The Resurrection 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 blue, a prayer to Jesus Christ opens with the illuminated initial 'A' (Adoro te domine ihesu christe in cruce ascendentem) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Resurrection. Jesus steps from an open sarcophagus holding the resurrection cross with banner. The sleepy soldiers are separated from Jesus by the columns of the arcade. Two additional soldiers inhabit the lower margin. On the verso, the marginal figures are replace by a man with a basket of birds probably intended for market, followed by a dog.