Last Judgement 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). Compline of the Holy Cross concludes on the recto. A group of three souls rise from the ground in the lower margin, a reference to the Last Judgement. On the verso, Compline of the Holy Spirit opens with the illuminated initial 'C' (Converte nos deus salutarius noster) painted with white, red, blue and gold ivy-leaf ornament. The miniature is painted in demi-grisaille with pigments and gold and depicts the Last Judgement of Christ. Jesus sits on a rainbow in a mandorla flanked by angels playing trumpets. On his right are his mother Mary, apostles and saved souls. On his left is John the Baptist in his garment of camel hair with more of the saved. Below, souls rise from their graves, and an angel directs them towards the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, extending the scene into the margins. Another angel plays a trumpet on the right. Three more souls step from their graves in the lower margin while an angel holds the skull of a skeleton, perhaps a reference to the personification of and triumph over death.