Limburg, Pol, Herman, and Jehanequin de

Limburg, Pol, Herman, and Jehanequin de 

(also Limbourg; real surname Malouel or Maelwael). French miniature painters of the early 15th century.

The brothers Limburg were nephews of Jean Malouel, the court artist of the dukes of Burgundy. Originally from the Northern Netherlands, they studied jewelry-making in Paris circa 1399–1400. In 1402 they went to work as miniaturists at the court of Philip the Bold, the duke of Burgundy. In 1410 or 1411 the brothers entered the service of Duke Jean of Berry.

The works of the brothers Limburg included the miniatures in Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1413, Metropolitan Museum, New York), Les Très Belles Heures de Nôtre Dame (National Library, Paris), and Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1411–16, Musée Condé, Chantilly). These miniatures exhibited the refinement of French late Gothic painting. The Limburg brothers also studied in depth the achievements of 13th- and 14th-century Italian art in the rendering of three-dimensional space and strove for a poetic and truthful depiction of nature and everyday life. The miniatures of the calendar Les Très Riches Heures, with their wealth of realistic observations, foreshadowed the paths of development of Northern Renaissance art.

REFERENCE

Longon, J., and R. Gazelles. Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Paris, 1970.