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 Andrew, Folio 160r

The saint holds the saltire (x-shaped) cross by which he was martyred. This form of the cross was increasingly represented for Andrew starting in the fourteenth century, as it was thought his cross should differ from those of Christ and Saint Peter. The background pattern is especially minute.