Differences in palette
Artists' Materials
The Betrayal and Arrest of Christ is the only one of the three miniatures to contain an arsenic-sulphide pigment, used in the dark yellow folds of Judas’ robe and in Christ’s hair, as well as pure azurite, identified in St Peter’s blue drapery. In the other two miniatures, the yellow areas contain lead-tin yellow and the dominant blue is ultramarine, often mixed with small amounts of azurite, while pure azurite is found only in border details.
St Peter’s reddish-pink robe was painted with an earth pigment, possibly mixed with small amounts of an organic red. The lighter pink robe of the apostle facing the Virgin in the Pentecost scene does not contain a red earth. This difference may reflect the desire to vary the pink hues.
An organic red was also mixed with azurite to paint Christ’s purple drapery, yielding a hue not found in the two other miniatures.
Betrayal and Arrest of Christ (Terce of the Hours of the Virgin)
Set in the Garden of Gethsemane, this miniature shows Christ, Judas, St Peter and other figures depicted half-length against a dark blue sky, with highlights in shell gold. This composition features in numerous manuscripts painted by Bourdichon and his workshop. The main protagonists were most probably painted by Bourdichon himself, while the rest of the image, lacking the master’s subtle modelling, was completed by his assistants.
The arch-topped miniature features a full border of pink and blue acanthus and red, blue and pink floral sprays on a gold ground with birds, a frog, and a monkey mounted on a dragon. Below are three lines of text, opening with a grey and white ornamental initial D, introducing Terce of the Hours of the Virgin. The letter is filled with gold on a pink ground, enclosing sprays of blue, yellow and white pansies. The text of Terce of the Hours of the Virgin continues on the reverse, which is decorated with a one-sided, vertical border in the outer margin, containing pink and blue acanthus and floral sprays on a gold ground with a bird. The page is further ornamented with small foliate initials in contrasting colours, one embellished with a fly, and another with an animal head. Line fillers take the form of white and gold foliate motifs on blue and maroon grounds, and tree branches rendered in brown and gold.