From this amazing list of MSS. we may see that nearly all the important books and manuscripts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are represented at Chantilly. Some portions of the collection go back to the old Montmorency and Condé acquisitions; whilst the Duc d'Aumale himself has described the origin and vicissitudes of the articles gathered in by himself in his admirable work _The Philobiblon Miscellanies_, which will always remain the best guide to the _Cabinet des Livres_ at Chantilly. [Illustration: Plate XXXII. Photo. Giraudon. JULY. Pol de Limbourg. From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry." _To face page 164._] CHAPTER XIII _LES TRÈS RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY_ The Duc de Berry was one of those enlightened and enthusiastic patrons of Art who, by giving numerous commissions to the artists of his time created important centres of Art in Paris and Dijon. It was for him that Jaquemart de Hesdin and his school executed the famous _Très Belles Heures_ (now dispersed), fragments of which are to be found in the Louvre: in the collections of Baron Adolph de Rothschild in Paris; and of Prince Trivulzio at Milan: whilst the largest and most interesting portion, known as the _Hours of Turin_, once treasured in the Royal Library of that city, perished in a disastrous fire in 1904.[35] It was likewise for the Duc de Berry that the nephews of Malouel, Pol de Limbourg and his brothers, painted these famous _Très Riches Heures_ now at Chantilly. And that the Duke very greatly admired the work of these artists is proved by entries in old _Inventories_, wherein we find that he showered valuable presents upon them--pieces of gold (coins), rings, etc. He moreover presented Pol the eldest and most eminent of the brothers with a mansion at Bourges, where the artist and his wife resided until his death. The Duc de Berry was also one of those collectors whose taste rose above that of his time; and who, furthermore, proved to be one of the leading spirits in the development of the Art of that period. Besides famous painters he also employed the celebrated architect Guy de Damartin to build and restore his castles. The discovery of a MS. containing architectural sketches of various fortresses (probably drawn by the hand of this architect himself) proves that the Duke had a fancy to have his various castles introduced with the greatest precision into the backgrounds of the miniatures executed for him in this MS. No doubt it was by his express wish that the landscape details in the _Calendar_ of this famous _Book of Hours_ were copied direct from nature and not treated merely conventionally as hitherto. [Illustration: Plate XXXIII. Photo. Giraudon. AUGUST. Pol de Limbourg. From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry." _To face page 166._]