September — The Grape Harvest at Saumur
The Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Paul & Jean de Limbourg); later folios completed by Jean Colombe, c. 1412–1416
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, Wrong shape: a 25% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyGrape-pickers fill baskets and load a cart in the foreground vineyard while, on the far bank, the Château de Saumur rises in a profusion of slender towers and gilded weathervanes — one of the most fairy-tale silhouettes in the entire manuscript, closer to a vision of Camelot than to a working fortress. The contrast is deliberate: agricultural labor in the near ground, architectural fantasy in the distance, the two halves of Berry's France held in a single frame. The zodiac lunette moves from Leo into Virgo. Wine was central to the Duke's own household economy, and this folio treats the harvest with the same careful attention as the calendar gives to his feasts.
- Maker
- The Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Paul & Jean de Limbourg); later folios completed by Jean Colombe
- Date
- c. 1412–1416
- Medium of the original
- Illuminated manuscript
- Original held by
- Musée Condé, Chantilly
- Credit
- Musée Condé, Chantilly · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00913
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 25% crop |
| 8 x 12 in | 144 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 23% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | 96 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 25% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | 72 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | 57 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 25% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | 48 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | 28 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 1,159 x 1,922 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 59, lights 205 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 4.6
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
The Scriptorium
Knotwork, spiral, and the beast that becomes a letter.
All 35 pieces from The Scriptorium
