The Pontifical of Renaud de Bar

Office for the Dedication of a Church

Texts and Images

This long text has nineteen large miniatures, several of which are displayed on the right. The cycle opens with an illustration of a group of people praying in front of a reliquary (a shrine containing saintly relics) on the eve of the dedication of a church (fol. 1r). It ends with a miniature showing a bishop and clergy processing towards the altar before celebrating the Mass of dedication (fol. 50r).

The partial bar border is decorated with a hybrid and foliate motifs. A bishop reading from a book held by an acolyte (assistant) is shown in the historiated initial O. In a parody of the biblical story of David and Goliath, a hare, armed with a slingshot, approaches a knight in the bas-de-page.

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