The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry

The Limbourg Brothers Franco-Netherlandish

1405–1408/1409

On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 13

Created between 1405 and 1408 or 1409, probably in Paris, the Belles Heures, or Beautiful Hours, a private devotional book, is one of the most sumptuous manuscripts to have come down to us from the Middle Ages. Commissioned by Jean de France, duc de Berry from the Limbourg brothers, the most gifted artists of their time, it is the only manuscript completed by them in its entirety. The richly illustrated text is enhanced by seven unprecedented picture cycles devoted to Christian figures or events that held special significance for the duke. Using a luminous palette, the artists blended an intimate Northern vision of nature with Italianate modes of figural articulation. The keen interest in the natural world and the naturalistic means of representing it, so striking in the 172 illuminations, foreshadow the work of Jan van Eyck and the ensuing generations of outstanding 15th-century painters in the South Netherlands.

For a complete discussion of the Belles Heures, see: The Art of Illumination

#48. 82nd & Fifth: Boy Geniuses: The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry

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The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, The Limbourg Brothers (Franco-Netherlandish, active France, by 1399–1416), Tempera, gold, and ink on vellum, French — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

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Folio 30r, The Annunciation

Folio exlibris recto

Folio 2v, January

Folio 13r, December: Slaughtering a Boar - Capricorn

Folio 15r, Saint Catherine in Her Study

Folio 15v, Saint Catherine Refuses to Worship the Idol

Folio 17r, Saint Catherine Tied to a Column

Bifolium 17v-18r, Saint Catherine; Empress Faustina Beheaded

Folio 18v, Angels Destroy the Wheels of Knives

Folio 20r, Angels Carry the Body of Saint Catherine to Mount Sinai

Folio 20v

Folio 24 verso and 25 recto

Folio 37v, text

Folio 41 verso 42 recto

Folio 42v, The Visitation

Folio 48v, The Nativity

Folio 52r, The Annunciation to the Shepherds

Folio 54v, The Adoration of the Magi

Folio 57r, The Presentation in the Temple

Folio 57 verso 58 recto

Folio 59v, The Massacre of the Innocents

Folio 63r, The Flight into Egypt

Folio 65 verso and 66 recto

Folio 72r, David Flees from Absalom

Bifolium: 73-74r - Great Litany Process - End of the Plague

Folio 77v, text

Folio 80r, Descent from the Cross

Folio 83 verso 84 recto

Folio 90r, text

Folio 96v, Bishop Hugh Receiving Bruno and his Companions

Folio 91v, The Trinity; The Duchess in Prayer

Folio 91v, detail, The Duchess of Berry in Prayer

Folio 95r, The Burial of Diocrès

Folio 99r, Cemetery

Bifolium: 110-111r - Text

Bifolium: 118-119r - Text

Bifolium: 126-127r - Text

Folio 131v, The Mocking of Christ

Folio 132, The Flagellation

Folio 133r, text

Folio 134 verso 135 recto

Folio 135v, Christ before Pilate

Folio 136r, Pilate Offers to Release Christ

Folio 136v, text

Folio 138r, Pilate Washes His Hands

Folio 142 recto 143 verso

Bifolium: 150-151r - Text

Bifolium 158v-159r, Saint John the Baptist; Saint John the Evangelist

Folio 163r, Saint Vincent Cast to the Beasts

Folio 163v, Saint Clement Cast into the Sea

Folio 164v, Saint Eustace Loses his Sons

Folio 166 verso 167 recto

Folio 167r, Saint George Slaying the Dragon

Folio 169r, Saint Martin and the Beggar

Folio 170r, Saint Anthony of Padua Stills a Storm

Folio 170v, text

Folio 173r, Saint Louis before Damietta

Folio 183r, Saint Jerome Studying Classical Philosophers

Folio 184r, Saint Jerome is Ordained as a Cardinal

Folio 184v, Saint Jerome in a Woman's Dress

Bifolium: 185-186r - Saint Jerome Contemplates the Holy Sepulchre - Saint Jerome is Tempted by Dancing Girls

Folio 187r, The Lion finds the Missing Ass

Folio 187v, Saint Jerome Translating the Bible

Folio 189v, The Sick Attending the Funeral of Saint Jerome

Folio 191r, Saint Paul the Hermit Sees a Christian Tempted

Folio 192r, Saint Anthony Receives Directions from a Satyr

Folio 193v, Lions Help Saint Anthony Bury Saint Paul

Folio 194v, The Death of Saint Anthony

Folio 198 verso 199 recto

Folio 206 verso 207 recto

Folio 211r, John the Baptist in the Wilderness

Bifolium: 214-215r - Text - Death of Simon Magus, the duke's arms

Folio 218v, text

Folio 221r, detail, Mass for All Souls

Folio 220 verso 221 recto

Folio 221r, Mass for All Souls

Folio 223r

Folio 223v, The Duke on a Journey

Folio 223v, detail, The Duke on a Journey

Bifolium: 224-225r - Text

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Syson, Luke, and Dillian Gordon. Pisanello: Painter to the Renaissance Court. London and New Haven CT: Yale University Press, 2001. pp. 149, 151–152, fig. 4.30, 4.31.

