May in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

The usual Labour of the Month for May is hawking, but it can also be courtly love. Neither is obvious in the illustration for May in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry by the Van Lymborch Brothers – no birds, and no obvious hands being held, or loving and longing glances being exchanged, but there are certainly beautifully well dressed young men and women on horses forming a procession and ‘bringing in the may’. May 1st was a special day in France and celebrated at the French Court; this image certainly emphasises that.

The procession is preceded by trumpeters and buglers announcing the richly dressed men and women behind them. The musicians are all blowing lustily and some of their brass instruments are bedecked with ultramarine blue flags. They are wearing garlands of green leaves to commemorate the special day.

The women wear robes of bright green, the colour of spring and of fairies. It’s also the shade of green called ‘vert gai’ which Charles VI liked to give to his favourites at this time of year. Their hair, and the white headdress of the woman riding a white house at the front are decorated with garlands of green leaves which they may well have picked from the forest they have just left.

The painting of that white horse is exquisite with tiny brush strokes of a darker grey used to outline and to create the form and shadows of the animal. The green and gold horse trappings are also meticulously painted, even to the extent that they actually work – a narrow band passing under the horse’s tail which anchors the strap into place.

The men are no less luxuriously dressed, in fact, their clothes look every richer than those of the women. In the foreground, one man wears a gloriously deep ultramarine blue cloak decorated with what look like gold teardrops and arrow heads, and a rich, wide gold collar; he is looking towards another man wearing the colours of the King of France – half black and white and half red. It has been suggested that this could be the Duc de Berry himself. Green leaved garlands adorn the men as well as the women.

If it is the great man, then the two little dogs in the lower right of the picture will be the same ones as on his table for the Christmas feast (see here) Certainly they’d be a lot safer on a table top than they are here on the ground in too easy range of getting trodden underfoot by the horses!

As with most of the images for each month, this one also features one of the Duc de Berry’s many castles and châteaux. This time it’s the Palais de la Cité in Paris, with the Sainte-Chapelle and the Tour de l’Horloge clearly visible in the background, and thus giving an invaluable record of the skyline of Paris in the 15th century.

As with all these Labours of the Month pages, this is topped by a blue and gold semi-circle showing the astrological signs for this time of year. Here Taurus the Bull is giving way to Gemini the Twins, with the chariot of the sun being pulled by winged horses across the sky.

Yet again, this is a real triumph of skill and artistry which underline the title given to this manuscript – the Très Belles Heures.

For more Labours of the Month from the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry see here: July, August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April

‘The Art of the Scribe’ – Winner in the British Book Awards

I was absolutely stunned and truly delighted that my latest book for the British Library (published in March 2025) won in the ‘Scholarly, Academic and Reference’ category of the British Book Awards sponsored by the British Printing Industries Federation. It was thrilling to know that the British Library had nominated my book for this Award, and even more so when it was shortlisted.

However, I did practise my loser’s smile beforehand, not looking a bit disappointed that it hadn’t won to start with and then smiling with a ‘but the other book really was the worthy winner’ look on my face (as in the BAFTAs)!

When it came to this category, there were four other books that looked like very worthy winners, and having looked at them, I was pretty sure who would win – not mine.

When the book wasn’t even Highly Commended (Runner Up), I took a bit of a back seat – it had been a good evening, and at least the book was shortlisted.

Then came the ‘And the Winner is …’ moment. I absolutely couldn’t believe it when ‘The Art of the Scribe’ was announced with this citation on the left (also in the ‘Book of Winners and Nominees’ given to everyone afterwards)! It was just tremendous!

The Award was presented by Heather O’Connell, Publishing Consultant, Coach and Trainer at Bluebird Consulting. When I thanked her afterwards she said something on the lines of ‘when we saw your book we hardly thought it worth looking at the others, it stood out so much’! The Head of Publishing at the British Library, John Lee, and my Editor, Alison Moss, are shown here, Alison with the Award and me with my book.

