MINIATURIST, Flemish
(active around 1420 in Bruges)

Turin-Milan Hours

c. 1420
Manuscript (Ms. 47), 284 x 203 mm
Biblioteca Nazionale Reale, Turin

Les Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame du Duc Jean de Berry was one of the first books of hours commissioned by Duc Jean de Berry (1340-1416), one of the four sons of King John II of France. Around 1412, the Duc the Berry passed on the book, only partly illuminated, to his treasurer Robinet d'Estampes, split it up and sold off the individual parts. As a result, two fragments came to be in the possession of the House of Bavaria-Holland, and it is thought that they were decorated in the style of Jan van Eyck. Later they were separated again, one going to Turin, the other to Milan. These parts of the manuscript, which was originally begun around 1380 as a commission for the Duc de Berry, are therefore known as the Turin-Milan Hours. However, the core of original manuscript - including the book of hours itself - remained in France and is known by the name that the whole work bore from the beginning in the Duke's inventories: Les Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame du Duc de Berry.

On folio 30v, the main miniature depicts the scene of Christ and the three sleeping disciples on the Mount of Olives. The initial below it shows the Scourging of Christ, while Christ Carrying the Cross is represented in the bas-de-page. The miniatures are attributed to an anonymous master (Master H) from the group around Jan van Eyck.