NARRATOR: Before the rise of printing at the end of the middle ages, all books were manuscripts, that is, they were written and illustrated by hand. As a result, every medieval book was a costly and work-intensive product. This manuscript, known as the Belles Heures, is exceptionally lavish, more richly illustrated and more artfully executed than anything comparable. The Belles Heures is always on view here, but the page is changed periodically to minimize wear on the fragile materials. Look at the way the open page is organized: there's a generous border, usually filled with vine-scrolls of the most exquisite pen-work. Consider the balance between the text and the illustration – the pictorial element often dominates in size as well as impact. And then enjoy the details of the painting – the animation of the figures, the refinement of the drawing, the beauty of the colors.

The Belles Heures has a staggering number of illuminations, one-hundred seventy-two, and these represent the largest and best-preserved collection of paintings from northern Europe in the early 1400s. The exceptionally gifted artists were the three brothers Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg. They were only in their teens when they received the commission for this book from Jean de France, Duke of Berry, an immensely powerful and ambitious patron of the arts. He gave the brothers considerable latitude to enlarge the project, and they used it as a laboratory for their art, growing in their talents as they worked. The Duke was so pleased with the Belles Heures that he commissioned the Limbourg brothers to paint another even larger book, yet neither they nor the Duke survived to see it finished.