The Woman Clothed in the Sun (Book Image (crop from .20))

From the margins on the right of the page, Saint John the Evangelist sees the vision of "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars," recorded in chapter twelve of the Apocalypse. The woman reclines on jagged bands of colors, while behind her glow fiery rays from the sun. From beneath her robe she produces a child, whom she passes to an angel to save him from the dragon behind her. The angel will deliver the child to the protection of God, represented in the upper right corner of the frame inside a mandorla, while the woman escapes to safety at the far right. The image's frame cuts off the figure of God, leaving only his feet visible in the same way that the figure of the woman is reduced to her trailing drapery and a glimpse of her shoes. This technique, common in medieval English art, was designed to suggest the viewer's presence within the scene.