And the double spread in the ‘Book of Winners and Nominees’ which was distributed after the presentations was a thrill too.

January in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

Christmas wasn’t really celebrated in historical times as a major festival, that was left to the New Year when gifts were exchanged, this was called the étrenne, and where the Duc de Berry was concerned, gifts were lavish and expensive. The Labour of the month for January in many Books of Hours was feasting and warming by the fire. There are some miniatures where people have taken their shoes off so that the heat from a fire is more effective.

Jean, Duc of Berry, is no different, but it is on a different scale altogether! Here in this magnificent colourful image for January, Three men are serving meat at the Duc’s table laden with food, using large knives to do so.

It has been suggested that the two men with their backs to the viewer are pages as they have white linen napkins, one with his over his shoulder, and the other across his body. They may also be to hand to pass to the Duc de Berry when he has rinsed his hands removing the grease from the meat. One of them is wearing spurs, even indoors, indicating that he is ready at any moment to fight for his master.

The Duc’s table, covered by a large white linen cloth, is laden with food including chickens and suckling pigs on a huge platter; they are carved by the green-tuniced figure almost in the centre of the image. Some of the carved meat is already on the Duc de Berry’s golden plate. Next to him is his finger bowl to rinse his greasy fingers, although they seem remarkably small as they rest on the table in front of him.

Two little lapdogs are standing on the table with their backs to the chickens and suckling pigs. Although they have their own golden plate, it is pretty unlikely, if my experience of dogs is anything to go by, that they would ignore this huge mound of meat!

The Duc’s white greyhound, meanwhile, is lying down on a rush-matting-covered floor waiting patiently for the kneeling man in sombre clothes enlivened with a red scarf to cut some pieces of meat for him.

The other usual activity for January’s Labour of the Month is warming by the fire and it is no different in this image. Although he is wearing thick robes and a fur hat, the Duc is here sitting in front of a roaring fire protected by a woven circular firescreen supported by a central carved light wood pole. The flames from the fire can be seen above this. A rush (?) screen such so close as this to the Duc and the fire doesn’t seem that sensible with the sparks from the fire being thrown out!

Others in this image are wearing fur hats and the two behind the Duc, both shown above and in the enlargement here, are thought to be two of the Van Lymborch Brothers. The one nearest to the Duc is leaning rather familiarly on the back of the Duc’s blue-covered bench. Both are wearing matching grey robes, with the one in front having a fur collar and a dark grey or black red tipped scarf, and the one behind warming his elegant fingers by the fire.

The detail on the woven firescreen can be seen better here, with the radiating ‘spokes’ and carefully woven weft, and the change of pattern nearer the edge.

The 1st of January was also a time for gift giving, and it is possible that the magnificent golden salt cellar, to the right of the image, was one such. It is in the shape of a boat and at one end is a figure of a bear, the Duc’s symbol. Between 1401 and 1416 the Duc commissioned 119 objects, gave 231 gifts, and received 358 gifts from 136 different people – some gift giving, and the gifts were probably more than a pair of socks!!

In this enlargement of the man almost in the centre of the image, the lavishness of the court dress and excellency of skill of the Van Lymborch Brothers is clearly seen. His tunic is lined with brown fur and the thickness of it can be seen in the way that it hangs and the slight bunching above his black belt – although, of course, this could also be due to the generosity of the Duc’s table! A delicate darker green pattern covers his tunic which is shown slashed in two places, and there is a gold chain dangling from an elaborate collar hanging right down to the hem. The grey-blue pattern, fringing and folds are clearly depicted on the linen napkin which is draped over his shoulder.

Similarly, the man next to him has a fur-lined tunic which is slashed but it is light and dark gray in vertical sections this time with a green leaf pattern overall. His wide, rather low slung belt is carefully painted and long tassels hang down from it. Just shown is his dark grey fur-lined cloak folded carefully over one shoulder.

