Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love

Pierre Sala’s Petit libre d’amour is an intimate and very personal manuscript whose primary theme is love. The Lyonnais poet Pierre Sala created the small book for his later wife, with whom he was attempting to gain favor. The texts were richly illustrated with miniatures and the entire Little Book of Love bespeaks a personal esteem, which is embodied in the artistic furnishings of the work.

A Small Book as Proof of Love

The image of the author throwing his red heart into the blossom of a chrysanthemum makes the purpose of the small book abundantly clear. With the Little Book of Love, Pierre Sala wooed Marguerite Bullioud, who finally became his wife in 1519. The name of his dearly beloved is symbolized by a flower. In fine miniatures, courtly ladies are shown playing with floating hearts, along with other scenes that handle the topic of love. Oftentimes one can recognize consciously satirical coloring in the work. Such a thematic device is not unordinary for the 15th and 16th Centuries, but unfortunately only a few have survived to today. The Illustrator of the book is the so called “Master of Scandalous Gossip”, who was active in Paris ca. 1500. 12 miniatures altogether are surrounded by a fine, golden frame, which are decorated with tassels in the corners. Every page of the manuscript has been dyed purple, which are decorated with fine, golden ornament in the open areas. In light, bright colors along with fine brushing, the lovely and detail rich scenes are painted onto the purple parchment. When opened, they find themselves on the right side of the book, next to the corresponding text on the left side.

Galant Verses of a Great Writer

The author of these verses is the French poet and humanist, Pierre Sala (1457–1529), who was born in Lyon, and active at the courts of Kings Charles VII, Louis XII, and Francis I. In gallant rhetoric, he composed the text for the Little Book of Love with verse as well as prose, which not only deals with the topic of love, but also concerns itself with moral questions of wisdom and success. The book is mainly written in French, but also contains an Italian poem. At the beginning of the book stands an 8 page dedication to his intended, Marguerite. In a unity of text and image, the topic of love is deliberated, along with the stories debating over wisdom, foolishness, grace, and success. This connection of the art of poetry with fine and costly manuscript art makes the Little Book of Love an extraordinary example of private book art of the Renaissance.