Plate XXXVII.
Photo. Giraudon.
THE PROCESSION OF THE MAGI.
Pol de Limbourg and his Brothers.
From The “Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.”
To face page 174.
The Procession of the Magi, again, is an example of the Limbourgs’ facility in applying new forms to conventional conceptions; and it is worth observing how anxious they evidently were to study the special wishes of their patron the Duke. We learn from the Inventory of this Prince that he was an ardent collector of medals, and that he had bought from a Florentine dealer a medal of the Emperor Constantine. The figure of the most prominent of these three Magi on the left of the scene appears to have been copied from this very medal.[49] In the background may be noticed the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the Sainte Chapelle. Again two bears are introduced in allusion to the Ducal device. In the centre of the picture is a tabernacle of pure French Gothic style adorned with figures of prophets and saints. These tabernacles were used in the fourteenth century (the Duc d’Aumale observes), as halting-places between Paris and Saint-Denis and were called Montjoies.
The Fall of the Rebel Angels[50] which comes next is one of the loveliest pages of the series. God the Father, surrounded by Cherubim and Seraphim, is enthroned above the golden rays of the Sun. From amongst the ranks of the Angels—who are seated around in a semicircle—the rebels are being cast headlong to Earth. As Lucifer in his fall strikes his handsome head and diadem upon the ground fire bursts from him, producing a marvellous colour-effect of gold, blue and green.