Limbourg brothers, fl. 1380-1416, family of Franco-Flemish manuscript illuminators. The Limbourg brothers, Pol, Jan, and Herman, were trained as goldsmiths. They succeeded Jacquemart de
Hesdin in 1411 as court painters to Jean, duc de Berry. Their masterpiece is the magnificent
book of hours known as the
Très Riches Heures (c.1415; Musée Condé, Chantilly). This is filled with exquisite illustrations of the daily life of the aristocracy and peasantry, including a series of calendar
illuminations that are considered the finest extant examples of the International Gothic style (see
Gothic architecture and art). The Limbourgs' influence upon Flemish painting, especially in landscape and
genre subjects, was profound and extensive.
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