Focus on Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry and explain the Selected miniatures.
Duke of Berry Setting off on a Trip (fol. 288v) is established as by the Limbourg brothers, the third such image commissioned by the duke of a personal itinerary with an angel pointing the way. I was perhaps intended as a talisman; Husband notes that the duke "is clearly an older man, the angel's guidance may not be entirely bound to the earthly realm."
The Tale of the Three Dead and the Three Living (fol. 282r) is a relatively common form of memento mori, found in both medieval art and poetry (cf. The Three Dead Kings). Berry, "veritably obsessed with self-display", associates himself with the tale in several of his commissions, the images providing an opportunity to display "ostentatious humility". The text is copied from his mother's psalter. Prefaced as a "moult merueilleuse et horrible histoire" ("mournful and horrible history") it describes an encounter between three young men and three dead men in different stages of decomposition. The first apparition says "What you are, we were, what we are, you will be", the second reminds them that death treats rich and poor equally, the third adds that there is no escape from their fate.John the Baptist in the Wilderness (fol. 208r) is identified by Meiss as an example of the Passion Master's later style, "which displays a new interest in the problems of relating depth" It is an early example of a new trend in depictions of John, where the harsh desert setting was replaced with a fertile landscape, most probably inspired by Fra Domenico Cavalca's Life of St. John the Baptist (1320–42), in which "the desert was described as a place of great natural beauty, full of flowers, trees, and animals."
The Calendar for May by Pseudo-Jacquemart. (fol. 3r) is an example of iconography first used by Jean Pucelle in the Belleville Breviary. Each month of the year shows an apostle, representative of the New Testament, and a prophet of the Old Testament. The prophet submits a veiled prophecy which is explained by the apostle as an article of faith, while simultaneously, the prophet gives the apostle a stone from the synagogue, which as the months progress is reduced to a ruin.The Harrowing of Hell is thought to have been started by Le Noir and completed by Pseudo-Jacquemart (fol. 166). The Harrowing of Hell is derived from the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed, which state that Jesus descended into Hell before his resurrection in order to save the righteous who had come before his earthly ministry.
miniature Apostles' Creed Meiss Athanasian Creed mother's psalter Harrowing of Hell New Testament Limbourg brothers Belleville Breviary The Three Dead Kings memento mori Jean Pucelle Passion Pseudo-Jacquemart Old Testament Domenico Cavalca