Nursing Virgin 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 red, the fifteen joys of our Lady (les xv Joyes notre dame) in French opens with the illuminated initial ‘D’ (D[o]ulce dame de misericorde mere de pitie fontaine) 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 nursing Madonna seated on a bench. The act of breastfeeding the infant both emphasises their intimate earthly relationship and alludes to the fact they are sources of the living water. Other symbols elucidate her holiness, her crown signifies her role as Queen of Heaven. The well is a reference to the Annunciation, and her role as the vessel of the Incarnate. The presence of angels, playing psaltery and harp, underline the sacred nature of the scene. The margins are inhabited by a bird and angels playing lute and portative.