Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

337. MS M.917/945, pp. 288–289

St. Leonard

ca. 1440
The Netherlands, Utrecht
MS M.917/945, pp. 288–289

Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963

The extraordinary and non-historical legend of St. Leonard tells the story of a pious nobleman who was accomplished in obtaining the release of prisoners by prayer and negotiation. He holds in his right hand his attributes, a set of prisoner's fetters dangling from a chain. Interlaced chain-like links decorate the floor on which Leonard stands. This geometric motif is quite similar to that decorating the border of the miniature of Catherine of Cleves praying to the Virgin and the Crucified Christ (p. 160) and supports an identification of that abbot saint as Leonard.