FRENCH ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AT CHANTILLY
[Illustration: Plate XXVII.
Photo. Giraudon.
JANUARY
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 154._]
The leading part taken by French Art in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries was not continued in the same degree during the fourteenth and
fifteenth. Nevertheless records have survived which afford sufficient
information whence we may conclude that France was at that period not as
entirely unproductive as has been hitherto supposed. It is true that,
owing to the fact that the wall-decorations in the Hôtel St. Paul, the
old Louvre, and the Hôtel de Savoisie in Paris, of the châteaux of
Bicêtre and Vaudreuil in Normandy, and of the castles of the Comtesse
d'Artois, have been almost entirely destroyed or demolished by fire,
siege or climate, native works of art of that period have become
extremely rare. Still those few which remain, such as the diptych
belonging to the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton,[30] the _Parement de
Narbonne_, now in the Louvre, the wall-paintings in the Cathedral at
Cahors and in the Church of Saint-Savin at Poitiers, etc., testify amply
to the importance of the work of that period. Moreover, the
miniatures of that period have not shared the disastrous vicissitudes of
the larger works. Thus the illuminated MSS. preserved at Chantilly offer
a special interest and are of an almost unique value in the general
history of Art.
By a fortunate chance an _Inventory_ has come down to us, compiled in
1416, immediately after the death of the Duc de Berry, brother of King
Charles V of France. This document contains a catalogue of all the
art-treasures in his possession; but hardly any names of artists are
mentioned except those of Pol Limbourg and his brothers. Among the
entries the following is worth quoting: "_Plusiers cayers d'une Très
Riches Heures qui faisoient Pol et ses frères, très richement historiez
et enluminez_"--a note which refers without a doubt to the MS. of _Les
Très Riches Heures_ now at Chantilly. Another document of no less
importance is one drawn up by François Robertet, Secretary to the Duc de
Bourbon, which informs us that several of the miniatures in the MS. of
Josephus' _Antiquities_ are by Jehan Fouquet, Court-Painter to Louis XI.
Thus it has been possible to identify the authentic work of the
Limbourgs and of Fouquet, some of the finest examples of which are to be
found in the Musée Condé.
Unfortunately these flashes of light are very rare; and absence of
record is no doubt one of the chief reasons why French paintings of this
period were so little known and appreciated in France, and why the
valuable collection bequeathed by Robert Gaignières to Louis XIV was but
little valued by that monarch. Trusting to the advice of the ignorant
critics of the time His Majesty reckoned them as of no importance and
did not consider the collection worthy of a place in the Louvre; so that
eventually, in 1717, it was scattered by public auction under the
directions of the painter de Troy.
Thus it happened that, whilst France was acquiring valuable antiques and
important examples of the art of the Italian Renaissance, she was unable
to estimate or retain the art which had sprung up on her own soil. To
cite one example only: Fouquet's diptych from Melun has been lost to
France for ever, one portion of it being at Antwerp, another at Berlin,
whilst the beautiful enamelled frame has disappeared altogether.
Fortunately, however, connoisseurs like Reiset and Mariette arose, who
bequeathed French fifteenth and sixteenth century pictures to the
Louvre; and later still this remarkable legacy from the Duc d'Aumale
restored to France some of her own most valuable treasures. By means of
these acquisitions this patriotic Prince has constructed a monument to
French Art which is as interesting as it is unique.
[Illustration: Plate XXVIII.
Photo. Giraudon.
FEBRUARY.
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 156._]
The _Cabinet des Livres_ at Chantilly, still just as it was when
occupied by the Duc d'Aumale, with his chair, his writing-table, his
reading-lamp and half-burnt candle, contains no less than fourteen
thousand manuscripts of the very highest importance. The most
noteworthy amongst these are: the first ten books of St. Augustine's
_Cité de Dieu_ (translated by Raoul de Presles); Aristotle's _Ethics_
(translated by Nicolas Oresmes); Livy's _Second Decade_ (translated by
Pierre Bersuire); all of which at one time belonged to the Duc de Berry.
Then there is the third volume of the _Gallic War_, a free translation
of the Commentaries of Cæsar,[31] on the last page of which is the
following inscription: _Albertus Pichius, auxilio Godofredi pictoris
Batavi faciebat praecipiete Francisco Molinio mense novembris anno
quinquimillesimo vigesimo_; whence we derive information regarding the
date of its completion, the names of the artists who were entrusted with
it and even the name of the man who commissioned it on behalf of Francis
I.
