1. Vision and Devotion in Bourges around 1500: An Illuminator and His World
Katja Monier
This thesis presents the first full study of the anonymous illuminator known by the name
of convention, the Master of Spencer 6, after his finest work, ms. 6 in the Spencer
Collection at the New York Public Library. Active at the turn of the sixteenth century,
during the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this artist
provides a revealing case study for examining the changing tastes and preoccupations of
contemporary patrons of art, as well as the way in which illuminators were operating in
order to secure work and forge a career.
The career of the Master of Spencer 6 is here reconstructed from nearly forty surviving
books and fragments. He appears to have painted manuscripts for a wide-ranging
clientele, from unknown merchants to figures of great importance, such as Henry VII of
England. The quality of his execution is equally varied, from modest, hastily prepared
images, to exquisite, inventive paintings invested with verisimilitude that deserve wider
acknowledgement. This illuminator was based in Bourges for the majority of his career,
but appears to have travelled to Troyes, Paris, Tours, and possibly also to Lyon, in search
of patronage. Although he specialised in devotional images, he also illustrated texts of
historical and moral interest.
The Master of Spencer 6 was particularly talented in drawing. He appears to have been
required to work quickly, in order to respond to the high demand for books; yet, despite
working in haste, he had the skill to produce images that were visually pleasing. A large
part of the appeal in his images relies on the quality of line. While his colours were clean
and bright, he often applied them hastily or carelessly over the contour lines, but such
shortcomings are compensated for by the beauty of the lines that define the design.
The variety of decorative schemes, layouts, spatial devices, compositions and
iconographic motifs used by the Master of Spencer 6 demonstrate one of the keys to his
success. He was able to diversify his canon to undertake any potential commission from
the vast geographical and social range of his clientele. Adapting his style according to
current tastes and fashions, he often imitated his contemporaries in Bourges, Paris, and
Tours, notably the Colombes, the Montluçons, the Master of Philippa of Guelders, Jean
Poyer and the Master of Claude de France.
The thesis also provides the first detailed examination of the work of Jean and Jacquelin
de Montluçon, the father and son active as painters of panels, manuscripts and stained
glass in the Berry, Bourbonnais and Savoy regions at the turn of the sixteenth century.
Technical methods are used to reveal how these artists expressed themselves through the
different materials and supports available to them. The aim here in studying their style
and technique is not only to arrive at accurate attribution, but also - and primarily - to
attempt to define the artistic personalities and intention of these painters.