English: This Book of Hours was copied in Eastern France between 1425 and 1475. Shown here is one of twelve large miniatures, each in a gold frame arched at the top and with three or four lines of text beneath. This miniature shows a richly-clothed King David with his harp lying beside him, and a book of psalms open on the ground in front of him. At the base of the border are an agricultural worker and a man with a scorpio sign; at the top two confronting cocks. Immediately below the miniature is a 3-line initial in red, blue and green with white tracery on a gold ground. The last line of text is completed with a line-filler. This page occurs the beginning of the section containing the seven penitential psalms.
The Book of Hours was a medieval prayer book used by laymen for private devotion. These books were created for both men and women, but their place in female devotion is particularly noteworthy. The text centres on the Hours of the Virgin, a series of prayers to be said at the eight canonical hours of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline.