Tag Archives: Duc de Berry

April in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

April is the month for engagements in the Trés Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, and shown here is a very elegant group dressed in rich fabrics with the happy couple giving and taking the engagement ring. The striking blue of the cloak of the man on the left, the woman sitting, that of the sky, and the semicircles above completely balances in the painting.

At the top of the image, as with all of these Labours of the Month in the Très Riches Heures, is a semicircle with repeated fine shell gold lines encasing two wide blue borders. The sun in its winged chariot and pulled by horses – picked out by shades of blue and highlights of gold – are in the inner one, and in the outer one are the astrological signs for the month – Aries the Ram and Taurus the Bull.

On many such pages the Van Lymborch Brothers include one of the Duc de Berry’s castles and houses, and that is the case here. This time it’s the Château de Dourdan with it’s fine red tiled roof, high walls, and many conical towers.

Below the castle are the tiniest of boats, two of them, each containing a man rowing. Between them the floats for a net attached to each of the boats are shown by tiny dots, and to the left is what looks like a weir.

Carefully and exquisitely painted is the edge of a stone building with four diamond leaded light windows, and a walled garden with well-kept beds and fruit trees in blossom – appropriate for the month. Some plants are being trained up the back wall – espaliers – and there is a trellis separating parts of the garden.

But the main focus is the engagement with the four main figures in the foreground. Their clothes are rich and colourful, the ultramarine blue of the man on the right offering the engagement ring is particularly striking, especially in contrast to his gloriously plumed red hat! His bride-to-be looks suitably modest as she accepts the ring; she’s wearing a paler blue gown decorated with a regular deeper blue pattern, which so cleverly changes according to the folds lower down as she hitches up the skirt. Behind them are probably her parents, her mother in a rather sombre black dress but with bright red sleeves for contrast, looks as if she is encouraging her daughter to accept, and her father on the left, in a subdued grey gown with gold trim, is supporting his wife. His gown may be sombre but note that extravagant black hat and those red stockings!!

Two women one in a pretty pink dress clinched at the waist with a gold belt, her flaxen hair loose and falling in waves to her waist, wears a circlet of gold roses, on her head, and her companion, with a rather strangely shaped ultramarine blue hat decorated with pearls and a gold medallion, has a deep blue dress and a black and white over-tunic. It looks as if they may be picking flowers perhaps to create bouquets on such an auspicious day.

Yet again the Van Lymborch brothers have created a wonderfully joyful page, full of details and painted exquisitely.

For more Labours of the Month click on these links: July, August, September, October, November, January, February and https://www.patricialovett.com/march-in-the-tres-riches-heures-of-the-duc-de-berry/

March in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

This ‘miniature’ (it’s quite big!) for March in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry is one that was not finished by the Van Lymborch Brothers. It is their original drawing, and they painted a portion of the Château of Lusignan over five years from 1411 to 1416 (no doubt working on many other paintings at the time!), but it was completed by Barthélemy d’Eyck around 1446. The Labours of the Month for March as depicted here are ploughing, pruning vines, sowing seed and grazing sheep.

As an aside: The painting in the Très Riches Heures above by Barthélemy d’Eyck is not of the best and certainly not up to the standard of the Van Lymborch Brothers. This is not because d’Eyck wasn’t competent, as it is thought that he was the Master of the Aix Annunciation and Master of René d’Anjou – the titles alone being evidence of excellence – and this painting on the left shows that he certainly had the highest of standards, so it is likely that this miniature, too, is unfinished by him.

The main figure on the foreground is the ploughman, who certainly does not look happy in his work! His grey outer tunic is frayed at the hem, and has also been patched with a square of red fabric. His stockings too have big holes in the knees. His black hat pulled low over his brow covers a red scarf. The rich ultramarine blue of his under-tunic, though, suggests either a level of wealth not obvious in his other clothing, or a need to introduce this precious pigment perhaps as a balance to the glorious blue of the semi-circle of the heavens at the top. This and the red really do make this figure pop in a rather dull beige area, drawing the eye downwards.

