The Art of Illumination

Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, 1405–1408/9. Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg (Franco-Netherlandish, active in France by 1399–1416). French; Made in Paris. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum; 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cloisters Collection, 1954 (54.1.1).

Calendar Pages
July: Harvesting Wheat, Leo, Folio 8r

One peasant cuts the summer wheat with a sickle and another ties the harvest into a sheath. Both wear skimpy white garments against the summer heat, preserving their anonymity with hats. The forms are carefully composed to fill the quatrefoil, but the space appears to extend behind and beyond the frame. The lion of Leo, below, stands in a heraldic pose. The golden fronds of the pattern behind him are as luxuriant as the harvest above.

See The Medieval Garden Enclosed for more about this calendar page.