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.
Master lecturing and pointing at trees (Book 17: On trees and plants)
Attired in a red robe, the master addresses two scholars. Two tall stalks of white lilies, emblems of the patron, Amadeus VIII of Savoy, are depicted in the background. A third stalk of lilies was initially designed to appear to the left of the master, as revealed by the infrared image (see Infrared Layer). However, after his assistants had painted the sky and grass, the Mazarine Master decided to include the two scholars instead. Evidently, the Mazarine Master’s ideas evolved while he was working, and he strove to improve his original composition. Because the two scholars were not part of his original plan, they are not depicted in the underdrawing and no area of blank parchment was reserved for them. Instead, they had to be painted directly on top of the background. This is apparent in the infrared image in which the head of the scholar in the centre appears to float in mid-air. The Mazarine Master wrote the word ‘himel’ (‘sky’ in German) in the upper left of the miniature, to inform his assistants that they should paint an outdoors scene.