The depiction of the plough is particularly fine with the metal coulter making the vertical cuts clearly shown as well as the mouldboard which lifts and turns the soil. The contrast between the ploughed and non-ploughed field is well marked.

An indication that even d’Eyck didn’t finish this large miniature is shown by the two oxen pulling the plough. They have no heavy collars to attach them to the plough and only the flimsiest of one rein joining them to the ploughman – certainly not enough to control two strong animals.

At the crossroads of the intersection is a carved stone monument. the stepped hexagonal plinth leads to a hexagonal column on which are carved figures, three can be seen. Above that on a carved stone platform are more figures and the pillar is topped by a decorated spire.

The section of figures pruning vines is particularly sketchy and is clearly not completed. There is also a confusing area which at first could be thought to be a figure half-buried using a mattock, but on closer examination the tool is sitting on the ground beside a black hat and a piece of white cloth.

The depiction of the Château of Lusignan is also incomplete, lacking the precision and detail shown in other months of the year. With round towers, one topped by a golden dragon, stout walls and dwellings inside it is very much a castle, but without the finishing touches and finesse of those depicted in other months.

As with all the Labours of the Month, the main image is topped by the precisely drawn shell gold and rich ultramarine blue semicircles of the appropriate signs of the Zodiac, here Pisces is giving way to Aries. Inside the semicircle, the Sun is being pulled by winged horses.

This is a typical tour-de-force of design by the Van Lymborch Broethers, but it is a pity that neither they nor Barthélemy d’Eyck finished it.

For more Labours of the Month click on these links: July, August, September, October, November, January, and February

December in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

The ‘Labour’ of the Month for December in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry is boar hunting as evidenced by this rather gory image of a dead boar lying in its own blood having been hunted by dogs. It is hardly a labour apart from for the huntsmen involved! Three men are really struggling to control the dogs even though the boar is clearly dead.

The huntsman on the right in the miniature is blowing a horn, which is attached to his body by thick leather straps going over his right shoulder; he is supporting the horn in his right hand which is awkwardly twisted round (it would be more natural if it was held with his hand the other way round so that his thumb is the most visible with the tips of his fingers indicating the grip). In his other hand he holds a long spear. The white highlights really do stand out on the horn, and also the single dot as the white of his eye. He is wearing a fur hat, a glorious blue tunic which looks thick and warm and which is pulled in by a black belt, and he also wears a black undershirt with black boots.

Opposite him is a burly fellow with tousled hair and a bushy beard endeavouring to pull a brown dog which is wearing a heavy thick collar away from the boar. He is grabbing it by the ears, and the dog’s expression clearly shows that it is not enjoying the restraint! On the right of this huntsman’s red tunic are straps to leash the dogs. The dog’s teeth and the spittle from its mouth show how fierce these dogs are!

The third figure in this image is another huntsman looking rather disgruntled. He is wearing a blue hat with strips hanging over his shoulders, and his tunic is red and brown with a black and white check band over his shoulder; this tunic is held in with a black belt from which are hanging both his hunting horn and leashes for the dogs. He is holding on to a lead which is wound round his wrist and attached by a blue collar to a large brown dog clearly resisting being pulled away, as can be seen by the acute angle of its back legs and the way in which its collar is being pulled from its neck. Despite his two-coloured tunic his socks with large holes are falling down and his expression is one where he looks as if he wants to get back in the warm!

The dogs look so vicious and I pity the poor boar who mustn’t have had much of a chance with this pack! They are beautifully painted, though, and the way in which they are pulling at the boar is depicted so well – there is a real tension there.

As with many of the images in this manuscripts, one of the Duc de berry’s castles is shown in the distance. This time it’s the Château de Vincennes, its towers stand proud over the canopy of winter trees.

Each month has a semi-circle of the heavens and astrological signs heading the main image, and December is no different. Sagittarius gives way to Capricorn and the sun chariot, drawn by four horses, relentlessly moves across the sky in the centre.

Yet again the incredible and inventive designs of the Van Lymborch Brothers are evident in this richly painted miniature.

