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).

Diocrès, Bruno, and Carthusians
Saint Bruno Leaves Paris, Folio 95v

According to legend, it was witnessing Diocrès’s miraculous speaking from the dead that led Canon Bruno to leave urban life and establish a hermetic order. Here Bruno stands with a group of followers in front of the gates of Paris, pointing toward visions of their future: the solitary life of a hermit, the portal of the foundation they will build, and, ultimately, the grave.