Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (or simply the Très Riches Heures) is probably the most important illuminated manuscript of the 15th century, "le roi des manuscrits enluminés" ("the king of illuminated manuscripts"). It is a very richly decorated Book of Hours, containing prayers to be said by the lay faithful at each liturgical hour of the day. The Très Riches Heures consists of 416 pages, of which about half are full page illustrations that are among the high points of International Gothic painting in spite of their small size. There are 300 enriched capital letters

It was natural for a book of hours to contain a calendar, and the illustrations of months in the Très Riches Heures (see "January" above) are filled with details of the delights and labors of the year, from the duc's court to his peasants, a counterpart to the prayers of the hours. Each illustration is surmounted with its appropriate astrological hemisphere

It was painted sometime between 1412 and 1416 by the Limbourg brothers for their patron Jean, Duc de Berry. They left it unfinished at their (and the Duc's) death in 1416. Charles I, Duc de Savoie commissioned Jean Colombe to finish the paintings between 1485–1489.

The book currently resides at the Musée Condé, Chantilly (Ms. 65).

See also

• Palace, for further illustrations.

External links

• Chateau Chantilly
• [http://medieval.mrugala.net/Enluminures/TRHBerry/tr-heure.htm : Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
• [http://www.christusrex.org/www2/berry/index.html Illustrations from the Très Riches Heures