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).

The Story of Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome Tempted by Dancing Girls, Folio 186r

Two young ladies in fashionable dress pose and sway within the city gates of their walled town, as Jerome turns away but looks back at them, tormented. A devil helps to turn Jerome’s face toward the temptation, while his body faces the church entrance. The text implies the torture is in a dream, not reality.