December

The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of French Gothic manuscript illumination, showing the late International Gothic phase of the style. It was created between c. 1412 and 1416 for the extravagant royal bibliophile and patron John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers. When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished. It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthélemy d'Eyck.

It is a Book of Hours, which is essentially a prayer book (with prayers and readings for set times throughout a day) and typically featured the “Hours of the Virgin” (a set of psalms with lessons and prayers), a calendar, a standard series of readings from the Gospels, the Office for the Dead, the Penitential Psalms, and hymns (or some variation thereof). 

The December illustration shows a wild boar hunt with Château de Vincennes in the background. 

P.S. Live an illuminated year with the Limbourg Brothers here. <3