Whilst mediaeval book painting is a rich and plentiful art, the names of most of its painters remain hidden in the mists of time. One exception to this rule, however, is the life and works of an artist who was active in 13th-century Oxford, named William de Brailes.

Jean de Berry is known above all as a connoisseur of the arts, a bibliophile collector and a commissioner of extraordinary art treasures and invaluable painted manuscripts. The legendary library of the Duke of Berry impressed even his contemporaries by its high quality and the elaborated decoration of most of its volumes.