Virgin and Child with Female Saints

Leaf from a devotional book
Illuminated by Gérard David
Belgium, Bruges, ca. 1500

This Virgo inter Virgines (The Virgin Among Virgins) was painted by the Flemish painter Gérard David about the same time he did the well-known panel of the same subject that he donated to the Carmelite Convent of Sion in 1509; both share details of style and costume. In the panel, most of the virgins have attributes, while those in the miniature do not, except for the one holding a basket of flowers, which may be Saint Dorothy. Some of the letters on the neckline of the Virgin's dress can be read as "O Maria." Three other leaves in a Breviary in the British Library have been attributed to David.

This miniature once belonged to the poet Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821–1895). After Morgn acquired the leaf, following an earlier practice, Marguerite Duprez-Lahey bound it in full blind-tooled morocco. It is now matted, however.