Lazarus, Thomas the Apostle and Thomas of Canterbury

The prayers corresponding to this miniature address Lazarus (feast day December 17), Thomas the apostle (feast day December 21) and Thomas Becket (feast day December 29) respectively. However, determining which saint is which is problematic, as none of them have the appearance of an apostle (Thomas) or a poor beggar (Lazarus). Maybe extensive iconographic research will be able to shed light onto the matter in the future. The damage to the miniature is interesting in itself. Damage in manuscripts can be the consequence of bad parchment, bad paint or repeated devotional caressing. The damage could also be inflicted intentionally because the owner of the manuscript might have vented negative feelings towards the figure by harming the painting. It is remarkable that the figure in the middle is damaged the most, especially around the face and halo. The rest of the miniature and the surrounding pages show significantly less or no damage at all. This is yet another aspect that will have to be studied in more detail.