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 Denis and His Companions, Folio 166v

Saint Denis, bishop and patron saint of Paris, was decapitated along with two of his companions. The saint picked up his severed head and walked to Montmartre (Mount of Martyrs), where he was first buried, before his relics were translated to the royal abbey of Saint-Denis, north of Paris. The miniature is full of energy, both of the executioner raising his ax and the blood spurting from the necks of the martyrs already dispatched. (See also an image of Saint Geneviève, Folio 181r.)