Hours of Catherine de' Medici / Heures de François Ier (NAL 82)
Horae ad usum Romanum, dites Heures de Catherine de Médicis (BnF NAL 82)
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. Pater noster.
Our renderingLord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. Our Father.
What it is
Originally commissioned for François I around 1530–1531, this Book of Hours follows the standard Roman use with the Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Office of the Dead, and Litany of the Saints. Around 1572 Catherine de' Medici commissioned François Clouet and other court artists to paint portrait miniatures of the Valois royal family on inserted parchment leaves, transforming the prayer book into a dynastic devotional album bound in red morocco with enamel gold medallions. Sources vary in their count of the inserted portraits — figures of 20, 33, and 58 appear in the literature — and some miniatures are attributed to the circle of Corneille de Lyon. The litanies explicitly name Charles d'Angoulême and Marguerite d'Angoulême, confirming sustained Valois royal use across generations.
Why it still matters
The underlying Horae texts — Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Office of the Dead, and Litany of the Saints — remain living devotional prayers; the manuscript is fully digitised on Gallica for those who wish to pray from the original layout.
Kept alongside
Primer of Claude of France
Primaire de Claude de France
The Primer of Claude of France (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, MS 159) is the most precisely documented royal children's formation book to survive, commissioned by Anne of Brittany c. 1505 as the first book for her eldest daughter Claude, future queen consort of Francis I. Its fourteen pages open with the Latin alphabet, followed by the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Apostles' Creed, then graces for mealtimes, Mass devotions, and shortened canonical Hours, accompanied by 37 small miniatures and 2 full-page illustrations. The attribution to the Master of Antoine de Roche is confirmed by the Fitzwilliam Museum; the further identification of this master with Guido Mazzoni of Modena remains tentative, as no comparable French illuminations by Mazzoni survive. The manuscript was acquired by Richard Fitzwilliam in 1808 and bequeathed with his collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1816.
Book of Hours of Eleonora di Toledo ('Eleanor of Toledo Hours')
Libro di ore ad usum Romanum — Eleonora di Toledo Hours
This richly decorated Book of Hours (Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library, London; MSL/1953/1792) was made in Florence for Eleonora di Toledo, Duchess of Florence, after her marriage to Cosimo I de' Medici in 1539, completed by the scribe Aloysius on 10 February 1541 with her post-marriage heraldic arms prominently displayed. It contains the Hours of the Virgin, a Mass for the Virgin, the Penitential Psalms with Litany, and the Hours of the Cross. Decoration features elaborate miniatures with full borders incorporating both Medici and Emperor Charles V emblems, reflecting Eleonora's dual Spanish-Florentine identity. A Spanish inscription dated 22 September 1576 confirms the manuscript was in Madrid by that date, consistent with Eleonora's Spanish entourage.
Book of Hours of Lorenzo de' Medici the Younger (Hours of Lorenzo II)
Libro de horas de Lorenzo de Medici el Joven
A pocket-sized Book of Hours on parchment (Biblioteca Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, Inv. 15512 / Ms 13312) commissioned by Pope Leo X as a wedding gift for his nephew Lorenzo II de' Medici and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne in May 1518. Despite the tragedy of both recipients dying within a year of the marriage, the manuscript survives as a witness to the private devotional culture Leo X fostered for the Medici family. Its 316 parchment pages carry the canonical Hours of the Virgin (Use of Rome) with eleven full-page miniatures and sixteen pages of ornamental borders adorned with Medici emblems — diamond rings inscribed 'Semper' and interlocking rings symbolising faith, hope, and charity.