Crossing of the Red Sea 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 Jesus Christ concludes on the recto, illuminated in the margin by an angel and man leading a camel. On the verso, beneath rubrics in blue, a prayer to God opens with the illuminated initial 'D' (Domine deus omnipotens, piissime et gloriosissime mundi redeptor) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Crossing of the Red Sea. On the right, Moses (identified by his horns) leads a group of Israelites out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan. God, in the upper right corner, has allowed the people to safely cross by parting the sea. The pharaoh’s army enters from the left but the sea has closed around them. The artist has drawn the soldiers with charcoal in order to suggest they are under the water. A windmill and donkey are visible in the background.