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.

142. MS M.917/945, pp. 64–65


Catherine of Cleves Distributing Alms

ca. 1440
The Netherlands, Utrecht
MS M.917/945, pp. 64–65

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

Piety is the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit. Illustrating pious charity afforded the opportunity to include a flattering portrait of Catherine as the generous giver of alms. In the miniature, the inspiring Dove of the Holy Spirit hovers directly above her head. The scroll above the beggars quotes Luke (11:41), "Give alms, and all things are clean unto you." In the bottom border, a woman tends to a prisoner. During the Middle Ages, this Corporal Act of Mercy was interpreted as charity toward Christ himself; thus the prisoner is given the Savior's cruciform halo.