Visionary Experience

The artist of this piece from the Hours of Mary of Burgundy is unknown. However, this particular Book of Hours is thought to have been commissioned by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and father of Mary of Burgundy. Books of Hours were made for the use of private devotion. The person the hours is dedicated to is often depicted in the illumination. It is like a mirror to the person reminded them of what they should be doing. In this case, it is portraying Mary reading the devotional texts.

Master Mary of Burgundy
Hours of Mary of Burgundy, 1467-80
Illumination on parchment, 22 x 16 cm

The window past her depicts some of her visionary experience through her meditations of being in the same space. A reflection of her again is seen through the window, as well as the Gothic architecture portraying a church. This was intended to create a heaven-like feeling on earth through the height and openness. Putting the Virgin in that setting gave the reader a vision of what they could experience. 

Outside of the depictions of Mary, there are various forms of symbolism found in this piece (much like the majority of art from the Northern Renaissance). The dog on her lap is thought to be a symbol of faithfulness (also seen in the previous blog post about Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Wedding). The religious symbols present are the iris which is a sign of the purity of the Virgin Mary as well as the rosary to aid in prayer.