Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial Et fecit Josias with Josiah Aspersing the Altar, c. 1300. Circle of Master Honoré (French, Paris, active 1288-1300). Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: 10.5 x 8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in.). This initial comes from a large bible (about 23 inches in height) and introduces the opening text of the Book of Esdras: Et fecit Josias in Jerosolymis Domino... (When Josiah celebrated the Passover festival in Jerusalem to his Lord...). The artist, a close follower of Master Honoré at Paris, set his figure against a diapered ground of alternating gold and blue diamonds with fleur-de-lys. Instead of portraying Josiah as a Jew, however, the artist abandoned historical perspective and painted him as a Christian priest sprinkling (aspersing) the altar with holy water in preparation for the Mass.