Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial E[t fecit Josias] with Josiah Aspersing the Altar, c. 1300. Circle of Master Honoré (French, Paris, active 1288-1300). Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: x 8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in.). This initial comes from a large bible (about 23 inches in height) and introduces the opening text of the Book of Esdras: Et fecit Josias in Jerosolymis (When Josiah celebrated the Passover festival in Jerusalem to his ). The artist, a close follower of Master Honoré at Paris, set his figure against a diapered ground of alternating gold and blue dia


Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial E[t fecit Josias] with Josiah Aspersing the Altar, c. 1300. Circle of Master Honoré (French, Paris, active 1288-1300). Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: x 8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in.). This initial comes from a large bible (about 23 inches in height) and introduces the opening text of the Book of Esdras: Et fecit Josias in Jerosolymis (When Josiah celebrated the Passover festival in Jerusalem to his ). The artist, a close follower of Master Honoré at Paris, set his figure against a diapered ground of alternating gold and blue diamonds with fleur-de-lys. Instead of portraying Josiah as a Jew, however, the artist abandoned historical perspective and painted him as a Christian priest sprinkling (aspersing) the altar with holy water in preparation for the Mass.


Size: 2677px × 3400px
Photo credit: © CMA/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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