For other months please click here for July, August, September, October, November, January, February

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

February in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

December is the month for keeping warm indoors and for cutting wood for fires and taking it into the towns. This is shown for the Labour of the Month in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry. The scene on the left certainly looks very chilly!

To the right of the miniature a man is stamping his feet in the cold, and his head and upper body are covered with a blanket with his hands raised to his mouth, blowing on them to warm them up. The bee skeps to his right are covered in snow as is the wagon just in front of him.

Just above him the woodcutter is swinging his axe to chop down wood for the fires. It must be warm work as he has tucked his blue tunic into his waistband to show his white underpants. To his left a man and a donkey are taking the wood to the town. Note the snow covered hayrick.

Interestingly, this image of the man and donkey shows sketched lines from the underdrawing and indicate the way in which the Van Lymborch Brothers altered the final painting from that planned as they worked. The donkey is loaded either side with neatly chopped logs.

Outside the mainly white sheep with a few black ones huddle together in a wattle-walled enclosure. The roof is thatched but there is a very obvious hole which would have let in the snow. Outside birds peck at seed left on the ground, and there are bound faggots of wood ready to be put on the fire.

The people who come off best in this image are the three lucky enough to be indoors and sitting in front of a blazing fire. It is painted as though the wall of the building has been removed so we can see the scene. A woman in a glorious blue robe with a black headdress has rather primly raised her dress to her calves revealing a white underskirt. Her companions, a man and a woman sitting on what looks like a blue padded settle, are not quite so delicate – their clothes have been raised to above their knees and it is clear that they have nothing on underneath!

As with all the Labours of the Month in this magnificent book, the scene is topped with a semicircular depiction of the heavens and the appropriate signs of the Zodiac. The sun in its winged charity is painted in shades of blue with a glorious gold sun, and wends its way in the centre of the semicircle; on the outer rim, also with a blue background are the signs of Aquarius, the water carrier, and Pisces, fish swimming in opposite directions tied together forever with a cord.

As with all the miniatures in this glorious book, it is a tour-de-force. Anyone looking at the picture would feel the chill and extreme cold in this snow scene and the figures illustrate clearly the Labours for December from those working outside and being cold to those inside and enjoying the heat.

For other Labours of the Month from this book click for November, July, August, September, and October

October in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry are lavish in the extreme, written in a precise and regular Gothic Textura, accompanied by exquisite paintings by the three Van Lymborch Brothers. There’s more on the Duc de Berry in a previous blogpost here. Each month of the year shows a calendar of saints’ days, feast and holy days, with a Labour of the Month opposite. October is the month for preparing the soil, breaking it down to fine tilth by harrowing, and sowing seeds before winter sets in.

Atop each calendar page is a semi-circular painting of the sky at that time of year with the star sign of Libra giving way to that of Scorpio. In the inner part of the hemisphere is the relentless passage of the sun, drawn by in this case wingèd horses rather than a wingèd chariot. The subtleties in shades of ultramarine blue to depict this scene really are incredible.

In many of the Van Lymborch paintings the palaces, castles and châteaux of the Duc de Berry are included, and this calendar page is no exception; this time it’s the Palais de Louvre in Paris. This is a magnificent building having a high surrounding wall with round towers, boxy projections over the wall, and battlements with arrow slits. The palace itself inside the wall is huge, as would be expected, with again round towers and battlements, cone-shaped roofs and many chimneys.

In the foreground a man with a black head covering, dressed in what looks like an expensive red tunic with a black pouch attached to a belt around his waist, rides a horse with a rather impractical white saddle cloth – in fact the whole ensemble looks more appropriate for a courtier than a man working the soil. The horse is pulling a harrow, a wooden frame with spikes underneath, to break up the lumps in the soil, remove weeds and create a suitable seedbed. Note the scarecrow behind holding a bow and arrow. It doesn’t seem to be that effective with all the birds around. There are even white strings stretched out over that far bed to try to keep birds off the seeds.

