Willem Vrelant
The Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket

Bruges, early 1460s
MS. Ludwig IX 8 (83.ML 104), fols. 47v-48
Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

This miniature includes all the features traditional in images of the assassination of St. Thomas Becket. He is saying Mass in a chasuble when Henry II's knights come at him from behind. An acolyte with a processional cross stands by his side. On the altar is a chalice; at the altar's back is a small dossal, in this case featuring the Virgin Mary.

The manuscript is a book of hours. The text accompanying this miniature is the Gaude Lux Londoniarum, a hymn to the saint.

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Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.