@prompted.past: The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry was painted around 1411–1416 for Jean de Berry, brother of the King of France, by three brothers from the Low Countries: Paul, Jean, and Herman de Limbourg. All three died in 1416, likely of plague, leaving it unfinished — it was completed some 70 years later by Jean Colombe. It’s a Book of Hours: a private prayer book, the medieval bestseller, owned by anyone who could afford one. But this one went further, with a calendar of twelve full-page scenes — peasants harvesting, nobles feasting, real castles in the background — painted in ultramarine made from lapis lazuli hauled overland from Afghanistan. Those twelve pages are basically why we picture the Middle Ages the way we do: they’ve been recycled onto textbook covers, album art, and museum tote bags for a century. One 600-year-old book, still running the aesthetic. 📍 Musée Condé, Chantilly

Prompted Past

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Saturday 25 July 2026 11:38:10 GMT