MS M.1044, fols. 110v–111r

Phoebus Praying in His Chapel
Just as Phoebus began his prologue invoking the Trinity and the Mother of God, he ended his work with thirty-seven oraisons (prayers) in Latin and French, an even greater expression of piety. In the last, he expressed his hope that the Almighty had given him his benevolent ear. In the miniature, Phoebus kneels on the red fabric draped over his prie-dieu. His hands are folded in prayer before an open book as he pleads for mercy and deliverance. He seems to have a dialogue with Christ, who, seated on the altar, holds an orb in one hand and blesses him with the other. In the thirty-second prayer, he used the hunt as a metaphor. After humbly stating that all good (glory) came from the Lord and that only bad (shame) came from him, he thanked the Lord for having opened his eyes and showing him the light and the way, making it possible for him to proclaim, "praise be to the Lord, who has not delivered me to the devil, like an animal captured by a hunter."