Christ in Limbo 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 God concludes on the recto, illuminated in the margin by two dragons with intertwined necks and two figures standing in graves. On the verso, beneath rubrics in red, a prayer to Jesus Christ opens with the illuminated initial 'D' (Domine ihesu christe, qui voluisti pro redemptione mundi) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Harrowing of Hell. In this rather tame version of the episode, Jesus Christ grants salvation to the dead from the torments of hell. The door to their prison has been ripped from its hinges. In the left margin, an angel carries a soul to heaven.