Leaf from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi (c. 1440–50): Art, History and Details

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi (c. 1440–50) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of Thomas Hoo (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Adoration of the Magi, an important image in Christian tradition that recalls the visit of three kings to see the newly born Jesus, is depicted here. The artist, known as the Master of Thomas Hoo, gets his name from a book of hours made for Lord Thomas Hoo, chancellor of Normandy and of France. His work is characterized by a rich palette, lush draperies, and finely delineated landscapes. The artist thickly applied gold leaf to the crowns and halos and used liquid gold to highlight the hems of his figures’ garments.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi
• Date: c. 1440–50
• Creator attribution: Master of Thomas Hoo (French)
• Culture: France, Paris
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Leaf: 20.2 x 14.4 cm (7 15/16 x 5 11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2011.60

A detail from the museum

This page begins the prayers to be said at the hour of sext, or the sixth hour of the day (around noon).

Collection credit

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.