The painting of the harrow is particularly detailed with the struts of the wooden frame and the spikes going in to the ground clear even at this tiny scale. A heavy stone balanced on the harrow ensures that it doesn’t just bounce along on the surface. Magpies and crows are nearby ready to peck at any worms disturbed by the process, and the Van Lymborch Brothers in their usual ‘earthy’ way even include yellow horse droppings in this painting. Note the number of tiny brush strokes with various colours of brown and some white which give such a good effect in depicting the soil.

The man sowing the seeds also wears a brightly coloured tunic, this time in blue, with his pouch at his waist just below the white ‘apron’ arrangement which holds the seeds being scattered by his right hand. The pouch itself is intriguing; it looks as if it is expandable with a ‘concertina’ of pink leather or fabric between the two black covers, the visible top one being decorated. Two straps, one with a buckle, hang down from the wider side of the pouch and would be used to close it when there is less inside. His expression is not a happy one, and this may be because he is cold – look at the holes in his stockings and the way in which they are frayed at the bottom – or he may just be fed up that the seed he’s sowing is being eaten so quickly by the birds. The detail in such a small figure is simply amazing!

Yet again the Van Lymborch Brothers have excelled themselves in terms of exquisite and supreme craftsmanship, attention to detail and recording farming activities for the month.

There are other blogposts on the months in the Très Riches Heures: July here, August here, and September here.

September in The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

September is the month for harvesting fruit, and this is shown as the Labour of the Month in The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry. Here workers are bending over picking grapes from vines and loading them on to barrels on a cart drawn by oxen on the right of the picture, and on to a donkey with panniers in the middle, both to be taken to the press. As always the scene is set with a brilliant ultramarine sky and topped by an arch showing the appropriate signs of the Zodiac.

As would be expected at this time of the year, the Zodiac signs are Virgo followed by Libra, encircling the sun in its wingèd chariot rolling ever onwards. Two shades of ultramarine have been used – a paler one for Virgo and a darker one for Libra, and the signs are painted painted subtly in similar colours highlighted with gold, but are still easily visible. The semi-circles are inscribed by shell gold lines drawn with compasses, and these are divided into smaller sections such as days and phases of the moon.

Château de Samour
© 2025 Patricia Lovett MBE

In each calendar page the Van Lymborch Brothers depict a castle, château or palace owned by the Duc de Berry and this page is no exception. The building shown is the Château de Saumur in the Loire Valley. It seems as if the architect has had a field day on turrets, towers and chimneys as these totally dominate the skyline. There are also crenelations under and on top of many of the towers adding to the decoration of the building. The access to the Château is by a high bridge, separated from the building itself by a wooden drawbridge for defence, which can be easily raised if the building is attacked.

Harvesting grapes
© 2025 Patricia Lovett MBE

In the foreground workers are busy bending over to harvest grapes – it is interesting that the vines are so low requiring such stooping; not being a viticulture specialist, this may have been the way of growing grapes at the time and it was only later when the vines were trained on wires. Two of them are standing up, a woman, who looks pregnant, is adjusting her headgear which has a long length of cloth trailing down her back, and the other, looking rather young, is eating probably a bunch of grapes. The donkey with almost full panniers is waiting patiently for more bunches to be loaded on to his back.

Grapes loaded into barrels on a cart drawn by oxen are being taken off to the winery
© 2025 Patricia Lovett MBE

On the right of the image, grapes are harvested by one man bending over. He’s wearing jaunty blue socks and a short brown tunic – it’s a good thing he’s also wearing white pants! Oxen are waiting patiently ready to pull the cart of grapes loaded into barrels off to be made into wine.

September in The Très Riches Heures
© 2025 Patricia Lovett MBE

As with every image in The Très Riches Heures painted by the Van Lymborch Brothers, the imagination in design, exquisite execution at such a small scale and exuberance is wonderful and truly admirable (yes, and enviable!).

