The Book of Hours: “Tres Riches Heures” du Duc de Berry showing French Gothic manuscript illumination created as a book of prayers. It was painted by Dutch Miniaturist painters (Limbourg brothers) who died during the plague in ca. 1416, leaving the work unfinished until 1442 when it was completed by an anonymous painter.
This portion depicts March:
In the foreground, a farmer plowing a field with a plow pulled by two oxen, the man directing them with a long pole. Winemakers prune the vine in a pen on the left and till the soil with a hoe to aerate the soil: they are the first ways of the vine. On the right, a man leans on a bag, presumably to draw from seeds that will then sow. Finally, in the background, a shepherd takes the dog who guards his flock. In the background face the castle of Lusignan (Poitou), property of the Duke of Berry who did modernize. We see right image, above the tower Poitevin, a winged dragon representing the fairy Melusine.
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