Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
Owners
Philip the Good inherited the manuscript in 1419 after the death of his father, John the Fearless. He paid his valet de chambre and illuminator Dreux Jean 10 livres and 16 sous for numerous textual and pictorial additions made from c. 1445 onwards and for the rebinding of the manuscript in two volumes in 1451. The miniature on fol. 253v includes the arms and portrait of Philip the Good, who is shown wearing the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece which he founded in 1430. The images painted by Dreux Jean on fols. 238v and 256r feature Philip’s devices: the double ‘e’ monogram and the golden fusils and flints of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
St Anne with the Virgin and Child (suffrage to St Anne)
This 15th-century miniature was painted by Dreux Jean, Philip the Bold’s valet de chambre and illuminator, who was entrusted by the Duke with numerous additions to the Grandes Heures as well as its rebinding in two volumes in 1451. St Anne is accompanied by the Virgin and Child, and by angles playing a harp and a lute. The open book on her knees alludes to the popular image of St Anne teaching the young Virgin to read. The frame features Philip the Bold’s devices: the golden fusils and flints of the Order of the Golden Fleece.