Skip to Main Content
Home>Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth: Manuscript Illuminations from the National Gallery of Art

Simon Bening, Flemish, 1483/1484-1561, The Adoration of the Magi, mid-1520s, tempera and gold leaf on vellum mounted to wood (separate miniature, not from a book), Intended Gift of Dian Woodner

1 of 11
Painted with royal blue, scarlet red, mint and olive green, and tones of soft brown on vellum, a woman lies next to a baby in a boxy manger as angels and monks look on in this illuminated manuscript. The woman is separated from the angels by a rocky, roof-like structure, and the monks are in a row of arches below. They all have pale skin. The woman, Mary, wears a voluminous blue robe over a vivid red dress. Her head is covered by the robe, and she has a gold halo. She reclines in a cocoon-like oval crisscrossed with medium brown lines on a lighter brown background. A baby wrapped tightly in strips of cloth lies in a gold-colored boxy manger on the far side of the woman. The woman rests one hand on the edge of his gold halo, which has a blue cross, and an ox and ass look at the child from the far side of the manger. A bearded man and two women are shown much smaller in scale to the left and right of Mary. The man has white hair, a halo, and wears a light blue robe. He sits with one leg tucked under his body in the lower right corner of this scene. He rests his head in one hand as he turns to look up at Mary over his shoulder. To the left, two women, also with halos and wearing light blue or red, pour water onto the nude baby, who is propped upright in a large urn to the left. The child holds up one hand with the first two fingers raised as blue rivulets curl down his face and body. Above, eight angels wearing robes in white, dark yellow, or light blue, and all with halos, hold their hands together facing in toward the center of the composition. Their wings are mint green lined with dark blue or red. Four green trees, two to each side, have teardrop-shaped canopies lined with seven birds to the left and eight birds to the right. Four monks stand and two monks kneel in six arches below the main scene. The monks have their hair cut into rings around their heads and wear black cloaks over white robes. All hold their hands up and look up at Mary. The background in all three registers is lapis blue painted with swirls and dots in paler blue or white. Red banners separate the angels from the rocky roof and the monks from Mary. Gold-colored, Latin text on the banners reads as follows. Top left: “GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO.” Top right: “ETM TERRA PAX HOIB BONE VO.” Bottom left: “ORA PRO NOBIS QVIA VIERSA NCTAES.” And bottom right: “ORA PRO NOBIX SCA DEI GENITRIX.” Traces of writing and music is visible on the other side of the sheet.

Master of Imola, Italian, active 1265 - 1280, The Nativity with Six Dominican Monks, 1265/1274, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1946.21.12

2 of 11

Lippo Vanni, Italian, active 1344 - 1376, Saint Peter Enthroned, 1345/1350, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1949.5.88

3 of 11

Fra Gregorio Mutii da Montalcino, Sienese, died 1395, Death of Saint Benedict, 1390/1395, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1946.21.13

4 of 11

Master of the Dominican Effigies, Italian, active c. 1328 - 1350, The Nativity with the Annunciation to the Shepherds, c. 1340, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1949.5.87

5 of 11

Workshop of Pacino di Bonaguida, Italian, active 1302 - c. 1340, Christ in Majesty with Twelve Apostles, c. 1320, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1952.8.277

6 of 11

Master of the Dominican Effigies, Italian, active c. 1328 - 1350, Christ and the Virgin Enthroned with Forty Saints, c. 1340, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1959.16.2

7 of 11

Olivetan Master, Italian, active c. 1425 - c. 1450, Coronation of the Virgin with the Trinity and Saints, c. 1440, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1950.17.2

8 of 11

Belbello da Pavia, Italian, active c. 1430 - c. 1473, The Annunciation to the Virgin, 1450/1460, tempera and gold leaf on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1948.11.21

9 of 11

Master of the Murano Gradual, Italian, active 15th century, Saint Lawrence, 1440/1450, miniature on vellum, Rosenwald Collection, 1948.11.12

10 of 11

Giulio Clovio, Croatia, 1498 - 1578, The Lamentation, c. 1550, gouache heightened with gold on vellum, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2006.111.1

11 of 11