Initial T with a group of Benedictine monks singing before an altar from which issues water

Master of the Cypresses

National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of a religious scene contained within an illuminated letter. Within the twisting blue-and-green letter, the painting showcases a group of monks in brown robes gathered in prayer at an altar with two golden panels. An open book on a yellow stand is visible next to the monks. The altar has a white cloth draped over it, and the wall around the panels is pink. In the front, an old man with a gray beard wearing red and green robes is bent low, his hands extended below a golden spout shaped like an animal head that appears to shoot water into the ground. The scene is surrounded by the large letter, which looks like a lower-case ‘a’ shaped like a dragon-like creature and surrounded by a thick gold outline.