Artist of the Enthroned Virgin
Artists
The historiated initial D with the enthroned Virgin and Child on fol. 3r was painted with a different technique, using different materials from those found in the remaining large images. This suggests the involvement of another artist.
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_image/MS 242_3r_zone6_Virgin mantle detail_20X_cropped.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_image/MS 242_3r_zone5_Virgin mantle detail_20X.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_image/MS 242_3r_zone3_backgroung deco on gold_7-5X.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_graph/ms-242-3r-f10-blue-fleur-de-lys-hs3b.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_image/MS 242_3r_zone8_two figures on a horse detail robes_20X.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_image/MS 242_3r_zone24_bird left_7-5X.jpg)
![](/illuminated/media/w800h800/hotspot_graph/MS 242_3r_X6_AsS yellow_HS5b.jpg)
Historiated initial D with the Enthroned Virgin and Child (Hours of the Virgin, Matins)
The three-dimensional modelling of the Virgin Mary’s garments, with their multiple folds, distinguishes this initial from the more linear treatment of other draperies in the manuscript and suggests that this image was painted by a different artist. The materials employed also set this initial apart. These include coarser pigment particles (hotspot 1), a darkened organic shading on the Virgin’s mantle (hotspot 2), flesh tones containing lead white but no gypsum, and the use of shell gold for the decoration painted over the gilded background (hotspot 3). The border contains some pigments not found in the miniature: an organic red, used to obtain a red hue (hotspot 4) and a yellow arsenic sulphide pigment used in the wing of a bird (hotspot 5).