DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
1
Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
REASON IN THE CENTRE WITH THE OPPOSING FORTUNE AND VIRTUE AT EITHER SIDE
Fortune and Virtue debate before Reason
Miniature from L’Estrif de Fortune et de Vertu by Martin le Franc, manuscript on
vellum, illuminated by the Master of the Yale Missal
France, Tours or Bourges?, c. 1470-1480.
Vellum, 190 x 220 mm, miniature 163 x 150 mm, floriated borders on three sides inhabited by
animals. Some discolouration in the sky, else in very good condition with nineteenth-century “469”
and “480” inscribed on verso. Cropped on all sides and perhaps once laid on board.
PROVENANCE
European Private Collection
COMPANION LEAVES
Two additional miniatures from the same manuscript are known, held at the moment at Dr.
Jörn Günther Rare Books. These are all that remain from an otherwise unrecorded manuscript
of Martin le Franc’s L’Estrif de Fortune et de Vertu. Together the three miniatures form the
complete image cycle of the lost volume.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
1. Reason debating with Virtue as Fortune spins her wheel, large miniature from Martin le
Franc, L’Estrif de Fortune et de Vertu. Private Collection.
2. Virtue gesturing at Fortune before Reason, large miniature from Martin le Franc, L’Estrif
de Fortune et de Vertu. Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books.
TEXT
On its reverse, our cutting reveals the remains of two columns of text with 29 lines of lettre
bâtarde. The text is a debate between the allegorical figures of Reason, Virtue, and Fortune.
Written both in verse and prose, Fortune and Virtue discuss whether man is capable of
determining his own destiny, thus advancing himself and society, or whether the future is
simply controlled by Fortune and her wheel. Judged (and often helped) by the figure of
Reason, Virtue triumphs in the end in proclaiming that while Fortune’s whim is certainly
pervasive, man’s free will was foremost in deciding his fate.
Martin le Franc’s L’Estrif
de Fortune et de Vertu was
composed at the request of
Philip the Good, the Duke
of Burgundy (1393-1467)
and dedicated to him at the
end of 1447 or beginning of
1448. Combining careers as
a churchman, diplomat, and
author, Le Franc began his
rise to eminence in the
employ of the Duke of
Savoy. He acted as a
personal secretary to both
the antipope Felix V and
Pope Nicholas V and finally
as ambassador to the
Burgundian court of Philip
the Good. He is best known
for another text, also
dedicated to Philip the
Good, a 24,000-verse work called Le Champion des Dames (1441/1442), which recounted the
noble deeds of the greatest women throughout history. As with L’Estrif, the text assumes a
moralistic and didactic tone, vehemently denouncing corruption and hedonistic luxury.
Thorough studies have compiled a total of 30 extant manuscripts of the L’Estrif worldwide
(Debowski 1999). An unrecorded manuscript resurfaced on the market in 2006 (Dr. Jörn
Günther cat. 8, no. 23) and to these we add our miniature and its two sister leaves, all from
one and the same yet unknown manuscript. The Schoenberg database has a mere handful of
accounts of copies of this manuscript making their way to the market, casting our miniature’s
appearance as quite rare, and very fortunate indeed.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
ILLUMINATION
Set before a castle on top of a hill and in between a beautifully lush forest and its desolate
counterpart, our miniature seats Reason in the centre with the opposing Fortune and Virtue
standing at either side. A multitude of majestic ships are massed in the background as the
seven winds blow above them, here depicted as seven cherubs, delicately rendered as ethereal
creatures, pursing their lips. As le Franc composed his text as a series of dichotomies, it is
only appropriate that the miniature is configured in this way: the oppositional sides of Fortune
and Virtue are mirrored by the juxtaposition of destruction and abundant luxury both in the
forest below and the castle atop the hill.
Illuminated copies of the Estrif generally include three miniatures opening each of the three
sections. The miniatures, much like ours, set the three allegorical figures before a landscape,
the only conformity usually arranging Fortune and Virtue to flank Reason, who arbitrates the
discourse. Apart from this illustration, no fixed iconographic pattern exists.
