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).

Suffrages of the Saints
Saint John the Baptist, Folio 158v

The saint stands in a clearing before a dense wood, yet the sky above has an overall pattern of fleur-de-lis. He holds a lamb symbolizing Christ, a reference to the Gospel text about the baptism of Jesus, when John called Jesus the Lamb of God.