
This illustration for the third Sunday in Lent is the
first in a cycle of four scenes that differs from the rest
of the Limbourgs' production. The colors are warmer
and deeper, the background for three of the scenes is
an archaic floral design which does not occur in any
of the other large miniatures, with the one exception
of the Annunciation (folio 26r).
Christ's dark complexion and extreme gravity are slightly different from His appearance in the Hours of the Passion (folios 142v-157r). However, figures in the cycle, especially in the Raising of Lazarus (folio 171r), are similar to those in the Adoration of the Magi (folio 52r) and the Hours
of the Passion, which would indicate the supervision
and perhaps the participation of the master of the
workshop (probably Paul de Limbourg), even if the
cycle was executed by one of the younger brothers.
The first three Gospels do not tell much about the
healing of the possessed. Luke, whose text was chosen for this Sunday, says only: "And he was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb: and when he had
cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes were in admiration of it. ..." (Luke XI: 14)
The Limbourgs have painted the scene in a chapel-like structure, whose slender pillars, blue vaults, and statuettes at either side of the roof recall the Praetorium in the Flagellation (folio 144r).
Christ blesses the possessed youth who struggles in his mother's arms, while the demon leaves the boy's head in the form of
a small black-winged dragon. Outside and within the
chapel groups of figures wearing oriental robes and
headdresses express their amazement at the miracle.
The sumptuous golden floral work on the blue
background recalls the small miniature of Saint Luke
in the extracts from the Gospels (folio 18r) and several
of the illustrations for the Belles Heures.
small image (22KB) --- large image (217KB) --- Architectural details (large) (270KB) --- Christ exorcizes the possessed youth (large) (244KB)