The composition of our miniature has a clear precedent in another L’Estrif manuscript painted
by the young Jean Bourdichon c. 1475 (St. Petersburg: National Library of Russia, MS.
Fr.F.v.XV,6). Our artist clearly drew on the same patterns as the Bourdichon counterpart: the
vivid palette, sumptuous drapery (especially that of Fortune’s spiraling striped dress), and
choice of headgear were used as a model for our particular miniature.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
The stylistic elements of this miniature suggest the hand of an illuminator known as the
Master of the Yale Missal (New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Books Library, ms
425, made between 1470-1475), and sometimes known as the Master of the Vienna Mamerot
(Vienna, ÖNB, cod. 2577-8). Working both with Jean Colombe on various commissions and
often in Tours, he is attributed to both Bourges and Tours. Active from 1460 to the late 1470s,
the mature Master of the Yale Missal collaborated with Jean Colombe on one of his most
prestigious commissions: the Hours of Louis de Laval (Paris, BnF, lat. 920). Louis de Laval,
Seigneur de Châtillon, was the advisor to King Louis XI and became one of Colombe’s
important patrons. Begun in 1468, this extraordinary illuminated masterpiece comprises of a
lavish decoration scheme consisting of 1,234 images executed in two campaigns by Colombe
with the assistance of his atelier and other collaborators. Our artist is attributed over ten large
miniatures in this tour de force, which help verify his hand in our present miniature. Fol. 311v
in particular, which depicts the raising of Lazarus, shows elements which link the master to
our miniature. Specifically, the application of gold to accentuate the folds of drapery, the
idiosyncratic hatching on areas meant to be grass, the architectural motifs, and, most
importantly, the range of facial features distributed throughout the figures make a clear
connection between the miniatures and their shared artistic hand. Given the borrowed
compositional precedents from Bourdichon’s examples, this would have been a late piece in
the oeuvre of an artistically mature Master of the Yale Missal, which is in agreement with the
high expertise and great skill apparent in our miniature.
The border in our miniature is likely the work of another hand. Teeming with rich acanthus
leaves and blooming with other foliage, the margin is also inhabited by delightful drolleries.
A spotted cat, painted in contour with a simple wash and replete with delicate whiskers, sits
atop the miniature, seemingly oblivious to the debate below. A charming ape on crutches
regards the scene unfolding before him. The pictorial tradition of the marginal monkey is
more commonly found in more northern traditions, where monkeys played, held canes, and
acted as pantomimes of the human race in the borders. In our case, the significance of the ape
stumbling with his crutches can be debated at length but, regardless, most certainly adds a
whimsical detail to the otherwise sober debate.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
Far in the distance is one detail that should not go unnoticed: Fortune’s wheel, poised and
waiting atop the hill. While relegated to the background, its ubiquitous appearance serves as a
reminder that all are vulnerable to her capricious ways. Despite this, as Virtue proclaims, the
deeds of man will always decide his destiny.
LITERATURE
These miniatures are hitherto unpublished.
For further reading, please consult:
Roth, Oskar. Studien zum Estrif de Fortune et Vertu des Martin le Franc. Bern: H. Lang,
1970.
Dembowski, Peter F. “Martin Le Franc, Fortune, Virtue and Fifteenth-Century France.” In
Continuations. Essays on Medieval French Literature and Language in Honor of John L.
Grigsby. N.J. Lacy and G. Torrini-Roblin, eds. Birmigham: Summa Publications, 1989, pp.
261-276.
Dembowski, Peter F. L’Estrif de fortune et de vertu. Geneva: Droz, 1999.
Avril, François, ed. Jean Fouquet: Peintre et enlumineur du XVe siècle. Paris: Bibliothèque
nationale de France, 2003.
For images of the Hours of Louis de Laval, please consult the fully digitized manuscript on
Gallica: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52501620s/f1.image.r=laval.langDE
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com