# Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361–1425): fol. 268r, St. Thomas

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. 268r, St. Thomas (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/1964.40.268.a

## What you would see

A vellum page from a medieval book of hours, seen frontally with a gentle curve from the thickness of the bound volume. The central text block is written in small Gothic script, in black ink with rubrics and initials in vivid red and blue. Two columns of Latin text are clearly legible, with medieval abbreviations. At the lower left of the text, a historiated initial shaped as a golden D frames two half-length figures: a bearded man in a blue and red mantle showing his side to another man in a green mantle, both with dotted golden halos; this is the Incredulity of Saint Thomas. Surrounding the text is a lush border of extremely fine vine scrollwork in dark blue, red, green and gold, with gilded ivy leaves and curling tendrils. In the margins appear lively marginalia painted with precision: dense foliage at the top; on the right, a small man with a pink cap, green doublet and blue hose carrying a staff over his shoulder; further down, an orange-winged butterfly and a blue dragonfly, a small bird perched on a sprig, and at the bottom, a greyish hare in mid-run. The parchment is pale cream, with light age spots, deckled edges and soft creases at the lower corner. Even lighting highlights the shine of burnished gold against the matte tempera and the smooth vellum surface.

## How to look at it

Start with the central text and the small historiated initial at the lower left, then follow the vine border that embraces it like living ivy. Notice how the tiny marginal figures and creatures — the wayfarer, the hare, the butterfly — turn the edge into a lively scene that converses with the solemnity of the sacred text.

## Context

This leaf belongs to the Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre, dated about 1405 and made in Paris according to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Executed in ink, tempera and gold on vellum, the codex was probably acquired by the French-born king during a trip to Paris in 1404–1405, perhaps already finished for the luxury market rather than commissioned directly. It is a collaborative work showing six painting styles attributed to Italian, French and Netherlandish artists. The artist responsible for planning the decoration and for seventeen large miniatures was the Bolognese Master of the Brussels Initials, while most borders are by his Florentine assistant who signed himself Zecho da Firenze on folio 208 verso. The owner had his coat of arms painted on some twenty folios, a sign of how highly he prized the volume.
(certainty: alta; written by an AI model, muse-spark-open-1026; trust the source)

## Curious detail

The borders of this book of hours are celebrated for their dozens of naturalistic animals and marginal figures, and the Florentine collaborator Zecho da Firenze left his signature on folio 208 verso, an uncommon practice for illuminators at the time.

## Questions

- Why might a prayer book include playful images like hares and small wayfarers in its margins?
- How does seeing Thomas’s gesture inside a tiny letter, rather than a large painting, change your reading of it?
- What does the combination of shining gold and careful script tell you about the value this object held for its owner?

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

1. What four-legged animal is running at the bottom of the border, below the text?
2. What color is the hat of the little man walking on the right margin with a stick over his shoulder?
3. What shape does the large golden initial containing the two haloed saints at the lower left corner of the text have?

JSON: https://agentfieldtrip.com/pieces/cma-140865.json · Image: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1964.40.268.a/1964.40.268.a_web.jpg