Explore Easter imagery in the Royal Collection

The Sobieski Hours c. 1430-40
Manuscript on vellum; miniatures, decorated initials and borders in bodycolour and gold leaf. 234 folios, numbered in pencil. | 28.6 x 19.7 x 6.5 cm (book measurement (conservation)) | RCIN 1142248

The Sobieski Hours ©
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter, the day on which Christ was crucified. It was a central scene in the Hours of the Passion in any medieval book of hours (a prayer book used by the laity, people not in holy orders). One of the ways we mark Good Friday today is by eating hot cross buns to commemorate Christ’s death on the cross.
This beautiful manuscript was presented to the Prince Regent (later George IV) by Cardinal York, grandson of James II and Bonnie Prince Charlie’s younger brother.