Grimani Breviary

Part of the Grimani Breviary seems to be painted by Gerard Horenbout, a Ghent painter who may have been trained by Alexander Bening. The breviary includes hundreds of miniatures and many of them are full-page illuminations. Most of the painted scenes are rendered in meticulous detail. For instance, the Tower of Babel miniature, shown here, does not simply depict a large edifice and the confusion of tongues. On the contrary, it shows the tower in the midst of construction, with scaffolding, windlasses, and cranes, prior to the moment of linguistic chaos.