August in The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

August is the month for hawking in the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, painted and illuminated by the Van Lymborch Brothers. A party of five, three women and two men, are mounted on three horses setting out to do just that. Two of the women are riding side saddle behind men, and the third woman, the most richly attired, is riding side saddle on the most sumptuously decorated horse. Behind them, very much in the background, are people swimming and others stacking the corn into sheaves ready to be carried on a cart by two oxen, one black and one brown.

Ultramarine blue semi-circles top the main image with the appropriate signs of the Zodiac for August, Leo and Virgo, they are surrounded by a sprinkling of stars. In the innermost section of the semi circle is the relentless sun charting its way across the sky in a chariot. Semi-circles of shell gold, polished to a brilliant shine, also adorn the image. It is clear that all the semi-circles were constructed with compasses.

The castle in the background is the Château d’Étampes, near Paris. The Van Lymborch Brothers included a number of the Duc de Berry’s castles and châteaux in their paintings and this one looks particularly splendid with its high main square tower, five smaller towers, three of them with turrets, and a high encircling wall.

In the river below the castle, the Van Lymborch Brothers have shown people enjoying themselves swimming and splashing around in the water.

A man in a white long-sleeved shirt has an over tunic of grey with the skirt slashed high on his thighs. He is wearing a straw hat and a thick glove to protect his hand from the two hawks sitting on his arm. His very long pole drags behind him on the ground and he is stylishly wearing one long red sock and one black one. It’s clearly hot as he has no leg covering above the knee.

The most richly dressed woman has a cloak of glorious ultramarine lined with white fur (in this weather?) which drapes low over her and the body of white horse. The cloak has a circlet of gold decorated with circles and two long braids of gold which are attached to the cloak but extend way beyond it and the horse. These are painted in shell gold and the fine detail is amazing with such a tricky medium. The bridle, headband and straps on the horse are also in the most expensive pigment of ultramarine and again with shell gold painted patterns. The saddle cloth is in cinnabar (vermilion) also a very expensive pigment, and again with shell gold decoration.

Enlargements of the decorations show the fine detail of the decorations and the white fur peeping out from the slashed hem and cuff of the cloak:

One of the other women is wearing a black dress with red sleeves, and what looks like gold kid gloves. Her contrived linen headpiece will at least keep her face shaded from the sun but it must have been a bit tricky to wear and keep on! She is behind a man in a pale blue cloak decorated with a silver pattern and a shirt with a wide white lace collar. He is wearing a stylish straw hat.

It is difficult to show in these images how small the pages of the book are and thus the paintings. The Van Lymborch Brothers were incredibly skilled working with such fine detail as such a small scale.

The Duc de Berry and the Très Riches Heures

The Duc de Berry really must have been someone to know in the fifteenth century, with his lands, castles, and an unerring eye for quality, craftsmanship and fabulous objects. He described himself as the son, brother and uncle of a king, and lived to the ripe old age of 76.

The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry is a case in point as regards his recognition for exquisite skill and his support for artisans. He is painted here in the manuscript by the artists Herman, Paul and Johan – the Van Lymborch Brothers (previously Limbourg). Note the Duc’s well-dressed servants waiting at his table with one of them just about to carve chickens, his steward holds his stick of office and is calling people forward, and on the Duc’s table is a salt cellar in the form of a magnificent gold galleon with a gold bear at one end – one of the Duc’s symbols.

This close up of the Duc shows him wearing a thick fur hat with each hair painted individually and precisely, his plush deep ultramarine blue brocade robe has gold embroidery and decoration. It is lined with fur, very luxurious and it looks very thick and heavy; the fur also peeps out at his neck and forms cuffs on each wrist. He does, though, have surprisingly small hands. The Duc wears a thick gold collar from which hangs a medallion, and his two little lap dogs are on the table enjoying food from one of the gold plates.

The effigy on the Duc de Berry’s tomb shows a remarkable resemblance to his portrait in the Très Riches Heures with his downturned mouth and double chin. He is wearing here an elaborate headdress of what looks like a circlet of pearls or small silver balls, and large square cut and rounded gems all neatly held in place with clasps.

It is easier to see his coronet in this photograph. They are very large stones!

