The dates inscribed upon some of Godefroy's paintings, 1519 and 1520, coincide perfectly with the known facts of Tory's life: that was the period when, after his second return from Italy, he was fain to utilize his talents for his livelihood. I may add that we have several engravings of that same period signed with a G alone, or with a G within which appears a small F; others signed with a G surmounted by the double cross, with a small S within; and others signed G. T., which serve to mark the transition between Tory's use of the simple G and the inscription in full of his two names, Geofroy Tory. These two names appear together in one of the borders of his Hours of 1524-1525 [the border which is to be found on p. 105].
Whatever the fact may be, we propose to give here, by way of memorandum, at least a brief list of the works of the painter Godefroy, referring the reader for fuller information to the interesting article which M. Léon de Laborde has published upon this subject in the 'Renaissance des Arts,' vol. i. pp. 891-913, and, later, in the 'Revue Universelle des Arts,' no. 1 (1855), which article we reproduce below with the author's consent.
The only manuscripts known to contain drawings of this artist are 'Les Commentaires de César,' in three small quarto volumes; and 'Les Triomphes de Petrarque,' in one small octavo volume—all written in French and bound in vellum.
The first-named work is not, as one might suppose from its title, a translation of the famous work of the conqueror of Gaul, but a commentary thereon in the form of a dialogue between Cæsar and François I, to whom the book is dedicated. The first volume is now in the British Museum at London, the second in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, and the third in the collection of M. le Duc d'Aumale. All the miniatures in the first volume, and there is a great number of them, are signed with a G; some bear the date 1519. The same is true of the second volume. One of the miniatures in the third volume is signed in full, 'Godefroy' (folio 52); several others, signed G only, are dated 1520.
As for the 'Triumphs' of Petrarch, which is in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, the miniatures bear no dates, but they are all signed with a G, and one has in addition the full name, 'Godefroy.' In the two works the drawings have the same general appearance; they are distinguished from those of the professional miniaturists by a very marked sobriety of colouring. They are noticeable, moreover, by reason of a delicacy of execution and, at the same time, a sharpness of outline which can have come from no other hand than that of an engraver; now the engraver can have been no other than Tory, whose shields and even his antique arabesques we find in these designs.
In addition to these two works, of which the name and the style of the artist seem to me to permit their being attributed to Tory, I will mention here several others, of a somewhat later date, which likewise various circumstances make it possible to attribute to him.
The first is a translation of the first three books of Diodorus Siculus, by Antoine Macault. This superb manuscript, which was in the library of M. Firmin Didot père in 1810, is to-day buried in one of the private libraries of England. A description will be found on pp. 166-168. It is true that there is nothing about it to suggest Tory, but the style of the painting and of the engraving (the book was printed by Tory's widow in 1535) leaves no doubt as to his authorship. The second is a collection of portraits of the kings of France, by Jean du Tillet, the manuscript of which, presented by the author to Charles IX, is still preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi. See the description of this priceless manuscript, and of several others preserved in the same collection.[279]
We come now to the second question:—Was Tory an engraver?
Neither Zani nor Papillon mentions him as such; nevertheless, there is one presumption in his favour. La Croix du Maine, who was almost his contemporary, tells us[280], without going into details, it is true, that Tory was known by the name 'maître au Pot Cassé'; others have said that he perfected Josse Bade's letters.[281] M. Renouvier has recently written[282] that Tory possessed the rare faculty of using the 'eschoppe' [graver] as well as the pen. 'Le Champ fleury,' he says, 'is a treatise on æsthetics such as none but an engraver of types could conceive.' What M. Renouvier conjectured, I assert, with no fear of being contradicted by the facts. To be sure, Tory did not anywhere state categorically that he was an engraver; but he gave it to be understood indirectly. For example, he tells us that, among the fancies that came to his mind on the 6th of January, 1523, and resulted in the composition of 'Champ fleury,' he remembered 'a letter of ancient form,' which he had 'not long since made for the house of my lord the treasurer of the wars, maistre Jehan Groslier, counsellor and secretary to the king our sire.'[283] What was this ancient letter made for the famous bibliophile Grolier, if not the basis of the beautiful roman characters which were used in that scholar's establishment to decorate his books, and to stamp upon them, in gold, this excellent device, among others, 'Ioannis Grolierii et Amicorum?'[284]