Getty Museum
Initial O: The Pietà
Creator
Master of the Lee HoursFlemish Illuminator · 1450–1470
All works by this person →The Master of the Lee Hours is an anonymous artist who takes his name from his contribution to a book of hours once in the collection of Ronald Lee, originally illuminated for duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy and his wife Isabelle of Bourbon. This artist in the circle of Willem Vrelant copied and imitated the work of a range of contemporary illuminators, including the Master of Guillebert de Mets
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1450–1455
- Medium
- Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink
- Culture
- Flemish
- Department
- Manuscripts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Within a letter O, the stiff and emaciated body of the dead Christ extends across the lap of the Virgin Mary, who is seated at the foot of the cross. Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist join the Virgin in mourning Jesus. The scene introduces one of the most popular medieval prayers addressed to the Virgin Mary, the *Obsecro te,* which begins: "I beseech you, Mary, holy lady, mother of God, most full of piety, most glorious mother, the way for those who stray, the salvation for those who hope in you, virgin before, during, and after birth, come and hasten to my aid and counsel." The jesters in the border bear no relationship to the page's text. They are a part of the whimsical visual vocabulary of late medieval illuminators.
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