Minneapolis Institute of Art

Coffer with print of The Annunciation

After the Master of the Very Small Hours of Anne of Brittany (Jean d'Ypres?)

Date

c. 1490–1500

Medium

Woodcut in black, hand colored with brush, stencil, and watercolor on laid paper, wood, iron, leather

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In its day, this leather-covered coffer had straps and was carried as a shoulder bag or traveling case. Once open, it sheds light on an important use of early prints: a fifteenth-century hand-colored woodcut of the Annunciation is pasted inside the cover of the large compartment, transforming this wooden box into a portable altar. There is a second shallow “secret” compartment in the lid, which might have been used to store traveling papers, valuables, or even relics or a consecrated host. Just over a hundred such boxes survive, all dating between 1480 and 1510, all French, and all likely produced in Paris. The Master of the Very Small Hours of Anne of Brittany ran a flourishing workshop in Paris, producing tapestry designs, stained glass, illuminations, and woodcuts. France, Europe

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