A realistic setting to use as a backdrop for scenes in your next novel could have been painted hundreds of years ago. These days, many museums have digital scans of their collections. Leverage these invaluable sources to create an authentic sense of place.
Facts Do Not Set Scenes
As a writer it is incumbent on me to craft an authentic sense of place. When I decided to write a novel set in Medieval Europe, I spent three months reading history books and scholarly websites to immerse myself in the conceptual framework of the era. In the fourth month, I began writing and ran into my first scene-setting question.
What was harvest like in the Middle Ages?
My academic understanding of the purpose and application of the three-field system of agriculture is not the same as being in a field during planting or harvest. To write an authentic scene respectful of my reader’s experience, I needed more than facts. I needed insight from someone who lived the experience of a Medieval harvest. My requests for interviews with people who worked land in the Middle Ages went unanswered due to their being otherwise engaged with death. However, despite a time difference measured not in time zones, but in centuries, I made contact with three Dutch brothers and the uncle of French King Charles the VI. I owe a debt of gratitude to Uncle George, whose patronage made it possible for the Limbourg brothers to create the most beautiful calendar in the world; it is also the only calendar that has ever helped me set a scene, not deadlines.
Imagery Sets Scenes
The Source of Imagery for My Medieval Harvest Scenes
Très Riches Heures is an illuminated manuscript commissioned by Duke of Berry, King Charles VI of France’s uncle. Très Riches Heures is a Christian devotional tract, or ‘book of hours.’ Dutch brothers Paul, Johan and Herman Limbourg began painting the manuscript in 1412. When the Limbourgs and their patron died in 1416, the work was left incomplete. Over the next forty years, multiple artists contributed to Très Riches Heures. The most reproduced sections of the book are the calendar pages. There is one page per month, each depicting medieval activities associated with that month.
The manuscript is held in the Musée Condé collection at the Château de Chantilly. It is undergoing restoration at The Fondation Etrillard in preparation for a temporary exhibit in from June to October of 2025. The Fondation states that this exhibit is “the first and probably last time, the unbound first pages of the manuscript will be shown to the public.” If you are not going to be in France for that once-in-anyone’s-lifetime event, digital scans of the book of hours can be viewed in flipbook form on the Château de Chantilly website.
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry Flipbook
The Rich Detail of The Most Beautiful Calendar in the World
The medieval timeline in my novel, Aulisyn, takes place in the Autumn. I specifically mined the pages for September and October for details. The images of the pages which I include below are in the Public Domain; clicking on them takes you to the Wikimedia Commons provenance page for the image.
September
Eliza is aware of her alienation as she moves from row to row, seeking her father amongst the trellised, old-growth vines. The family mule nuzzles her as he emerges from one of the rows. Eliza picks up the lead; the animal flaps his ears but follows without complaint. It is easy to get a mule to love you, Eliza thinks. It is all in the vegetable leavings and apple cores.
October
The sound of the birds brings Eliza back to the false field of the simulacrum demesne; she dumps the remainder of the grain in a pile at her feet. The man continues to guide his plough horse, oblivious to his true nature. Eliza watches crows scavenging the ghost wheat.
“I’ve given your future to the birds!” she shouts at the man as he turns his horse to harrow another row. Eliza knows he heard her. It is irrational to be furious with a puppet, true, but she cannot help herself from screaming, “You and your family will starve! Say something!”
Museums Are Vast Repositories of Details
A great scene, regardless of genre, is built one detail at a time. Historical fiction authors leverage art held in museums to get authentic, contemporaneous details of the time period for their novel. I recommend perusing the digitized collections made available by many museums, not only for worldbuilding, but also for replenishing your sense of awe. The longevity of the pieces in the collections is not a promise your book will be around in three hundred years, but it is a reminder that you cannot foretell who your art will inspire.
Where do you find the most impactful details for your stories? Have you used any museums, in person or online? If you want to talk craft directly instead of through blog comments, send me a friendly little letter!
As ever,
-erzsebet
Erzsebet Carmean 