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 the Carthusians
The Grand Chartreuse, Folio 97v

This remarkable architectural portrait of the foundation begun by Bruno shows the monastery in its remote mountain setting, with monks or lay brothers engaged in fishing outside its walls. The image clearly shows the individual monastic cells—relating to the hermetic aspect of the order—within the context of a communal church and cloister.