The Resurrection 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 fourth article of faith in French concludes on the recto, illuminated in the lower margin by the overpainted single charge of the Coëtivy family, one of Prigent’s mottos written around in red, dame sans per (lady without equal) and the Noli me tangere (touch me not). The fifth article of faith in French opens on the verso with an initial ‘L’ (Lequint est quil) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Resurrection. Christ steps out of the open tomb with the resurrection banner. Two soldiers sleep ath the foot of the tomb, while a third looks on in awe. The scene in the lower margin takes place just after the resurrection when Mary Magdalen is the first to see the risen Christ. She mistakes him for a gardener, he holds a spade as well as the resurrection banner, but then kneels at his feet when she recognises him, her jar of ointment is placed on the ground. The original quartering of the arms is noticeable on the verso as the overpainting has flaked off.