The Gathering of the Magi

The three wise men from the East have followed the star, which now stands still above Jerusalem. They meet just outside the city.

The small tower is anachronistic: it wasn't there when the wise men arrived. Later pilgrims to the Holy Land developed the tradition of laying a stone at the spot where they first saw Jerusalem. The brothers turned the pile into a beautiful tower.

There's also something strange about the city. The buildings bear a striking resemblance to Notre Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle, and the Montmartre Monastery, which are not in Jerusalem but in Paris.

This is folio 51r from the Très riches heures du duc de Berry, the book of hours illuminated by the Van Limbourg brothers. They made lavish use of gold leaf and lapis lazuli for the ultramarine.