The Belles Heures de Jean de France is a book of prayers – also called a book of hours – which was created for Jean de France, Duke of Berry by Herman, Paul and Jean de Limbourg, more commonly called The Brothers of Limbourg. The Limbourg brothers were actively creating artwork in France in the early 1400s. Although they were all still teenagers, they were very talented as artists and so were hired to create a personal Bible for John of France by his brother Philippe le Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The book was to be used as a private devotion to the Virgin Mary; in fact, Belles Heures translates to beautiful hours. This title is not only used because the book is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but also because the Belles Heures is so extravagantly decorated compared to other surviving books of hours from the period. Although all the books have certain common characteristics, for example: it was common for the books of hours of this era to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary, however, there are not many others that can compare to the richness of colors, story and decoration that the Brothers of Limbourg applied to their work. This book of hours is the only complete manuscript illuminated by the Brothers of Limburg. The Brothers painted each illustration of the Belles Heures, allowing today's viewers to see how their art changed and improved during the completion of the entire Book of Hours. As the evolution of their work as they worked on the Belles Heures is best stated in an article on the art of lighting published on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website: "Their art reached a new strength in the construction of pictorial space, the deeper expression of emotional storytelling and the enhancement of beauty. lightness and technical finesse (metmuseum.or...... middle of paper...... ways they chose to manipulate them that make it a work of art that will always be considered beautiful. Works Cited Freeman , Margaret B "A book of hours made for the Duke of Berry." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 15, no. 4 (December 1956) "Herman, Paul and Jean Limbourg: Belles Heures de Jean of France, Duke of Berry (54.1.1)". In Heilbrunn's Chronology of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ works-of-art/54.1.1 (February 2009)Meiss, Millard. French painting in the time of Jean de Berry: the end of the 14th century and the patronage of the duke. London: Phaidon, 1967. Stein, Wendy A. “ Patronage of Jean de Berry (1340-1416)”. In Heilbrunn Chronology of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. /berr/hd_berr.htm (May 2009)