For All Saints' Day, Jean Colombe has presented us
with the leaders of the Church Militant. Dressed in
white and wearing his triple crowned tiara, the Pope
makes a sign of benediction with the first two fingers
of his right hand. Before him stand cardinals whose
red robes appear almost orange; behind the pontifical throne, several figures represent less important members of the Church.
The enthroned Pope, surrounded by his cardinals who symbolize all the saints, was an understandable image in the court of Savoie by the end of the fifteenth century. It would have been less so at the time of the Limbourgs, seventy years earlier, when western Christendom was torn by the Great Schism.
The serene face within the ornamental letter is typical of Jean Colombe's representations of Christ.
small image (20KB) --- large image (181KB) ---The Pope makes a sign of benediction (large) (197KB) --- Initial letter with Christ's face (large) (219KB)