Visitation from a Book of Hours (use of Rouen)

Master of Jean Charpentier

Parchment folio from a Book of Hours written and illuminated between 1485 and 1490 in the Rouen workshop of the Master of the Echevinage, in collaboration with artist workshops in Tours. This illumination is attributed to the Master of Jean Charpentier. Mary stands in a landscape with her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. She kneels as she recognises the significance of Mary's own pregnancy. A city with castle on a hill is depicted across a waterway in the background. DEUS IN ADIUTORIU[M] MEU[M] is written on the golden architectural frame. The text for Lauds of the Virgin continues on the verso. Two two-line decorated initials introduce different sections of the text, one is decorated with a bird, the other with strawberries.