In today’s class, we took a closer look at Manuscripts, specifically those of the Duke of Berry. The Duke of Berry was an art collector and has several books commissioned for him. My favorite was a book made by the Limbourg brothers. I thoroughly enjoyed their February illustration. Professor Plesch explained that this image’s uniqueness comes from it being one of the first winter scenes with snow. In snow landscapes, the dominant color is white which requires a skillful artist. White is hard for shading and adding depth due, as artists run the risk of making scenes look muddy and dark with over shading. However, the Limbourg brothers executed the February scene really well. Furthermore, they added many different small details, like the breath of a man outside chopping wood. 

In this class, we further explored the topic of narratives in Renaissance art, while examining the ways in which print-making and the mass-production of art (with their own narratives) changed art in the Renaissance. One of the particularly interesting and more specific ways in which this now available way of mass-producing art changed art was through the emphasis that was now placed on the artist. With the pieces, we have seen before the prints, artists worked with patrons to craft pieces specifically to the patron’s request, and while the artist certainly was still able to make decisions on their own behalf, the emphasis was not usually placed on the artist or the artist’s name. With the creation of prints, we saw how artists now were able to reach much larger audiences, and we examined the decision of some artists to include a signature of sorts in order to add value to their works, as they were now able to gain large followings. Specifically, we noted this with Dürer, and it was interesting to learn that his works. although initially lucrative because of their apocalyptic relevance, soon became valuable an d sought-after because of his name alone.

During class we discussed the Duke of Berry and his collection of books of hours, which were expensive prayer books and used to show status and devotion. He was a bibliophile, someone who loves and collects books, and had an astounding collection of six books of hours. During the time period, only one book of hours is truly needed to show your devotion to Christ, and obtaining more is usually for separate reasons like status, or according to Duke of Berry, for collection. I thought it was interesting how it was believed that when you read the book of hours, you get visions. I also especially liked the example of Catherine of Cleves’ book of hours depiction. It showed a traditional family in the kitchen and represented the Virgin Mary, God and christ, portraying them as humans and creating a relatable image of the holy family. Not only was the picture humanizing, it also gives perspective of what the time period looked like which is interesting.

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.

In our class today, we focused most of our time on manuscripts. We specifically focused on John, the Duke of Berry and his role as a collector of manuscripts. I think it’s interesting how involved he was in the art production at the time, especially since he encouraged the artists he commissioned to do better than the past artists when creating new books of hours (creating a sense of competition). I also liked how in class we discussed the social context of the time of gift gifting. I never thought of the concept of gift giving to be viewed as anything but a kind notion, but it makes sense how in a feudal society this would reinforce the idea of dominance and cement a subordinate’s role. I have been interested in the theme of the progression of the advancement of depicting depth in art, and I liked how we focused on how the manuscript brothers’ did a great job with working with white paint. I’ve never thought before how certain colors could be harder to work with, or thought about how artists have to intentionally think about what colors to make the shadows in their work (since black shadows makes it look dirty… especially white). I particularly liked this manuscript especially since it was apparently the first depiction of a winter scene.

During class today, we learned about the Duke of Berry. He was a bibliophile that was interested in art and collecting and would often invite important writers and artists to his court. It was because of his interest that he was able to collect different prints, paintings, sculptures, gems, cameos, and manuscripts. In order to create his collection, he bought a lot of pieces and even stole when it came down to it. However, even with his large collection, he was conscious about it and kept inventories of his pieces so he would not get the same thing twice.

One group of artists that the Duke of Berry really liked was the Limbourg brothers. They used to work for the Duke of Burgundy and were important enough to him that the Duke was willing to a pay a bail for the brothers after they got in trouble. However, after the Duke of Burgundy died, the Duke of Berry snatched them up about a year after. They had a good relationship to the point that they could give each other gifts and together, they strived to create a Book of Hours only for it to be left incomplete as they died in the same year.

Today we learned about some manuscripts and John, Duke of Berry, along with his dedicated collection. I found it super interesting to see the influence of secularism in the Renaissance. For example in the Book of Hours, we could see the zodiac signs in the top portions of the pages, whereas before there was never a mixing of those sort of ideas. As well we saw that with John, Duke of Berry, his collection of the book of hours was not necessarily for the religious reasons but for more of collection’s sake. However we saw John of Berry featuring himself so prominently and overtly in many of the scripts he got made for himself. It was definitely an interesting day for storytelling and I enjoyed it a lot.

In Thursday’s class we discussed Très Riches Heures, one of the Duke of Berry’s most extravagant book of hours. In talking about this, we learned about the Duke of Berry’s extensive collections of books, art, paintings, ancient art, books, buildings, miniature sculptures, and buildings. He was a dedicated collector who took multiple inventories of his collections throughout his life to be sure that he knew what was in his collections so that he could add to it most appropriately. Très Riches Heures was especially made for him and he is featured prominently in many of the works and is compared to a saint (both in size and allusion to the presence of a halo). The most pompous image from his collection is the painting by Boucicaut Master which depicts him being welcomed at the gates of heaven by St. Peter. This speaks volumes about the Duke of Berry’s position in feudal society and how he was regarded by the artists in his household/court/collection.

Today we talked about the Duke of Berry’s Book Très Riches Heures. In this book, I specifically noticed the Brussels Hours painting which showed the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. This pose and depiction of the Virgin Mary has been a constant throughout the semester so far. She is always shown holding Christ and is presented as a motherly figure. I find this interesting because it hints towards the role of women in society during the Renaissance. They were supposed to be mothers who’s only job was to give birth to the new generation, or in other words, be a motherly figure. A theme of defined gender norms is prevalent in Renaissance art, and I will be looking to see if this continues to be the norm as we progress through the class.

The story of Ursula was pretty astounding and I enjoyed the comparison of the story and the painting itself. The small inviting details from the steps leading up to the people to the individuals on the other side of the open railing helped guide the focal point from the audience. The wood piece that demonstrated the story was additionally interesting in its small and intricate details (Ursula is wearing the same clothing).