Manuscript Painting at the Court of France - The Fourteenth Century (1310-1380)

Fourteenth Century Paris, the seat of a renowned university and a powerful monarchy, was the most advanced artistic centre in Europe. The patronage offered by the French court attracted talented book illuminators to the capital, and, for the first time in the history of post-classical civilization, the work of individual artists can be readily identified. The painting of Jean Pucelle, who is known to be solely responsible for the delicate illuminations in the tiny prayer book, The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreui, was unmatched in his day for refined elegance and sophisticated charm. The guidance of the enlightened and scholarly monarchs, King John and his son Charles V, combined with the first devastations of the Hundred Years War, shifted the attention of artists to more naturalistic themes. For direct and sensitive observation of birds, beasts, insects and flowers, the unknown illustrator of the Rernède de Fortune, Machaut's celebration of courtly love and nature, had no equal.

The traditions established by these two widely differing artists and by those that worked with them, introduces a new stage in this history of Western art. Francois Avril of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has selected, described and written an introduction to the folios reproduced in this volume from the best examples of French Fourteenth Century manuscript painting.

Manuscript Painting at the Court of France is the sixth of a series of large-format, high quality paperbacks featuring the finest and most interesting illuminations from the most important Eastern and Western extant manuscripts. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting,  Carolingian Painting, Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination, Italian Renaissance Illuminations, Early Spanish.