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 Margaret Emerging from the Dragon, Folio 177r

Saint Margaret was swallowed by the devil in the form of a dragon, but when she made the sign of the cross, she miraculously emerged from within. As is typical in the Belles Heures, her eruption from the side of the beast is accompanied by rivers of blood.