Transubstantiation from the Coëtivy Hours

Dunois Master, attributed to

Folio with three-quarter page miniature from a book of hours attributed to the Dunois Master, written in Latin and French in a bastarda script, made in Paris and dated 1443–1445. It was commissioned by Prigent de Coëtivy (1399?–1450) on the occasion of his marriage to Marie de Rais (1429–1457). Removed from the bound volume between 1933 and 1960. The Athanasian Creed concludes on the recto, illuminated in the margins by an angel and pair of hybrid creatures with intertwined necks. This is followed on the verso by a section of prayers intended to be said during and after Mass. Beneath rubrics in red, the text opens with the illuminated initial 'A' (Ave salus mundi verbum patris) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts Transubstantiation. In a chapel or chancel of a church enclosed by tapestries, a priest at an altar transforms the Eucharistic offering of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Members of the community kneel in prayer. The groin vaults are decorated with gold stars on a field of blue. A small section of gold and coloured diaper pattern is painted above.