Placed at the beginning of the second nocturn for
the Office of the Dead, Jean Colombe's miniature
represents the fourth rider of the apocalypse: "And
behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him, his
name was Death, and hell followed him. And power
was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to
kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and
with the beasts of the earth." (Apocalypse VI: 8)
The rider, clad in red and brandishing a sword,
rides a light-colored horse with red trappings, which
leaps over the tombs in a graveyard. He is accompanied by a procession of corpses, still wearing their shrouds and armed with lances, axes, scythes,
and sticks.
The sight of this extraordinary
group sends havoc among a passing group of
soldiers, who beg for mercy. A striking effect
could have been created here if it were not
for the monotony of the skulls, assembled along a
line which cuts the miniature diagonally, separating
the terrified soldiers from the horseman of Death.
In the background a cheerful landscape and a
quiet town, in which a few soldiers have taken refuge,
contrast with this frightening scene. Jean Colombe
seems to have intended here an illustration of Psalm
XXII, whose first verse, beginning this second nocturn, is inscribed in the lower part of the miniature's frame: "Dominus regit me ... " "The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing."
The psalm expresses the peace of the soul who believes in God: "For
though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy
rod and thy staff, they have comforted me."
In this
pleasant scene, we see at the extreme left the facade
of a church, then a dovecote, several houses, and at
the right the entrance towers of a château with a
drawbridge and a moat filled with water. Tall trees
and bluish mountains rise beyond, evoking the "place
of pasture" of which the psalmist sings.
small image (29KB) --- large image (283KB) --- A medieval town (large) (240KB) --- Terrified soldiers (large) (260KB) --- The horseman of death (large) (271KB)
