Divine Hand 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 Holy Cross concludes on the recto. In the lower margin a jester plays a stringed instrument and a woman holds a wreath of flowers. On the verso, beneath rubrics in red, Vespers of the Holy Spirit 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 Divine Hand of God in the sky and the Holy Spirit as a dove directing and inspiring the apostles as they travel. One apostle holds a sword, another a staff. In the lower margin, an apostle with staff enters through a city gate, another on the left looks toward a group of demons in the upper margin.