St George slaying the dragon 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). The folio was removed from the bound volume between 1933 and 1960. A prayer to St George opens with the illuminated initial ‘G’ (Georgi miles egregie draconis fauces) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. It is one of an unusually large series of forty-seven suffrages, or short prayers to 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 St George slaying the dragon. This miraculous story is recorded in the Golden Legend, a popular collection of saints’ lives. Harassed by a dragon, the kingdom of Silene appeased the monster by sacrificing their children. When George arrived, the princess had been chosen by lot. The saint made a deal to save the kingdom if they agreed to convert to Christianity. On the left, the princess kneels in prayer while the king and queen watch from the safety of the city. George, dressed in plate armour and carrying a shield emblazoned with a red cross, runs his lance through the dragon’s maw. Once pacified, the princess led the dragon by her girdle to the city to ensure they keep their end of the bargain, illustrated in the lower margin. Here the princess wears a double-horned headdress (escoffion) instead of the crown seen in the main painting.