Books of Hours are considered one of the richest sources of medieval apocalyptic imagery and Portland State University’s Book of Hours printed by Kerver is no exception. Over seventy images relating to the Signs of the Apocalypse appear within the margins of its Hours of the Trinity and the Office of the Dead. Apocalyptic iconography is commonly found accompanying the prayer cycles of the Office of the Dead in late medieval Books of Hours, although it is less common in the Hours of the Trinity, making its placement in this Book of Hours unusual.¹

A variety of established pictorial traditions relating to the apocalypse were already in use while Kerver’s printed Books of Hours circulated throughout Europe. Many of these traditions were accumulated and incorporated into Books of Hours in combinations that varied depending on the intended consumer and when a book was printed. In the PSU Book of Hours, marginal imagery depicting the Signs of the Apocalypse can be separated into three different iconographic traditions: The Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, the Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday and the Apocalypse of Saint John. Differentiations amongst these traditions are determined by their content, compositional style, location in the book, and by the French or Latin marginal text that accompanies each image.

The Seven Signs of the Apocalypse

(fols. l4v-l7) Photos by author, 2018.

Within the Hours of the Trinity, images depicting the Latin tradition of the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse are organized and illustrated in accordance to the Revelation of Saint John 8:1-6. The iconography consists of seven angels sounding seven trumpets after the book with seven seals is opened by the Lamb of God (Figure 1). Each angel is individuated and placed within the events affiliated to its assigned seal (Figures 2-4). John of Patmos additionally appears in the foreground of each image, observing and writing all he sees and hears in his prophetic visions as commanded in Revelation 1:10–13. Each image is accompanied by a block of Latin marginal text that specifies each of the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse.

The Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday

(fols. m2v-m7v) Photos and translations by author, 2018.

Images associated to the Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday are found throughout the Office of the Dead. Here, the Latin custom of seven signs has been extended to fifteen to include an eighth day of Judgment.² This iconography primarily focuses on the sequence of natural disasters prophesized in the Revelation of St. John: the burning of heaven and earth (Figure 5), the receding and flooding of waters (Figure 6), trees that sweat blood (Figure 7), destructive earthquakes (Figure 8) and stars falling from the sky (Figure 9). Although each image is enumerated, the Fifteen Signs are not arranged in sequential order in this Book of Hours. The illustrations are generally devoid of human respresentations, though some additional imagery depicts anonymous men and women receiving the rewards and punishments associated with the Last Judgment.³

This extended iconography possibly originated in Ireland from the Apocalypse of Thomas in the 6th century but underwent multiple interpolations before it became popularized in Latin and vernacular texts of the Middle Ages.⁴ Since the Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday developed outside the Latin tradition, its supporting marginal text is often in the vernacular language. Moreover, because this Book of Hours was printed in Paris, the marginal text relating to this tradition is in French, a language customarily spoken by nobility throughout the Latin West.⁵

The Apocalypse of Saint John

(fols. m3-m4v) Photos and translations by author, 2018.