The Madonna Master
Artists
The Madonna Master is named after the two images he contributed to this manuscript: the Apocalyptic Virgin (fol. 136v) and the Madonna in the Church (fol. 141v).
The only full-page miniatures in the volume, they are also the two illuminations that incorporate motifs from the Limbourg brother’s works and replicate their painting technique most successfully. The Madonna Master’s images are characterised by elegant restraint, calm introspection and sweet tenderness, all hallmarks of the International Gothic style. He painted freehand, without any underdrawing. This confidence, the fully blended pigments and the supple modelling of fabrics and faces suggest the hand of an experienced painter.
The Virgin and Child (prayer Creator celi)
The Virgin and Child are cradled within a crescent moon, a depiction inspired by the Apocalyptic Woman (Revelation 12:4). St Peter leans over the crescent, holding the keys to Paradise and pointing at Christ, the way to salvation. A contemplative St Paul, his sword sheathed, flanks the Virgin on the right. Angels descend from heaven. Their gesturing hands link the group below to the Trinity above, half circled by red seraphs whose arrangement echoes the crescent shape. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit seem to share a body, but have distinct physiognomies. This ingenious visualisation of a central tenet in Christian theology – the triune nature of the three persons of the Trinity – is embedded here in a devotional image. It introduces the prayer to God that begins on the facing page (fol. 137r).
The image of the Virgin and Child within a crescent moon features among the Limbourg brothers’ works and the Madonna Master, who was responsible for this miniature, may have been familiar with them.
The Madonna Master is the most accomplished artist in the Hours of Isabella Stuart. He uses a palette of bright, bold colours – ultramarine blue, vermilion red, malachite green, organic pink and lead white – set against highly burnished gold leaf, outlined in carbon black. Faces and draperies are modelled with subtle, blended brushstrokes. The artist painted this miniature freehand; no underdrawing was detected in the infrared image.