Dufay, Guillaume - Adieu Ces Bons Vins de Lannoys

@credits

Guillaume Dufay (Du Fay, Du Fayt) (August 5, 1397? – November 27, 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the earlyRenaissance. As the central figure in theBurgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.

The Gift of the Heart

© 1983 RMN

@credits

At the dawn of the 15th century, the style known as “International Gothic” had spread throughout Europe, and was widely embraced in tapestry-making. The tapestry known as the  Offrande du Coeur (“Offering of the Heart”), doubtless woven in Arras c.1400-10, reflects the aristocratic ideals of the early 15th century. It illustrates one of the commonest themes in the iconography of courtly love - a nobleman offering his heart to his beloved. The theme also features in courtly romances such as the Romance of the Rose and in the works of important medieval French writers such as Guillaume de Machaut and Christine de Pisan. It was often depicted on caskets or ivory boxes containing mirrors. The scene is set in a garden. The characters are wearing garments fashionable in the early 15th century. Arras, then part of Flanders, is generally agreed to have been the main European center for tapestry-making in the early 15th century, but there were also workshops in Paris, where the cartoons for this tapestry are thought to have been drawn. Contacts such as this between the principal artistic centers were common in early 15th-century Europe.

n courtly love the knight experiences different stages in the conquest of his lady; these were codified in the literature of the twelfth century. The gift of the heart is one recurrent theme. Around 1400, when this tapestry was made, the most celebrated and widely known of the courtly writings was the Romance of the Rose. It describes the suitor’s progress through a “Garden of Love” where the rose to be plucked was none other than the lady herself. Let us begin with the knight’s declaration of love. Observe the heart, the symbol of love offered by the lord to his lady, and note the circle made by the animals surrounding the two symmetrically balanced figures. The figures and the landscape are handled differently: strong contour lines make the figures stand out sharply and hatching is used to convey relief, whereas the landscape is evoked by a repetition of identical but variously colored geometrical motifs. The expressiveness of the figures contrasts with the decorative character of the landscape.

Tenture des Arts libéraux : l’Arithmétique, Flandres, 15e siècle

@credits

This tapestry belongs to a set depicting the Liberal Arts. The scene is organised around a young lady (Arithmetic) standing behind a table, busy showing some tokens with her right hand and a mathematics book with her left one. Among the men next to her, two are more involved with the action. The first one, sitting at her left is following her indications; the second one, standing behind the first man holds a bow with stick of different lengths.

Bataille de Cassel du 23 août 1328

@credits

On 23 August 1328, the Battle of Cassel took place near the city of Cassel, 30 km south of Dunkirk in present-day France. Philip VI, (King of France from 1328 to 1350) fought Nicolaas Zannekin, a wealthy farmer from Lampernisse. Zannekin was the leader of a band of Flemish independence rebels. The fighting erupted over taxation and punitive edicts of the French over the Flemish. The battle was won decisively by the French. Zannekin and about 3200 Flemish rebels were killed in the battle.

Battle of the Golden Spurs by Kortrijk in 1302 Date 14^thcentury

@credits

The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: Guldensporenslag, French: Bataille des éperons d’or), known also as the Battle of Courtrai was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk (Courtrai) in Flanders. The date of the battle is the official holiday of the Flemish community in Belgium.

It was a Flemish victory, which resulted in de facto autonomy until 1304.

Ruisseau serpentant à travers un sous-bois

Fouquières Jacques (vers 1580-1659)

(C) RMN (Musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

@credits

Jacques Fouquier or Jacob Focquier (c.1591–1659) was a Flemish Baroque landscape painter.

He was registered in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1614. In 1616-1619 he worked in Heidelberg, and in 1620 he traveled to Italy. He then traveled to France, where he worked as a court painter for Louis XIII there and in other French locations. His pupils were Philippe de Champaigne, Matthieu van Plattenberg, and Etienne Rendu. He later died in Paris.

Comment Nature apparaît à l’Acteur

Evrart de Conty, Le Livre des échecs amoureux. Peint par le Maître d’Antoine Rollin.Flandres, XVe siècle. Manuscrit sur parchemin.

“Il lui sembla alors voir apparaître une dame appelée Nature, qui venait aimablement l’instruire et lui reprocher sa paresse. Elle l’invitait à se lever, à aller visiter le monde et à employer son temps à quelques bonnes œuvres. […] Ainsi, Nature voulait lui dire que, pour lui qui était déjà dans l’âge parfait, avec les sens bien disposés et l’entendement prêt à comprendre le bien ou le mal, c’était grande paresse et grande honte s’il ne les employait pas à bonne œuvre. C’est pourquoi elle voulait qu’il se lève et qu’il quitte le lit d’ignorence, d’enfance et d’oisiveté, car ce lit est beaucoup plus périlleux que celui où coucha Lancelot. Et elle voulait qu’il aille voir le monde pour comprendre sa beauté et les grande merveilles de la nature, afin d’occuper son temps à quelque œuvre honnête et profitable, de louer le Créateur qui fait de telles merveilles et d’y employer son temps et son entendement, comme le font les oiseaux qui, dès le point du jour, commencent à chanter, et s’y emploient très souvent toute la journée.”

@credits

Composed by Evrart de Conty, the Livre des échecs amoureux (book of sentimental chess )  introduces itself as the commentary of an allegorical poem inspired by the roman de la Rose. Using the symbolic of Greco-roman gods and chess, Evrart de Conty narrates the story of the initiation journey of a young prince, The Actor and talks about the customs and the government of human life.

At the end of his quest, The Actor meets a young lady, and they both take place around a symbolic chessboard. Each partner are given pieces from the game embodying qualities and behaviours from Courtly love.

This manuscript was made in Flanders, by Antoine Rollin’s master.

© San Marino (CA), Huntington Library, HM 1171. f. 37v. Louis d’Halluin en prière. L’ Annonciation. Détail.

@credits

Louis d’Halluin was born around 1450. After living in the court of Burgundy, he was taken as a prisonner by King Louis XI while during the siege of Saint Omer. He joined the King, who appointed him as chamberlain and captain of the town of Montlhéry.

He accompagnied Charles VIII’s travel to Naples and during the battle of Fornovo, was one of the six knights the King chose to fight at his side.

In 1495, he became of Knight of the Saint Michel Order.

After Charles VIII’s death, Louis XII made him governor of Picardy.