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 Receives Directions from a Satyr, Folio 192r

According to The Golden Legend, Anthony sought the advice of a centaur and a satyr as he sought Paul’s hermitage, and here the Limbourgs appear to have combined features of both creatures into one that has the overall form of a centaur but the hair and hooves of a goat. This unusual scene was also painted by the Limbourgs in another of Jean de Berry’s manuscripts.