The Rothschild Prayer Book is a fabulous manuscript. Made for an unknown patron in the early years of the sixteenth century by a group of the most notable Flemish painters, it is essentially a very luxurious example of a Book of Hours, the most popular form of prayer book from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Although such books emulated elements of the liturgy performed by priests and members of religious orders, Books of Hours were not primarily intended for use in church: they were for private prayer. The component texts could vary, although there were standard inclusions.

The central and most important devotion was the Office or Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Made up of hymns, psalms and prayers to be said at the eight canonical divisions of the day, this was the text that gave the book its name. The illumination of the pages with the opening of prime, the first daylight hour, in the Office of the Virgin in the Rothschild Prayer Book is a great demonstration of both the narrative richness and the opulent technique (Figure 2.1). Scenes from the Life of the Virgin, mostly from the Infancy of Christ, were the most common subjects to illustrate this Office, yet this opening is far from a routine treatment.