The Heures de Charles d'Angoulême is a

book of hours A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

commissioned in the late 15th century, probably around 1480, by Charles, Count of Angoulême, father of king

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

. It is now in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

in Paris, under the number Latin 1173. The book contains full-page miniatures mostly painted by Robinet Testard, many of which have been adapted from, and inspired by, engravings, including sixteen prints by Israhel van Meckenem which have been glued onto the vellum and overpainted. The book is notable for both the quality of its art, and its various methods of incorporating prints, which testifies to the "complex history of interchanges between printed materials and manuscript illumination during the later fifteenth century".Matthews, pp.4–6

Description

is a manuscript designed for personal devotion and was popular in the Middle Ages. This illuminated work made for Charles, Count of Angoulême by the painter Robinet Testard is an unusual volume and is more comprehensive than just a set of devotions. The artist seems to understand his sponsor's character. As well as its devotional purpose, the book seems designed to entertain, to arouse curiosity (f. 52v), to amuse (ff 3r, 4v and 5r), to satisfy the sponsor's aesthetic sense (ff. 16v and 26v), to encourage his pastoral feelings (f. 20v), to encourage his chivalrous instincts (f. 2v) and even to flatter him (f. 41v). The folios most concerned with personal devotion, the Passion,

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and

Resurrection of Christ The resurrection of Jesus () is Christian belief that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, starting—or restoring—his exalted life as Christ and Lord. According to the New Testament writing, Jesus w ...

(f. 106v), were in fact the work of the engraver Israhel van Meckenem, subsequently coloured by Testard with his characteristic luminous hues. Other work by painters such as Jean Bourdichon were included and may demonstrate Testard's honesty, his admittance that his talents were insufficient for the task. He also introduced some profane elements such as sexual encounters (ff. 4v and 20v), mythology (f. 41v) and chivalry (f. 53v). The text is entirely in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and the book can be interpreted as being the antithesis of a book of hours, or even an anti-book of hours. Some important pages include; the animated scene of the Annunciation to the shepherds; the mysterious image showing the death of the

centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

; the moral scene "Combat between Virtue and Vice"; the political scene "Death of

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

"; the picture of "the Spider King and his daughter Madame Anne de Beaujeu"; and

George of Cappadocia George of Cappadocia ( Greek: Γεώργιος ό Καππάδοκης) died 24 December 361) was the intruding Arian bishop of Alexandria from 356 until his martyrdom. Biography Early life George was born, according to Ammianus Marcellinu ...

, a legendary scene which is more appropriate to a

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...

than a book of hours.

Manuscript

The manuscript is composed of 230 folios. It includes 38 full-page miniatures.

References

Bibliography

* * ''Les Heures de Charles d’Angoulême'' (facsimile of the manuscript), M. Moleiro Editor, 230 p
Read online
*

External links

Reproduction intégrale du manuscrit
on Gallica
Présentation du manuscrit
on the site of the
''Le livre d’heures de Charles d’Angoulême''
on Histoire de Paris.fr
''Les Heures de Charles d'Angoulême : enluminure et gravure à la fin du Moyen-âge''
on YouTube
1466 – ''Un Livre d’Heures de Charles d’Angoulême (Charles d’Orléans)''
on Histoire Passion (26 January 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heures de Charles d'Angouleme Charles d'Angouleme 15th-century illuminated manuscripts Iconography of illuminated manuscripts Miniature painting French books Printmaking Bibliothèque nationale de France collections

Description

Manuscript

See also

References

Bibliography

External links