User:Hillbillyholiday/Prayer Book of Claude de France

The Prayer Book of Claude de France is an illuminated manuscript that was made for Queen Claude in around 1517, the year of her coronation. It is notable for its unusually small size (3 in by 2½ in)(49 x 69 mm ) and its rich and delicately painted illustrations which have been described as the "pinnacle of elegance".

Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. MS M. 1166.

The borders of its 104 pages feature 132 scenes from the lives of Christ, Mary, and various saints. The Passion of the Christ is given particular attention.

The book has prayers for the salvation of her parents Anne of Brittany and Louis XII. Her mother's cordelière frames each page.

The prayer book and Claude's companion book of hours were illuminated by an unknown artist working in the city of Tours who has been called the Master of Claude de France through their involvement in the two manuscripts. "The colors of his delicate palette are applied in tiny, seemingly invisible brushstrokes." Only about a dozen manuscripts painted by the artist survive. Two artists who trained or influenced Master of Claude, Jean Bourdichon and Jean Poyer Coat of arms appear on three folios. One is folio 15v which features the "Obsecro te" (I beseech you) a prayer to the Virgin Mary popular in the medieval and Renaissance eras. The depiction of Mary with Christ on her lap and John the Baptist kneeling before them may have been influenced by Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks (particularly the gesture of John Baptist).

''Much of the history of the Prayer Book of Claude de France is lost in the mists of time. After World War II it passed into the possession of the Viennese bookseller H.P. Kraus who sold the manuscript to the New York-based collector Alexandre P Rosenberg during the 1970s. Rosenberg considered the book as the crown jewel of his collection. He died in 1987; twenty-one years later his widow Elaine donated the Prayer Book of Claude de France to the Pierpont Morgan Library in loving memory of her husband.''

On the inside cover is a bookplate drawn by Pablo Picasso for his gallery owner in New York.