Comments welcome: hope.greenberg@uvm.edu.
Detail from the month of March | |
Detail from the month of June | |
Detail from the month of June | |
Detail from the month of August | |
Detail from the month of September | |
Detail from the month of October | |
Detail from the month of December
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Detail from the month of January
Fur-lined, front fastening gown rose wool gown over narrow sleeved, red undergown. As is typical of the gowns of this period, the neckline is filled in with black. |
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Detail from the month of February
The workmen plant and prune grape vines. |
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Detail from the month of March
The workmen plant the litchen garden. |
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Detail from the month of March
In the distance, hence very small and enlarged here, a man and woman stand on a bridge. |
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Detail from the month of April
The woman milking the cow wears an overgown, fitted to the waist, of light red/rose with a deep v backline, over an undergown of black. Her shift sleeves are visible beneath the short sleeves of the gown, and she has drawn blue oversleeves on to protect her arms. She also wears a linen apron and head wrap. |
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Detail from the month of April
A woman drives a cow from the barn while another churns butter. She wears an outfit identical to that of the woman milking the cow, above (same woman?). In this front view we see no evidence of the black undergown. Is it, then really an undergown or simply a black insert? |
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Detail from the month of May
Though definitely not working, this group of May revelers was too delightful not to include! |
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Detail from the month of June
The man scything hay shows us the fitting details at the waist of his hose and wears an interesting vest-like garment over his shirt. |
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Detail from the month of June
Again, a very small image enlarged so details are not good, but we can see that the gown is similar/identical to those above. We can also see that her shift has a v-neck or a piece of linen is tucked into the neckline. |
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Detail from the month of August
The woman tying hay bundles wears the fitted overgown with short sleeves, red sleeve/arm protectors, a linen apron, and a straw hat over her linen headwrap. |
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Detail from the month of November
The woman scrutching flax wears a short-sleeved green gown over her shift, with red pulled-on oversleeves. Her headwrap and apron are, of course, white linen. |
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Detail from the month of November
The men beat flax.
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Detail from the month of December
Dressed for snow, the woman wears a blue, long-sleeved, lined overgown over a blue undergown. Pattens protect her feet while two headwraps and a hat protect her head. |
1) Apeloig, Philippe. Calendar: Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de
Berry. Editions du Desastre, 1996.
2) The Morgan Library. Calendar: The DaCosta Hours. New York:
Pomegranate Communications, Inc. 1999.
3) Les Tres Riches Heures online at: humanities.uchicago.edu/images/heures/heures.html
4) LES TRÈS RICHES HEURES DU MOYEN ÂGE: A Virtual Archive
of Medieval Books of Hours - www.library.uiuc.edu/rbx/hoursdb/default.asp
5) Search on your favorite web search site for "Books of Hours" and
you will turm up a host of information and images on these illuminated
manuscripts
Selected Works Related to Books of Hours:
1) Backhouse, Janet. The Hastings hours / Janet Backhouse. San
Francisco : Pomegranate Artbooks in association with the British Library,
1997.
2) Boccara, Dario. Les belles heures de la tapisserie. Milan,
Italy: Les Clefs du Temps, 1971.
3) Cazelles, Raymond. Illuminations of heaven and earth : the glories
of the Trèsriches heures du duc de Berry. New York : H.N. Abrams,
1988.
4) Evans, Mark. The Sforza Hours. New York : New Amsterdam Books,
c1992.
5) Meiss, Millard. French painting in the time of Jean de Berry
: the Limbourgs and their contemporaries. New York : G. Braziller :
The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1974.
6) Pierpont Morgan Library. A selection of twelve miniatures from
the Da Costa hours, Pierpont Morgan Library Manuscript 399. New York,
1972.
7) Smith, Leslie and Jane H.M. Taylor, eds. Women and the Book:
Assessing the visual Evidence.
8) Wieck, Roger S. Painted prayers : the book of hours in medieval
and Renaissance art. New York : George Braziller in association with
the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1997.