ProvenioArt Intelligence
Sign InExplore
polity kingdom of france medievalinternational gothic

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Limbourg Brothers)

Illuminated manuscript (c. 1412–1416 CE, with later additions c. 1485–1489) by the Limbourg Brothers (Pol, Herman, and Johan de Limbourg) for Jean, Duc de Berry. The most elaborate and famous of all Books of Hours. Famous for its twelve calendar pages depicting aristocratic life and contemporary châteaux in astonishing naturalistic detail. Held at the Musée Condé, Chantilly.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor the International Gothic manuscript illumination cluster with the Très Riches Heures, the supreme achievement of late medieval manuscript art and a primary document of 15th-century French court culture.

Notes

  • ·Commissioned by Jean, Duc de Berry (1340–1416) — the foremost art patron of early 15th-century France and brother of King Charles V. The Duc de Berry commissioned several books of hours; the Très Riches Heures is the last and most ambitious.
  • ·The Limbourg Brothers (Pol, Herman, Johan de Limbourg, all c. 1385–1416) were Netherlandish illuminators from Nijmegen who became the Duc's court artists c. 1404. All three brothers and the Duke died in 1416, probably from plague, leaving the manuscript unfinished.
  • ·The twelve calendar pages (January–December) are the most celebrated pages: each depicts a month through both courtly activity (the Duke feasting in January) and peasant agricultural labour (plowing, harvesting, reaping). Contemporary châteaux of the Duc de Berry appear in the backgrounds.
  • ·The May page shows a noble cavalcade; the October page shows peasant sowers in front of the Louvre (the medieval fortified palace, not the current museum building) — one of the earliest detailed depictions of the Louvre.
  • ·The Limbourg Brothers introduced unprecedented naturalism: landscape recession, atmospheric sky effects, accurate shadow-casting, and fine textile detail. They were among the first northern artists to depict space convincingly.
  • ·The manuscript was completed c. 1485–1489 by the Savoyard painter Jean Colombe for Duke Charles I of Savoy, who added the remaining unfinished pages.
  • ·The Très Riches Heures is almost never exhibited publicly. A high-quality facsimile is displayed at Chantilly; the original is shown only in exceptional circumstances.
  • ·Classified as a national treasure of France; cannot leave the country.