This volume is part of an antiphonary in three volumes that was
produced in duplicate for the liturgy of Bern's Collegiate Church
of St. Vincent, founded in 1484/85. It contains the Proprium de
sanctis and the Commune Sanctorum of the summer portion (March 25
to November 25) according to the liturgy of the Diocese of
Lausanne. This volume is the duplicate of volume II, today held
in the Catholic parish Saint-Laurent in Estavayer-le-Lac. The three
miniatures (p. 207, p. 271 and p. 397) that still adorn this volume
are attributed to an itinerant artist who was active in Switzerland
— in Fribourg, Bern, and Sion —, and afterwards in Piedmont and
in the Aosta Valley. He is known by the names Master of the
Breviary of Jost von Silenen and Miniaturist of Georges de
Challant. After the introduction of the Reformation in the year
1528 and the subsequent secularization of the chapter, the entire
group of antiphonaries was sold: four were sold to the city of
Estavayer-le-Lac and were used there for the liturgy of the
Collegiate Church of St. Lorenz; the other two — including this
manuscript — reached Vevey under circumstances that remain
unexplained. They are currently held in the historical museum
there.
