The Illuminated Manuscripts of the Légende Dorée: Jean de Vignay's Translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea Hilary Elizabeth Maddocks Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Fine Arts The University of Melbourne 1989 ABSTRACT This thesis considers closely 28 illuminated manuscripts of Jean de Vignay’s translation of Jacobus de Voragine’s celebrated 13th-century compendium of saints’ lives, the Legenda aurea. Vignay’s translation, the Légende dorée, poses some particular problems for manuscript studies. The extant manuscripts can be seen to be accommodated by at least two major genres of medieval French illumination: the transition of vernacular, courtly literature and the tradition of devotional texts. The tension created by these two conventions can be reconciled if we regard the Légende dorée manuscripts as enjoying popularity with an elite and secular audience which was not interested in the text as much as it was interested in the illuminations, or more probably, in the status of owning an important scholarly illuminated work. In establishing appropriate genres for the manuscripts of the Légende dorée, the production of the books within the organised artistic workshop is explored. This has led to the conclusion that while in some cases compositions were freshly devised from the text of the Légende dorée, most illuminators relied heavily on standard workshop models and patterns. As well as attempting to place the manuscripts of the Légende dorée in the milieu of late medieval France and as well as seeking to explore the popularity – or at least the level of ownership – of this translation of a somewhat irrelevant and difficult philosophical work, the thesis also presents for the first time an annotated catalogue of all known manuscripts of the text. The catalogue lists the manuscripts according to the sigils ascribed by Richard Hamer, Christchurch College, University of Oxford and Vida Russell of Melbourne. The physical aspects, known provenance, decoration and subjects of the miniatures of the volumes are detailed. This is followed by a commentary dealing with the particular problems and challenges presented by the illumination and production of each manuscript. In some cases artists have been suggested for several previously unattributed manuscripts. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I offer special thanks to my supervisors Professor Margaret Manion, Herald Professor of Fine Arts, Melbourne University and Miss Vida Russell formerly Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Adelaide University. I also thank Dr. Vera Vines for reading an early draft of the thesis. Mr Richard Hamer of Christchurch College, Oxford, working in close association with Miss Russell, has been helpful on matters relating to the text of the Légende dorée. There are various people who have assisted my work in Europe. I especially thank Ms Barbara Fleith of the Université de Genève. I also thank the librarians of the following institutions: the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris; the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris; the Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels; the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich; the Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire, Geneva; the Bibliothèque Municipale, Mâcon; the Musée Condé, Chantilly. In Great Britain, I was assisted by the librarians in the British Library and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and in the United States by the librarians of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. I am indebted to Ms Mary Scrafton, Flinders University, Adelaide and Ms Andrea David, Christchurch College, Oxford, for their help with translations of Vignay's text. I wish to also thank Mr. Andrew Funston for his assistance with proof-reading of the final manuscript and the mounting of photographs. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the financial support from the University of Melbourne Post-graduate Scholarship Fund and for two travel grants; for research in Europe and for participation in the 1983 Montréal symposium on the Legenda aurea. iii PREFACE This thesis has been assisted by the research carried out by Richard Hamer, Christchurch College, Oxford, and Vida Russell of Melbourne, into the construction of a stemma for the manuscripts of the Légende dorée. The sigils which they established for the manuscripts have been used throughout the thesis and are listed following this preface. It has been necessary to impose limits on the scope of my research presented in this thesis. Clearly, the manuscripts of the Légende dorée are worthy of detailed codicological study such as that undertaken by Jean Caswell for MS Mb. It seemed, however, that a prior research task was required for the study of the Légende dorée: to bring into a critical and comparative perspective all the extant manuscripts of Vignay's translation. Similarly, I have not been able to consider in any detail the acknowledged influence of this text, or of the Legenda aurea, on medieval iconography more broadly. Again, it seemed that the pictorial traditions within the manuscripts of the Légende dorée warranted prior attention. iv TABLE OF MANUSCRIPTS OF THE LEGENDE DOREE WITH SIGILS1 Type "a" Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 9226 ................................................................... BI Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 9227 .................................................................. B2 Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 735................................................................................ C Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 124 ................................................... F Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine MS 1729 .................................................................... M Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal MS 3705 ................................................................. N Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 241 ................................................................ P1 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 244-45 ........................................................... P2 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 414 ................................................................ P3 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 1535 .............................................................. P4 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 6448 .............................................................. P5 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 17232 ............................................................ P6 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 23113 ............................................................ P7 London, British Library Additional MS 16907 ........................................................... Q London, British Library Royal MS 19.B.XVII ............................................................... R Rennes, Bibliothèque municipale MS 266 ................................................................. S Quaritch 1931 ............................................................................................................. U Arras, Bibliothèque municipale MS 630 ................................................................... W London, British Library Phillipps MS (loan) 199 ......................................................... Y London, British Library Egerton MS 645..................................................................... Z London, British Library IC 41504 (Printed Book) ....................................................... X Type "b" (with Festes nouvelles) Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 9228 .................................................................. Ab Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 9282-5 ............................................................... Bb Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 184 ................................................................ Cb Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 242 ................................................................ Db Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 243 ................................................................ Eb Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS fr. 415-16 ............................................................ Fb Geneva, Bibl. Publique et Universitaire MS 57 ....................................................... Gb Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Gall. 3 ........................................................... Hb Jena, Universitätsbibliothek MS El.f.86 .................................................................... Jb New York, Pierpont Morgan Library M.672-5/ Mâcon, Bibliothèque municipale MS 3 ................................................................................ Mb v Type "c" Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS 22 ................................................................... Fc Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal MS 3682-3 ............................................................ Nc London, British Library Stowe MS 50-51 .................................................................. Sc London, British Library B.L. IC 50152 (Printed Book) ...............................................Ac Cambridge, University Library Inc. ID.40 (2755) ...................................................... Bc (same edition and almost identical with Ac) Selections Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 9549 .................................................................. BX 1. Table prepared by Vida Russell and Richard Hamer who also attributed the sigils. A fragment in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS n.a. fr. 1198 ff. 29–31, has not been examined by Hamer and Russell. Anne van Buren has suggested to me that it may be a Vignay translation. vi