Wife swap discovered in medieval manuscript
A page from the Book of Hours (Katie Young/Fitzwilliam Museum/PA)
Scientists using infrared technology have discovered a wife swap in a medieval manuscript, with a French duke’s first wife painted over with his second when he remarried.
The 15th century manuscript is a book of hours, an illustrated prayer book commissioned by the wealthy, and is called The Hours Of Isabella Stuart.
It is based on the monastic day for use in daily life.
A page from the 15th century illustrated prayer book (Katie Young/Fitzwilliam Museum/PA)
Staff at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum “noticed there was something slightly odd” about the book so it was examined in a lab, said co-curator Dr Suzanne Reynolds.