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
Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, Folio 162r

Seventeen figures crowd into this scene of the first Christian martyrdom: the stoning to death of Stephen. The figure in the left foreground bending over to pick up stones is convincingly foreshortened. God presides above in a circular aureole of golden rays.