Zeman, Georg. "The Copenhagen Mocking of Christ and the Early Style of the Limburg Brothers." Master Drawings 41, no. 3 (Autumn 2003). pp. 205–13, fig. 2, 4.

Evans, Helen C., ed. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. no. 297, pp. 12, 487.

Cleveland Museum of Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. Art from the Court of Burgundy: The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless 1364-1419, edited by Stephen Fliegel, and Sophie Jugie. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2004. no. 12, pp. 47, 98–99, fig. 5, ill. p. 98.

Cleveland Museum of Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. L'art à la cour de Bourgogne: le mécénat de Philippe le Hardi et de Jean sans Peur (1364-1419), edited by Stephen Fliegel, and Sophie Jugie. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2004. no. 12, pp. 47, 98–99, fig. 5.

Taburet-Delahaye, Elisabeth, ed. Paris 1400: Les Arts sous Charles VI. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2004. no. 188, pp. 98–99, 252, 293–304, 309, 325, fig. 24, 69, 78, 80, 87, 95, 99.

Bakker, Boudewijn. "Conquering the Horizon. The Limbourg Brothers and the Painted Landscape." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 190–191, 194, 197–198, 205-206, fig. 1, 6, 9, 12.

Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 82, pp. 117–18, 197.

Boehm, Barbara Drake. "Charles IV: The Realm of Faith." In Prague: The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437, edited by Barbara Drake Boehm, and Jiri Fajt. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. pp. 27–28.

Clark, Gregory T. "The Influence of the Limbourg Brothers in France and the Southern Netherlands, 1400–1460." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 208–209, 211, 217–219, 222-223, 225-229, 231, fig. 1, 17, 22, 24,27.

de Hamel, Christopher. The Rothschilds and their Collections of Illuminated Manuscripts. London: British Library, 2005. pp. 21, 26, 31, 34, 37, 43, 47, pl. 9, 20.

Dückers, Rob. "The Limbourg Brothers and the North: Book Illumination and Panel Painting in the Guelders Region 1380–1435." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 64–65, 68–69, 74, 78-82, fig. 1, 4, 6, 7, 11.

Dückers, Rob. "'In the beginning...': The Bible Moralisee in the Work of the Limbourg Brothers." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 87–88, 90, 92, fig. 8.

Roelofs, Pieter, and Rob Dückers, ed. The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 323, 344–345, 354–373, 380, 388, 392, 404, 408, 412, 420, 422-423.

Grandmontagne, Michael. Claus Sluter und die Lesbarkeit mittelalterlicher Skulptur: das Portal der Kartause von Champmol. Worms: Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2005. pp. 318, 351–56, fig. 109–110.

Husband, Timothy. "The Belles Heures of Jean, Duc de Berry. A Visual Analysis." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 96–111, fig. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Lawson, Margaret. "The Belles Heures of Jean, Duc de Berry. The Materials and Techniques of the Limbourg Brothers." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 148–163, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20.

Niessen, Willy, Pieter Roelofs, and Mieke van Veen-Liefrink. "The Limbourg Brothers in Nijmegen, Bourges, and Paris." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 18–23, fig. 8, 11.

Norris, Michael. Medieval Art: A Resource for Educators. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 31, pp. 122–25.

Roelofs, Pieter. "Johan Maelwael, Court Painter in Guelders and Burgundy." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 44–45, fig. 8.

Schmidt, Victor M. "The Limbourgs and Italian Art." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 181–185, fig. 8, 9, 10.

Stirnemann, Patricia. "The King of Illuminated Manuscripts: The Tres Riches Hueres." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, pp. 113, 119.

Wieck, Roger S. "Bibliophilic Jealousy and the Manuscript Patronage of Jean, Duc de Berry." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 93–102, p. 125, 139–140, 144, 146, fig. 7.

Fajt, Jiri, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. Karl IV., Kaiser von Gottes Gnaden: Kunst und Repräsentation des Hauses Luxemburg 1310-1437. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2006. p. 142.

König, Eberhard. "Die Belles Heures des Herzogs von Berry, Probleme und Kontroversen. Aus Anlaß der Ausstellung: De gebroeders Van Limburg. Nijmegse Meesters aan de Franse Hof (1400-1416)." Kunstchronik 59, no. 5 (May 2006). pp. 225–37.

