Hours of Charles the Noble

It was decorated by an international team of illuminators and illustrators of at least six people, headed by the so-called Master of the Brussels Initials.

[1] It has been proposed that Charles bought it while in Paris in the summer of 1404, since he would at that time have received a lot of cash from selling his claims to the County of Évreux.

[11] By fusing Italian and French elements, the Master of the Brussels Initials played an important part in the development of the so-called International Gothic style of the early 15th century.

[12] The Limbourg brothers, who would create some of the most well-known illuminated manuscripts somewhat later, were to some degree perhaps influenced by miniatures in the Hours of Charles the Noble.

[8][13][14] The book has therefore been described as "not only an intrinsically beautiful object but also an important document in the development of painting in the environs of Paris in the first decade after 1400".

[17] Apart from the main illustrations, the book also contains the coat of arms of Charles the Noble, painted underneath each of the half-page miniatures as well as on a page which in its entirety (fol.

[1] The margins are profusely decorated with drolleries, many apparently nonsensical and parodic, while some may contain popular references, e.g. to the story of Reynard the Fox.