The Limbourg Brothers

Paul, Jean and Herman de Limbourg came from Nijmegen in the duchy of Guelders and were nephews of the painter Jean Malouel, who worked for the dukes of Burgundy. They are recorded in France from 1399, first in the service of Philip the Bold and, after his death in 1404, of his brother Jean de France, duc de Berry, one of the great bibliophiles of the age. The Belles Heures, made for the duke between 1405 and 1408 or 1409, is the only manuscript they are known to have completed in its entirety.

Their later book for the duke, the Très Riches Heures now at Chantilly, was left unfinished when all three brothers and their patron died in 1416, possibly of plague. Their miniatures join precise observation of costume, animals and the seasons with an understanding of Italian figure painting, and are usually taken as a high point of the International Gothic style. Which brother painted which page is still debated.