Arnold of Egmond, Catherine of Cleves’ Husband, Praying to Christ
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
The seventh and last gift of the Holy Spirit is fear of the Lord. It is illustrated with a portrait of Catherine's husband, Arnold, praying to Christ of the Last Judgment (the sword of justice and lily of mercy spring from the Savior's mouth). Arnold invokes Psalm 118, verse 120: "Make my flesh tremble from fear of the Lord." The devil, however, countermands from Psalm 35, verse 2, arguing that "There is no fear of the Lord before God's eyes." Christ's rather neutral reply is from Ecclesiastes (12:13): "Fear God and follow his commandments; this is true for all men." These sequential portraits of Catherine and Arnold place the duchess, who commissioned the manuscript, and her husband, the duke, in starkly contrasting contexts.