The Office of the Dead is a crucial inclusion in the Book of Hours, but it is often ignored when it comes to discussions of manuscript illumination. Today we discuss the use and history of the Office of the Dead. Why is the Office of the Dead included in Books of Hours? How is the office of the dead related to the rise of trick-or-treating on Halloween? And why did the Office of the Dead develop? Who used this prayer cycle, and why?
Resources
The “Ideal Death” in a Book of Hours
Book of Hours with a Mass for the Dead illuminated
Job on the Dung Heap at the beginning of the Office of the Dead