The Duc is wearing robes of regal ermine, with the black tips of the tails pushed through slits in the white fur and represented here by black curving shapes. At first it looks as if these were painted on the marble but in fact each one of black stone has been inset to the white marble with the greatest precision.

The Duc was very fond, and proud, of his castles and homes, and the Van Lymborch Brothers were very clever and inventive in incorporating them into their paintings in the manuscript. Here is a map of his châteaux and palaces linked to the various paintings in the miniatures.

It is difficult to appreciate the small size of many of the paintings by the Van Lymborch Brothers. This of the Zodiac Man is about the size of a quarto sheet of paper, and the detail is incredible.

Different parts of the body relate to the various Zodiac signs. This enlargement shows the partial bull of Taurus behind his neck, Cancer at the throat, Leo on his chest, and one of the Gemini twins peeping out from behind his arm. The head and blue robe of Virgo is just visible.

In some of the miniatures in the Très Riches Heures treasures belonging to the Duc de Berry are depicted such as this magnificent bejewelled gold cross, studded with exquisite pearls, rubies and sapphires.

And here is a very similar one painted in the Heures:

The stand out stars of the manuscript for many are the calendar pages, each double spread showing a full page miniature of the labours of the month, and on the opposite page the important religious festivals and saints’ day so they could be celebrated by the owner of the book in their own home, One after another they form a visual feast! Books of Hours being produced for lay people. Here is the one for April, the month for weddings, and indeed one is depicted here. In the semicircle at the top the ram of Aries is followed by the bull of Taurus.

There will be more posts on this book in due course. Meanwhile, here is the one for the calendar month of July.

July from the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry

The Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry is an absolutely masterpiece. Created by the Van Lymborch Brothers (previously Limbourg), Herman, Paul and Johan, they consist of page after page of the most magnificent and exquisite paintings. This post focuses on the calendar page for July; there are other blogposts on this website.

July is the month for harvesting wheat and shearing sheep. Two men towards the lower half of the miniature are cutting wheat with sickles, and, as they do, the blue and red flowers are being revealed. At the bottom right a woman in a blue dress and a man are shearing sheep. This particular painting is interesting because the angles of the château in the upper part of the image are reflected in the diagonal stream and the edges of the field. The mountains left and right at the top echo the shapes and draw the eye down and into the page.

The detail in the sheep shearing scene can be seen in this enlargement. Both shearers are using large shears which are operated not from handles through which thumb and fingers go, but by pressing on the blades themselves held open by a circular spring. The wool coming off the sheep being sheared by the man is shown falling on to the ground where it is in a large pile. He is wearing a fashionable bucket hat with a piece of pink fabric hanging down to protect his neck from the sun, but his clothes are rather worn and ragged, the sleeves are frayed and the knees of his breeches are worn away. The woman has a glorious deep blue dress which looks in better repair, and a black hood again for protection from the sun. Relieved of their thick wool coats, the sheep are grazing peacefully.

The other workers in this miniature are the reapers the other side of a small reed-lined stream. One of them has succumbed to the heat and is wearing just a white shirt and underwear; his partner’s tunic is split up to his thigh. Both are wearing straw hats to protect them from the bright sun.

The Duc de Berry was very fond of his castles, palaces and châteaux, and the Van Lymborch Brothers often incorporated them in miniatures in his books. This is a depiction of the Château de Poitiers, an unusual triangular- shaped building with a raised wooden walkway on stone supports providing the entranceway over the moat.

This is shown in greater detail in this enlargement. It is not quite of a high enough resolution to make out the precise strokes used by the brothers to show the curve of the tower and turrets, the covered wooden walkway, and the steeply gabled windows in the roof.

At the top of each calendar miniature are Zodiac signs for that month, here Cancer the crab followed by Leo the lion are set in a dark blue sky with golden stars. The sun, stars and semi-circular lines and divisions are in shell gold which is applied with great precision. There will be other posts on the calendar months on this website.

Here is more on the Très Riches Heures and the Duc de Berry.