St Elizabeth 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. Beneath rubrics in blue, a prayer to St Elizabeth opens with the illuminated initial ‘I’ (Ista regis filia hec conteptibilia mundi non elegit) 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 Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–31). She holds a crown denoting her royal parentage, daughter of the king of Hungarian. At the age of 14, Elizabeth was married to the landgrave of Thuringia (Germany). Throughout her marriage, she was known for her generosity and charity. After her husband died not six years later, she associated with the Franciscans and devoted the rest of her life to those in need. She holds a girdle book with a golden cover as a sign of her piety. In the lower margin a bear and hybrid man appear to hug. According to medieval bestiaries bear cubs were licked into shape by their mothers. This was seen as a metaphor for conversion to Christianity. Although in this instance, the creatures were perhaps included as an amusement.