Virgin accepting soul into Heaven 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 an eagle bending its head and two angels emerging from flowers holding containers. On the verso, beneath rubrics in blue, a prayer to the Virgin Mary opens with the illuminated initial ‘O’ (O gloriosa dei genitrix uirgo semper maria piissima domina me) 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 Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven welcoming a soul into heaven in the presence of the Trinity. The whole group are surrounded by red seraphim. Below, a crucifix and candles adorn the room and a group of Franciscan monks are identified by their distinctive rope belts.