Christ displaying his wounds 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. Beneath rubrics in red, a prayer to Jesus Christ opens with the illuminated initial 'O' (O abissus bonitatis consolator desolatorum) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Man of Sorrows. Christ, displaying his wounds, stands in a mandorla surrounded by angels holding the Instruments of the Passion: chalice, column and whips, nails and hammer, cross, sponge and lance. The margins are inhabited by a bird (goldfinch) and a lion face to face with an oversized porcupine. The unusual juxtaposition is explained by the interpretation of the animals in medieval bestiaries (book of beasts). The porcupine was thought to be cunning like the devil. The lion was often used as a symbol of Christ.