Virgin and Child 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 the Virgin Mary in French opens with the illuminated initial ‘I’ (Ie vien et si vous presente | Marie vierge excellente) 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 Madonna and Child in an oratory or chapel. The setting alludes to Mary’s piety. An angel presents a bowl of cherries to the Christ Child in the centre. The cherry was considered the Fruit of Paradise, symbolising both Mary’s sweetness and the Passion of Christ. A second angel plays the double pipe and a third in the lower margin carries a vessel. Both of Prigent’s mottos are found in the right margin. ‘Dame sans per’ (lady without equal) is written in red around palm fronds. ‘Helas belle mercy’ (a plea for the Virgin’s aid) is written around a mirror with a duck walking along its edge. According to medieval bestiaries all birds are born twice, so the duck could be an allusion to the afterlife, or merely decorative naturalism.