CORONATION OF CHARLES V., KING OF FRANCE.
Miniature from Froissart’s Chronicles in the National Library, Paris.
Fig. 371.—Border taken from “Froissart’s Chronicles,” a French Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. (Imperial Library, Paris.)
Fig. 372.—Border taken from an “Ovid.” An Italian Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. (Imperial Library, Paris.)
of Raphael, it is in the miniatures of manuscripts we shall find the best evidences of it. Let us observe, by the way, that the Flemish school of the Dukes of Burgundy exercised great influence over this marvellous art for a period of more than a century. Spain was also progressing; but it is to the Italian artists we must, from that time forward, look for the most remarkable works. The Imperial Library of Paris possesses many manuscripts which bear witness to the marked improvement in miniature-painting at this period; among others an “Ovid” of the fifteenth century ([Fig. 372]); but in order to see the highest expression of the art, we must examine an incomparable copy of Dante’s works, preserved in the Vatican, a manuscript proceeding from the hands of Giulio Clovio ([Fig. 373]), an illustrious painter, pupil and imitator of Raphael: his miniatures are remarkable for beauty.