Chapter XI: The Art Treasures of the Musée Condé

The Duc d'Aumale joins the ranks of the great European collectors; his pronounced taste as a bibliophile; he purchases the Standish Library in 1851; the _Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry_ are acquired in 1855; the Reiset Collection of 380 drawings is bought in 1861; an exhibition is organised at Orleans House; Disraeli's speech; the first French drawings acquired from the Utterson sale; the Pourtales Vase and the Minerva; the Madonna of the _Maison d'Orléans_; the Sutherland collection of French drawings is purchased; the portrait of _Antoine de Bourgogne_; the Carmontelle Collection is added; the Reiset Collection of paintings acquired; Victor Hugo addresses a letter to the Duc d'Aumale on his election as member of the Institut de France; Raphael's _Three Graces_ purchased from the Earl of Dudley; over 300 French drawings are acquired from Lord Carlisle; the Duc d'Aumale makes his last important acquisition--the forty miniatures by Fouquet from the _Book of Hours_ of Etienne Chevalier.....129

CHAPTER XII

FRENCH ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AT CHANTILLY

A note in the _Inventory_ of the Duc de Berry mentions Pol de Limbourg and his brothers as the authors of the _Très Riches Heures_; Fouquet mentioned by François Robertet, Secretary to Pierre de Beaujeu Duc de Bourgogne; the Cabinet des Livres of the Duc d'Aumale; the _Psalter_ of Queen Ingeburge; the _Breviary_ of Jeanne d'Evreux; the _Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry_ discovered at a villa near Genoa.....154

CHAPTER XIII

THE _TRÈS RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY_

This work marks an important epoch in the history of French Art; the _Calendar Months_ by Pol de Limbourg (the eldest brother); the scenes from the _Life of Christ_ joint work of the three brothers; _the Zodiac_; _the Plan of Rome_; the Duc de Berry a collector of medals; his sudden death interrupts the completion of his _Livre d'Heures_; Jean Colombe, half a century later, undertakes the painting of the remaining miniatures; his mediocre workmanship.....165

CHAPTER XIV

JEAN FOUQUET OF TOURS

Court-Painter to Charles VII and Louis XI; inspired by the work of the Limbourgs; a similar inclination for landscapes in his backgrounds; Etienne Chevalier, Treasurer of France, his patron; the forty miniatures by Fouquet at Chantilly; Fouquet well known in Italy as a painter; commissioned to make a portrait of _Pope Eugenius IV_; mentioned by Vasari; his impressions in Italy shown in the miniatures at Chantilly and in the MS. of the _Antiquitates Judæorum_; his strong individuality; his sense of humour and other characteristics.....179

CHAPTER XV

JEAN PERRÉAL AND BOURDICHON

Bourdichon's name found upon cartridge-cases made out of old accounts and contracts; the _Prayer-Book_ of Anne de Bretagne and its ornamentation of flowers; Perréal painter to the Duc Pierre de Bourbon; studies Fouquet's work at Moulins; the miniatures of the MS. of _St. Michel_ in the Bibliothèque Nationale attributed to Perréal by Durrieu; affinity between the angels in the MS. and those in the triptych at Moulins; why the original drawings of the _Preux de Marignan_ are likely to be by Jean Perréal rather than by Jean Clouet; the handwriting of Perréal identified on the back of a drawing attributed to him; the Tournois tapestries; Perréal mentioned in the Royal Accounts as Architect and Sculptor; his medals representing _Louis XII_ and _Anne de Bretagne_ in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and in the Wallace Collection.....196

CHAPTER XVI

JEAN CLOUET

Migrates to France; settles at Tours; marries Jeanne Boucault; his portrait of _Oronce Finé_ exists only in an engraving; his craftsmanship of a more elaborate nature than that of Perréal; the _Duc de Guise_ and the unknown man at Hampton Court; his portrait of _Francis I_ in the Louvre; _Queen Claude_ and her sister _Renée_; numerous drawings to be attributed to Jean Clouet; his characteristics.....211

CHAPTER XVII

FRANÇOIS CLOUET AND HIS FOLLOWERS

Favoured by Francis I; he adheres at first to parental teaching; _Mary Stuart_ in her girlhood by Germain le Mannier; _Mary Stuart_ as Dauphine and as Queen of France; _Francis II_; _Charles IX_ by François Clouet; his exquisite drawing of _Margot de France_ at Chantilly; portrait of _Pierre Quthe_ at the Louvre; the portrait of _Odet de Coligny_ at Chantilly; _Catherine de Medicis_ as a collector; her handwriting identified on the margins of drawings at Chantilly, and elsewhere; Corneille de Lyon and the _Dauphin François_; Jean de Court court-painter to Henri III; Carron and the brothers Lagneau; Daniel Dumoustier; his portrait of _Henri, Duc de Guise_; the Quesnels, court-painters to the first Bourbon Kings; the painting of Gabrielle d'Estrées and her two sons at Chantilly.....227