The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" or simply the "Très Riches Heures" ("The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry") is a very richly decorated Book of Hours commissioned by Jean, Duc de Berry in about 1410. It is probably the most important illuminated manuscript of the 15th century, "le roi des manuscrits enluminés" ("the king of illuminated manuscripts"). It consists of 416 pages, including 131 with large miniatures and many more with border decorations or historiated initials, that are among the high points of International Gothic painting in spite of their small size. The book was worked on, over a period of nearly a century, in three main campaigns, led by the Limbourg brothers, Barthélemy van Eyck, and Jean Colombe. The book is now Ms. 65 in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.
Illuminations
It was natural for a book of hours to put together pictures of the seasons, but the illustrations of months in the "Très Riches Heures" are exceptional and innovative in their scope, subjects, composition, and artistic and technical execution. Most of them show one of the duke's castles in the background, and are filled with details of the delights and labors of the months, from the Duke's court to his peasants, a counterpart to the prayers of the hours. Each illustration is surmounted with its appropriate hemisphere showing a solar chariot, the signs and degrees of the zodiac, and numbering the days of the month and the martyrological letters for the ecclesiastic lunar calendar.
Artists
It was illuminated (painted) sometime between 1412 and 1416 by the Limbourg brothers for their patron. The writing, illuminated capitals, border decorations, and gilding was most likely executed by other specialists who remain mostly unknown. The Limbourg brothers left the book unfinished and unbound at their, and the Duke's, death in 1416. The work passed to the Duke's cousin, the royal art lover and amateur painter René d'Anjou, who had an unidentified artist, the so-called "Master of the Shadows", who was probably Barthélemy van Eyck, work on the book in the 1440s. Forty years later Charles I, Duc de Savoie commissioned Jean Colombe to finish the paintings between 1485 and 1489. In addition Pognon identifies the "pious painter" who painted many of the religious scenes later in the book during the initial campaign. The "courtly", "rustic" and "pious" painters would probably equate to the three Limbourg brothers, or perhaps other artists in their workshop. There are alternative analyses and divisions proposed by other specialists.
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| March Sowing the field. In the background is the Château de Lusignan, a residence of Jean de Berry. | April young couple exchanging rings. In the background is the Château de Dourdan. | May Young nobles riding in a procession. In the background is the Palais de la Cité in Paris. |
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| June Harvest. In the background is the Hôtel de Nesle, the Duke's Paris residence. | July The shearing of the sheep. In the background is the Château de Clain near Poitiers. | August Falconry, with the Duc's Château d'Étampes in the background. |
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| September The harvest of the grapes. In the background is the Château de Saumur. | October Tilling the field. In the background is the Louvre. | November The autumn harvest of acorns, on which pigs are feeding. |
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| December wild boar hunt. In the background is the Château de Vincennes. | January The Duke's household exchanges New Year gifts - the Duke at right in a blue robe. | February A typical winter's day. Some peasants warm themselves by the fire, another peasant chops wood, and still another goes to market. |
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%A8s_riches_heures_du_Duc_de_Berry
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