This curious design is followed by small but exquisite miniatures of the _Four Evangelists_ and of the _Tiburtine Sybil prophesying to Augustus_. Our attent ion is then drawn to a large design representing the _Terrestrial Paradise_. Four different scenes are shown on the same plane: _Eve receives the apple from the Serpent_; _she offers it to Adam_; _the Almighty interrogating the offenders_; and _their expulsion from Paradise_ through a Gothic gateway by a stern-looking angel with scarlet wings. This miniature, out of the entire number of not less than 206, is the only one which exhibits a marked Flemish influence and reminds us of the fact that the Limbourgs were nephews and pupils of Malouel, Court-Painter to the Duke of Burgundy. All the other miniatures in this Codex which can be assigned to these artists are pre-eminently French in feeling and sensitiveness, showing only occasionally a trace of the influence of Simone Martini: as, for example, _Christ bearing His Cross_. The scenes from the _Life of Christ_ commence after traditional fashion with the _Annunciation_ and end with the _Crucifixion_. The _Annunciation_ is perhaps one of the most attractive of the series. It no longer expresses merely Mediæval symbol but seems rather to simply represent a story; so that we feel that we are already on the threshold of the Renaissance. The Virgin kneels before a fald-stool in a Gothic chapel, whilst the Holy Dove hovers above her head. Smiling with gentle content, she welcomes the salutation of the Archangel--a handsome youth who bears in his hand a branch of lilies. Tastefully grouped around the central composition are angels singing and playing on musical instruments, and the whole is executed in most vivid colours. The armorial bearings of the Duke, a _fleur-de-lys_ displayed between a bear and a swan, have given rise to the canting word _Oursine (ours-cigne)_, which is said to have been the name of the Duke's favourite mistress. They occur frequently in this MS. The _Adoration of the Infant Saviour_, with choirs of rejoicing Angels around the roof of the stable and Joseph--an Oriental-looking personage with a long beard--in deep contemplation, is a representation full of novelty and charm. A shepherd, followed by his flock, draws near to gaze in awe upon the Divine Babe. On the next page a number of shepherds are pointing to a choir of angels who are singing and making melody in the air, whilst in the distance rises a majestic Gothic cathedral, probably intended to represent the Temple at Jerusalem. In the foreground is one of those conventional hillocks so often met with in old mosaics; but the fountain of running water which rises upon it and from which the sheep are drinking is realistically conceived. It is interesting, therefore, to note the admixture of symbolic tradition with realistic feeling. [Illustration: Plate XXXVII. Photo. Giraudon. THE PROCESSION OF THE MAGI. Pol de Limbourg and his Brothers.