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).

Hours of the Virgin
The Nativity, Folio 48v

The star in the center of the firmament breaks through the pattern of fleur-de-lis to shine down on the Child through the dilapidated roof of the shed. The attendant shepherds kneel and point, one of them holding a musical instrument. Like all the paintings for the Hours of the Virgin, the border of the scene includes a heavy band of ornament, here in the form of a vine scroll.