Most interesting are a selection of the _Table Ronde_ used by Gaston
Paris in Vol. XXX of the _Histoire littéraire de la France_ and a copy
of Dante's _Inferno_ with a _Commentary_ by Guido of Pisa. Furthermore a
French translation of Cicero's _Rhetorics_ written in 1282 by Master
Jean d'Antioch and commissioned by a monk called Guillaume de
Saint-Etienne of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem: a MS. which throws
interesting light on still more ancient translations and is ornamented
with fine old miniatures; a French translation of _Valere Maxime_ (in
two volumes), which belonged to the Cardinal George d'Amboise; a
translation of _Diodorus Siculus_, with a frontispiece representing
_King Francis and his Court_; and an illuminated manuscript, known to
have been the _Book of Hours_ of Anne de Montmorency, offer more than
ordinary interest. This last belongs to the sixteenth century and
contains miniatures in the style of Jean Cousin.
Next comes a _Legenda Aurea_, which once belonged to Charles V of France
and which in its time has travelled back and forth between England and
France (as was so often the case with old books and manuscripts); for on
the last page we read in an unknown hand:
_And yf my pen were better_
_Better shuld be my letter._
[Illustration: Plate XXIX.
Photo. Giraudon.
APRIL.
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 158._]
Other extremely important MSS. acquired by the Duke himself are the MS.
_de la Coche de Marguerite d'Angoulême_ and the _Psalter of Queen
Ingeburge_, of which the Duke was particularly proud. It commences with
a _Calendar_, followed by a series of paintings on gold backgrounds
representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and dates from the
thirteenth century. It belonged to Queen Ingeburge, the unhappy and
neglected wife of Philippe Auguste and in it are entered the names of
her father, Waldemar the Great, King of Denmark, of her mother, Queen
Sophia, and of the Comtesse Eleanore de Vermandois, her faithful friend
during long years of trial, thus proving unquestionably her ownership
of this precious volume. She has, moreover, entered in it the date 1214,
the year in which she was recognised as Queen of France. On the last
page appears the following entry: "_Ce psaultier fut de Saint Loys_,"
showing that the MS. subsequently came into the possession of St. Louis,
King of France, himself. In Charles V's _Inventory_, dated 1380, it is
described as "_mon gros psaultier, nommé le Psaultier St. Loys, très
richement enlumyne d'or et d'ancien ymages_," and we learn that in 1428
it was preserved in the Château of Vincennes. From that time, however,
it disappeared for nearly two hundred years until it was found in
England by Pierre de Bellièvre, who secured it and presented it in 1649
to Henri de Mesmes. The miniatures are similar in style to those found
in English MSS. of the thirteenth century; the colours are luminous,
black and blue being predominant, and the whole work is painted on a
gold ground. The initial letters and the decorative caligraphy show
skilful technique and were evidently designed at the period of which
Dante speaks as "_L'onor di quell'arte ch'alluminare è chiamata in
Parisi_."[32] It is very probable that this _Psalter of Queen
Ingeburge_[33] served as the model for many other illuminated
manuscripts.
Another noteworthy royal MS. acquired by the Duc d'Aumale which is of
special importance is the _Breviary_ of Jeanne d'Evreux. Amid the
delicate decorations of the border around the illuminated text may be
seen the coats-of-arms of France, Navarre, and Evreux; and it contains
no less than one hundred and fourteen miniatures in _grisaille_ upon
coloured and gold backgrounds. The Gothic attitudes and graceful figures
recall the style of Jean Pucelle, which, dating from the years
1327-1350, had been introduced into Paris before the coming of Northern
realism.
Jeanne d'Evreux, wife of Charles IV, was well known as a connoisseur in
illuminated books, and this exquisite work of art passed to Charles V,
by whom it was kept at Vincennes in a coffer along with the _Breviary_
of Belleville.
The small _Book of Hours_ belonging to M. Maurice de Rothschild
(published in facsimile by Count Delisle), the _Missal of St. Denis_ in
the Victoria and Albert Museum, the _Book of Hours_ designed for Jeanne
de France, Queen of Navarre, in the Yates Thomson Collection, form a
group of beautiful codices which have rightly been compared with this
MS. of Queen Jeanne d'Evreux.
[Illustration: Plate XXX.
Photo. Giraudon.
MAY.
