Beschreibung:

Master of the Rouen Puys The Trinity, initial 'B' cut from a Gradual on vellum, Paris, c.1520-30 An imposing depiction of the Trinity from a monumental choirbook illuminated by the Master of the Rouen Puys. 188 x 165mm. Initial 'B' with the Trinity opening the introit to the Mass on Trinity Sunday, 'Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas' ('Blessed is the Holy Trinity'). Mounted and framed. Illumination: The present initial shares numerous stylistic features with the miniatures of the Chants Royaux du Puy d’Immaculée Conception de Rouen, illuminated by the Master of the Rouen Puys after 1528 (Paris, BnF, MS fr. 1537; Orth, 2016, pp.135-140, no 36). The colourful and celestial setting of the Trinity recalls the miniature of the Heavenly Father introducing Ordre et raison en purité parfaicte in this manuscript (f.116). Both miniatures boast an unusually large-scale figure of God, set in a simple composition that creates a striking effect. The forceful yet careful modelling of his face is best compared to the bearded Adam praying for mercy in the miniature introducing La main de grâce aux pescheurs estendue (f.21). Identical features include the wrinkled, ample, and square-chinned face, with a firmly drawn nose, and long-fingered hands. Characteristic of the Master of the Rouen Puys’ own technique are the thick outlines and the handling of the white highlights used to suggest the wrinkles, strengthen the eyebrows, and define the tightly-curled beard and hair. God’s costume is also similar to that of God the Father in a library, an unusual subject that introduces La grand chronique en véritée fondée (f.80): enthroned in front of an embroidered cloth of honor, he wears a green-lined cape over a white vestment. Although less refined, the anatomy of the Crucified Christ in this cutting shares several features with the Christ of the Last Judgment, introducing Noble advocate en concept pure et saincte, such as the sunken chest, the square-chinned face, and the bifid short-cut beard (f.106v). The swollen draperies of our initial, animated with 'fish bone' folds made of liquid gold, highlights and shadows worked with fine lines and cross-hatching demonstrate the style of an artist familiar with the techniques of woodcut engraving. The Master of the Rouen Puys was named by Myra Orth after the decoration of the Chants Royaux du Puy d’Immaculée Conception de Rouen that was until then his sole known illuminated manuscript (Orth 2016, pp.135-140, no 36). Like the late medieval confraternities of Dieppe, Abbeville, and Amiens, the Rouen Puy was a confraternity that organised a yearly poetry competition, during which its members competed for the best poem celebrating the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. In 1518, the municipal council of Amiens presented Louise of Savoy with a manuscript of the fourty-seven Chants Royaux du Puy Notre-Dame d’Amiens, each introduced by a full-page miniature by Jean Pichore based on the series of panel painting displayed in the cathedral Notre-Dame of Amiens (Paris, BnF, MS fr. 145; Avril and Reynaud 1993, pp.283-284, no 156). Conceived on the same principle for an as-of-yet unknown patron, the luxurious manuscript of the Rouen Puys gathers fifty prize-winning chants royaux that date from 1519 to 1528. Marie-Blanche Cousseau has reattributed its fifty full-page miniatures to the Master of the Rouen Puys, with the sole exception of the first miniature that is by Étienne Colaud (active Paris, c.1512-1541; Cousseau 2016, p.213). Further scholarship may demonstrate the greater extent of the Master of the Rouen Puys’ original contribution to Parisian illumination under King Francis I (r. 1515-1547).