The Hours of Etienne Chevalier by Jean Fouquet

Localisation :
Année de création :1450
Artiste :

Description

15^th century manuscript on vellum

40 illuminated sheets, (21 cm X 15 cm)

Acquired from the Brentano family in 1891

The Hours of Étienne Chevalier, painted by Jean Fouquet in the 1450s, profoundly renewed the art of illuminating books of Hours and marks the peak of the painter’s art.

Etienne Chevalier, treasurer to Charles VII, had himself depicted kneeling in front of the Blessed Virgin with his monogram “EE” repeated in almost all the miniatures.

Having remained in the treasurer’s family for a long time, the manuscript was split up in the 18th century and subsequently dispersed.

Forty sheets were acquired by the Duke of Aumale in 1891. The latter had the Santuario in his Château de Chantilly especially designed to exhibit the framed pages like real paintings.