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Barnet, Peter. "Medieval Europe." In Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1977–2008, edited by James R. Houghton. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. p. 23.

Avril, François. "The Bibliophile and the Scholar: Count Paul Durrieu's List of Manuscripts Belonging to Baron Edmond de Rothschild." In The Medieval Book: Glosses From Friends and Colleagues of Christopher de Hamel, edited by James H. Marrow, Richard A. Linenthal, and William Noel. 't Goy-Houten: Hes & De Graaf, 2010. pp. 366, 372, 374 n. 23.

Tomasi, Michele. Monumenti d'avorio: I dossali degli Embriachi e i loro committenti. Studi, Vol. 16. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2010. pp. 115, 120 n. 67.

Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 123.

Husband, Timothy B. Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry, edited by Hélène Grollemund, and Pascal Torres. Italy: Musée du Louvre Editions, 2012. pp. 11–13, fig. 1.

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Hand, Joni M. Women, Manuscripts and Identity in Northern Europe. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2013. pp. 24, 49 n. 124, 65, 66, 108, 111, fig. 3.3.

Williamson, Paul, and Glyn Davies. Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200–1550. Vol. 1. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014. p. 328.

Wüstefeld, Wilhelmina C. M., and Erene Rafik Morcos, ed. Parchment and Gold: 25 years of Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books. Catalogue 11. Stalden: Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books, 2015. pp. 146, 264.

Schenk, Gerrit Jasper. "Die Zeit Karls IV. zwischen Frost und Blüte: Katastrophen, Krisen und Klimawandel im 14. Jahrhundert." In Kaiser Karl IV., 1316–2016: Erste Bayerisch-Tschechische Landesausstellung. Ausstellungskatalog, edited by Jiri Fajt, and Markus Hörsch. K*700. Prague: Národní Galerie v Praze, 2016. p. 38, fig. 21.

Stein, Wendy A. How to Read Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 19, pp. 15, 16 76–79, 104, fig. 23.

Boehm, Barbara Drake. "Habit Forming: Costume in Medieval Monastic Community." In Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, edited by Andrew Bolton. Vol. 2. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. pp. 218–19, fig. 28.

Brennan, Christine, and Yelena Rakic. "Fragmented Histories." In Making the Met, 1870-2020, edited by Andrea Bayer. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. pp. 178–9.

Detail view of Mary Magadalene weeping at the base of the cross, which is streaked in bright red blood

What We Do Not Know about The Crucifixion of Stefano da Verona

Curator Keith Christiansen explores the mixture of French and Italian painting styles that influenced artistic production in fifteenth-century Milan, and the impact of this cross-cultural approach on the work of Stefano da Verona.

An alabaster alterpiece from the archbishop's chapel at Saragossa

Wise Women: Images of Saint Thecla and Saint Catherine

Curator Barbara Drake Boehm looks at medieval representations of martyrs Saint Thecla and Saint Catherine in honor of their autumn feast days.

Hans Baldung Grien's Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Broken Bodies: Violence in Art and Game of Thrones

Curator Barbara Drake Boehm looks at medieval representations of martyrs Saint Bartholomew and Saint Lawrence in honor of their August feast days.

Become a Work of Art for Halloween!

Skyla Choi, MuSe intern for Media Production & Online Features, shares inspiration from The Met collection for Halloween costumes, masks, and props!

Detail of man with moldboard plow from the recent, extraordinary Cloisters acquisition, Simon Bening's Book of Hours

Harrow and Fallow

Managing Horticulturist Caleb Leech discusses how medieval agriculturists approached soil management.

Purple irises (left) and yellow Narcissus flowers (right)

Here I Sette My Thynge to Sprynge

Managing Horticulturist Caleb Leech discusses the significance of the start of spring both at The Cloisters and in the medieval calendar.

The teen prodigies behind this groundbreaking 15th century French picture book

"In the center of the book, they're struggling with their compositional arrangements, but as they progress, they become incredibly inventive."

Black and white photograph of chief librarian Ken Soehner standing in an aisle in the library filled with books

Connections: Books

Chief librarian Ken Soehner on his favorite depictions of books.

Today in Met History: June 12

Eighty-five years ago today, on June 12, 1925, The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased a collection of medieval sculpture and architectural fragments from George Grey Barnard (1863–1938), a prominent American sculptor and collector. This acquisition formed the nucleus of what would become The Cloisters, the branch of the Museum located in Northern Manhattan and devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe.

The Medieval Garden Enclosed—Pigs and Pannage

Deirdre Larkin, managing horticulturist of The Met Cloisters, discusses the origins of pannage, the practice of bringing pigs to the wood to forage, and its significance in medieval art and life.