Quite Illuminating

"Zodiac Man" from the calendar pages of the Tres Riches Heures of Jean Duc de Berry, 15th Century, France.

Found at the end of the calendar pages in this beautifully illustrated Book of Hours, the "zodiac man" illustrates the alignment on the body of the signs of the Zodiac.

Beautiful Death

Master of the Dresden Prayer Book, about 1480 - 1485?, The Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

The Getty Museum is hosting an exhibition whose subject is the representation of death in medieval manuscripts. The manuscript was the most important piece of individually owned art during that time. People would commission artists, usually monks, to create books of prayers for them that were intended for personal use. They were small in size so the owner could easily carry them around. The exhibition entitled Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages runs through August 12, 2012.