Prayer Book of Queen Bona, or the Book of Hours of Queen Bona, is an illuminated manuscript of the book of hours, created in the 1520s by the Polish Renaissance painter and illuminator Stanisław Samostrzelnik and his collaborators. The manuscript was intended for Queen Bona of the Sforza family – the second wife of Sigismund I the Old.
The codex, measuring 143×114 mm and consisting of 271 parchment leaves (including three additional ones), contains the text of the Book of Hours written in Latin in a single column, as well as a concluding prayer in Italian. The signed and dated decoration includes 15 full-page miniatures, borders, and ornamental initials. Since 1834, the manuscript has been part of the Bodleian Library collection in Oxford (catalogue number Douce 40/21 614).
The miniature decoration of Book of Hours of Queen Bona, representing the pinnacle of Samostrzelnik's artistic achievements, is considered one of the most valuable monuments of Polish Renaissance painting.
Time and circumstances of creation The manuscript was created in the 1520s. A significant date for determining the time of the text's creation is 1521, the year of Pope Leo X's death. His name is mentioned in the form of the initial L on one of the manuscript's leaves, in a prayer for the pope (fol. 144r). The date inscribed in Roman numerals A° MDXXVII, visible on one of the miniatures (fol. 36v), is crucial for establishing the time of the manuscript's decoration. The dating of Book of Hours of Queen Bona is thus confined to the period between about 1521 and 1527, with a possible extension of the completion of the paintings to 1528.
The person for whom the manuscript was intended is clearly identified by the heraldic decoration present on 12 leaves of the manuscript – the family coats of arms of the Sforza, Visconti, and Neapolitan Aragon (the Trastámara cadet line) families, as well as the state emblems of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (the White Eagle) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Pahonia). In addition, Queen Bona's personal motto Cetera parvi and her initials S B R P (Latin: Serenissima Bona Regina Poloniae) are present, along with the name Bona mentioned in one of the prayers. It is likely that the book of hours was commissioned by Sigismund I the Old as a gift for his wife.
Content layout of the manuscript The manuscript, intended for Queen Bona's private use, belongs to the type of livres d'heures (horaria) common in Western Europe, popularly known as books of hours, which contain prayers to the Mother of God and the saints.
However, the prayer book includes texts that differ significantly from the program of typical books of hours. Among the texts of different origins are the Marian litany, an extended service against enemies, and prayers for protection against the plague, which also contain elements typical of spells, particularly the personalized prayer in Italian Signor Dio Misericordioso with Queen Bona's name.
The manuscript, made in Poland, is largely modeled on the text of a 15th-century prayer book (Book of Hours of Queen Bona) that the queen brought from Bari, although there are some differences between them. Part of the prayer bookLeavesContent and descriptionCalendar1r–12vThe calendar was copied from an unknown Northern Italian source, dated to 1425–1430. Festivities requiring mandatory participation in the Holy Mass (festa fori), which were not linked to the movable Easter cycle, were marked in gold. The liturgical celebrations of saints included in the calendar are associated with the patrons of Northern Italy, Southern Spain, and Southern France. A total of 351 feasts were recorded. The pages with the months of the calendar in Queen Bona's prayer book are adorned with illuminated zodiac signs. The headers provide information about the number of days in calendar and lunar months, golden numbers indicating the dates of the new moon in the 19-year lunar cycle, and weekday letters for determining the days of the week in the 28-year solar cycle. This knowledge, aside from enabling the determination of Easter dates, allowed for identifying ominous and favorable days for certain activities, such as medical and cosmetic procedures.Gospel fragments13r–19rAfter the calendar, the main prayer book begins. The opening section contains selected fragments of the four canonical Gospels, traditionally placed at the beginning or end of livres d'heures. Reading and memorizing these verses were considered a protective measure against Satan.The Passion according to Saint John21r–33rFollowing the Gospel fragments is the Passio Domini nostri Iesu Xristi secundum Joannem, with the text divided into roles of Christ, the synagogue, and the cantor. Including the Passion in a dramatized form facilitated participation in Holy Week ceremonies. The text was also read at the bedside of the dying, before the priest arrived with the viaticum. Before the text, there is an illumination depicting Christ's prayer in Gethsemane (fol. 20v). A few blank pages were left after the Passion (fol. 33v–36r).The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary37r–113rThe Officium Beate Marie Virginis secundum consuetudinem Romane curie is a simplified Marian office in breviary form, following the Roman Curia's arrangement. Each hour ends with special prayers to All Saints (suffragia). The concluding paraphrase of the Ave Maria prayer was updated in response to the Reformation, containing a plea to preserve the purity of Catholic doctrine, presenting the Mother of God as the guardian of the queen's fidelity to the church. This section is accompanied by a cycle of miniatures depicting scenes from the Virgin Mary's life, from the Annunciation (fol. 36v) to the Massacre of the Innocents (fol. 87v).Votive Mass114r–117rAn illumination depicting Mary with the Child (fol. 113v) precedes the sung Mass (votive) Salve Sancta Parens, celebrated on Saturdays in honor of the Mother of God. Queen Bona's prayer book is a rare example of Central European books of hours containing a liturgical text, which is more commonly found only in Italy and Flanders.Penitential psalms123r–135vThe Psalmi penitenciales are preceded by an illumination of King David in penance (fol. 122v). Each of the seven deadly sins is countered by one of the seven penitential psalms, serving as a shield against the roots of evil in humans.Litany of All Saints135r–141rThe short litany, derived from the Italian book of hours belonging to the queen, was supplemented with the names of the patrons of the Kingdom of Poland and saints particularly venerated in Kraków – Florian, Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Wenceslaus I, and Adalbert of Prague – reflecting Queen Bona's adoption of their cult.Collection of prayers142r–145rThis thematically diverse collection includes prayers for family members, benefactors, and deceased loved ones, as well as a prayer for the pope.Athanasian Creed146r–149v; 242r–245vThe Quicumque vult salvus esse, associated with the breviary office, was included outside the liturgical part of Queen Bona's prayer book, and even twice. It serves as a kind of commentary on the Nicene Creed, being both a profession of faith and an explanation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.Office for the dead151r–196rAn illumination depicting the salvation of sinners' souls from purgatory (fol. 150v) opens the Officium mortuorum. This service, recited for the dead, was also read during the night vigil at the body. The prayers for the souls of the dead repeat the text of the officium defunctorum from Queen Bona's Italian prayer book, differing only by the addition of three prayers for deceased family members of the queen.Passion offices198r–203r; 204r–228rQueen Bona's prayer book includes both the small and large office of the True Cross, also known as the Hours of the Passion. The Officium Sancte Crucis magnum is accompanied by an illumination of the Crucifixion (fol. 197v) and a depiction of the Descent from the Cross (fol. 222v).Office of the Holy Spirit230r–234rThe small hours of the Holy Spirit belong to the abbreviated type of Officium Sancti Spiritus. They are preceded by an illumination of the scene of Pentecost (fol. 229v).Litany to the Mother of God235r–242rThe Letanie Marie Virginis is an unusual prayer for books of hours and is one of the oldest Marian litanies known from Poland. Different from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it repeats the text of a litany found in the preserved prayer book of Isabella of Aragon, Queen Bona's mother, dating from between 1511 and 1518 and kept in the Trivulziana Library in Milan (manuscript cod. 2144).Prayers against enemies242r–245vPreceded by the Athanasian Creed, which is repeated in the prayer book, the psalms contra inimicos, prayers, and a benediction form a type of service meant to provide effective protection against the schemes of enemies. One of the orations, containing the plea da mihi famule tue Bone victoriam contra inimicos meos, repeats, in a slightly modified form, the text of a prayer by Isabella of Aragon for her daughter.Prayers against the plague252r–252rA service to Saint Sebastian, regarded as a particularly effective protector against the plague, and the prayer Recordare domine mia were intended as remedies against the plague. Both texts contain elements of a magical nature, related to the symbolism of Hebrew (JHWH) and Greek (T) letters, meant to enhance the protective power of the prayers. Their inclusion in Queen Bona's prayer book was connected to the recurring epidemics in Kraków, which often forced the queen to seek refuge in royal or Lithuanian residences.Italian prayer252v–256rThe prayer Signor Dio Misericordioso in the queen's native language, characterized by the most personal tone, concludes the Latin text of Queen Bona's book of hours. The lettering styles used in the Book of Hours of Queen Bona align with Renaissance aesthetics. The text was written in a humanistic minuscule (littera antiqua tonda), combined in the titles of individual sections of the prayer book with Roman square capitals. The text, created around 1521, was supplemented a few years later with illuminations painted on parchment of a different thickness than that used for the written pages.
Miniature decoration The iconographic program of the miniatures differs significantly from Queen Bona's Italian book of hours and is more closely related to other prayer books created by Stanisław Samostrzelnik, especially those intended for chancellors Krzysztof Szydłowiecki and Albertas Goštautas. The miniature decoration, signed and dated on three folios (fol. 36v, 74v, and 229v), represents an orthodox Catholic model of piety with anti-Reformation accents, similar to the Prayer Book of Sigismund the Old, completed in 1524.
The miniatures were created by multiple artists, which was a common practice for manuscript decoration commissions at the time. The individual illuminators working with Samostrzelnik varied in technical skill and color use. However, some illuminations stand out due to a unique painting technique, described by researchers as "painterly". These miniatures, which also bear the signature S.C. (Stanislaus Claratumbensis), are attributed entirely to Brother Stanisław Samostrzelnik of Mogiła. To achieve visual unity in the Book of Hours of Queen Bona, similar compositional schemes and recurring motifs were introduced.