Da Costa hours
Illuminated by Simon Bening (1483/84–1561)
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), 1910
Virgin Mary and Christ Child: Type, Apocalyptic Woman―A half-figure of a nimbed and crowned Virgin Mary appears amid an aureole of light. She holds a nude Christ Child with a rayed nimbus in her right arm and an apple in her left hand, which the Christ Child grasps. The figures appear within a crescent moon. The miniature begins the prayer Ave sanctissima maria mater dei.
The miniature and text are framed by a border decorated with flowers and inhabited by a caterpillar.
Image courtesy of Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz/Austria.