Miniature from a Book of Hours with Virgin and Christ Child

One of the earliest drawings to enter the museum’s collection, this miniature was long ago cut from a prayer book illuminated by the Loire Valley artist Jean Poyer and his workshop. The celestial musicians—playing lute, cornamuse, and rebec—indicate that the image likely accompanied a popular prayer to the Virgin, the Obsecro te (I beseech thee). The beholder of this image was meant to visualize Mary’s love for her infant son, symbolized by the carnation she holds, and also the grief she would endure at his Passion, implied in her sorrowful expression. The artist added intimacy by making Mary disproportionately large and depicting her seated on a cushion, the pose of the Madonna of Humility. He created the effect of a panel painting by giving this tiny work a thin, illusionistic gold frame.