DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45257#0278
174 LES TRES RICHES HEURES
hand a branch of lilies. Tastefully grouped around
the central composition are angels singing and
playing on musical instruments, and the whole is
executed in most vivid colours. The armorial
bearings of the Duke, a fleur-de-lys displayed
between a bear and a swan, have given rise to the
canting word Oursine (ours-cigne), which is said
to have been the name of the Duke’s favourite
mistress. They occur frequently in this MS.
The A doration of the Infant Saviour, with choirs
of rejoicing Angels around the roof of the stable
and Joseph—an Oriental-looking personage with
a long beard—in deep contemplation, is a repre-
sentation full of novelty and charm. A shepherd,
followed by his flock, draws near to gaze in awe
upon the Divine Babe.
On the next page a number of shepherds are
pointing to a choir of angels who are singing
and making melody in the air, whilst in the dis-
tance rises a majestic Gothic cathedral, probably
intended to represent the Temple at Jerusalem.
In the foreground is one of those conventional
hillocks so often met with in old mosaics; but
the fountain of running water which rises upon it
and from which the sheep are drinking is realistic-
ally conceived. It is interesting, therefore, to note
the admixture of symbolic tradition with realistic
feeling.
The Procession of the Magi, again, is an example
of the Limbourgs’ facility in applying new forms
to conventional conceptions ; and it is worth ob-
hand a branch of lilies. Tastefully grouped around
the central composition are angels singing and
playing on musical instruments, and the whole is
executed in most vivid colours. The armorial
bearings of the Duke, a fleur-de-lys displayed
between a bear and a swan, have given rise to the
canting word Oursine (ours-cigne), which is said
to have been the name of the Duke’s favourite
mistress. They occur frequently in this MS.
The A doration of the Infant Saviour, with choirs
of rejoicing Angels around the roof of the stable
and Joseph—an Oriental-looking personage with
a long beard—in deep contemplation, is a repre-
sentation full of novelty and charm. A shepherd,
followed by his flock, draws near to gaze in awe
upon the Divine Babe.
On the next page a number of shepherds are
pointing to a choir of angels who are singing
and making melody in the air, whilst in the dis-
tance rises a majestic Gothic cathedral, probably
intended to represent the Temple at Jerusalem.
In the foreground is one of those conventional
hillocks so often met with in old mosaics; but
the fountain of running water which rises upon it
and from which the sheep are drinking is realistic-
ally conceived. It is interesting, therefore, to note
the admixture of symbolic tradition with realistic
feeling.
The Procession of the Magi, again, is an example
of the Limbourgs’ facility in applying new forms
to conventional conceptions ; and it is worth ob-