Chapter III. Petrarch and Laura are seated in the shade of tall trees, on the bank of a pond in which two swans are floating. The same two persons are seen farther back, twice repeated, and diminishing in size according to the distance. An architectural structure, decidedly Italian in type, closes the view at the back. The G is painted on a stone at the feet of Petrarch and Laura. Evidently Godefroy had studied several portraits of the two, and he copies them with some success in their various attitudes. The trees are done so skilfully that one might well believe that he could recognize the touch of a landscape artist, and a generally happy effect gives to this miniature all the value of a painting.
'Here followeth the fifth triumph of Messire Francisque Petrarque, the which is the triumph of Time.'
The miniature occupies two pages and includes two subjects. In one, Time, represented by the signs of the zodiac, and by the allegorical figures of antiquity, marks his progress in the sky; mortals undergo his influence on the earth. The artist has signed his work at the right, at the foot of the picture, this time with his full name: 'Godefroy.' In the other miniature the triumph of Time is represented. He is passing in his chariot, drawn by four horses at a gallop, between the four Seasons. On the left, at the foot, we see a G and two lizards.
'Here followeth the sixth and last triumph of Messire Francisque Petrarque, the which is the triumph of the Deity.'
This title is followed by a double miniature. In one, we see God the Father and Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit soaring above their heads, seated on the globe and presiding at the last day. Flames fall from the skies upon mankind, who are divided into the good and the bad; angels tranquilly lead the former, while devils brutally pursue the others. At the foot, on the right, is the G. On the other page, God the Father and God the Son (the Holy Spirit hovering over them as before) are seated in a triumphal chariot drawn by the ox, the lion, the eagle, and the angel, which are the symbols of the evangelists. They come forward, surrounded by all the dignitaries of the Church. Pagan Love, with bandaged eyes, lies dead on the ground near the chariot wheels; a long procession of saints, male and female, concealed below the waist by an elevation, are following the course of the chariot in the foreground. This arrangement made it possible for the artist to make his figures larger and to delineate their features with care. The G is at the foot of the miniature, on the ground.
All these miniatures, painted in grisaille, with blue skies and water, and with some few details in colour, are 86 millimetres high and 68 wide.
Comte Léon de Laborde.
3
In the catalogue of the library of M. Firmin Didot père, sold in 1811, is the following description of a magnificent manuscript:[311]—
'The first three books of Diodorus Siculus, translated from Latin into French by Antoine Macault. Small folio, in blue morocco, with dentelles, lavé, réglé, bound with the arms of François I, whose cipher it bears on the back and on the cover.