TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund announces Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly, as Its 2025 Beneficiary

With TEFAF’s funding, the Musée Condé will restore the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, one of the most important illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Created for John, Duke of Berry, the brother of King Charles V of France, the Book of Hours was painted by the renowned Limbourg brothers between c. 1411 and 1416. Left unfinished when the Limbourg brothers and their sponsor died in 1416, the manuscript was further added upon by Barthélemy d’Eyck in the 1440s and by the French miniaturist Jean Colombe around 1485; the Duke d’Aumale thereafter acquired it in 1856, a renowned art collector who left the Château de Chantilly to the Institut de France to display his collection, including the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.

Often considered the ‘Mona Lisa’ of prayer books and a true medieval icon, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry cannot be displayed outside Chantilly due to the conditions imposed by the bequest of the Duke d’Aumale. Additionally, because of its fragility and value, it has never been available for public viewing for decades. The manuscript’s restoration now allows for the display of its legendary calendar, which will be detached from the binding and featured in an upcoming exhibition at the Musée Condé, alongside exceptional national and international loans that place it in its historical context and demonstrate its enduring influence from the 15th century to the present day. This exhibition–from June 7 to October 5, 2025–will give visitors an unprecedented opportunity to witness the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry in its full glory, following several months of analysis and restorative work by the onsite conservation team.

Main Image: © Bibliothèque du musée Condé, Château de Chantilly