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).

Great Litany
The Great Litany Procession, Folio 73v

Pope Gregory leads a procession out of the city gate of Rome, preceded by churchmen singing from a choirbook. At lower left, two shrouded figures prostrate themselves, while a graphically presented and foreshortened plague victim flings out his limbs in death.