Hours of the Virgin and scenes from the Apocalypse
Texts and Images
The Hours of the Virgin, the core text in Books of Hours, received a large miniature for each of its eight canonical hours of prayer. The miniatures show events in the Virgin’s life. Every page has a marginal miniature from the cycle illustrating the Apocalypse.
Adoration of the Child (Hours of the Virgin, Prime)
Like the Annunciation (fol. 29r), this scene is set within an elaborate architectural structure which recedes into the distance to create a sense of depth despite the somewhat ambiguous treatment of single-point perspective. Such settings are characteristic of the Giac Master’s most ambitious works. The marginal scene illustrates the Apocalypse cycle. The arms of Isabella Stuart have been added to the border.