Artworks
This exceptional Breviary decorated with 27 beautiful initials was made for the Archbishop of Sens, Étienne Becquart de Panoul around 1300. The book was illuminated by one of the greatest Parisian illuminators at the turn of the 14th century: the Méliacin Master. The sublime illumination and the rich secondary decoration distinguish this breviary as a truly spectacular example of Parisian gothic art. It is representative of the Master’s style in the late phase of his career: the figures, slight and elongated while the modelling and shading is meticulous and precise.
The small and delicate scenes within the initials mostly consist a few elegant figures in courtly attitudes. The faces and bodies are rendered in subtle drawings on a light, almost white background, contrasting with the colourful clothes and the lavish diapered backgrounds. The palette centres around gold, white-grey, old rose and red, orange, green and blue. Yet, the artist’s habit to apply these colours in a varying opacity, evokes a much wider palette. Despite the small size of the miniatures, the scenes often contain the minutest details. The garments plunge in soft folds with subtle shading, sometimes with a contrasting colour in the lining of the cape.
From the figurative, ornamental and heraldic initials, emanate long artful tendrils and coils that decoratively separate the text columns and adorn the margins. In addition to floral elements, the margins are inhabited by enchanting creatures, dragons, birds, and other animals. The luxurious nature of the codex is expressed in its text pages, which are also meticulously and magnificently decorated with filigree penwork and even the small lombards sometimes feature grotesque faces.
All of the carefully and splendidly decorated elements by the Méliacin Master come together to create a wonderful masterpiece, embodying the heights of Parisian book illumination around 1300.