Medieval art is strange to the modern eye. The bodies are elongated and flat, the animals don't resemble real animals, and most of the humans depicted are either doing odd things like dancing on their head or wearing solemn looks of despair.
However odd they seem, these paintings were vital to understanding the text. The vast majority of people in the Middle Ages were illiterate. Even the educated wealthy had a limited understanding of the gospel, since few spoke or read Latin, the language of liturgy and scripture. The images within the pages of these illuminated manuscripts, though accessible to only a few, opened up a way for the public to understand scripture.
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