England, London, c 1415 – c 1420. Trinity College, Cambridge, MS B.11.7, fols 32v–33 (cat no 46). Image courtesy The Master and Fellows, Trinity College, Cambridge.

Two picture cycles, one celebrating the Incarnation and early life of Christ and the other his Passion, illustrate the Hours of the Virgin in this book, which is one of the most richly illuminated English books of hours of the early 15th century. At the canonical hour of prime, the betrayal of Christ appears with the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. The book was completed for Henry IV’s sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Sir John Cornwall, who fought at Agincourt in 1415. A petition for peace, concord and victory ‘for our king and princes’ appears in the Litany and a kneeling king (Henry V) at the prayer for peace.