A prayer book that was offered on Wednesday evening on the Dutch television program “Between Art and Kitsch” turns out to be far more valuable than the owner thought. This is a so-called book of hours from 1488, which is worth around 100,000 euros, as the “Nederlandsdagblad” reported on Thursday.
Companion in everyday life in the monastery
Sebastiaan Hesselink, an expert on old books, manuscripts and prints, said the book was written by a “master of the black eyes” (“Zwarte-ogen-meesters”), a name given to a number of late medieval illuminators in the western Netherlands.
The owner’s father-in-law acquired the book of hours, richly decorated with miniature paintings, at an auction. It was used in the monastery and contains the prayers that are valid at the hour of the day. The copy presented in the broadcast comes from the Sankt Gomarus Church in Enkhuizen, built in 1470. Valuable finds are made more often in “Between Art and Kitsch”. The most expensive object is the painting “Het Kantwerkstertje” (The lace maker) by Joost van Geel (1631-1698), which in 2011 was valued at 250,000 euros. In fifth place is the book of hours, along with a painting by Adriaan de Lelie.
Source: Nachrichten
