FOUQUET, Jean
(b. ca. 1420, Tours, d. ca. 1480, Tours)

Grandes Chroniques de France

c. 1460
Manuscript (Ms. français 6465), 460 x 350 mm
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

This codex contains the history of the kingdom of France, from its mythical origins to the reign of King Charles V (1364-1380).

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.

The custom continued at regular intervals. Work on the text of the present manuscript began as early as 1420-30, but it was not completed. Some 30 years later, the task was taken up again. The patron this time was King Charles VII (reigned 1422-1461). A Paris workshop seems to have been responsible for the border illustration, and Jean Fouquet created most of the 51 miniatures himself and did not pass them on to members of his workshop.

Although there were already richly illustrated copies of the Grandes Chroniques, Fouquet totally recast the historical events in the spirit of his time.

On folio 442r Fouquet portrays an event from almost one hundred years earlier, an episode that took place during the visit of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and his son to the French King Charles V in 1377. The picture is the largest in the manuscript and extends over two columns of text, written below in elegant script.




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