Prayer Book of Claude de France

Prayer Book of Claude de France – Quaternio Verlag Luzern – MS M.1166 – Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)

Tours (France) — Ca. 1517

Enchanting art in the smallest of spaces: the prayer book of Queen Claude de France is exuberantly decorated with 132 biblical scenes on 104 pages and measures only 6.9 × 4.9 cm

  1. Famous for its 132 biblical scenes on 104 pages in the tiny format of only 6.9 x 4.9 cm

  2. Queen Claude's (1499–1524) escutcheon adorns the codex in several places, possibly a coronation present

  3. The book consists almost entirely of pictures, which mostly fill full-pages and sometimes double-pages

Prayer Book of Claude de France

Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
  1. Description
  2. Detail Picture
  3. Single Page
  4. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Prayer Book of Claude de France

The Prayer Book of Claude de France is an exuberantly decorated codex in the tiny format of only 49 by 69 millimeters. It was created around 1517 in Tours and was made by the so-called Master of Claude de France, her personal favorite painter. The work became famous for its unbelievable wealth of images, made up of miniatures that are as artistic as they are rich in detail. On 104 pages, they show 132 biblical scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary, as well as the Apostles and other Saints. In doing so, the gifted illuminator took his cue from the Italian paintings in the collection of the French King Françoise I, Claude's husband, who owned numerous works by renowned artists such as Michelangelo, Titian and Raphael. The small, gold-decorated pictorial works form an ornate frame for the short prayer texts that fade into the background, yet their calligraphic quality is also remarkable. The application of the French queen's coat of arms and personal emblems also emphasizes the private character of the work.

Prayer Book of Claude de France

Around 1517, a small, enchanting picture book emerged at the court of the French King, that was famous due to its format and its unusual richness of colored pictorial decoration. This was the Prayer Book of Queen Claude de France, which was completed by her personal favorite painter. Named the Master of Claude de France after this work, he painted 132 scenes on 104 pages from the New Testament. The small format pictures are especially captivating because of the fine manner of painting and the depiction of the queen’s personal symbols. The pictures are inspired from the art of the painters of Italy, especially Leonardo de Vinci.

A Coronation Present for the Art Lover

Claude de France, daughter of Anne de Bretagne and Louis XII, came from a family that was known in medieval France as lovers and patrons of the fine arts. She grew up surrounded by valuable paintings and manuscripts. In 1514, she married the man who later became King Francois I, who was likewise known as a patron of the arts and who kept in touch with the Italian Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci. At her coronation in 1517, Claude wished for a personal gift, a small prayer book that she could carry with her. Her favorite painter designed the work and employed the Queen’s personal coat-of-arms three times, which are highlighted with golden crowns on two of the depictions.

An Amazing Richness of Illustration in a Small Format

The Miniatures of the prayer book measure only 69 x 49 millimeters. In spite of this small format, the Master of Claude de France succeeds in reviving biblical scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the apostles, and numerous other saints. The book consists almost entirely of pictures, which mostly fill whole pages and sometimes double pages as well. The textual part of the work is very limited. Sometimes the textual passages were broken up by incised pictorial scenes that depicted the portrayed events and made the gaily colored booklet even more lively.

A Famous Template and an Uncertain History

The history of the French payer book is no longer explicable today. The Viennese book dealer H.P. Kraus acquired the text after the Second World War and sold it at the end of the 1970’s to the New York art collector Alexandre P. Rosenburg. His widow bequeathed the work to the Pierpont Morgan Library 21 years later. The earlier stages of the prayer book are not known. What is known is that Claude’s husband Francois I was a great lover of Italian painting. He acquired works from Michelangelo, Titian, and Raffael as well as sending for his friend Leonardo da Vinci at his famous Renaissance court of Amboise. His popular depiction of the “Virgin of the Rocks” had a direct influence on the Master of Claude de France. He depicted the queen in her prayer book in a very similar fashion.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Gebetbuch der Claude de France
Livre de prières de Claude de France
Size / Format
104 pages / 6.9 × 4.9 cm
Origin
France
Date
Ca. 1517
Language
Illustrations
132 scenes on 104 pages
Patron
Queen Claude de France (1499–1524)
Artist / School
Previous Owners
H. P. Kraus (1907–88)
Alexandre P. Rosenberg (ca. 1850–1913)

Available facsimile editions:
Prayer Book of Claude de France – Quaternio Verlag Luzern – MS M.1166 – Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Quaternio Verlag Luzern – Lucerne, 2009
Limited Edition: 980 copies
Detail Picture

Prayer Book of Claude de France

Martyrdom of St. Mark

Mark the Evangelist was the author of one of the Gospels, founder of the Church of Alexandria, and his symbol – the winged lion – has been famously adopted by the city of Venice. In the year AD 68, the idolatrous citizens of Alexandria revolted against his attempts to Christianize them, dragging him through the city until he was dead. His relics remained there until they were stolen by two Venetian merchants in 828 and thereafter became the focal point of St. Mark’s Basilica.

Prayer Book of Claude de France – Quaternio Verlag Luzern – MS M.1166 – Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Single Page

Prayer Book of Claude de France

Death of St. Jerome

Despite the handheld size of the manuscript, the Master of Claude de France created a masterpiece of illumination for Queen Claude’s personal use. This scene depicts St. Jerome as he is given last rites shortly before his death on September 30th, 420 near Bethlehem, and is presented in an interior space with a Renaissance-style doorway.

Propped up on some hay, St. Jerome is thin and grey, naked to the waist and wrapped in a blanket with a faint halo around his head. Two monks kneel beside him, the bearded monk is about to give him the Eucharist as a young hooded monk holds a prayer book. Behind them, a group of dower monks pray among themselves as the man responsible for the Vulgate prepares to meet his maker.

Prayer Book of Claude de France – Quaternio Verlag Luzern – MS M.1166 – Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Facsimile Editions

#1 Gebetbuch der Claude de France

Quaternio Verlag Luzern – Lucerne, 2009

Publisher: Quaternio Verlag Luzern – Lucerne, 2009
Limited Edition: 980 copies
Binding: Burgundy red velvet with golden clasps in the form of a fleur-de-lis. Each copy also has a manually pasted facsimile of Picasso's ex-libris, which can also be found in the original. Facsimile and commentary volume come in a fine case that also includes a high-quality magnifying glass from Eschenbach Optik.
Commentary: 1 volume by Roger S. Wieck and Cynthia J. Brown
Languages: English, German
1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding. The leaves are trimmed according to the original.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
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