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 Ambrose, Folio 172r

Ambrose, bishop of Milan, is known to have baptized Saint Augustine, but this scene is unique and may reflect a confusion in the Belles Heures text. Saint Gregory, who is mentioned on the same folio, was known to have baptized three Anglo-Saxon boys, so this scene may actually have been intended to depict him.