Très Riches Heures
Date:
Initial work ca. 1411–16, later completed in the 1480s
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Netherlands
Medium:
Parchment
Dimensions:
29 × 21 cm
Description:
This book of hours was created by the Limbourg brothers of Nijmegen (Netherlands) for Jean, the duke of Berry (France) (1340–1416). After the Limbourg brothers died of plague, leaving the book unfinished, others worked on it in the 1440s and completed it in the 1480s.
Many of the full-page calendar paintings feature scenes of contemporary life. The page for April is an engagement scene in which a man and woman exchange rings in the presence of witness. The fiancée may be the duke's own daughter Marie or possibly Bonne of Armagnac, eldest daughter of the Count of Armagnac. The page for the month of September is illustrated with a harvest scene. Five figures pick grapes, including two women (one of them possibly pregnant). Oxen lead the harvest to the Château de Saumur in Anjou, a wine-growing region at the time.
Many of the full-page calendar paintings feature scenes of contemporary life. The page for April is an engagement scene in which a man and woman exchange rings in the presence of witness. The fiancée may be the duke's own daughter Marie or possibly Bonne of Armagnac, eldest daughter of the Count of Armagnac. The page for the month of September is illustrated with a harvest scene. Five figures pick grapes, including two women (one of them possibly pregnant). Oxen lead the harvest to the Château de Saumur in Anjou, a wine-growing region at the time.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• The manuscript is now in the library of the Musée Condé, Chantilly.
• View the full manuscript on the website of the Bibliothèque Virtuelle des Manuscrits Médiévaux.
Image Credits:
Bibliothèque Virtuelle des Manuscrits Médiévaux
