Curcifixion 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 the Virgin Mary concludes on the recto, illuminated in the margin with a peacock, two angels singing from a music sheet and a lady with double-horned headdress (escoffion) in prayer. On the verso, a prayer to the Virgin Mary opens with the illuminated initial ‘O’ (O gloriosissima mater et misericordissima uirgo maria) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. It is one of a series of twenty-six prayers to the Virgin Mary in this section of the manuscript. The great many devotions and miniatures dedicated to her is rather unusual. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Crucifixion. The imagery is inspired by the prayer, referring to the mother’s grief at the suffering of her son. This abbreviated version of the scene depicts only Mary and John the Evangelist kneeling either side of the cross. All three persons of the Trinity are present, with the Holy Spirit in the form as a dove and God the Father supporting the crucified Jesus. The peacock in the left margin is symbolic of the Resurrection.