MONSTRANCE
Editions  ·  The Book of Hours
The Black Hours — Follower of Guillaume Vrelant
Prints up to 18×24 in

The Black Hours

Follower of Guillaume Vrelant (Bruges, active c. 1454–1481), Morgan Library MS M.493
Date about 1480
Collection The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Subject The Book of Hours
Season Ordinary Time
Master 4,681 px
License PD-Art (ruled 2026-09-02)
Attribution The Morgan Library & Museum, New York · MS M.493

The original, as its museum records it

Artist a follower of Guillaume Vrelant influenced by Philippe de Mazerolles; and Liévin van Lathem (fols. 13v-14)
Date Bruges, Belgium, ca. 1480
Dimensions 170 x 122 mm (124 leaves)
Holding The Morgan Library & Museum, New York · MS M.493

Every line above is reproduced from the holding institution’s own catalogue entry, which is linked. Where their title, date or attribution differs from ours, theirs is the one printed here.

The file this print is made from

Source Schwarzes_Stundenbuch_edit.jpg
Master 4,681 px on the long edge
Rights PD-Art (ruled 2026-09-02) — the photograph as well as the painting

Sizes

sheet 10×8 in · image 10×7 in · archival margin · 468 dpi
sheet 14×11 in · image 14×9.7 in · archival margin · 334 dpi
sheet 24×18 in · image 24×16.7 in · archival margin · 195 dpi

Free shipping, included in the price, to all eight countries we ship to. Printed to order and dispatched in 2–4 working days. If it arrives damaged, we replace it — nothing to send back.

View in the gallery

About this painting

This opening begins Matins of the Hours of the Holy Spirit, and the Morgan's catalogue describes its Pentecost. The dove of the Holy Ghost descends in rays from an arc of heaven onto the Virgin, who gestures among the twelve apostles. John kneels with a book in his left hand; one apostle, the cataloguer suggests possibly James, holds an open book in draped hands. Another kneels with his back turned.

The room is tiled, a city beyond its arched windows, the borders gold foliage on blue. The Spirit arrives on the page where these prayers begin.

Sources: The Morgan Library & Museum, Corsair image record, MS M.493 fol. 18v, Book of hours, Bruges, ca. 1480, read 2026-09-24 · The Morgan Library & Museum, 'Black Hours', MS M.493, fols. 18v–19r, read 2026-09-24

Pray with this every day  ›

Printed on demand. Public-domain masterwork, reproduced from a 4,681 px master of the original. The whole image is printed — never cropped to fit the sheet — so every sheet carries an archival margin, and the dimensions and resolution listed above are the ones you receive.