At the Château de Chantilly, “The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry”, the most famous of illuminated manuscripts revealed

You have to get as close as possible to the display cases to discover the multitude of details and the finesse of the illuminations where gold and silver blend with bold colors – lapis lazuli, intense green, red, yellow, orange. In order to allow the public to fully enjoy the exceptional presentation, at the Musée Condé, in the Château de Chantilly (Oise), of the precious manuscript of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry , taken out of the chest where it is usually confined, climate-controlled glass boxes have been specially designed, which protect the ^15th century masterpiece from light and changes in temperature.

Each one features one of the six richly decorated vellum bifolia sheets that make up the calendar that forms the first pages of the book, readable on both sides. Each miniature, studded with charming or picturesque details, can be viewed like a painting. Scenes of daily life in the Middle Ages, religious or secular, peasant or courtly, are depicted outdoors, often with castles in the background, following the seasons. People feast, work in the fields, harvest grapes, warm themselves in front of a wood fire... far from the horrors of the plague and the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). An idealized Middle Ages that has left its mark on the collective imagination.

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