Sujet

The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket; Arenberg Hours, early 1460s. Creator: Willem Vrelant.

Légende

The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket; Arenberg Hours, early 1460s. Additional Info: Thomas Becket (about 1118-1170), chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury, devoutly prays before the altar in Canterbury Cathedral while three knights approach him from behind, one with his sword raised menacingly. Becket had been a trusted friend of Henry II, King of England, but they became entangled in a quarrel over the rights of the Church. That dispute ended bitterly in 1170 when a group of Henry's knights, incited by their king's anger at the archbishop, killed Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. Becket was officially proclaimed a saint within three years, and was heralded as a hero who had defied a tyrant for the Church. He remained one of the most popular English saints until Henry VIII, during the Protestant Reformation, desecrated his shrine, destroyed his bones, and ordered that all mention of his name be obliterated. The erasures on the page below this illumination were almost certainly a result of Henry's decree. They indicate that the book was in England after 1532, when Henry VIII broke with Rome.

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Notre référence

HRM24A79_162

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

79,6Mo (8,1Mo) / 35,5cm x 56,2cm / 4194 x 6633 (300dpi)

Mots clés

Europe Latin England people male interior man men religious arts religion writing law art book guy crime letter cathedral Flanders Belgium church color decoration death medieval Christian Christianity prayer praying saint Santa kneeling text century Kent page inside knight murder alphabet literature altar concept killing santo decorated slaughter manuscript posture bishop lettering calligraphy Canterbury erased knights Colour Flemish devout altered Indoors mediaeval Middle Ages Canterbury Cathedral initial martyr 15th century 12th century archbishop Archbishop of Canterbury book of hours fifteenth century illuminated manuscript martyrdom murdering Reformation slaughtering tempera TGN vellum St Thomas Becket Thomas manuscript Thomas St Plantagenet King Henry II Henry II FitzEmpress Saint King Henry VIII Henry VIII Saint Thomas Becket Becket St Thomas Thomas Becket Thomas a Becket Henry St Thomas a Becket St Thomas of Canterbury Henry Plantagenet Henry II of England Henry of Anjou Henry Curtmantle King of England Henry II Curtmantle Heritage Art Henry FitzEmpress in prayer miniature (painting) folio Thomas A'Becket Thomas A' recto Decorated Initial Tempera colours gold leaf and ink Arenberg Hours Willem Vrelant Vrelant Willem Guillaume Vrelant Vrelant Guillaume deleted