ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Arras Mystery Play as evidence of a relatively unexplored form of fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript production in Flanders. It examines the miniatures and their numbering system establishes the distinct stages in their making and shows that the artists modified their working methods over the course of the project. The chapter discusses that this mode of production is situated within contemporary debates that sought to define the nature of illustration and to circumscribe the work of its makers. It suggests that this mode of production contributed to the creation of both a new market for illuminated manuscripts and a new type of illuminated cycle that was ideally suited to the illustration of a mystery play. The significance of the manuscript known as the Arras Mystery Play for the history of medieval literature and theater has long been recognized.
