The illuminations in this late medieval Book of Hours, likely made in Paris in the 1470s to accompany prayer at intervals throughout the day, are attributed to the French artist known only as Master François (active c.1459–88). At the opening of Matins in the Hours of the Virgin, a full-page illumination depicts the meetings of the reconciled virtues in a scene allegorized from Psalm 85:10, here following the translation from the Latin Vulgate Psalm 84:11, ‘Mercy and Truth are met together, Justice and Peace have kissed’.

The iconographic features of this allegorical assembly (called the ‘Parliament of Heaven’, and also known in French as the Procès de Paradis or ‘Trial of Paradise’) were influenced by popular medieval Mystery plays that enacted a series of events imagined as taking place just before the Incarnation of Christ.

In the top register, in an arc of heaven filled with angels painted red en camaïeu (a monochrome painting technique), the throne of heaven resembles the iconography of the Trinity on a ‘Mercy Seat’ or in German a Gnadenstuhl. Christ holds the cross, the main instrument of his Passion, beside God the Father. Between them hovers the dove of the Holy Spirit. The open book they jointly hold represents their universal governance and power of judgement.

Directly below, the Archangel Gabriel, with green wings, kneels between two groups of female personifications joined together by their enfolding gestures. Mercy and Truth hold each other’s hands, and Justice and Peace press their faces together in warm familiarity.

In the lower register, and architecturally framed, is the familiar scene of Gabriel’s Annunciation to the Virgin where the archangel appears a second time to fulfil his new mission. Psalm 85, with its themes of revival and restoration, cannot be stressed enough as the affiliate setting of the Annunciation.

Above, a text window bears the Latin incipit (or opening phrase) of another Vulgate Psalm (50:17): ‘O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise’. It suggestively echoes the Virgin’s words when she speaks to Gabriel, and foretells her subsequent psalm of praise known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55).

References

Claggett Chew, Samuel. 1947. The Virtues Reconciled: An Iconographic Study (Toronto: University of Toronto Press)