This prayer book was commissioned by Anne de Bretagne, wife of two successive kings of France, Charles VIII and Louis XII, to teach her son, the dauphin Charles-Orland (1492–1495), his catechism. It was painted in Tours by Jean Poyer, an artist documented as working for the queen. The book is richly illustrated, and its thirty-four airy, light-flooded miniatures are among the most delicate examples of late-fifteenth-century art.
Angels Displaying the Eucharist in a Monstrance (fol. 11v, left)
On bended knees, two angels
elevate a monstrance in which
is displayed the consecrated
Host, or wafer, which is stamped
withan image of the Crucifixion.
Behind them, two more angels
raise their hands in awe.
Beginning in the late Middle
Ages, gazing upon the Host,
understood to contain, in
transubstantiated form, Christ's
body, was considered to be as
spiritually effective as receiving
it in communion. The miniature
accompanies a prayer said at
Mass during the Elevation of
the Host.
A monstrance is a vessel in
which the consecrated Host is
displayed for the adoration of
the faithful.
