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Cotton MS Vespasian B II
- Record Id:
- 040-001103222
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001273.0x0002a4
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Vespasian B II
- Title:
-
Pierre Gringoire, Pageants for the Reception of Queen Mary of France in Paris
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 3r-15v: Pierre Gringoire, Pageants for the Reception of Queen Mary of France (1514–15) in Paris, 6 November 1514; the pageants took place after the marriage of Mary Tudor (1496-1533) to Louis XII of France.
Poem on Anne of Brittany, queen of France (d. 1514) on an added paper leaf (f. 1r).
Decoration:
7 miniatures in colours and gold in architectural frames with decorated initials in gold on red grounds and inscriptions beneath (ff. 4v, 6r, 7v, 8v, 10r, 13v). Initials in gold on alternating red or blue grounds with decoration in gold. Line-fillers in red or blue with decoration in gold. Rubrics in red.
The subjects of the miniatures are:
f. 4v: A ship with Ceres, Baccus and Paris on board and sailors climbing the rigging;
f. 6r: The three Graces in a garden next to a fountain, with the lilies of France and the roses of England;
f. 7v: The Queen kneels before the King, presenting a small shield with a cross on it; they are surrounded by courtiers;
f. 8v: God with a heart above, the King and Queen seated beneath and four Virtues with the personification of England, seated, below;
f. 10r: The throne of honour with a lily surrounded by four Virtues above: below, a walled enclosure, inside which is a rose bush and a thistle on top, with a woman emerging from it, and a shepherd and prince on either side, while peace chases away discord;
f. 13r: On a platform are seated Justice and Truth beneath a large crow, with mythical characters standing on a platform in the foreground; on either side are bishops and knights;
f. 15r: The pageant presented at the end of Mary's entry to Paris, with the Annunciation (above) and with Louis XII and Mary seated, flanked by Justice and Truth, with their royal arms linked by lovers' knots above; below is a pastoral scene with shepherds and shepherdesses;
The illuminations are attributed to Jean or Jan Coene of Bruges.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001103222 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Vespasian B II : Pierre Gringoire, Pageants for the Reception of Queen Mary of France in Paris - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0924]/040-001103222
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Cotton_MS_Vespasian_B_II (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1500
- End Date:
- 1524
- Date Range:
- 1st quarter of the 16th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: parchment.
Dimensions: 280 × 180 mm (text space: 180 x 105/10 mm)
Foliation: ff. 18 (+1 unfoliated parchment flyleaf at the beginning + 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and 28 at the end).
Script: Humanistic cursive.
Binding: Post 1600. British Museum 1856
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Paris.
Queen Mary of France (Mary Tudor) (d. 1533), probably made for her: a dedication to her by Pierre Gringoire the author, beginning, 'Tres haulte magnanime vertueuse illustrissime dame et princesse Marie dangleterre (ff. 3r-v).
Nicholas Poyntz: inscribed 'Poyntz' and 'N' (f. 1v).
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: inscribed 'Robert Cotton Bruceus' (f. 3r).
Cotton’s collection was augmented by his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), 2nd baronet, and his grandson, Sir John Cotton. Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d. 1702), 3rd baronet: bequeathed the entire Cotton collection of books and manuscripts to trustees ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’, 12 and 13 William III, c. 7. Formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753.
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
- Publications:
-
Backhouse, Janet, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (London: British Library, 1997), no. 202.
Backhouse, Janet, 'French Manuscript Illumination, 1450-1530', in Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures from the British Library, Thomas Kren, ed. (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), 143-92 (p. 148, fig. ill. 16).
Baskerville, Charles Read, ed., Pierre Gringoire’s Pageants for the Entry of Mary Tudor into Paris (Chicago, 1934).
Brown, Cynthia J., ed., Pierre Gringore, Les Entrees royales a Paris (Geneva: Droz, 2005) [edition of the text, plates].
Doran, Susan, ed., Henry VIII: Man and Monarch (London: British Library, 2009), no. 71 [exhibition catalogue, with additional bibliograhy].
Giry-Deloison, Charles, 'Mary Tudor's Marriage to Louis XII', in David Grummit, ed., The English Experience in France c. 1450-1558 (Basingstoke, 2002), pp. 132-59.
Scott, Margaret, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), pl. 108.
Starkey, David, ed., Henry VIII: A European Court in England, (London: Collins & Brown, 1991), no. III.8 [exhibition catalogue].
- Exhibitions:
- Les Vrais Tudors, Musee du Luxembourg, Paris, 16 March 2015 - 19 July 2015
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Notes:
- Exhibited: Les Vrais Tudors, Musee du Luxembourg, Paris, 16 March 2015 - 19 July 2015