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Las horas de Margarita de Cleves

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To those for whom the study of medieval manuscript illumination is an obsession, the name of James H. Marrow is well-known. Currently a professor at Princeton, Marrow has contributed enormously to the study of the medieval "book arts" over a long period of time,and he is particularly specialized in the story of Dutch book illumination.Marrow's excellent reputation needs no legitimation,but,if it did, the present text would more than satisfactorily achieve that end.AS HORAS DE MARGARIDA DE CLEVES/THE HOURS OF MARGARET OF CLEVES,published in Lisbon in 1995, describes and analyzes the format and meaning of a beautiful,turn of the fifteenth century personal "book of hours" belonging to Margaret of Cleves,second wife of Albrecht of Bavaria,Count of Holland(d.1404).The book serves as well to offer a splendid introduction to the subject of medieval books of hours in general.Marrow's gifts as teacher and writer are clear and manifest in his elegant prose style,his ability to provide a great deal of factual information, interesting and substantiated hypotheses about the identity of the manuscript's artist-The Master of Margaret of Cleves-and in his succinct yet satisfying aesthetic analyses of the eleven miniatures which mark the beginnings of the manuscript's text divisions.The CLEVES manuscript currently resides in the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Portugal and appears to have a hitherto under-appreciated importance in the history of Dutch manuscript painting in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. That problem may well have been eliminated by Marrow's present work.This splendid piece of work and contribution to the endlessly fascinating story of medieval book painting is very modestly priced and easily accessible. Although there are two significant flaws in the physical structure of the book (an annoying bi-lingually organized page layout and very poor binding), the manuscript reproductions in b/w are fine,and the color reproductions are simply breathtaking and on scale with the originals.One truly feels that one has the original in one's hands.The footnotes and bibliography are excellent and helpful as are the appendices filled with relevant documentation.For those interested in medieval art and manuscript illumination, this is a book to be treasured and enjoyed.