around 1475 in Bruges, probably in the circle of Willem Vrelant, the leading illuminator of this time. The Black Hours is a product of unequalled luxury. All 121 vellum folios are stained in black. To make the writing stand out against the dark background, only white lead and opaque paints were used for the miniatures, and gold and silver ink for the script. Only three of these black parchment manuscripts bound in codices survive to this day. The decorative apparatus of the Black Hours is unique in the world: more than half of the folios are ornate with large borders grounded in a gleaming blue colour. The ornaments contained therein – acanthus leaves abounding with drolleries – are all executed in gold.