A new month

The morning I was very happy to turn the calendars, and leave January behind. I took a vacation from blogging yesterday and rode Sizzle, cooked a roast beef dinner and took a nap. Then I spent time on the Internet browsing for winter pictures for the blog (public domain, of course ;-)
I came across this February calendar page from medieval manuscript called a book of hours.

It's from one of the best known book of hours, and was created in 1415 for Duc Jean DuBerry, a high and rich nobleman. It is called Les Tres Riches Heures, and is one considered one of the great treasures of France, equal to the Mona Lisa and described as the "pinnacle of the art of manuscript illuminations." DuBerry was a connoisseur of the visual arts, with a particular fondness for jewels, castles, exotic animals and other rich guy hobbies.

The picture represents February from the calendar section of the book. It shows winter in a peasant village, with folks warming their feet by the fire while ordinary winter life goes on behind them. Along with their intricate beauty, the illuminations provide a record of life in the 15th and 16th centuries.


Above is an another example of a book of hours. Like all manuscripts, every book of hours is unique, but most contain texts, prayers and psalms for each liturgical hour of the day. Hence the name. Many were made for women, sometimes given as a wedding present from a husband and then passed along in families. The richly illuminated books were wildly expensive and rare, but small plain ones were more widely available.

If I haven't lost you by now on this topic, The Metropolitan Museum Art link on the medieval book is good. All of you know I'm a lazy librarian Wikipedia user, and their book of hours entry is well written, too. There are also thousands of images of illuminated manuscripts on the Internet.