Similar to the other calendar pages in this Book of Hours, this page is topped by a deep blue, ultramarine, semi-circular depiction of the Zodiac at this time with Aquarius the water carrier following Capricorn. The sky is studded with shell gold stars, and, in the centre of the semi-circle, the sun in its winged chariot pulled by four horses relentlessly moves across the sky.

The exceptional skill of the Van Lymborch Brothers results in this tour-de-force which must have delighted their patron, the Duc de Berry, when he opened this book.

Other calendar pages are here: and February November, July, August, September, October and February

For The King on the Occasion of the Coronation

It’s not often that you’re asked to carry out a commission for The King to be presented to mark His Majesty’s Coronation, and it was such a privilege to be asked to do so. It was also a special privilege to be able to propose texts rather than this being prescribed. At the time of this request I was looking into suitable extracts for my latest book ‘The Art of the Scribe’ (published Spring 2025), and this quotation from Shakespeare – John of Gaunt’s speech from ‘Richard II’ seemed most apt. Starting with the phrase ‘This royal throne of kings …’ and with other appropriate regal references in the speech as well – it matched the occasion. (Admittedly, John of Gaunt is lamenting the decline of the realm under Richard II, but that section wasn’t included!)

Such a piece needed a lot of thought and preparation and I was keen to ensure that as many pertinent references were made. First, of course, it had to be on stretched vellum, and a beautiful skin was selected by William Cowley – the most perfect ivory-white. Then, without question, it had to be in gold – yellow shell gold – and with pure leaf gold on gesso as part of the composition. I tried it in my go-to Italic script and wrote out the whole passage as here.

This, though, was too ‘blocky’, and, on re-reading, it seemed that the speech was reaching a crescendo at ‘This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England’ (you can almost hear the actor’s voice rising in volume until the last two words are almost shouted). But writing each phrase on a separate line broke up the design too much.

In the end I decided to write the four phrases in two lines, with ‘this England’ in capital letters. This seemed to work better. However, for this piece italic just didn’t seem right, so I went back to a script developed during the reign of another King Charles, actually a Holy Roman Emperor, that of Caroline Minuscule used in many manuscripts during the time of Charlemagne in the ninth century. But how would it look written in gold? I tried out the first line on an offcut of the vellum being used and it seemed to be just right.

The gesso crown was rather tricky as it was so small (about 1·5 cm) and only a nodding representation could be made to the pearls atop the arches of the crown, and the fleur-de-lis and crosses patey which rise from the gold rim. The different shine on this part of the piece echoed but also contrasted that of the shell gold.

It was framed in Sandringham oak – wood saved from an ancient oak tree in the parkland which would have resonated with His Majesty for whom, we know, it is a very special place. The letter received back by Gallyon indicated that King ‘was touched to receive this beautiful piece of commemorative art’. And I felt that it was a real honour to have been asked complete it.

Mediaeval decorated letters to colour

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked closely with the British Library for what is now decades. Many years ago I was helping the Education Department which had a lot of school visits. The problem always with such visits is how to occupy those who finish any set tasks quickly before the rest of the class. I suggested producing a series of outline drawings taken from illuminated and decorated mediæval manuscripts that could be coloured in, and then produced six of them.

Having a clear-out recently, I came across them again, and thought that they could be shared with a wider audience, hence this blogpost. They are copyright, but free for personal and educational use, simply click on the picture/link below for a high resolution pdf to print out; they’re sized for A4.

I’ve copyrighted them because they mustn’t be used by anyone or an institution to print out or use in a publication and make money from them.

Please, though, feel free to print these outline letters for your own use, for children and grandchildren, for courses, and for classes.

As the British Library’s website, including the digitised manuscripts, is still not completely available, colour images are here if possible, otherwise black and white photos or similar images are posted.

Copy the original colours if you wish, or go freestyle – they’re your letters to colour, so your choice.

The first is the magnificent letter B from the Ramsey Psalter (BL Harley 2904).