Rodez. Two exceptional books of hours exhibited at Fenaille

In view of the artist’s book biennial which will take place on November 9 and 10, the Fenaille museum is unveiling this morning two pieces carefully preserved, in order to avoid their alteration.

Two books that are over five hundred years old. Two books of hours from Rodez. “ The Fenaille museum presents two illuminated manuscripts in its permanent collections, respectively from the Rodez media library and the library of the Society of Letters, Sciences and Arts of Aveyron. These books of hours, precious collections of offices and prayers, date from the 14th to the beginning of the 16th century. centuries and were generally owned by wealthy laypeople, reflecting their social status “we explain to the museum, which has chosen to reveal them for a little over a month.

“ Due to their fragility and the principles of preventive conservation, their presentation to the public remains exceptional.“, we emphasize.

One of these books passed into the hands of one of the most famous illuminators of the late Middle Ages. “For the use of Troyes was intended for a member of the Molé family. His miniatures, produced around 1485, are the work of Jean Colombe, author of Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry” we specify at the museum.

“Ethiopia, valley of the steles” until November 3

The other dates from 1460-1470, a time when the cathedral bell tower was not yet erected! “It contains miniatures and a calendar mentioning the saints venerated in Rouergue. It preserves a very rare example of calligraphy of a “stuffed” Ave Maria in blue ink, probably made from lapis lazuli, an extremely precious pigment in the Middle Ages “.

Two exceptional pieces which can therefore give you the opportunity to go or return to the Fenaille museum, and appreciate, in addition to the largest collection of menhir statues in Europe, superb remains of the city and the department, the exhibition temporary “Ethiopia, the valley of the steles”, visible until November 3.