Jean Corbechon, Livre des propriétés des choses

Instructions to Artists

Artists' Techniques

The instructions were inscribed within the background areas, specifying what colour or pattern they should be painted: ‘rot’ and ‘root’ (‘red’ in German and Middle Dutch respectively, fols. 163r and 174r), ‘himel’ (‘sky’ in German, fols. 166v and 247v), and a phrase which appears to include the word ‘bos’ (‘bouquet of flowers’ in Middle Dutch, fol. 104r). This may refer to the background’s white lilies, the patron’s emblem. It was standard practice for illuminators to paint backgrounds first, before filling in the figures and other components of a given miniature. Often the less demanding task of painting the backgrounds was assigned to assistants, as in this case. The Mazarine Master must have written the instructions for his German- or Dutch-speaking assistants while designing the miniatures.  

Four scholars listen to the instruction imparted by the master who is depicted in a red robe. The hailstorm is confined to the right half of the miniature, leaving the group unscathed. A tall stalk of white lilies, emblems of the patron, Amadeus VIII of Savoy, rises up in the background. The lilies were originally intended to appear above the rocks on the right side of the miniature, as revealed by the infrared image (see Infrared Layer). The artist may have decided to shift them to the left so that they, too, would escape the hailstorm. Hidden beneath the blue sky, but clearly visible in the infrared image, is the word ‘himel’ (‘sky’ in German). The word was written by the Mazarine Master to instruct his assistants to paint an outdoors scene.