MINIATURIST, French
(active 1310s in Paris)

Life and Miracles of St Denis

c. 1317
Manuscript (Ms. 2090-2092), 240 x 160 mm
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

This magnificently illustrated parchment manuscript in three volumes gives an account of the life and martyrdom of St Denis, the French national saint. The 77 miniatures are devoted to the childhood, conversion, preaching, and the martyrdom of the saint and his companions. All pictures are products of a progressive Parisian workshop that worked in a fairly consistent way.

The upper half of the miniature on folio 125r shows five saints and clerics painted on a large scale and surrounded by stylised, ecclesiastical architecture. They include St Denis himself, the first Bishop of Paris. Individual scenes of Parisian everyday life can be seen among the cramped huddle of houses, painted on a smaller scale, in the lower part of the miniature.