In this class, we are introduced to John the Duke of Berry, a bibliophile who was so interested in art and collected many ancient arts, relics, buildings, paintings, and manuscripts. He traded and even stole manuscripts, and had a group of artists working for him. it is interesting that he often challenged his artists by using ancient arts and asking them to create better artworks, thus making an atmosphere of competition. A decreased emphasis on the religious practice function of the manuscript was shown by he owning 6 books of hours. (definitely didn’t need 6!) And the sizes of his manuscripts were bigger and bigger, being unuseful if we consider its original function for holding and reading when praying. So, these books of hours were not created/collected for use but were perceived as places to store art.
Something also stood out to me is the meaning of gift-giving in that culture and time period. Powerful or superior people give gifts to the subordinate ones as a way to show their dominant place, which is very different from the meaning of gift-giving nowadays. The Limbourg brothers, a group of artists the Duke of Berry appreciated, gave gifts to the Duke, and the gift was actually fake! That the Duke and his artists were in a close relationship with each other is definitely revealed by such an interesting event.