The Perceforest
Anonymous
- Jean Coene IV
Manuscript in French on vellum
France, Paris, c. 1505 - 1508
420 x 320 mm
Price on request
i + 144 ff. + i. 7 very large, half-pageilluminations; 6 small,one-column wide miniatures. Wide, colorful painted borders in all illuminated pages. Wanting 3 folios, two with miniatures (between ff. 51-52 and 99-100) and final blank. 19th-century pink velvet binding, the no. 4791 (from the Phillipps collection) written on the spine. Excellent condition.
A Textbook for the Renaissance Prince: The Perceforest for Antoine of Lorraine
This tome tells the epic tale of a time before King Arthur, when chivalric rules were in their infancy and the heroes of antiquity left their mark on the British Isles. Telling a story of monumental length, the Roman de Perceforest served as a treasury of chivalric principles that encourages readers to follow its virtuous example. This stunning rendition of the rarely seen text was commissioned by Philippa, Duchess of Lorraine, as part of a set of educational readings for her son Antoine of Lorraine.
This manuscript contains the second half of the fifth book of the Roman de Perceforest, an anonymous and extremely rare chivalric text. It is one of the most extensive and remarkable of the later Arthurian tales, a work that perpetuates the fundamental principles of 14-century chivalry. The author of Perceforest incorporated elements from the romances of Alexander, ancient Roman chronicles, and medieval travel narratives, along with oral traditions. Woven together, they tell the prehistory of King Arthur’s Britain. The romance is immensely long, and each one of Perceforests six parts is the length of a substantial novel.
The only complete surviving manuscript of the Perceforest was commissioned by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, who was the godfather of Philippa of Lorraine, the patron of this tome. Philippa of Guelders, an exceptionally educated bibliophile, commissioned the Perceforest as a piece of educational literature for her son Antoine of Lorraine, which was one in a set of manuscripts that included translations of classical and literary texts by Plutarch among others. The selection of these texts offers a fascinating look at what was considered an appropriate education for a presumptive ruler.
The manuscript features 7 exceptionally large, half-page illuminations and 6 small, one-column wide miniatures. All illuminated pages have wide and colorful painted borders. These illuminations are by Jean Coene IV, who frequently worked for Parisian print shops as an illuminator of wood- and metal-cuts. He belonged to a dynasty of illuminators from Flanders who settled in France in the late 14th century and was also part of Jean Pichore’s network, who was an illuminator, publisher and illustrator of printed books. Blue, red, and green dominate this artist’s palette, creating a rich visual tapestry.
Each scene is framed by architectural borders in liquid gold, a design feature primarily associated with printed Hours produced after 1500. The cycle of miniatures in this tome depicts scenes from the beginning of the six final tournaments at the shepherd’s springs, the Tournoi de la Fontaine aux Pastourelles, showing beautiful moments of valor and strength – qualities that a well-educated future duke would have to embody.