Painting #013 - The Limbourg Brothers

Très Riches Heures / The Book of Hours 

The book of hours, popular in France around 1400, is a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours. 

The Limbourg brothers (fl.1385 – 1416), three famous Dutch miniature painters active in France and working in "International Gothic" style, created the best-known illuminated manuscript (泥金裝飾手抄本), the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (John, Duke of Berry, the patron) in 1412-1416.

From the calendar of the Très Riches Heures:

January -
showing the household of John, Duke of Berry
exchanging New Year gifts
(22.5 x 13.6cm)

May - 
Hôtel de Nesle, the Duke's Paris residence.

The Duke, with his servants and family, is proceeding to a festival celebration. The star map atop shows Aries and Gemini, indicating mid-spring or May.

To see all the months of the year, click Calendar Gallery. 

Unfortunately, the Duke and the Limbourg brothers died before completing the book: Black Death took the lives of one-third European populace. 

The incomplete book is on display at Musée Condé, in Château de Chantilly, France:

 Musée Condé, (Château de Chantilly) 

Black Death of course also killed the rich and powerful, releasing talents from among the commons, and giving rise to Renaissance. The Renaissance Italians blamed 'barbarian' Goths from the North for destroying the Western Roman Empire and changing the cultural landscape.

The Garden of Eden
- Limbourg brothers
- (20 x 20 cm) 1413-1416
- Folio 25, verso: Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

Inserted later to Très Riches Heures, although not quite related.


What is International Gothic ?



= = = = = EXTRA 

La patène de serpentine: a saucer inlaid with gold, precious stones, pearls, and colored glass.

The plate was made in the 1st century,
the frame in the 9th century,
and reworked at various times.
Louvre, Paris.

Gothic stained glass window - 

 North Rose Window (c.1220)
at Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, France 

Source: Wikipedia