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 Clement Cast into the Sea, Folio 163v

The Roman emperor Trajan ordered the exiled Pope Clement to be chained to an anchor and cast into the sea. Here the martyred pontiff is shown still wearing his papal tiara as three sailors dump him into the frothy water, depicted in serried silver strokes.