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The Taymouth Hours manuscript (British Library, Yates Thompson MS 13) is extensively illustrated and includes elaborate bas de page images. Scholars have identified a variety of patrons including Joan of the Tower, the daughter of Edward II and later wife of David II of Scotland, Isabella of France, wife of Edward II, or Philippa of Hainault, the queen of Edward III. Recently Kathryn Smith has argued that the manuscript was created on a commission from Philippa for the betrothal of her sister-in-law, Eleanor of Woodstock, to Reinald II, Duke of Guelders, in 1331. Reinald was an ally of Eleanor’s brother, King Edward III, in his wars with France. This image of the crowned princess adoring the elevated host was intended to present Eleanor as a pious young woman hearing mass in her private chapel. Although the English court had its own artists and scribes, this book has been connected with the London book trade. The principal illuminator has tentatively been identified as Richard of Oxford.
The image precedes a prayer to be said before the beginning of mass. It depicts, however, the priest elevating the consecrated host with the princess adoring Christ present in it. This was a common illustration of priesthood in the later Middle Ages. Eleanor’s gesture of adoration reveals an act of spiritual communion, the longing for sacramental oneness with Christ achieved through sight. This adoration of the Real Presence in the Eucharist had become common as reception of the consecrated bread declined out of fear of receiving communion unworthily and risking damnation. Gestures of devotion, such as that of Eleanor in this picture, were supposed to be accompanied by special prayers, many of which appeared in books of hours. In the image Eleanor kneels before a prie dieu on which rests a deluxe book of hours clasped shut.
At the bottom of the page is an image of Saint Jerome writing with the pen in his right hand and the stylus used in doing erasures in his left. The Spirit dove is shown whispering inspiration into his ear. A brief text is barely visible on the writing surface. In the right hand margin of the manuscript, a sketch remains from the planning stages of the manuscript. An artist has added an image of a host with the YHS or Jesus monogram held up by two hands, indicating that the elevation is the subject of this page. Smith suggests that the sketch may have directed the artist's attention to a particular model which was available for reference. Upon finishing the book of hours, the artists neglected to erase the rough sketch.