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).

Saints Paul and Anthony Cycle
Saint Anthony Seeks the Hermitage of Saint Paul, Folio 191v

The barefoot Anthony has a long journey seeking Paul in his hermitage, with the Red Sea (here depicted literally) between them. The dragon and snake suggest the dangers intervening in the wilderness. The composition is similar to that of the page it would have faced when the manuscript was bound (Folio 192r), demonstrating the sensitivity of the Limbourgs to narrative layout.