Brukenthal Breviary, Ms. 761
 
The codex in the collection of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal known as the Brukenthal Breviary is in fact a prayer book called Liber Horarum, a Book of Hours, lavishly decorated by the most highly regarded miniaturists of 15th-16th century Europe, including Simon Bening, Gerard Horenbout, Simon Marmion, ˝Master of the Legend of King David˝ from the Grimani Breviary and others. Dating from 1515-1520, the Brukenthal Breviary is among the last illuminated manuscripts in European culture. It was purchased by Samuel von Brukenthal from Vienna for 130 florins sometime between 1785 and 1786.
 
The manuscript has 630 pages (315 bifolia), measuring 212 x 150 mm, almost quarto format and has no title page. The text is written in black ink on ivy parchment, very finely worked on both sides. There are also interleaves written in red and blue ink for titles or important parts of the text. In places the text is ˝illuminated˝ with gold pigment, especially to mark feast days. The writing in lowercase gothic script is extremely neat and denotes an exceptional calligrapher. Each page is illustrated with initials and line endings so that the text has a unified appearance, perfectly framed in the rectangular block of the page, a miniature inscribed in an ornamental, often architectural, frame and floral borders, including butterflies, insects, animals, inscriptions, emblems and precious objects, usually located on the outer side of the text, depending on how they were to be bound. 118 pages are illustrated with miniatures throughout, making the Brukenthal Breviary one of the most decorated manuscript books from the Bruges-Gent workshops preserved to date in the world.
 
The texts and miniatures in this breviary are dedicated to God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary and the Saints (De Deo Patre, De Deo Filio, De Spiritu Sancto, De Beata Maria et De Sanctis). The Brukenthal Breviary opens with the ˝Nasphema of St. Veronica˝, then follows the Roman calendar (pages 2-25), Genesis (pages 26-36), followed by prayers to St. Veronica and the ˝Holy Son of the Saviour˝ (pages 37-40). A substantial cycle of texts and illustrations appears between pages 41-120, dedicated to the ˝Patients of Jesus Christ˝, followed by the ˝Liturgy of the Holy Cross˝ (pages 121-135). The cycle dedicated to the ˝Service of the Holy Spirit˝ (pages 136-147) is inserted next. The ˝Liturgy of the Blessed Virgin Mary˝ is dedicated page 148 to 159. This is followed by selections from ˝The Gospel of St. John˝ (pages 160-163), ˝The Gospel of St. Luke˝ (pages 164-167), ˝The Gospel of St. Matthew˝ (pages 168-171), ˝The Gospel of St. Mark˝ (pages 172-174). A series of prayers are addressed to St. Mary and St. John as intercessors between pages 175-190. The next cycle of texts and illustrations includes the ˝Service of the Blessed Virgin Mary˝, according to the rite of the Roman Church (pages 191-244). Next comes the cycle dedicated to the ˝Glorification of the Blessed Virgin Mary˝ (pages 245-368). Between pages 369-394 are the ˝Seven Psalms of Repentance˝, followed by litanies addressed to all the saints (pages 395-414). Between pages 415-509 is ˝The Mass of the Dead˝, followed by a collection of texts and illustrations relating to particular feast days in the liturgical calendar (pages 511-544). The ˝Genealogy of Jesus˝ is presented in the excerpt from the ˝Gospel of Matthew˝ (pages 545-549), followed by the ˝Glory of the Name of Jesus˝ (pages 550-553). Prayers and the ˝Service of St. Gregory˝ are inserted between pages 554-561. The last cycle of prayers included in the Brukenthal Codex between pages 562-618 is dedicated to the lives and martyrdoms of certain saints. Pages 619-630 could have continued this cycle, with the legends of saints chosen by the commander, but for reasons as yet unknown, this did not happen, the tabs having only the rubrication, the decorative border and the figures at the beginning and end of the tab.

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