From the Très Riches Heures to the Master of Spencer 6

A Century of Illumination in Bourges, March 1, 2025

The TEFAF Maastricht Museum Restoration Fund has recently announced the Musée Condé as its beneficiary this year, supporting the goal to restore the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, one of the most important illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. The G&H Book of Hours, which is in the inventory of Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books, has clear references and a family resemblance to the legendary Très Riches Heures, as Marie Mazzone shows in this blog post.

In the late Middle Ages, the city of Bourges in central France experienced several significant artistic phases. The most dazzling was undoubtedly that sparked by John, Duke of Berry, a great collector and patron of the arts. He commissioned one of the most celebrated illuminated manuscripts of all time-his magnificent Book of Hours, better known as The Très Riches Heures-illuminated by the Limbourg brothers in the early 15^thcentury. The Duke also built several luxurious residences, including the renowned Château de Mehun-sur-Yèvre, which appears in the illuminations of his Book of Hours (fig. 1). The most remarkable feature of this manuscript is its calendar, composed of twelve full-page illuminations portraying the labours of the months in a series of enchanting scenes of rural and courtly life (fig. 2). Tragically, the deaths of the Limbourg brothers and the Duke in 1416, due to the plague interrupted both the manuscript's illustration and Bourges' artistic golden age at its height.

Fig. 1. Limbourg brothers, The Temptation of Christ, 1411-1416. Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Chantilly, Musée Condé Library, ms. 65, fol. 161v.

Fig. 2. Limbourg brothers, August: falconry scene in front of the Château d’Étampes, 1411-1416. Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Chantilly, Musée Condé Library, ms. 65, fol. 8v.

Half a century later, the city's illuminators continued to reflect on this flourishing era. After decades of decline in manuscript production, the rise of Jean Colombe's workshop in the 1460s revitalised Bourges' reputation for illuminated books across the kingdom of France. Among his earliest works of this wonderful painter is a copy of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, now in Basel, which he illuminated for an unknown patron in the mid-1460s. This manuscript contains six remarkable full-page miniatures illustrating the text. As was customary, the book opens with a depiction of the author presenting his work to its commissioner (fig. 3). The tapestry in the background bears the letters P and E intertwined with a love knot, matching the first and last letters of King Philippe IV's name. Other miniatures depict the dialogue between Boethius and the personification of Philosophy, portrayed as an opulent princess accompanied by two youthful attendants (fig. 4).

Fig. 3. Jean Colombe, Jean de Meung offers the book to Philippe IV of France, 1460-1470. Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, fol. 6v. Fig. 4. Jean Colombe, Discussion between Boethius and Philosophy, 1460-1470. Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, fol. 99v.

Over the following decades, Bourges became an increasingly important centre for illuminated manuscript production, dominated by Jean Colombe's flourishing workshop. To meet the numerous commissions he received, Colombe surrounded himself with several collaborators, holding a virtual monopoly in the city. After his death in the 1490s, his sons, Philibert and François, continued the workshop before other illuminators took over manuscript production in Bourges.

One of the most significant of these successors was the anonymous Master of Spencer 6, named after the eponymous manuscript in the New York Public Library. While continuing the artistic tradition established by Jean Colombe, he introduced innovations from the Italian Renaissance and drew inspiration from the illuminators of Tours, particularly Jean Poyer. Over time, his style evolved towards greater monumentality and an increasingly radical use of the dramatic close-up.

Fig. 5. Master of Spencer 6, Mary Magdalene, 1500-1510. G and H Book of Hours, fol. 139.

One of his major late works, also in our gallery, is the remarkable G and H Book of Hours decorated with numerous illuminations that is very similar to the New York Spencer 6 manuscript. In the suffrages section, he painted a spectacular full-page illumination depicting Mary Magdalene holding her pot of perfume (fig. 5). The saint wears a magnificent Lombard brocade dress, which bears witness to the influence of the Italian Renaissance in the work of the Master of Spencer 6.

Moreover, each month of the calendar is illustrated by a full-page miniature depicting the activities of both peasantry and aristocracy. These scenes, inspired by the Très Riches Heures-completed by Jean Colombe in 1485-made this celebrated model accessible to his collaborators. In these splendid compositions, the artistic heritage of the Limbourg brothers is revived and reinterpreted through the lens of the Renaissance, ensuring the lasting influence of the Très Riches Heures in the illuminated tradition of Bourges.

Fig. 6. Master of Spencer 6, November: falconry scene in front of the Château de Mehun-sur-Yèvre, 1500-1510. G and H Book of Hours, fol. 12v.

To illustrate the month of November, the Master of Spencer 6 depicted young aristocrats hunting birds in a vast landscape that opens onto distant mountains. Dressed in loose-fitting suits with wide sleeves-fashionable in the time of Louis XII-they embody the elegance of the period. On the right side of the composition, a striking architectural structure stands out, rendered with enough precision to be identified: the Château of Mehun-sur-Yèvre. Nearly a century earlier, the Limbourg brothers had immortalised this admired landmark in the Très Riches Heures. Its enduring presence in manuscripts produced in Bourges throughout the late 15th and early 16th centuries attests to its significance as a defining feature of the city's illuminated tradition.

After the final flourishing of illuminated book production in Bourges during the first decade of the 16th century-of which the Master of Spencer 6 was the most important and prolific representative-the industry gradually declined, overtaken by competition from Parisian workshops and the rise of printing.

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Marie Mazzone

Marie Mazzone is a PhD candidate at the University of Geneva. Her dissertation, supervised by Prof. Frédéric Elsig, is part of the research project Peindre en France à la Renaissance and focuses on painting in Bourges between the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

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