This book of hours is undoubtedly one of the most original and fascinating works of Breton manuscript illumination. Beginning with the very first folio, the start of the calendar section, readers are immediately enraptured by its vivid colours embellished with gold and its iconography, and the section containing the Hours of the Virgin leaves absolutely no doubt that this book of hours is truly exceptional!

Where else can such a long cycle about the tribulations of Adam and Eve be found? This is possibly the earliest and only illustrated Vita Adae et Evae in a book of this genre.

But this is not the only iconographic surprise: its 254 miniatures, including 37 which are full page, feature scenes more typical of secular books, such as the battle between Vices depicted as devils and Virtues in the form of maidens (f. 76), or apocryphal texts, such as the sacrilegious Jews attending the funeral of the Virgin (f. 61), and even the curious illustration of Mont-Saint-Michel on the page about the archangel Michael (f. 121).

The patron of this codex was probably, like all the noblemen of that period, a keen hunter, hence the small, unusual marginal scenes enlivening its pages. The reason for the devil’s ubiquity in this manuscript is, however, less obvious. Perhaps the owner of this book of hours needed reminders about the danger of succumbing to the temptations lurking around every corner…