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 Anthony of Padua Stills a Storm, Folio 170r

This scene, rarely if ever painted before, shows the saint dispatching a devil with a benediction, thus ending the hailstorm the devil had fomented to try to scatter the audience assembled for the saint’s sermon. The miracle was said to have taken place in Bourges, the principal seat of the duke. Look closely to see the lines laid for ruling the page to aid the artist in making guide lines for the shape of the saint’s pulpit (see detail).