Heures de la ViergeHours of the Virgin

CompliesCompline

Psaumes 43 (Complainte du lévite exilé) et 129 (Contre les ennemis de Sion)Psalms 43 (Lament of the Exiled Levite) and 129 (Against the Enemies of Sion)
Miniatures de Jean Colombe, d’après des esquisses des frères Limbourg, vers 1485Miniatures by Jean Colombe, over sketches by the Limbourg brothers, about 1485

Pour illustrer la Complainte du lévite exilé, David est représenté agenouillé au seuil d’un oratoire, devant les Tables de la Loi. Il supplie le Seigneur d’accorder la libération des prisonniers dont le visage apparaît derrière les barreaux d’une prison.

To illustrate the Lament of the Exiled Levite, David is shown kneeling at the threshold of an oratory before the Tables of the Law. He begs the Lord to grant freedom to prisoners whose faces appear behind the bars of a prison.

On the neighbouring page, David prays at the entrance to a temple, begging that “Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back” (Psalm 43, verse 5). The man talking behind him, are conspiring to cause him harm. The scene takes place in front of a delicate landscape with a castle.

Folio 61 versoFolio 61 verso
Folio 62 rectoFolio 62 recto