The Creation of the Epicycles, miniature on a cutting from Guillaume de Digulleville's Le Pèlerinage...

The miniature is an artistic representation of the moment in which the soul listens to the melody of the seven spheres, which by their movement create the epicycles — here depicted as two varicoloured circles made up of concentric rings, against a striking sky of vermillion red and rolling green hills. The composition is starkly modern: the soft, pastel palette of the rings is set against the complementary red-green background pairing to lively visual effect. The artist may be Henri d'Orquevault, active in Metz in the first half of the 15th century and identified by Paul Durrieu by a colophon in an example of the Chronicle of Livy. The text is from Le Pèlerinage de l'Âme (vv. 8895-8900) of Guillaume de Digulleville (1295-after 1358), one of three allegorical 'Pilgrimages' composed by the author, inspired by the Roman de la Rose and the medieval theme of Homo Viator.