Includes bibliographical references (p. 362-368) and index

Introduction: The Belles Heures of Jean de France -- Jean de France, Duc de Berry -- The Limbourg Brothers -- Structure and Summary of the Manuscript -- Collation -- Page Organization and Decoration -- Sequence of Production -- Descriptions and Texts of the Miniatures -- The Compositional Intelligence of the Narrative Cycles -- Sources and Influences -- The Artistic Achievements of the Limbourg Brothers

"One of the most lavishly illustrated codices of the Middle Ages, the Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc be Berry, is the only manuscript with miniatures executed entirely by the famed Limbourg brothers now housed in The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, belonged to the duke's large collection of prized possessions. In this volume, the Limbourgs provided the customary components of a Book of Hours, including readings from the Gospels and prayers to the Virgin. The Belles Heures, however, was elevated to unprecedented heights by the addition ofseven "picture book" insertions. These pages provided a framework for developing the Limbourgs' figural style, refinging their palette, experimenting with light and surface values, and devising coherent compositional formulas that focused the dramatic charge of the image. These illuminations, both sacred and secular in subject, range from traditional scenes of Christ's life and ministry to images reflecfting teh turbulence of the period, such as victims struck by the plague." -- Publisher