Manuscripts were generally supplied by a bookseller or publisher, who supervised the scribe, illuminators and painters.Ī third of those catalogued by Orth belong to that traditional “best seller”, the book of hours. Printing had been introduced to France in 1470, but the wealthy continued to commission prayer books and receive opulent presentation copies of new works. Paris reclaimed its position as the centre of deluxe book production only after the accession of François I (1515-47). This layout necessitates close reading and frequent cross-reference, amply compensated for by an enthralling level of detail that makes an immense contribution to Renaissance studies.įor half a century after the end of the Hundred Years War, the preferred residence of the French court was at Tours.

The second provides full catalogue entries on 100 manuscripts made between 15, plus indexes and a bibliography. Like previous contributions to this ambitious Harvey Miller series, it comprises two substantial volumes: the first with brief introductory essays, illustrations and succinct biographies of artists, scribes, authors and patrons. This art-historical lacuna is authoritatively redressed by Renaissance Manuscripts: the Sixteenth Century, fruit of a lifetime’s research by the late Myra Orth, a curator at the Getty Research Institute. Histories of 16th-century art in France typically devote entire chapters to the Galerie François I at Fontainebleau or the châteaux of Philibert de l’Orme, but seldom more than a footnote to manuscript illumination.

16th century portraiture