Illuminated in Paris, this book of hours was made for Bonne de Luxembourg, wife of Jean, duke of Normandy and later king of France, known as Jean le Bon. Her arms, Luxembourg impaled with Valois, appear throughout the manuscript in the lower borders. The style, influenced by Jean Pucelle, indicates a date toward the middle of the century, prior to Bonne's death in 1349. The illuminations may be attributed to the workshop of Jean Le Noir, or perhaps his daughter Bourgot, while the pages with the Two Fools and the Three Living and the Three Dead appear to be by the master. The latter double illumination is a reminder of mortality. The sources of this scene can be traced to the ancient Near East, but it gained considerable currency in the West with the onslaught of the plague, of which Bonne de Luxembourg herself died. The iconography of this and other illuminations reveals an Italian influence; the Three Living, for example, closely follows the Traini fresco of the same subject in the Campo Santo in Pisa. In the border decorations, many recognizable species of birds are depicted, but their significance is unclear.

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