SEPTEMBER

The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry", a real masterpiece of the Medieval manuscript illumination art (from the Latin “illuminare”, meaning to adorn), is a "book of hours", i.e. a Christian devotional book widely used by lay people in the Middle Ages and containing readings, psalms, hymns and other prayers appropriate to each of the canonical hours (the liturgical division of day and night at regular intervals for the purpose of prayer). Book of hours were a shortened form of the monastic breviaries and finely illuminated with decorations and images. This artwork was commissioned in the 15th century AD by the French noblemen Jean Duc de Berry, famous art collector and patron, and is today kept in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. The rich and outstanding illumination was made by the Limbourg brothers (Herman, Johan and Paul), miniature painters from Nijmegen, Netherlands. The most notable feature is represented by the beautiful 12 full-page illustrations of the months, depicting the appropriate hemisphere with zodiac signs, days in solar and lunar calendar, saints and feasts, as well as vivid depictions of the courtly delights and the peasant labours typical of the season often against a background of remarkable architectures and landscapes.

Credits
Image: David praying in a garden at the foot of a tower, God is with him in the clouds. Source: Jean Colombe [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Texts: Domaine de Chantilly, Wikipedia, Web Gallery of Art, WebMuseum, Britannica Enclyclopedia.