The Stoning of Saint Stephen in a Historiated Initial "A" or "C" from a Gradual

Master of Jacques de Besançon · c. 1500

Medium

Manuscript cutting in tempera and gold leaf, with gothica textualis inscriptions in black, ruled in red, on parchment

Original size

13 × 13.5 cm (5 1/8 × 5 3/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Italian Renaissance

This exquisite manuscript cutting distills a scene of violent drama into an area no larger than a playing card, its jewel-like colours still vivid after five centuries. The Master of Jacques de Besançon was among the most accomplished Parisian illuminators of the late fifteenth century, taking his name from a Book of Hours produced for a prominent French patron. Working in the tradition of Flemish realism filtered through French elegance, he built his scenes from layered tempera and burnished gold leaf on vellum — a technique demanding extraordinary precision, since the medium dried fast and offered no forgiveness. His figures carry genuine narrative weight, even when confined within the curve of a single gothic letter. Historiated initials like this one served a liturgical purpose: the Gradual was sung during Mass, and the image within the letter marked the feast of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, helping singers locate their place in the rite. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates the original's intensity of colour, the warmth of its gold, and the careful figure-work into a format suited to the wall — honouring the craftsmanship of the source while giving the image the presence it was always meant to command.