Votive Masses
Texts and Images
The Votive Masses for major feast days open with images of the relevant feast, saint or object of veneration. Masses written during the original campaign received small miniatures, while those added in the 15th century were illustrated with images of varying sizes and formats.
Adoration of the Magi (Votive Mass for Epiphany)
This miniature was painted by an assistant of the Master of the Grandes Heures. Infrared imaging (see ‘Layers’) highlights the differences with the treatment of the same subject by the Master of the Grandes Heures (fol. 102r). The expert draughtsmanship of the large miniature on fol. 102r contrasts with the shaky underdrawing of this small image. It was painted on the last leaf of quire 17 whose conjoint leaf at the start (fol. 121r) has an Annunciation by the Master of the Grandes Heures. This confirms the close collaboration between Master and assistant.