206

KATHERINE MCDONALD

Michelino to reinforce the thrust of the devotional text which here reads:

Pray for us Blessed Katherine that we may be made worthy of the prom¬
ises of Christ.

Let us pray.

О God you wrought wonderful things for a member of the fragile sex
your devoted spouse, the Virgin most blessed Katherine. Glowing like a
most beautiful star and armed with the arrows of faith, she triumphed
over the wisdom of the world and overcame by your strength, torments
which would have shaken marble foundations, I beg thee, through her
intercession, to be saved from the world and from those fears which we
should not fear. Guard me and all those who trust in your goodness. Her
body was bathed from head to foot with a marvellous liquid and was
wonderfully placed on Mt. Sinai by your angels, may I with them enjoy
perpetual happiness, through the prayers of your martyr, Katherine, you
who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Dressed in a sumptuous green garment and blue cloak lined with tiny ermine
tufts—dress which befits a princess, Katherine’s hair hangs in short ragged locks
that betray the “torments which would shake marble foundations”. She stands upon
a mound of seemingly arid ground, an allusion to Mt. Sinai. Surprisingly, it sprouts
leaves and small white flowers as though nourished by the heavenly fluid referred to
in the prayer, while the angels responsible for translating the saint’s body to the holy
mountain are shown presenting her with a jewelled crown and the palm of martyr¬
dom.

The use of matching flower borders and tapestry-like backdrops for the images
of a series of standing saints in the Sanctoral is more than a linking device. It helps
thrust the figures forward so that they assume a more life-like appearance. As they
turn slightly in their voluminous gowns, with their attributes of gold and silver, these
holy ones give the impression of crossing from the world of the spirit into the one
which we inhabit, and of clothing the words of the prayers with flesh and blood—
“et verbum caro factum est”. This for the contemplative reader was an essential
element of the book’s dynamic, and one which the artist has intimately understood.

THE PRAYER-BOOK OF MICHELINO DA BESOZZO

207

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Figure 81 The Washing of the Apostles’ Feet. Prayer-book, New York, Pieipont
Morgan Library MS M. 944, fols. 19v-20; 170x120 mm.