“The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry: A Case Study in the Vulnerability of Art and the Instability of Meaning”
The devotional book came to be known as the Belles Heures based on the description of the sumptuous manuscript in the duke’s inventory. Every component of the book is of the finest materials; the pages are skillfully prepared vellum leaves, each one illuminated with gold and painted with rare colors derived from gemstones. Today, the book is known for these illuminations, masterfully created by the young Franco-Netherlandish Limbourg brothers, Pol, Jean, and Herman. In fact, it is the only manuscript the brothers fully completed.
This paper traces the book's history, from a handheld devotional object to its current situation behind glass in a museum. It considers rebindings and conservation treatments as well as exhibitions and facsimiles and how they alter the meaning of the book.
Images above are courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Meiss and Beatson, and Anita Francis.