I found so many wonderful sites with information on these three amazing brothers, that I spent hours downloading links and images to my blog…
The Limbourg Brothers (Lihm-borg) – Herman, Paul and Johan, were famous Dutch painters from the city of Nijmegen, who lived during the early Renaissance period, from 1385 – 1416. The started painting at ages sixteen to nineteen and were known for painting miniatures in the style known as International Gothic, developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy. They were among several collections of illuminated manuscripts, portable works of art, that traveled from one royal house to another such as the Duchy of Burgundy, in France, the Imperial court in Prague, and Italy as well as the royal marriage of Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia which helped popularize the style.
In 1404, the brothers went to work for Jean of France, Duc de Berry, son of King John the Good of France, who first commissioned them to illuminate a Book of Hours, that later became know as the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry. It is now preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in the The Cloisters .
The best known work of the Limbourg Brothers is entitled Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Jean of France, Duc de Berry commissioned the work as a calendar that included a list of holy days, prayers and paintings of the seasons. They made their own paints and used tiny paintbrushes as well as magnifying glasses to complete the detailed images. It consists of 416 pages, including 131 with large miniatures and many more with border decorations or historicised initials.
The brothers died, it is presumed by plague, before completion of the work which took nearly a century to complete. The other two campaigns to work on the group were led by Barthélemy van Eyck, and Jean Colombe.
The book is Ms 65 in the Musée Condé, a historic château turned art gallery. Owned by the Institute of France, it is located in the town of Chantilly, France.
IMAGES
February from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Peasants)
April from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Court culture, marriage ritual)
June from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Hay making, The Ile de la Cité in Paris appears in the background.)
October from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Louvre, at the time the new royal palace, appears in the background.)
Musée Condé, Chantilly, France from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Fall of the Rebel Angels from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
(Unnamed Image) from Belles Heures du Duc de Berry
The Annunciation from Belles Heures: ink, tempera and gold leaf (hammered into extremely thin sheets and often used for gilding) on vellum (mammal skin)
Front Courtyard CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY
The Chapel of the Hearts of the Princes of Conde CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY
The Hall of Honor CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY
WEB LINKS
Limbourg Brothers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbourg_brothers
Limbourg Brothers http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth214_folder/limbourg_biography.html
The Limbourg Brothers http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/rh/glo/limburg.html
Book of Hours http://is.gd/wtdn6g
Les Tres Riches Heures Du Duc De Berry http://humanities.uchicago.edu/images/heures/heures.html
Haber’s Art Reviews/Between Courtly and Renaissance http://is.gd/4zlg07
Chateau de Chantilly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_Cond%C3%A9
Images for the Limbourg Brothers http://is.gd/tdAK5w
Images of Belles Heures du Duc de Berry http://www.google.com/search?q=Belles+Heures+du+Duc+de+Berry&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=E5nrTdXeDcnV0QHH1u2WAQ&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=685
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History/Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/54.1.1
The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSTd6HlQ494
Très riches heures http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth214_folder/trh_seminar.html
The J. Paul Getty Museum/The Belles Heures http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/belles_heures/
Nijmegen (Photos) http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Nijmegen
Terms
Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/rh/glo/illuminated.html
Miniatures http://is.gd/qbCkkS
Genre Painting http://is.gd/rhHLjK
Vellum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellum
Gold Leaf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_leaf
Gilding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilding
Renaissance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance
International Gothic http://is.gd/9SKMaV
Related articles
- Cold comfort: the artist’s love affair with winter (guardian.co.uk)
- Bookshelf of the Week: Library of the Château de Chantilly (robaroundbooks.com)
- Great Works: The Adoration of the Magi, 1423 (300cm x 282cm), Gentile da Fabriano (independent.co.uk)
