Coëtivy Master

The Coëtivy Master is the conventional designation for an anonymous illuminator or workshop active primarily around 1455. This identification is based on a distinct body of work centered on the decoration of illuminated manuscripts, notably Books of Hours, a form of production requiring specialized, museum-quality skill.

The verifiable output associated with the Master consists of leaves from six documented manuscripts represented in institutional collections. These works emphasize devotional imagery and texts crucial to late medieval piety. The focus of the surviving leaves is often the Office of the Dead, illustrating themes of mortality and salvation.

Works held in the database, including all items at the Cleveland Museum of Art, demonstrate this focus. Key surviving examples include the Leaf from a Book of Hours: Office of the Dead Opening Prayers (recto) and the vividly detailed Leaf from a Book of Hours: Office of the Dead: Angel Chasing a Devil (recto). Such manuscripts reveal the specific iconography employed in prayer books used by the elite of the period.

Today, while the name of the original creator remains unknown, the Coëtivy Master prints and illuminations are preserved for study. Many of these historical images are increasingly available to researchers and the public, often entering the public domain as high-quality prints that allow for close inspection of 15th-century illumination techniques.