Virgin of Tenderness 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. The Star of the Sea prayer concludes on the recto, illuminated in the margin by two angelic musicians. On the verso, beneath rubrics in red, a prayer to the Virgin opens with the illuminated initial ‘G’ (Gaude flore virginalo honoreque) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. It is one of an unusually large series of prayers and paintings dedicated to the Virgin Mary in this manuscript. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Virgin and Child seated on a crescent moon, surrounded by a mandorla and a choir of red seraphim. The painting combines the divine and earthly relationships of the two figures, presenting Mary as both the Woman of the Apocalypse and the Virgin of Tenderness. The latter is identified by the tender embrace of the mother and baby nestling cheek to cheek. Mary is also crowned Queen of Heaven. The angels in the margin accompany the pair with heavenly song played on lute and harp.