MINIATURIST, French
(active 1370s in Paris)

Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V

1375-80
Manuscript (Ms. français 2813), 350 x 240 mm
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

The Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V (The Great Chronicle of France of Charles V) was recognised as the standard official history of the French monarchy. By the late 13th century it had become the custom of the monks of Saint-Denis to record remarkable contemporary events. This habit was then systematically continued by court historians, and ultimately developed into a historical project unique in the whole of Europe. Like his predecessors, Charles V was strongly concerned to have a lavish, historically updated new copy of the chronicles made, based on the old repertoire of text. This luxurious manuscript actually consists of two volumes illuminated by numerous anonymous artists in very different styles.

The scenes on folio 4r depict episodes from the Trojan War and the mythical Trojan origins of the French people. The coat-of-arms held by the angels at the bottom of the page indicated that the codex was executed for Charles V.