This page honours the Virgin and Child. She sits in glory on a throne, with a crescent moon, now heavily oxidised, at her feet, within a ceremonial and radiant aureole of which we can only distinguish the upper part, and which appears again in her honour, on folio 127r, at the end of this Book of Hours. God's hand from heaven appears blessing her as she sits, richly clad, holding the infant Jesus. The child appears to address and bless a noble (most probably Jean de Montauban) who kneels before him with clasped hands begging the Lord for his personal redemption, as is written on the scroll unrolling from his hands, Miserere mei Deus ('God, have pity upon me'). A haloed figure stands just behind him, possibly Montauban's patron saint.
Above the radiating circle which surrounds this scene the Trinity itself appears, on a reduced scale, adored by two redly-glowing seraphim, with on the right God the Father, wearing his triple crown and carrying a cross on his shoulder (which is not common) as he blesses his Son, who faces him and is blessing him in return, while the Dove of the Holy Spirit forms the link between Father and Son, sheltering them with its wings.
On the left under the Montauban coat of arms with its red field, found in many of the miniatures in this Book of Hours, stands a somewhat crowded Saint Peter, holding an enormous key on his shoulder and with a long scroll coming from his mouth, devoid of inscription but underlining his supreme magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church. Under him are two further saints, one above the other. The first, perhaps the apostle Thomas, holds a spear and is pointing while producing a scroll, like all the others, symbolising his teaching authority. And under him, at the very bottom, stands the other saint.
Facing Saint Peter, above on the right side, two young angels fly close together over three successive bands, each with two standing saints, all holding or 'issuing' a scroll. On the highest level the saint on the left (Paul?) has an open book and an enormous sword, while speaking to another saint, also with a book - there is a sort of wooden half-frame between the two. On the intermediate level the saint on the left wearing the rich red cope, and apparently very young, holds a palm leaf and addresses another saint, with a distinctive hat and a walking stick (possibly Saint James of Compostela?), who is showing his young companion a page of a book. On the lowest level are two more bearded saints, each holding a book.
Under the central circle with the Virgin and Child, the Dove of the Holy Spirit is again (see f. 16r) placed within the illuminated capital letter, O on this occasion, which begins the prayer addressed to the Virgin, Obsecro te domina sacra ('I beseech thee, Holy Lady').
Below, a pope stands at the altar and is seen from the rear. He wears the triple crown and halo and a liturgical garment while apparently pronouncing an orison which he is reading from the missal placed on the lectern. On his left stands a bishop, also triple-crowned, and a red-hatted cardinal, and on the right are eight haloed saints, in addition to two glowing-red seraphim at the foot of the stairs who appear to be escorting or supporting the pope. This final, passably enigmatic scene, with its triple-crowned bishop, probably recalls a solemn declaration by a pope at Rome of one of the numerous titles which the Church had bestowed upon Mary.
This page honours the Virgin and Child. She sits in glory on a throne, with a crescent moon, now heavily oxidised, at her feet, within a ceremonial and radiant aureole of which we can only distinguish the upper part, and which appears again in her honour, on folio 127r, at the end of this Book of Hours. God's hand from heaven appears blessing her as she sits, richly clad, holding the infant Jesus. The child appears to address and bless a noble (most probably Jean de Montauban) who kneels before him with clasped hands begging the Lord for his personal redemption, as is written on the scroll unrolling from his hands, Miserere mei Deus ('God, have pity upon me'). A haloed figure stands just behind him, possibly Montauban's patron saint.
Above the radiating circle which surrounds this scene the Trinity itself appears, on a reduced scale, adored by two redly-glowing seraphim, with on the right God the Father, wearing his triple crown and carrying a cross on his shoulder (which is not common) as he blesses his Son, who faces him and is blessing him in return, while the Dove of the Holy Spirit forms the link between Father and Son, sheltering them with its wings.
On the left under the Montauban coat of arms with its red field, found in many of the miniatures in this Book of Hours, stands a somewhat crowded Saint Peter, holding an enormous key on his shoulder and with a long scroll coming from his mouth, devoid of inscription but underlining his supreme magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church. Under him are two further saints, one above the other. The first, perhaps the apostle Thomas, holds a spear and is pointing while producing a scroll, like all the others, symbolising his teaching authority. And under him, at the very bottom, stands the other saint.
Facing Saint Peter, above on the right side, two young angels fly close together over three successive bands, each with two standing saints, all holding or 'issuing' a scroll. On the highest level the saint on the left (Paul?) has an open book and an enormous sword, while speaking to another saint, also with a book - there is a sort of wooden half-frame between the two. On the intermediate level the saint on the left wearing the rich red cope, and apparently very young, holds a palm leaf and addresses another saint, with a distinctive hat and a walking stick (possibly Saint James of Compostela?), who is showing his young companion a page of a book. On the lowest level are two more bearded saints, each holding a book.
Under the central circle with the Virgin and Child, the Dove of the Holy Spirit is again (see f. 16r) placed within the illuminated capital letter, O on this occasion, which begins the prayer addressed to the Virgin, Obsecro te domina sacra ('I beseech thee, Holy Lady').
Below, a pope stands at the altar and is seen from the rear. He wears the triple crown and halo and a liturgical garment while apparently pronouncing an orison which he is reading from the missal placed on the lectern. On his left stands a bishop, also triple-crowned, and a red-hatted cardinal, and on the right are eight haloed saints, in addition to two glowing-red seraphim at the foot of the stairs who appear to be escorting or supporting the pope. This final, passably enigmatic scene, with its triple-crowned bishop, probably recalls a solemn declaration by a pope at Rome of one of the numerous titles which the Church had bestowed upon Mary.
