Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Diurnal of Isabelle de Bourbon
France, Amiens, ca. 1455
MS M.221 fol. 199r

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Virgin Mary: Birth -- Beneath two flying angels holding scroll with pseudo-inscription, Anna, wearing headdress, sits on bed with pillow, with arms supporting infant Virgin Mary, nimbed, swaddled, attended by two midwives, both wearing headdresses, one stirring pot held in left hand and one extending draped hands; footstool before the bed. Scene in bedroom with arched window. Margin, right: Foliate sprays issuing from fantasical bud above siren wearing headgear. Margin, lower: Angel, partly kneeling, holds cross-inscribed bannered lance. Margins decorated with foliate and floreate ornament, including daisies, cornflowers and columbines. Text is from Antiphon for Lauds of Birth of the Virgin Mary (09.08).