Getty Museum

Leaf from a Manuscript

Date

about 1460–1470

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and gold paint

Culture

French

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

This page would have once been part of a lavishly illustrated manuscript completed sometime during the middle of the fifteenth century in France. It is unknown what text the image would have accompanied, as the back of the leaf is blank, but the fact that the figures lack halos and it shows a scene of a man being led as a prisoner indicate that the book was likely secular in origin, meaning that it was not designed for worship or primarily religious use. The image, depicting soldiers leading a captive away from a fortified city, was likely illustrated by the Maître François, an anonymous French painter active in Paris between 1460 and 1480. Characteristic of this artist’s works is the abundance of descriptive and minute details that enliven the figures and setting of the page, from the striking red boots on one of the soldiers to the swans swimming serenely in the moat in the background. The artist’s illumination style, which was highly sought after by the aristocracy, would eventually catch the eye of Jacques d’Armagnac, duke of Nemours, who was noted to have commissioned at least six manuscripts from the workshop of the Maître François.

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