Item 9: Livy, Histoire Romaine (The History of Rome)

The illumination of this splendid copy of Pierre Bersuire’s French translation of the History of Rome is based on an illustrative program used in Parisian workshops during the last 20 years of the 14th century. Two main artists were responsible for the miniatures. The younger artist, who painted the frontispiece to decade three, which is displayed here, later became known for his work for the female author Christine de Pisan, and her book The Cite des Dames or The City of Women, hence his name the Cite des Dames Master. This Livy, his first known work, already distinguishes him from the more conservative illuminators of the late 14th century.

Interestingly, certain errors in the illumination of this handsome book may indicate the youthful artist’s marginal relationship to the established workshop. In the page displayed, for example, the parchment gap between the frontispiece and the text suggests a lack of coordination between the scribe and the illuminator, particularly since this does not happen in the other two decades. While the Cite des Dames Master was also responsible for the illumination of the first frontispiece (reproduced in the exhibition catalogue), an older, more conservative artist illuminated the introduction to the second, where the page layout was changed; the number of script lines was decreased and the miniature length correspondingly extended. Whereas the scribe followed this layout in the third decade, the size of the miniature failed to be extended, hence the space between frontispiece and text.

The Cite des Dames Master illuminated several single-column miniatures in the first decade. His beautifully crafted images, however, follow the illustrative program for decade three instead of decade one. One wonders at the reaction of both workshop and prospective client.