Beschreibung:

STATUTES OF THE ORDER OF ST MICHEL, in French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1523 – before 1525] Statutes of the royal chivalric order of St Michel, apparently one of the de luxe manuscripts ordered by François I, king of France (1494-1547) from the Parisian court painter Étienne Colaud in 1523 for presentation to his loyal knights, this example intended for his uncle, René of Savoy. 253 x 182mm, ii + 48 + ii leaves, complete, wide margins preserving prickings and instructions to the illuminator, 26 lines, ruled space: 175 x 115mm, two-line illuminated initials on alternating red and blue grounds throughout, two large illuminated initials, one full-page miniature with an architectural border facing a full-page armorial of René of Savoy. Modern green silk. Provenance : (1) The full-page armorial on f.8 is that of René of Savoy (1473-1525), illegitimate son of Philip II, Duke of Savoy and originator of the Savoy-Tende cadet branch of the House of Savoy through his marriage to Anne Lascaris, countess of Tende. The Grand Bastard of Savoy won the favour of his nephew François, Count of Angoulême and when the latter acceded to the throne as François I in 1515, he appointed René governor and grand sénéchal of Provence, later granting him the title of Grand Master of France, as well as the title to the dukedom of Savoy, in 1519. René of Savoy was admitted to the chivalric Order of St Michel in 1517 – the Order’s treasure, Étienne Petit, noted that ‘fut reçu chevalier de l’Ordre m. le Bassart’ – spending the final years of his life restored to legitimacy and garlanded with high honours. He died in 1525 from injuries sustained fighting in the Battle of Pavia. (2) Antoine Moriau (1699-1759; magistrate and bibliophile); his bookplate, f.1. Content: List of chapters of the Order of St Michel (‘La table des chappitres du livre De lordre du tres crestien Roy de france loys xime a lhonneur de Saint Michel’) ff.1-8; Statutes of the Order of St Michel (‘Loys par la grace de dieu Roy de france…’) ff.9v-38 ; Additions to the Statutes (‘Les lectres du Roy de ladionction et status ordonnances constitutions et Institutions…’) ff.38-48. The Order of Saint Michel was founded by Louis XI in 1469; equivalent chivalric fraternities of lay knights, which include the Order of the Garter in England and the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Burgundian Netherlands, were instituted by monarchs across Europe both to reward faithful service and to ensure the continuation of this loyalty from their nobility. Illumination: The full-page miniature depicting Louis XI surrounded by his knights on f.9v is attributable to Étienne Colaud (active 1512-1541), the Parisian illuminator whose dramatic scenes populated by muscular figures and richly contrasting palette won the patronage of François I and the French court (for a fuller construction of his oeuvre, see Marie-Blanche Cousseau, Étienne Colaud et l'enluminure parisienne sous le règne de François Ier , 2016). Royal accounts from the early reign of François I, who ruled France from 1515 until 1547, show the king commissioning at least twelve copies of the Statutes from Étienne Collaud, for which the illuminator received payment in 1523 and 1538. One of these volumes is held at the British Library (Harley MS. 4485): the present manuscript bears a striking resemblance to the Harley Statutes in its format and script in addition to the full-page miniature by Étienne Collaud depicting the French king with the knights of the Order. It seems most likely that the present manuscript was painted by Collaud for René of Savoy, uncle to François I and a member of the Order of St Michel from 1517 until his death in 1525.