Getty Museum

Christ in Majesty and the Four Evangelists with their Symbols

Creator

French Illuminator · 1350–1370

The Master of Jean de Mandeville, an anonymous French illuminator, is thus known for his work on a manuscript of *Mandeville's Travels* now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A prolific court artist, he worked in France in the circle of King John the Good and King Charles V from around 1350 to 1370. He often painted the costumes of his slight figures in grisaille and rendered the figures' faces

More on Getty ULAN

Date: about 1360–1370
Medium: Tempera colors, gold, and ink
Culture: French
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum
Object ID: 539208b7-cc6c-4448-a1ce-d296c79837e5

From the Getty Museum record

The *Historical Bible* opens with the frontispiece of Christ in Majesty, with the Four Evangelists writing their Gospels in the corners. Even though Jesus' story is not told until later in the biblical narrative, his representation here links the Old Testament creation story opening the Bible with Christ's future birth, emphasizing that each individual biblical narrative can be seen as part of the progression of Christian history. The miniature features graceful figures wearing sinuous draperies painted in grisaille. This technique, popular in the 1300s, is characterized by the use of variations of a single color to suggest a sculptural quality. The figures appear before colorful decorative backgrounds of red or blue, with the whole framed by an elaborate quatrefoil structure.

View at Getty Museum ↗

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page

See at Getty Museum