Willem Vrelant (died c. 1481/1482) was a Dutch book
illuminator.
Life
He is first registered in 1449, when an illuminator from Vreeland named ''Willem Backer'' obtained citizenship of Utrecht.
[Thomas Kren, Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, 2003, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, p. 117.] He may have lived in Utrecht for years, as in 1450 he finished there the
Hours of William de Montfort. From 1454 to 1481 he is recorded as a member of the
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 ...
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...
of bookmakers. His large and productive workshop produced (among others) a
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, ...
which is now in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
(1455–60), the
Hours of Isabella of Castille (c.1460), the
Chronicles of Hainaut
The Chronicles of Hainaut is an illuminated manuscript in three volumes, tracing the history of the county of Hainaut up to the end of the 14th century. Its text was produced around 1446-1450 by Jean Wauquelin as a French translation of , a thre ...
(1468) and individual miniatures in the
Hours of Mary of Burgundy (c.1480).
Following Vrelant's death, his widow inherited his workshop. Madame Vrelant ran the studio alongside
Elisabeth Scepens, one of his former pupils.
See also
*
Book of Hours of Leonor de la Vega - work imputed to Vrelant
*
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The (; ), or , is an illuminated manuscript that was created between and 1416. It is a book of hours, which is a Christians, Christian devotional book and a collection of prayers said at canonical hours. The manuscript was created for John, ...
- famous French book of hours
*
A Man Praying to the Holy
*
Solomon Praying to the Holy Spirit
Bibliography
* Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf: Meisterwerke der Buchmalerei, S. 480. Köln u.a., Taschen 2005,
References
External links
Widener 5 Book of Hours, use of Paris at OPennVrelant, Willem
at the RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
.
Livro de Horas da Rainha D. Leonor
at th
National Library of Portugal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrelant, Willem
Year of birth unknown
1482 deaths
Manuscript illuminators
Early Netherlandish painters
People from Loenen
Artists from Utrecht (city)
Artists from Bruges