Master of Antoine de Roche
Artists
The Master of Antoine de Roche has been tentatively identified with Guido Mazzoni of Modena (d. 1518) who is first documented as a painter in Italy in 1472, but was mainly known for his painted terracotta sculpture.
Mazzoni left for France in 1496 where he served as artist to Charles VIII (1470-1498) and designed the king’s bronze tomb in St Denis. Mazzoni also executed various commissions for Louis XII and Anne of Brittany, and it is conceivable that he made this Primer at the queen’s request. Ironically, for a book that was made to teach her daughter how to read, garbled captions in Old French (e.g. ADEM ET VEE) are inscribed on the gold frames of the miniatures. The captions in red and blue were painted with a fine brush and are almost certainly the work of the illuminator. Whoever supplied the captions had not mastered French, which lends support to the idea that the artist was a foreigner. No works survive from Guido Mazzoni’s time in France, so whether he did, in fact, illuminate Claude’s Primer remains subject to debate.
Anne of Brittany praying to St Claude
Anne of Brittany, kneeling at a prayer desk beside a youthful Virgin Mary, is presented by St Anne to the enthroned bishop, St Claude. A book bound in red rests on the prayer desk, which is covered in a blue cloth embroidered with fleurs-de-lis and gold initials A for Anne. The carpet bears Anne’s arms (France impaling Brittany), which are also held aloft by the angel on a pillar in the left margin. The arms are depicted a third time in the lower margin encircled by the motto, PENSON EN DIEU, with sprays of blue flowers on either side. Shown in prayer, Anne serves as a pious model for her daughter, Claude, for whom she commissioned the book.
The loose, rapid brush work of the artist is clearly visible in the dark blue-green background and the light grey floor. Preparatory sketches for the drapery folds appear through the thin layers of the gold mantle of St Claude, shaded and outlined in organic pink, and of Anne of Brittany’s gold dress, which has contrasting outlines in dark indigo. The infrared image reveals the full extent of the thick lines of the underdrawing in the draperies and in the faces, particularly of St Anne.