Browse Items (45 total)

St. Nicholas of Myra (or Bari). The prototype for Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, fulfills many roles: he is patron saint of children, sailors, pawn-brokers, travelers, and many others. In the depiction shown here, Nicholas, in full episcopal vestments (a…

St. Jerome and the lion. The translator of the Scriptures into Latin appears here as a hermit. He is usually accompanied by a lion. Jerome befriended the lion by removing a thorn from the lion's paw; thus the lion followed him in servitude and became…

Archangel Michael on Judgment Day. Michael is patron saint of the church militant (the church on earth, in contrast to the church triumphant, the heavenly church). Michael holds the scales that weigh souls on Judgment Day. Dressed in military armor…

St. John and Seven-headed Dragon. The evangelist John appears on Patmos with his writing implements and eagle, as usual. What differs in this illumination is the presence of the seven-headed dragon, a memorable figure vividly described in the…

Sext: Adoration of the Three Magi. Typically a star guided the Magi to Bethlehem and represents Divine guidance. Melchior, the older of them, with crown removed in reverence towards the Infant, brings Frankincense in a chalice; Balthasar brings…

Christ as Man of Sorrows. Half-length Christ figure. Christ is depicted as the Man of Sorrows. References to royalty are seen in his crown of thorns and his purple garments shown below. Also below are the dice, which represent the soldiers' gambling…

Pentecost. The apostles surround Mary, who sits with a book in her lap, as tongues of fire seem to leap from the dove. The two-tiered structure of the illumination may represent the upper room where they awaited the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Penitential Psalms Scenes from David's life in chronological order: David slays Goliath; David parades with Goliath's head; David crowned as King; David gazes at Bathsheba (for another depiction of this scene, see the Manuscript case).

Judgment Day. A death scene, full of symbolic figures: a young man stands in a gaping mouth, a common image of hell. One figure holds a stake (not the typical sickle that represents the cutting off of life), another a scroll upon which the evil deeds…

Penitential Psalms. Peacock and drollery in marginal illuminations.