MINIATURIST, French
(active 1410-1440 in Paris)

Grandes Heures de Rohan

1430-35
Manuscript (Ms. lat. 9471), 290 x 210 mm
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

This Book of Hours was intended for the private use of Iolanthe of Aragon, (1380-1443), widow of Louis II, Duke of Anjou (reigned 1384-1417). It came into the possession of the Rohan family of Brittany in the first half of the 15th century. Scholars assume that the artist responsible for the miniatures (12 full-page, 54 half-page, 227 small miniatures), the Rohan Master, headed a highly productive workshop. The style of the workshop, to which a few panel paintings have also been attributed, was influenced by the miniatures of the Bedford and Boucicaut Masters.

The miniature on folio 106v that accompanies the Hours of the Virgin shows the apotheosis of the Mother of God after her ascension to heaven. It is a modified version of the Coronation of the Virgin, a subject that had been illustrated innumerable times since the late 12th century. In this version the Virgin is received not by his son, but by God the Father. The musical notes represented on the scroll held by the angels are of a Gregorian chant.




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