This course aims to give an introduction to illuminated manuscripts in France from the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth century. The focus will be the artistic decoration – miniatures, borders, and initials – in its hierarchical function of organizing the text. Unlike those working in the Italian tradition, French illuminators signed their works only rarely, so that the definition of individual artists or craftsmen usually depends on stylistic comparison alone. Sometimes, it is possible to link names, derived from documents in the archives, with recognizable hands defined by stylistic comparisons. Less often, a payment document can be identified with a surviving artwork to which it refers in a characteristic way. By examining such problems, the course will provide an overview of the leading artists based mainly in Paris and Tours . The nature of electronic materials, search techniques and use of managed digital resources will also be discussed.

Bibliography:
François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Manuscrits à Peintures en France, 1440-1520 (Paris 1993).
Paris 1400. Les Arts sous Charles VI (Paris 2004).
Mara Hofmann, French Illuminated Manuscripts: Late Fourteenth to Early Sixteenth Century (http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourFrIntro.asp)

Please bring a pencil: pens are not allowed when valuable manuscript facsimiles are in use