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 is Attacked by Devils, Folio 194r

The traditional scene of the temptation of Saint Anthony is here adapted by the Limbourgs to fit into the narrative and landscape of the Paul and Anthony cycle. Anthony, in a sarcophagus very like that of Christ in the Passion cycle (see Folio 152r), is attacked by the beasts—a lion and a lizard—that had been so harmless in previous scenes. A large and athletic devil torments the saint by biting him and beating him with a stick.