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 Lawrence, Folio 162v

A complete drama with eleven actors fit into this quarter-page miniature. God presides above the scene where Lawrence is chained to the grill on which he will be martyred, while the king impassively watches and an assistant stokes the flames with a detailed bellows. Below the border, catchwords serve as a guide to the book binder, indicating the first two words of the following quire. (See “The Art of the Book in the Middle Ages” for more about book construction.)