Limbourg brothers

Limbourg brothers, three Dutch brothers who are the best-known of all late Gothic manuscript illuminators. Herman (b. c. 1385, Nijmegen, duchy of Gelre [now in Gelderland, Netherlands]—d. February? 1416), Paul (Pol) (b. c. 1386/87, Nijmegen—d. February? 1416), and Jean (Johan) (b. c. 1388, Nijmegen—d. February? 1416) were among the first illuminators to render specific landscape scenes (such as the environs and appearance of their patron’s castles) with great accuracy and sensitivity. Together they synthesized the innovations of other illuminators and developed a personal style characterized by subtlety of line, painstaking technique, and minute rendering of detail. Their Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, unfinished at their deaths and completed about 1485 by Jean Colombe, is one of the landmarks of the art of book illumination. It did much to influence the course that Early Netherlandish art would take during the 15th century.

The sons of wood-carver Arnold de Lymborch (van Limburg), they were also the nephews of Jean Malouel (Johan Maelwael), court painter to the queen of France (Isabella of Bavaria) and the duke of Burgundy. Not only did their uncle eventually help the brothers gain positions at court, but the family connection caused them sometimes to be identified by the French spelling of their mother’s maiden name, Malouel, rather than Limbourg.

As descendants of artist-artisans on both maternal and paternal sides, the brothers would have had much exposure to materials and processes of art production. About 1400, probably through the offices of their uncle, Herman and Jean were apprenticed to a goldsmith in Paris. In February 1402 Paul and Jean were commissioned to work over the course of four years for the duke of Burgundy, Philip II, on the illustration of a Bible, the Bible moralisée, now in the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. When Burgundy died in 1404, that work remained unfinished. Sometime after his death (probably in 1405), while all three were still in their teens, they entered the service of Burgundy’s brother Jean de France, duc de Berry. It was for him that their two most lavishly illustrated books of hours (the popular form of private prayer book of the period) were produced.

The Belles Heures (c. 1405–09) is the sole book to have been illustrated by the brothers alone (though other artists provided the calligraphy and all of the borders but that for The Annunciation). It shows the influence of the Italianate elements present in the illuminations of the contemporary French artist Jacquemart de Hesdin. Though for centuries scholars attempted unsuccessfully to distinguish individual styles, in the 21st century (working with photomicrographs of the Belles Heures manuscript) Margaret Lawson was able to distinguish three distinct styles, or “hands”—which she named the drawing hand, the painterly hand, and the elegant hand—as well as works that are collaborations and are not neatly differentiated. It is not known which hand belonged to which brother. Of the three, Paul was the most-celebrated, gaining special honours—including an impressive house—from the duke.

When the Belles Heures was completed, the brothers began work on the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry. Considered their greatest work, it ranks among the supreme examples of the International Gothic style. It displays their tremendous skill and expansive sensibilities in every detail. Their elegant and sophisticated approach combined naturalism of detail with overall decorative effect. Their work on this volume seems to reflect their special relationship to the duke, and the book’s images reveal their intimate knowledge of the duke’s daily life. Through their travels with him and their presence in the life of the court, they gained an awareness of the most-progressive international currents of the time. They left the Très Riches Heures unfinished when they all died suddenly, perhaps during an outbreak of the plague early in 1416. Evidence of their deaths was obtained from the archives of Nijmegen, which record the receipt of the brothers’ possessions by their siblings still living in Nijmegen.