1316 Illumination on parchment, 5,9 x 8,3 cm British Library, London The interaction between image and viewer can be seen in illustrations to courtly tales of chivalric love, or romances, like in a lavishly illuminated volume of Arthurian romances made for a wealthy patron in St Omer or Th?rouanne in French Flanders. Here, at the beginning of the story of the quest for the Holy Grail, the artist depicts the strange things that were seen during the night by a pagan king called Evelac, not in a dream but in a waking vision. At the climax he sees a beautiful child enter a room without opening the door, an effect subtly evoked with transparent layers of paint. Artist: MINIATURIST, French Painting Title: L'Histoire de Saint Graal , 1301-1350 Painting Style: French , illumination Type: historical |