Passion 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. A prayer to the Trinity concludes on the recto, illuminated in the lower margin by two figures walking arm in arm. On the verso, beneath rubrics in blue, a prayer to the Passion of the Lord opens with the illuminated initial 'G' (Gracias ago tibi domine ihesu christe qui passionem tuam) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Passion of Jesus Christ. Uniquely in this manuscript, the painting is presented as a continuous narrative, which includes several episodes from the Passion in a single frame. The story begin in the upper left corner with the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prays in the company of three sleeping apostles, Peter, James and John. The two scenes that take place within the city walls are Christ before Caiaphas and the Flagellation, or Scourging at the Pillar. In the foreground, Christ carries the cross along the road to Calvary. He is accompanied by a crowd which includes his mother Mary, John the Evangelist and other female disciples. The two thieves that are crucified with Jesus are led ahead of him, with a plethora of soldiers at the head of the procession. Finally, in the upper arch of the frame, Jesus is nailed to the cross which is then lifted upright (Raising of the Cross). Three soldiers inhabit the lower margin.