MINIATURIST, Italian
(active 1350s in Naples)

Meliadus or Guiron le Courtois

1352-62
Manuscript (Add MS 12228)
British Library, London

Meliadus or Guiron le Courtois (part of the romance also known as Palamedes) was composed between 1235 and 1240. The present 14th-century manuscript contains the prologue, and the first part of the romance of Guiron le Courtois. The miniatures, by several Neapolitan artists with French influence, were produced for Louis of Tarantino, King of Naples (r. 1352, d.1362).

The miniature on folio 313v is one of the earliest representations of a card-game. There are four players and three onlookers.