LES TRES RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY

WHAT IS THE TRES RICHES HEURES?

The Tres Riches Heures is _the_ classic example of a medieval book of hours. This was a collection of the text for each liturgical hour of the day - hence the name - which often included other, supplementary, texts. Calendars, prayers, psalms and masses for certain holy days were commonly included.

The pictures in this directory are from the calendar section of the Tres Riches Heures. This was painted some time between 1412 and 1416 and is arguably the most beautiful part of the manuscript; it is certainly the best known, being one of the great art treasures of France. In terms of historical and cultural importance, it is certainly equal to more famous works such as the Mona Lisa, marking the pinnacle of the art of manuscript illumination.

WHO PAINTED THE TRES RICHES HEURES?

The Tres Riches Heures was painted by the Limbourg brothers, Paul, Hermann and Jean. They came from Nimwegen in what is now Flanders but were generally referred to as Germans. Very little is known about them; they are believed to have been born in the late 1370s or 1380s and were born into an artistic family, their father being a wood sculptor and their uncle being an artist working variously for the French Queen and for the Duc de Bourgogne.

They seem to have followed in their uncle's footsteps and by 1402 had entered into the service of the Duc de Bourgogne as artists. By 1408 they had entered the service of Jean, Duc de Berry, one of the most notable (and richest!) art lovers in France. They are known to have executed several other pieces of work apart from the Tres Riches Heures but most of these, with the major exception of the Tres Belles Heures, seem to have been lost. In around February 1416 all three Limbourg brothers died before the age of thirty, apparently killed by an epidemic.

WHO WAS THEIR PATRON?

Jean de Berry was one of the highest nobles in 15th-century France - his brothers were King Charles V, the Duc d'Anjou and the Duc de Bourgogne, and his nephews were King Charles VI and the Duc d'Orleans. He was inevitably involved in politics as a result of his position and was identified with the Armagnac anti-Burgundian faction, as a result of which his property was attacked on several occasions by pro-Burgundian mobs. (On one such occasion, in 1411, his Chateau de Bicetre was burned to the ground, destroying many of the works of the Limbourgs). In 1416 he died, apparently broken-hearted at the destruction of the French monarchy at Agincourt the previous year.

He was the medieval world's greatest connoisseur of the visual arts, with a particular fondness for jewels, castles, works of art and exotic animals. Among his extraordinarily varied collection were chateaux such as Saumur and Bicetre, rubies weighing up to 240 carats, a collection of ostriches and camels and - most importantly from our point of view - a magnificent collection of books. He owned astronomical treatises, mappa mondes, and a large number of religious books: 14 Bibles, 16 psalters, 18 breviaries, 6 missals and no less than 15 Books of Hours, including of course the Tres Riches Heures.

HOW DID THEY PAINT THE TRES RICHES HEURES?

The Limbourgs used a wide variety of colours obtained from minerals, plants or chemicals and mixed with either arabic or tragacinth gum to provide a binder for the paint. Amongst the more unusual colours they used were vert de flambe, a green obtained from crushed flowers mixed with massicot, and azur d'outreme, an ultramarine made from crushed Middle Eastern lapis-lazuli, used to paint the brilliant blues. (This was, of course, extremely expensive!)

The extremely fine detail which was the characteristic feature of the Limbourgs needed extremely fine brushes and, almost certainly, lenses. Later additions to the Tres Riches Heures carried out by the late 14th- century artist Jean Colombe were carried out in a rather less delicate way. The calendars, however, were mostly painted by the Limbourgs; only November includes a substantial amount of Colombe's work.

WHAT DO THE CALENDARS REPRESENT?

This is a brief list explaining the subjects of the calendar illustrations.

Please Note: The images linked below have been removed until we can ascertain whether we have the rights to reproduce them on the internet. Please contact the Humanities Division's webmaster (hum-webmaster@uchicago.edu) for more details.


JANUARY      The month of giving New Years' gifts (a custom which seems
             to have died out now). Jean de Berry himself can be seen
             on the right, wearing the brilliant blue robe.

FEBRUARY     Winter in a peasant village. The inhabitants of a farm are
             shown warming themselves by the fire, while in the background
             daily life - cutting wood, taking cattle to the market - goes
             on as normal.

MARCH        The year's first farm work, sowing and ploughing and suchlike.
             The chateau in the background is that of Lusignan, one of
             the Duc's favourites.

APRIL        The arrival of spring, hope and new life - the grass is green
             and a newly betrothed couple are exchanging rings in the
             foreground, accompanied by friends and family. The chateau is
             another one of the Duc's, that of Dourdan.

MAY          The May jaunt, a pageant celebrating the "joli mois de Mai"
             in which one had to wear green garments known as livree de
             mai. The riders are young noblemen and women, with princes
             and princesses being visible. In the background is a chateau
             thought to be the Palais de la Cite in Paris.

JUNE         Harvest time - the peasants are moving the meadow in
             unison, with the Hotel de Nesle, the Duc's Parisian
             residence, in the background.

JULY         More of the harvest; the sheep are being shorn and the
             hay is being reaped. The chateau behind them is that which
             formerly stood on the Clain at Poitiers.

AUGUST       The month of hawking; the nobles, carrying falcons, are
             going hunting while in the background peasants are harvesting
             and swimming in the river. Behind them is the Chateau
             d'Etampes.

SEPTEMBER    Probably the most famous of the calendar images. The grapes
             are being harvested by the peasants and carried into the
             beautifully detailed Chateau de Saumur.

OCTOBER      Tilling and sowing are being carried out by the peasants,
             in the shadow of the Louvre - Charles V's royal palace in
             Paris.

NOVEMBER     This is the only calendar image executed by Colombe; the
             Limbourgs painted only the zodiacal tympanum above it. The
             picture shows the autumn acorn harvest, with a peasant
             knocking down throwing sticks to knock down the acorns on 
             which his pigs are feeding.

DECEMBER     In the forest of Vincennes, fabled for its game, a wild-boar
             hunt has caught a boar which is being torn apart by the
             boarhounds. In the background is the Chateau de Vincennes,
             long a residence of French royalty.