2-723-966 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Book of Hours (Use of Metz): Fol. 27r, Decorated Initials, c. 1440. This volume contains only one full-page miniature of the standing Virgin with Child. It introduces the prayer: "Holy Mary, faultless Lady, intercede for us. . . . " The first seven folios of the book list dedications of Metz churches and indulgences that are unique to that diocese. The city of Metz, situated on the Moselle River, was the cultural and commercial capital of Lorraine during the 1400s. It was also the location of an important bishopric (diocese of a bishop) and therefore the center of a growing book trade.