The Golf Book (
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
Add MS 24098) is the common name for an illuminated manuscript
Book of Hours
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
in the
Use of Rome, dating from the 1540s. Only 23 pages remain of the original work created by the renowned illuminator
Simon Bening
Simon Bening ( – 1561) was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition.
Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, in the ...
and his studio in
Bruges
Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country.
The area of the whole city amoun ...
. It owes its popular name to one illustration in the calendar, depicting people playing a game resembling
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
.
The book is believed to have been created for a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
, as evidenced by a miniature painting of
St Boniface of Lausanne.
Description
The extant folios of the ''Golf Book'' are adorned with 21 full-page miniatures and numerous smaller paintings. In its current state, the book commences with a page belonging to the suffrages of the saints, depicting a bishop, likely St Boniface of Lausanne. The subsequent section (folios 2v–17v) comprises fragments of the
Little Office of the Virgin, illustrated with a cycle of the Passion of Christ. The primary miniatures exhibit influence from a series of engravings of the Passion attributed to the
Master of the Gardens of Love.
* Matins: Agony in the Garden
* Lauds: Kiss of Judas
* Prime: Christ brought before Pilate
* Terce: Flagellation
* Sext: Jesus nailed to the cross
* None: Crucifixion
* Vespers: Deposition
* Compline: Burial of Jesus
The last section (folios 18v–30r) features the calendar. The representation of each month covers two facing pages, with a full-page illustration on the left-hand page showing the occupations of the months.
At present, the extant folios of the book are in the wrong order; the suffrages of the saints and the Office of the Virgin are placed before the calendar.
See also
*
Hours of Hennessy
External links
British Library catalogue record for manuscript, item ''Add MS 24098''
(Virtual books, accessible version)
published by
M. Moleiro Editor (website includes gallery of images with descriptions)
References
Illuminated books of hours
British Library additional manuscripts
1540s books
Golf books
{{British-Library-stub