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 160._]
The greatest gem, however, of all these illuminated MSS. is
unquestionably the precious volume known as _Les Très Riches Heures_ of
the Duc de Berry. The Duc d'Aumale himself relates the history of its
acquisition in 1855. On his way to visit his mother Queen Marie Amélie,
then lying ill at Nervi, he visited the Villa Pallavicini at Pegli,
near Genoa--at that time a boarding-school for young ladies--in order to
examine a MS. to which his attention had been drawn by Sir Antonio
Panizzi, Principal Librarian of the British Museum. Without any
hesitation he arranged on the spot to purchase the work of art for a sum
of 18,000 francs. On his return to Twickenham (where he was then
residing), the Duchess herself carefully unfolded the newly acquired
treasure from its "_cassetta foderato di velluto_" and every connoisseur
of note at once hastened to examine the wonderful MS. which the Duke had
been so fortunate as to acquire. As early as 1857 Waagen wrote about it
with much detail; later Count de Laborde, Anatol Gruyer, and Leopold
Delisle followed; and recently, and more exhaustively, Paul Durrieu
also. But it was Delisle who made the important discovery that the _Très
Riches Heures_ could be identified with the MS. described in the
Inventory of the Duc de Berry: "_Item une layette plusiers cayers d'une
'Très Riches Heures' que faisoient Pol et ses frères, très richement
historiez et enluminez_." The same writer also discovered that these
leaflets were valued at 500 _livres tournois_ (about 20,000 francs), a
very large price for that time, and one which showed the high value in
which this manuscript was held even at that date.
The death of the Duc de Berry brought these precious pages, begun under
such brilliant auspices, to a sudden standstill; and in consequence of
that prince's debts--which arose chiefly from his expensive artistic
tastes--a sale of his property immediately took place. The Duc de
Bourbon and the Comte d'Armagnac (the husbands of his two daughters and
co-heiresses) were making war upon one another on account of the murder
of the Duc d'Orléans by _Jean Sans Peur_--a war known in history as the
War of the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. Amid these disturbances there
was scarcely time to think of illuminated MSS.; for which reason the
work of Pol de Limbourg and his brothers was suspended, and was not
resumed until the year 1454, long after their death--unfortunately by a
far inferior hand--that of Jean de Colombe. By that time the volume had
come into the possession of Charles of Savoy and his wife Blanche of
Monferrat. It is not difficult to explain how this _Breviary_ came into
the House of Savoy--a fact which is proved by the armorial bearings and
two miniature portraits of Charles--because both husband and wife were
descendants in direct line from Bonne de Berry (one of the daughters of
the Duc de Berry), who had first been married to a Count of Savoy. In
1501 the MS. passed to Margaret of Austria, wife of Philibert of Savoy,
a Royal patroness of the Arts who corresponded with Jean Perréal
regarding the tomb of her husband in the church at Brou. By her this MS.
was provided with a velvet cover and a silver padlock; and she no doubt
took it to Flanders with her after her husband's death.
[Illustration: Plate XXXI.
Photo. Giraudon.
JUNE.
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 162._]
Comte Paul Durrieu identifies the _Très Riches Heures_ with a MS.
mentioned also in an _Inventory_ of 1523 as "_une grande heure escripte
à la main_," whereby it can be explained how the _Grimani Breviary_,[34]
executed about the end of the sixteenth century, and other Flemish MSS.
have obviously taken this famous Codex as a model; and even in some
points copied it very closely.
When Margaret of Austria died in 1530 the volume passed into the hands
of one of her executors, Jean Buffant, Treasurer to the Emperor Charles
V; and from that time there occurs a gap which even Paul Durrieu has so
far been unable to fill. The present binding of red morocco leather
belongs to the eighteenth century and bears the coat-of-arms of the
Spinola family, which points strongly to the probability that the volume
also once belonged to the celebrated General Spinola, who captured the
town of Breda--an historical event immortalised by Velasquez. From the
Spinolas it came into the family of the Sèvres, a fact proved by another
coat-of-arms amongst the illuminations; and from a member of that family
it was acquired by the Duc d'Aumale, by whom it was deposited at
Chantilly.
From this amazing list of MSS. we may see that nearly all the important
books and manuscripts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are
represented at Chantilly. Some portions of the collection go back to the
old Montmorency and Condé acquisitions; whilst the Duc d'Aumale himself
has described the origin and vicissitudes of the articles gathered in by
himself in his admirable work _The Philobiblon Miscellanies_, which will
always remain the best guide to the _Cabinet des Livres_ at Chantilly.
[Illustration: Plate XXXII.
Photo. Giraudon.
JULY.
Pol de Limbourg.
From The "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry."
_To face page 164._]