Part 1: January Page
Now that we’ve got some of the key background information under our belts, let’s begin studying the January page!
The January page for Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry depicts the eponymous duke sat at the high table of an Epiphany/New Year feast. During the medieval period, Christmas Day (December 25) was the start of twelve days of celebration and was a more subdued affair. Epiphany was actually the climax of the Christmas season and was a day of lavish feasts and merriment. In the January page, the feast seems to be set up in a quasi-outdoor setting but the background is, in fact, meant to be a wall-hanging depicting a scene from the Trojan war. Medieval feasts traditionally took place in great halls, which were large and open rooms with high ceilings. They were often an excuse to construct decoratively and lavishly, such as with these examples of Hampton Court Palace or Gainsborough Hall. Although these are exceptional English examples, the room type was also found in France.
In the January page, Jean is sat in sumptuous blue robes and a fur hat directly beneath a canopy bearing his coat of arms. This is a direct reflection of real feasting tradition. The high table was situated on a dais with a canopy to signify the importance of the people sat at that table. The further away from the high table one found oneself, the lower one’s status. However, servants and nobles alike feasted together in the great hall, signifying a lord’s generosity and hospitality. Feasting was a communal affair. Upon his table are arranged a number of dishes—some of which are served on gold plates—laden with food. They are surrounded by gold serving vessels. The Limbourg brothers made sure to showcase piles of roasted meat, which was a true delicacy in this period.
Most people could only afford to eat fresh meat every now and then when animals were slaughtered; otherwise, people largely ate preserved meat (smoked, salted) and otherwise kept a mainly vegetarian diet. Furthermore, most people only had the resources to make stewed dishes; roasting required elaborate equipment and someone who could continuously monitor the roasting process (it’s a misconception that a child was in charge of turning a heavy spit). You’ll also notice that there are many different dishes on the table. Until the modern period, large meals weren’t served in individual courses (appetizer, entrée, etc.). Dishes were brought out at once—sweet and savoury mixing together—allowing feasters to pick and choose what they wanted to eat.
Before Jean, we see two servants in grey and green serving Jean’s plate. They likely had to test for poison! In the left foreground, we see two servants in red and blue pouring wine from a golden ewer into drinking bowls for Jean. You’ll notice that a little joke has been included in the depiction of the servant in blue on the left and the servant in green on the right: the ties to their waist pouches are strategically arranged and placed to resemble male genitalia. Naughty! And in a book of hours, no less! It goes to show that these books were conversation pieces, as well as objects of piety. It also shows the duke’s confidence in his own devotion that he could include vulgar jokes in his prayer book. Additionally, these servants were on a different social level than those working the kitchen. Since they directly served someone of as high a status as the duke of Berry, they would have been of high social status themselves and handpicked by the duke for service.
Behind the table facing the servants, a large line of laypeople and clergymen encircle the duke. The duke listens intently to a man in religious garb. Feasting was not just a time for eating and hospitality: it was also a key political meeting (with the words “aproche, aproche,” or “approach, approach,” written in gold leaf above the figure to the left of the duke). The significance of sport in the duke’s world is reinforced by the presence of a greyhound—used for the noble sport of hunting—in the right foreground being fed by yet another servant. The two little dogs on the table, meanwhile, are another status statement: they are the duke’s lapdogs and are allowed to roam wherever they choose.
The duke and the Limbourg brothers died in 1416, leaving it partially complete. Work on it was briefly continued in the 1440s and then completed by Jean Colombe from 1485 to 1489 for Charles I, the duke of Savoy. Despite this splintered history, we get key insight into the high aristocratic world of the duke of Berry through the January page. That a page displaying the customs and traditions of noble feasting was included in a prayer book indicates the duke’s confidence in his place in the divine order of the universe. This book was also meant to be a conversation piece between the duke and his close confidants, which explains the vulgar jokes. And this is only the start of the calendar! The February page also contains vulgarity at the expense of the duke of Berry’s peasantry.
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