The Art of Illumination

Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, 1405–1408/9. Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg (Franco-Netherlandish, active in France by 1399–1416). French; Made in Paris. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum; 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cloisters Collection, 1954 (54.1.1).

Hours of the Passion
The Betrayal, Folio 123v

The drama of the arrest of Christ includes several elements presented simultaneously: the kiss of Judas that betrays Jesus to the soldiers; Peter sheathing his sword at Christ’s command after having cut off the ear of Malchus, who is healed by Christ’s touch; and the arrest itself. The Limbourgs based some elements of the composition on earlier Parisian models.