The Deposition 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. Following the calendar, Gospel lessons and Passion story are the mixed Hours of the Virgin (8), Holy Cross (7) and Holy Spirit (7). Vespers of the Virgin concludes on the recto. On the verso, beneath rubrics in blue, Vespers of the Holy Cross opens with the illuminated initial 'D' (Deus in adiutorium meum intende) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Deposition of Jesus from the cross. One figure removes the nails from his feet while Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus gently lower his body, a fourth man holds the ladder. The Virgin Mary and three other female disciples, probably including Mary Magdalene, stand on the left, with John the Evangelist on the right. In the left margin, a man holds the burial shroud, a butterfly appears in the upper margin and strawberries are painted on the right.