Da Costa Hours
Horas da Costa
Illuminated in Ghent c. 1515 by Simon Bening — the last great master of the Flemish manuscript tradition — the Da Costa Hours is among the most celebrated Books of Hours to survive. Heraldic evidence confirms original commission for a member of the Portuguese Sá family; traditional provenance records a gift from Pope Leo X to King Manuel I of Portugal in 1514 and subsequent presentation to his chamberlain Álvaro da Costa, though this narrative is reported by facsimile publishers and is not independently confirmed by the Morgan Library's catalog. The manuscript's 75 full-page miniatures include a revolutionary full-page calendar cycle depicting the labors of the months. It contains the Hours of the Virgin and the Office of the Dead for the Roman rite. Now at the Morgan Library (MS M.399).