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).

Mass for All Souls
Mass for All Souls in a Church, Folio 221r

The scene resembles a funeral, but the bier covered in a black pall marked with a cross represents the universal dead. Both the exterior and interior of the chapel are visible, and light is transmitted through the glazed windows. The features of the attendant monks are mostly hidden by their hoods.