The Rochechouart Hours
Use of Rome
- Master from the circle of Jean Poyer and Giovanni Todeschino
Manuscript in Latin on vellum
France, Tours, c. 1500 (before 1504)
254 x 170 mm
111 (of 112) leaves. 5 large miniatures in full-page Renaissance architectural borders in liquid gold, bearing the coat of arms of the Rochechouart family. 19th-century, French binding in crushed light brown morocco with a gilt semé of fleurs-de-lys, silk ribbon page marker.
The present manuscript boasts a spectacular collaboration between an artist close to the multitalented illuminator, painter, draftsman, and festival designer Jean Poyer and a master with strong Italian influences – possibly the renowned painter Giovanni Todeschino, who came to Tours with the exiled King of Naples, Frederick of Aragon. The book is an excellent example of the work of one the great illumination workshops of Renaissance France.
After Jean Fouquet’s death, Jean Poyer was celebrated by the poet Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473- 1525) as the equal of Jan van Eyck, Simon Marmion, and Rogier van der Weyden. The hallmarks of his style are evident in the present Hours: bold colour juxtapositions and a strong and confident feeling for vivid and expressive composition. His graceful figures are clad in elegant, masterfully designed draperies. The artist’s sensitivity for space and spatiality highlights a certain cool aloofness that all his figures display.
The present, deluxe Book of Hours boasts an unbroken line of provenance within the same French noble family.
