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USC Illuminated Medieval Manuscripts

Saint Bavo of Ghent

Saint Bavo of Ghent (622–659), was born near Liège, the son of Pepin of Landin and Itta of Metz, and the brother of saints Begga and Gertrude of Nivelles. This Frankish noble family gave him the name Allowin also known as Bavon, Bavonius, and Baaf. He was a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint. He died at the Abbey in Ghent.

Feast day: October 1.

Bavo is the patron saint of Ghent, Zellick, and Lauwe in Belgium, and Haarlem in the Netherlands. He is most often shown in Christian art as a knight with a sword and a falcon, hence, he came to be considered the patron saint of falconry. In medieval Ghent, taxes were paid on Bavo's feast day, and it is for this reason that he is often shown holding a purse or money bag.

See: Catholic Online

Danielle Mihram, October 2020.

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Physical Description Book of Hours Use of Netherlands A beautifully illuminated, complete manuscript, with calendar, wide margins, more than a hundred 2-line illuminated initials, and 6 illuminated full-page miniatures, encircled by richly decorated and colored borders consisting of flowers and leaves. Inside the book cover’s back board, contemporary manuscript annotations state that the book belonged to Grietken Baeckx, who lived in “Groot Begijnhof” in Ghent. The calendar also points to Ghent, since Saints Amant (February), Amelberga (July), and Bavo (October) are emphasized in red.

The Latin is influenced by Dutch vernacular, and the large script also points to the Netherlands. The miniatures are made for the main devotions and have blank versos. They are professionally painted with life-like, long-stretched figures, engaged in different ceremonies, and often showing part of a landscape in the background (sometimes through a window, demonstrating early signs of perspective.

This page references:

Book of Hours Use of Netherlands Calendar, October