The Annunciation 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. Following the calendar, Gospel lessons and Passion story are the mixed Hours of the Virgin (8), Holy Cross (7) and Holy Spirit (7). This section opens with Matins of the Virgin, introduced with the illuminated initial 'D' (Domine labia mea aperies) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, here set within a French gothic church with painted groin vaults and textile hangings. The Archangel Gabriel holds a staff and scroll (Ave gracia plena dominus tecum). Mary stands on a cushion reading from a girdle book. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends from God, in the upper left margin, encircled in red seraphim. The margins are filled with an angelic choir who sing from a music sheet and play instruments including pipe, harp, viol, lute, and psaltery. The quartered arms of Prigent de Coëtivy are flanked by an angel and lion in the lower margin. The angelic choir is not repeated on the verso but instead the foliage is inhabited by a peacock and playing putti, climbing foliage, catching a butterfly, holding a bird's wing, and mock-jousting with pinwheel lances on hobby horses.