Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Book of Hours
France, Paris, between 1471 and 1485
MS M.815 fol. 71v

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Innocents: Massacre commanded -- Herod the Great, crowned, wearing armor, sits on throne beneath conical canopy, holding raised sword in right hand and with left hand gesturing to four helmeted soldiers, wearing armor, holding spears and kneeling. Scene in interior with castle on distant hilltop visible through arched doorway.
Four vignettes in margins (counterclockwise from top left):
1) and 2) Innocents: Massacre -- Helmeted soldiers raise swords above infants held by mothers, struggling against the soldiers.
3) and 4) Christ: Flight into Egypt, Miracle of Cornfield -- Three helmeted soldiers, seated astride horses, approach man, holding sickle before cornfield. To right, Joseph the Carpenter leads ass, upon which Virgin Mary, nimbed, veiled, is seated sideways, holding Christ Child in her lap.