DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14714#0084
DESCRIPTION OF MS.
THE "HOURS" OF ANNE OF BRITTANY
IN THE BIBLIOTHEQUE DU ROI, PARIS.
Tile magnificent missal from which the two present specimens are taken, was executed for Anne of Brittany ; most probably on her
marriage with Charles VIII., as her initials were interlaced with those of that king at the commencement of the volume. If such is the
case, it was executed at the close of the fifteenth century, and forms a fine climax to that epoch, celebrated as the finest period of the
art of illumination.
The volume has been overladen with extravagant praise by many describers ; but a fair and even severe estimate must assign it a
position among the finest works of its class, if not in the very first rank.
The great simplicity of its ornaments place it quite apart from the common illuminations of the period; it is, as it were, the last word
of the higher Gothic school of illumination, which had been long tending more and more towards the absolutely natural in the form and
distribution of its main features, which, as mere ornaments, perhaps rendered them less appropriate for their respective positions than
conventional forms. Be this as it may, in this style, the supreme effort of the art of illumination, nature, as far as lay within the capacity
of the artist, has been strictly followed, and yet nothing of the highly decorative character lost; though the pleasing angularity and
intricacy and truly architectonic character of the strictly Gothic period has been abandoned. It may be remarked that the gold,
upon which the objects appear, is no longer, as in the earlier stages of the art, a metallic atmosphere, as it were, in which the objects float
without shadow, but is a palpable (and possible) gold ground, upon which each object casts a natural shadow, so artistically treated as to
become in itself a decorative feature.
It is a style, that, having abandoned the quaintness and intricacy of the previous Gothic feeling, but without adopting any of the
foreign features of Italian arabesque, might have led eventually to an original and beautiful school of decorative art, of which we shall
never now be able to form any conception ; but which was crushed by the almost immediate introduction of the Italian style of the
revival. Many epochs in the history of an art present a similarly tantalizing view.
But to return to the "hours" of Anne of Brittany, the volume commences with the calendar, which is written on tablets, placed in the
centre of large miniatures (of the size of our specimen, the Adoration of the Magi), the figures of which are arranged so as not to be cut
by the tablet.
They form an illuminated calendar, which I believe is unique, both as to size and beauty of composition. This is followed by the
usual prayers, each either surrounded or bordered on one side by a gold band, on which is painted a natural flower or flowers, or in
some cases fruits, as in our specimen, which is a page containing a portion of the service for the festival of the annunciation.
Some of these borders are of most exquisite finish, such as no mechanical process can imitate, and perfectly jewelled over with
glittering insects, wrought up with the most sparkling brilliancy. In addition to these borderings, there is a large miniature occupying
an entire page opposite to the prayer for each saints day, and each principal "office," some of them of the most elaborate character, and
approaching, in elegance of drawing and grace of outline, especially in the female figures, to the early manner of Raphael, though
evidently the work of a native French artist.
In the bordered page, the tint outside the border represents the vellum of the original, and shows the exact size of the book. In the
miniature subject, the entire margin has been filled up with black ; and in some others, an intense shade of blue, red, or green,
commences immediately under the gold framing of the picture, and gradually dies off to the edge of the leaf—a manner not uncommon
in Italian manuscripts of the period.
I should not omit to state that the first prayer is preceded by a large miniature of great interest, as containing accurate and elaborately
wrought portraits of Anne of Brittany and several ladies of her court at prayers, in a style of art nearly equal to that of the great masters
of the period.
It was long thought by the conservators of the Bibliotheque du Roi, that this manuscript was unique, but England possesses another
in the same style, and evidently by the same hand, some of the fruit borderings being even finer than those of the Paris manuscript; but
it is without the calendar that forms so attractive a feature in the former volume : this exquisite volume is in the fine collection of
R. S. Holford, Esq.
THE "HOURS" OF ANNE OF BRITTANY
IN THE BIBLIOTHEQUE DU ROI, PARIS.
Tile magnificent missal from which the two present specimens are taken, was executed for Anne of Brittany ; most probably on her
marriage with Charles VIII., as her initials were interlaced with those of that king at the commencement of the volume. If such is the
case, it was executed at the close of the fifteenth century, and forms a fine climax to that epoch, celebrated as the finest period of the
art of illumination.
The volume has been overladen with extravagant praise by many describers ; but a fair and even severe estimate must assign it a
position among the finest works of its class, if not in the very first rank.
The great simplicity of its ornaments place it quite apart from the common illuminations of the period; it is, as it were, the last word
of the higher Gothic school of illumination, which had been long tending more and more towards the absolutely natural in the form and
distribution of its main features, which, as mere ornaments, perhaps rendered them less appropriate for their respective positions than
conventional forms. Be this as it may, in this style, the supreme effort of the art of illumination, nature, as far as lay within the capacity
of the artist, has been strictly followed, and yet nothing of the highly decorative character lost; though the pleasing angularity and
intricacy and truly architectonic character of the strictly Gothic period has been abandoned. It may be remarked that the gold,
upon which the objects appear, is no longer, as in the earlier stages of the art, a metallic atmosphere, as it were, in which the objects float
without shadow, but is a palpable (and possible) gold ground, upon which each object casts a natural shadow, so artistically treated as to
become in itself a decorative feature.
It is a style, that, having abandoned the quaintness and intricacy of the previous Gothic feeling, but without adopting any of the
foreign features of Italian arabesque, might have led eventually to an original and beautiful school of decorative art, of which we shall
never now be able to form any conception ; but which was crushed by the almost immediate introduction of the Italian style of the
revival. Many epochs in the history of an art present a similarly tantalizing view.
But to return to the "hours" of Anne of Brittany, the volume commences with the calendar, which is written on tablets, placed in the
centre of large miniatures (of the size of our specimen, the Adoration of the Magi), the figures of which are arranged so as not to be cut
by the tablet.
They form an illuminated calendar, which I believe is unique, both as to size and beauty of composition. This is followed by the
usual prayers, each either surrounded or bordered on one side by a gold band, on which is painted a natural flower or flowers, or in
some cases fruits, as in our specimen, which is a page containing a portion of the service for the festival of the annunciation.
Some of these borders are of most exquisite finish, such as no mechanical process can imitate, and perfectly jewelled over with
glittering insects, wrought up with the most sparkling brilliancy. In addition to these borderings, there is a large miniature occupying
an entire page opposite to the prayer for each saints day, and each principal "office," some of them of the most elaborate character, and
approaching, in elegance of drawing and grace of outline, especially in the female figures, to the early manner of Raphael, though
evidently the work of a native French artist.
In the bordered page, the tint outside the border represents the vellum of the original, and shows the exact size of the book. In the
miniature subject, the entire margin has been filled up with black ; and in some others, an intense shade of blue, red, or green,
commences immediately under the gold framing of the picture, and gradually dies off to the edge of the leaf—a manner not uncommon
in Italian manuscripts of the period.
I should not omit to state that the first prayer is preceded by a large miniature of great interest, as containing accurate and elaborately
wrought portraits of Anne of Brittany and several ladies of her court at prayers, in a style of art nearly equal to that of the great masters
of the period.
It was long thought by the conservators of the Bibliotheque du Roi, that this manuscript was unique, but England possesses another
in the same style, and evidently by the same hand, some of the fruit borderings being even finer than those of the Paris manuscript; but
it is without the calendar that forms so attractive a feature in the former volume : this exquisite volume is in the fine collection of
R. S. Holford, Esq.