Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Book of Hours
France, Artois, early 14th century
MS G.59 fol. 39r

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Christ: Circumcision -- Joseph the Carpenter, wearing a cap, holds a basket with a dove, beside Prophetess Anna, nimbed and veiled, holding a candle. Both stand behind the veiled Virgin Mary with a fluted nimbus. She holds the nude Christ Child on a draped altar. Wearing a cap, Mohel, nimbed, holds the Child's penis in his left hand and applies an instrument for circumcision with his right hand. Scene within a crocketed trefoil architectural frame and a finial within initial D decorated with interlace and foliage, gold filigree, and diapered spandrels.
Margins - Rectilinear bars decorated with foliage, and inhabited by a bird, rabbit, and hybrid man wearing a dunce hat.