Master of the Beaussant Altarpiece
Previously the Master of the Paris Cœur d’Amour épris
The Crucifixion with the Virgin and John, and the symbols of the Evangelists
Written in Latin, a leaf from an Oath Book, the opening to Gospel of John, In principio erat verbum (In the Beginning was the Word)
France, Anjou, (Angers?), circa 1480
Overall dimensions, 244 x 178 mm.
Tempera, ink and gold on parchment
Price on request
This large illuminated leaf depicting the Crucifixion includes Mary and John on either side of the cross, and symbols of the Four Evangelists in roundels in all four corners. A beautifully detailed landscape and a lavishly decorated border of simulated marble and precious stones encase the scene. The painting is prefaced by the text of the Gospel according to John, In principio erat verbum. This appears in excerpt on the verso. It is likely it comes from an Oath Book for a local confraternity, where it was the opening folio.
This leaf fits neatly into a group of manuscripts associated with the patronage of René d'Anjou and his nephew Charles IV de Maine. The principal manuscript by this artist is known as the Paris copy of the Cœur d'Amour épris (BnF, MS fr. 24399). The large figures set in an opaque spatial setting, the heavy pronounced shading of their faces, the liberal use of liquid gold for the modeling, the densely saturated colors, and the preference for frames imitating marble and filled with precious stones are all typical of this artist. There is a single leaf by this Master in the Robert Lehman Collection of the Metropolitan Museum (MS 1975.1.2467) and a manuscript from which this and several other fugitive leaves originate (Blackburn, Borough Public Lib., Hart 20984).
François Avril hypothesized that this Master most likely worked in Anjou because he seems to have had access to the famous copy of the Cœur d’Amour épris painted by Barthélemy d'Eyck in the 1460’s (ÖNB, MS 2597). René d'Anjou presumably took this book with him to Provence when he retired there in the early 1470’s. Our artist’s style shares a similarity with Georges Trubert, who was enlumineur en titre for René from 1467 until the king's death in 1480 and then stayed on in Provence for another decade before moving to Lorraine. This Master was also present in the Loire Valley, most notably Angers, during a period of years working on local commissions.
In 2003, General Beaussant donated an altarpiece to the treasury of Angers Cathedral which had been present in the nearby priory of Villemoisan in Maine-et-Loire since the late 19th century. Upon the commencement of the restoration project for the 17th century painting of the Assumption of the Virgin, it was discovered that it was actually covering a much older work, a Crucifixion dating from the latter half of the 15th century. This was a spectacular discovery. French art historians recognized the artistic tendencies of the Master painter who is firmly connected to the known works associated with the Master of the Paris Cœur d'Amour épris. The painter is now renamed the Master of the Beaussant Altarpiece. Comparing the altarpiece in Angers and the present illuminated leaf, the similarities are striking. It depicts an intricately modeled Christ with his gentle meditative face and muscular body, that closely match both the altarpiece in Angers and another leaf attributed to him in the collection of the Louvre. This discovery in 2003 revealed evidence of this Master’s presence outside of Provence where he was thought to primarily work during the last quarter of the 15th century.
PROVENANCE
USA, Private Collection
LITERATURE
Avril, François and Reynaud, Nicole, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520, Paris: Flammarion: Bibliothèque nationale, 1993-94, pp. 370-71, 377-380
Rose-Marie Ferré, « René d'Anjou, Le Livre du Cœur d'amour épris », in Marc-Édouard Gautier (dir.), Splendeur de l'enluminure. Le roi René et les livres, Angers/Arles, Ville d'Angers/Actes Sud, 2009, pp. 416-417.
