This limited-edition silk scarf reproduces the intricate decoration of a fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript. Given the extreme rarity of books of hours on vellum stained with black ink or painted with black pigment, this is one of the most singular items in the Hispanic Society’s manuscript collection. The manuscript is unfinished in that the artist left space on the pages facing the beginning of each office for a miniature. The calendar is appropriate for the Crown of Aragón, with the canonization of St. Vincent Ferrer in 1455 as the earliest possible date of composition of the manuscript. One of the folios, folio 13r, bears a coat of arms which is that of Castile and probably refers to María, queen of Alfonso V of Aragón, who died in Valencia in 1458. It has been suggested that this book of hours was conceived as an offering of bereavement to María of Castile, with the fact of its being executed on black parchment and her coat of arms, no longer blazoned with Aragón being cited as evidence. The artist is most certainly Flemish, probably working for the Aragonese court.

• Inspired by: Horae beatae marie secundum usum curie romane (Black Book of Hours) Illuminated manuscript on parchment, ca. 1458
• 100% silk
• Imported
• 42.5 x 35 in.