On turning the page, the viewer sees the paint and ink of the
preceding page through the parchment, creating a subdued image
of the script, flower, ladybird, and mussel in reverse. But in
the middle of this page, the stem from the flower, called a
Maltese cross, which illusionistically pierced the other side of
the page, here appears to rest above a narrow strip of the
parchment. The shadow of this strip of parchment and the flower
stem are the only elements that are painted on this side of the
page. Through this defiant gesture, Joris Hoefnagel, the
brilliantly inventive illuminator, continued his response to the
work of master calligrapher Georg Bocskay from the previous
page, dramatizing the ability of artists to create visual
illusions. Although sixteenth-century manuscripts frequently
included fruit and flower borders and employed trompe-l'oeil
devices, never before had the conceit of the pierced page been
carried so far.