Maelwael, the Van Lymborch Brothers and the Bible of Moutier-Grandval
25 March 2025
On March 21, the opening of the year of the Van Lymborch brothers (Gebroeders Van Lymborch) and Johan Maelwael took place in the Stevenskerk in Nijmegen. Herman (1385-1416), Paul (1386-1416), Johan (1388-1416) van Lymborch and their uncle Johan Maelwael (1370-1415) are recognised as the founders of the Flemish primitives (Vlaamse Primitieven and the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish painting. (See, among others, the Association of Van Lymborch Brothers, Maelwael Van Lymborch Foundation, and the Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis in Nijmegen).
The Rembrandts of the Middle Ages
Nijmegen was their hometown, and they worked for the mighty Duke of Gelre (until 1543, the last independent area in the Netherlands!). However, they were so talented, innovative, and versatile that the Dukes of Burgundy and members of the French royal family (the Duke of Berry) took them into service after 1400.
Maelwael is derived from the German words “Malen” (meaning “painting”) and “wael” (meaning “well”), so he was a skilled painter. He originally came from the region of Xanten.
The Maelwael and Gebroeders Van Lymborch House (huis) on the Burchtstraat in Nijmegen, dating back to 2025, is dedicated to its dazzlingly beautiful arts. These ‘Rembrandts’ of the late Middle Ages left their mark in Dijon, Saumur, Bourges, Paris, and Chantilly.
The Belles Heures (left) of the Duc de Berry, the Très Riches Heures (right) of the Duc de Berry, facsimiles, Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis, Nijmegen
In other words, between 1375 and 1420, artists from the Duchy of Gelre set the tone for the Flemish primitives and the high culture at the French and Burgundian court. The beautiful Très Riches Heures and the Belles Heures (books of hours) of the Duc de Berry (1340-1416) are the most famous works of the brothers. Pages (folios) from the Belles Heures were displayed in 2005 at the Valkhof in Nijmegen, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and in 2010 at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Even a procession of knights, ladies, and their entourage from the Duchy of Gelre marched through the avenues and Grand Central in New York! The Très Riches Heures will be on display (from June 7 to October 5) at the Musée Condé in the Château de Chantilly, near Paris. Here, too, the noble entourage from Gelre will make its appearance!
Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis
Mural in the Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Ms 65, fol. 2r), collection: Musée Condé in Château de Chantilly.
Johan van Maelwael, copies of piéta’s in the Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis, around 1400. Collection: Louvre in Paris.
Johan van Maelwael, around 1400, copy in the Maelwael Van Lymborch Huis. Collection: Louvre in Paris.
The Bible of Moutier-Grandval
More than 600 years ago, however, monks devoted themselves exclusively to illuminated works. In the summer months, those who want to admire the Très Riches Heures in the Musée Condé in the Château de Chantilly (with a visit to the Louvre and the unique works of Johan Maelwael) can travel to Delémont (canton Jura) beforehand, followed by a beautiful and interesting route via Dijon, Chapmol, Bourges, and Saumur to Chantilly.
The Bible of Moutier-Grandval, around 840, the creation. British Museum London
The museum of Delémont (Musée jurassien d’art et d’histoire) shows an equally exceptional work: the Bible of Moutier-Grandval. From 999 onwards, the abbey of Moutier-Grandval belonged to the bishopric of Basel. This Bible was one of its manuscripts.
This Bible originated around 840 in St. Martin in the Abbey of Tours (France). This beautiful Carolingian Bible then travelled to the Abbey of Moutier-Grandval. The Carolingians were the patrons of the abbey, which flourished in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The abbey was destroyed in 1499, and the monastery church during the Reformation in 1531. The Bible and other art treasures went to Solothurn and Delémont. The (noble) chaplains of Moutier-Grandval built city palaces and a castle in their well-known manner.
The collegiate church of Moutier-Grandval. Collection: Musée jurassien d’art et d’histoire
For centuries, things went well until the French invasion and occupation of Delémont in 1792. The Bible of Moutier-Grandval escaped plundering once more and reappeared in 1822 in the hands of Joseph Alexis Bennot (1753-1837), mayor of Delémont.
Impression of the exhibition ‘Le Bible de Moutier-Grandval. Sur les traces d’un chef-d’oeuvre’
He then sold the Bible, thanks to the mediation of Baron Konrad Karl Friedrich von Andlau (1766-1839), the former governor (1814-1815) of the former prince-bishopric of Basel in Arlesheim.
The new owner was Johann Heinrich von Speyr-Passavant (1782-1852) from Basel. Von Speyr-Passavant was a collector of manuscripts. The University Library of Basel manages its extensive collection.
At this time, interest in illuminated medieval manuscripts and art also increased, and Von Speyr was a collector and an art dealer. In 1836, he sold the Bible to the British Museum.
Since then, London has been its new home, but it remains a cultural heritage. In 1981, the Bible of Moutier-Grandval returned to Delémont for the first time. Almost fifty years later, the Bible comes home again for a short time near the castle of the Chapter.
Impression of the exhibition ‘Le Bible de Moutier-Grandval. Sur les traces d’un chef-d’oeuvre’
Conclusion
What the Très Riches Heures and the Belles Heures of the Duc de Berry by the Van Lymborch brothers and the Bible of Moutier-Grandval have in common is their exceptional beauty, craftsmanship, and innovation. How so ‘dark’ Middle Ages?
How would a medieval person react to the 20th and 21st centuries with their atomic bombs, poison gas, concentration camps, holocaust, communism, Nazism, and environmental pollution? Every era has its sins.
However, the arts bring light, even in the darkest times. Both exhibitions (March 8-June 8) in Delémont and the Musée Condé in Château de Chantilly (June 7-October 5) are a unique opportunity to admire medieval art on location, and perhaps a visit can be chronologically combined!
(Literature and further information: L. Marti, Le Bible de Moutier-Grandval. Sur les traces d’un chef-d’œuvre, Delémont, 2025; A. Stufkens, Cl. Verhoeven, Johan Maelwael en de Gebroeders van Lymborch. Grondleggers van de Nederlandse schilderskunst, Nijmegen, 2025)