Rohan Hours

The Grandes Heures de Rohan (French = The Grand Hours of Rohan; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. Latin 9471; commonly known as The Rohan Hours) is an illuminated manuscript book of hours, painted by the anonymous artist, the Rohan Master, between 1430 and 1435, in the Gothic style. It contains the usual offices, prayers and litanies in Latin, along with supplemental texts, decorated with 11 full page, 54 half page, and 227 small miniatures, decorated with tempera paints and gold leaf. The book margins are decorated with Old Testament miniatures with captions in Old French, in the style of a Bible moralisée. The full page illuminations are renowned for the highly emotional and dramatic portrayal of the agonies of Christ and the grief of the Virgin. According to Millard Meiss, "The Rohan Master cared less about what people do than what they feel. Whereas his great predecessors excelled in the description of the novel aspects of the natural world, he explored the realm of human feeling." Meiss concludes that the Rohan Master was the "greatest expressionist in 15th century France." Today, this manuscript is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.

The Hours was probably commissioned by Yolande of Aragon (also Iolanthe, Jolantha, and Violant), daughter of Juan I of Aragon, Duchess of Anjou (1380–1443) for her nephew, Charles, the Dauphin of France. Yolande was the widow of Louis II, Duke of Anjou (reigned 1384–1417). In 1422, Yolande married her oldest daughter to Charles, in which case this book could have been commissioned as a wedding gift. Yolande was the protector and mentor of Charles, who would be crowned Charles VII of France in 1429. Duchess Yolande was a strong supporter of Joan of Arc.

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