Conversion of St Paul 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 Paul the Apostle opens with the illuminated initial ‘M’ (Magnus sanctus paulus vas electionis) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament (most of the gold is lost). It is one of an unusually large series of forty-seven suffrages, or short prayers to the saints, arranged hierarchically. The section opens with a number of prefatory prayers, followed by the Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors and Virgins. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Conversion of St Paul. According to both the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles, prior to his conversion, Paul was a Pharisee and a zealous persecutor of Christians. His conversion occurred on the road to Damascus when Paul was knocked to the ground and blinded by a light from heaven. The billowing of the saint’s cape and that his horse falls as well emphasises the force of the apparition. The text written in the scroll (Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris) are the words spoken by Christ when he appeared, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me’. The saint’s martyrdom is illustrated in the lower margin. As recorded in the apocryphal Acts of Paul, he was executed at the direction of Nero (r. 54–68 AD), pictured on the right. As a Roman citizen he was afforded a quick death by beheading. The executioner, having completed his task, sheathes his sword.