Pentecost and Christ Carrying the Cross

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This leaf from a book of hours was printed on vellum (a thin piece of prepared animal skin) and then illuminated and gilded to resemble more expensive devotional manuscripts produced entirely by hand. This page includes several different prayers. The opaque blue pigment coloring the accompanying miniatures obscures most of the printed background. Christ appears iconic and alone in the lower image, as if meditating on his upcoming death, rather than forcing his way through a hostile crowd. In the upper woodcut, the Holy Spirit descends upon the Virgin Mary and the apostles in the form of a glittering dove.

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