Gospel Lessons, fol. 6v
December: Roasting Slaughtered Pigs
John's Lesson: John on Patmos
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
December: Roasting Slaughtered Pigs (fol. 6v)
In December the pigs that were fattened in November are butchered. Resting on a bed of kindling and covered with twigs, the hogs are singed prior to butchering, for which the man prepares by sharpening his knife. At the right a woman has collected the pigs' blood in a large pan.
The left margin shows the Meeting of Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate (for the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin, December 8), Sts. Barbara, holding her tower (December 4), and Nicholas, shown resuscitating the three youths (December 6).
At the right are St. Thomas the Apostle, holding a builder's square (December 21), the Nativity (December 25), Sts. Stephen Protomartyr, with a rock on his head (December 26), John the Evangelist, blessing a cup of poison (December 27), and a group of the Holy Innocents (December 28). The zodiacal sign is Capricorn, the Goat.
John's Lesson: John on Patmos
Border: John Boiled in Oil (fol. 7)
By the beginning of the fifteenth century, four particular Gospel Lessons had become a regular feature in Books of Hours. These Lessons, which often follow the Calendar, are actually the Gospel readings from the Masses for the of the Church's major liturgical feasts.The Gospel Lessons for the Hours of Henry VIII (fols. 7–21v) are illustrated with a cycle of evangelist portraits, one placed at the beginning of each reading.
The first Lesson, from John (1:1– 14), acts as a kind of preamble for the entire Book of Hours. Its theme is humankind's need for redemption and God's willingness to provide it.
John, who writes on a scroll, does so on Patmos, the island to which he was banished by the Roman emperor Domitian (r. 81–96) and where, according to tradition, he wrote the Book of Revelation. The eagle is a symbol for John the Evangelist.
Before banishing John to Patmos, the emperor Domitian had tried to rid himself of the evangelist by boiling him to death. In the border, one man heats the fire with bellows to such a degree that his colleagues must shield their faces from the blast. John, calmly praying in the tub, remains unharmed.
The painted initial opens John's Lesson with its famous passage, In Principio erat verbu(m) (In the beginning was the Word), thus starting the Gospel's theme of Christ's Divinity.
MS H.8, fols. 7v–8r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 8v–9r
Luke's Lesson: Luke Writing
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
Luke's Lesson: Luke Writing
Border: Annunciation (fol. 9)
Seated in his study, the evangelist Luke sits with his symbol, the ox, at his feet, as he writes the Lesson (Luke 1:26–38) describing the Annunciation and ending with the Virgin's acceptance of God's will.
The events mentioned in the opening works of the text are illustrated in the borders: For In illo tempore. Missus est Gabriel angelus a D[e]o in civitatem Galilee cui nomen Nazareth (In that time the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town on Galilee called Nazareth), Poyer portrays God the Father as having a prominent role in the Annunciation, directing both Gabriel and the Dove of the Holy Spirit toward the Virgin.
MS H.8, fols. 9v–10r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 10v–11r
Matthew's Lesson: Matthew Writing
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
Matthew's Lesson: Matthew Writing
Border: Magi Meeting at the Crossroads (fol. 10v)
As the angel, Matthew's symbol, attends bearing a book, the evangelist sits at his desk writing the text for his Gospel Lesson, which Poyer brought to life with his border illlustration.
In the border the Three Kings, accompanied by their entourages, meet at the crossroads en route to where the star leads them. The text begins, Cum natus esset Ihesus in Bethleem Iude in diebus Herodis Regis, ecce Magi ab Oriente venerunt Ierosolimam (When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi came from the East to Jerusalem).
MS H.8, fols. 11v–12r
Mark's Lesson: Mark Contemplating
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
Mark's Lesson: Mark Contemplating
Border: Christ Preaching to a Crowd (fol. 12)
Portrayed in an interior setting similar to Matthew's, Mark sits with his symbol, the lion, as he writes his Lesson.
Mark's Lesson opens with these words In illo tempore. Recumbe[n]tibus undecim discipulisapparuit illis Ih[es]us (In that time, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples). Surrounding the text, Poyer illustrated Christ, depicted with a stern gesture leveled at the group as he reproaches the apostles for their lack of faith and hardness of heart.
MS H.8, fols. 12v–13r
Passion According to John: "Ego sum"
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
Passion According to John: "Ego sum" (fol. 13)
John's Passion is normally illustrated with an image of Christ's Agony in the Garden or, as here, the Ego sum (I am he). The Latin title of the picture derives from the short but dramatic answer Christ gave to the rough band of soldiers who had come with Judas to arrest him. At his two words, the soldiers fell back in amazement. Behind Christ, St. Peter begins to draw his sword.
The iconography of Poyer's nighttime scene can be traced back to the version painted by the Limbourg brothers in Jean, duc de Berry's, Trés Riches Heures (shortly before 1416), a miniature that, like many in his famous manuscript, was highly influential on French illumination.
Within the group of soldiers on the ground Judas can be identified as the bearded figure at the left clutching his moneybag.
MS H.8, fols. 13v–14r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 14v–15r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 15v–16r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 16v–17r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 17v–18r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 18v–19r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 19v–20r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977
MS H.8, fols. 20v–21r
Hours of Henry VIII
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977