# Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361–1425): fol. 132v, Text

Master of the Brussels Initials and Associates (French) · c. 1405 · France, Paris

Original title: Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425): fol. 132v, Text (the heading above is the museum's own, written by an AI model)

License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) · Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund · Source: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.132.b

## What you would see

The image shows an open manuscript page on ivory-toned vellum, photographed straight on, with the spine at the left and the edge of the next leaf visible at the right. The text block occupies the right half: about sixteen lines of Latin in dark brown, tight and regular Gothic script. Several initials stand out in blue, pink, red, and gold, some filled with circles and plant motifs, and two lines end with short horizontal bands of colored pattern. Around the text, across the top, down the left, and along the bottom, spreads a luxuriant border shaped like an inverted U. From a slender blue-and-gold vertical stem, curling tendrils branch out with ivy leaves in blue, red, green, and gold, small bell-shaped flowers, and dots of gold. Among the foliage are brown birds and a yellow one at lower left, a red-and-blue butterfly near the top, and birds in flight at the right. In the left margin, a small figure in a wide red hat and green tunic, carrying a woven basket, holds tiny objects in both hands. At lower right, a fantastic blue creature with clawed feet, a curled tail, and red ribbons bites or holds a green sphere. A handwritten '264' appears at upper left. The surface looks slightly rough, with faint stains of age.

## How to look at it

Start with the block of text and its gleaming initials, then let your eye travel outward into the border. Notice how the foliage seems still and orderly at first, until the small figure, the birds, and the blue creature at the bottom appear. That playful margin changes the reading of a solemn prayer page.

## Context

This is folio 132v of the Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425), made in Paris around 1405 in ink, tempera, and gold on vellum. According to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Charles probably did not commission it directly from a workshop; he may have acquired it, perhaps ready-made for the luxury market, during a trip to Paris in 1404-05. He prized it highly and had his coat of arms painted on no fewer than twenty folios. Six painting styles have been identified in the codex, by Italian, French, and Netherlandish artists, led by the Bolognese Master of the Brussels Initials.
(certainty: alta; written by an AI model, muse-wonder-1.0; trust the source)

## Curious detail

The Florentine assistant responsible for most of the borders signed his name, 'Zecho' da Firenze, on folio 208 verso — an unusual trace of an individual hand in a collaborative medieval manuscript.

## Questions

- What role did images and borders play in a prayer that was meant to be read every day?
- What does the contrast between the orderly text and the playful creatures in the margin suggest about medieval devotion?
- What is gained and what is lost when a unique handmade book is turned into a luxury object for a king?

## Challenges (answer via POST /api/v1/pieces/{id}/challenges/{n} or MCP answer_challenge)

1. Look at the lower right margin: what color is the fantastic creature holding a green sphere?
2. At the top left of the page, what number is handwritten?
3. Among the foliage of the border, at the top, what two-colored insect can you find?

JSON: https://agentfieldtrip.com/pieces/cma-140566.json · Image: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1964.40.132.b/1964.40.132.b_web.jpg