Another book about Books of Hours (first discussed here). A Treasury of Hours provides examples from different prayer books in Medieval times. There's no proper introduction to the point/history of Books of Hours here. Unlike the last reviewed offering, this doesn't discuss the medium's typical format, but rather only gives examples of works from each section (e.g. "Hours of the Virgin") and provides a short explanation of each picture presented, pointing out imagery or concepts that might be lost on the modern viewer.
I liked this book, but not as much as the first I read. The aforementioned lack of structural and historical background/explanation requires the reader to have prior understanding to fully appreciate what they're looking at and why. Not inherently bad, but this isn't a place to start- this is something to enjoy once you've grasped the concept. I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of each example- they pointed out symbolism I would have missed otherwise. And the reproductions of the art were excellent (and enlarged from their original size- books of hours were quite small).
Some observations on Books of Hours in general:
- The Protestant in me is shocked at the level of reverence Mary (Christ's mother) enjoys in these types of books. It's more than respect- it's worship.
- It's interesting to see how the artists incorporate Biblical characters and historical saints into then-contemporary settings. We see Mary, Jesus, and various saints in Italian villas, French castles, gothic cathedrals . . . it's akin to modern paintings of Jesus, where He's often depicted as white. As humans, we tend to shade history and put it into contexts and appearances that are more comfortable to us. That's common, but inaccurate and potentially harmful.
Rating: B+
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