Tag Archives: Herman

The Duc de Berry and the Très Riches Heures

Duc de Berry diningThe 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.

Photographs here are all my own, (© 2025 Patricia Lovett) and taken at the exhibition of the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry at the Château of Chantilly in the summer of 2025.

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.