Are the Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne really the Petites Heures de Jeanne de France?

Abstract

Several authors in recent years have expressed doubts that the so-called Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (BnF, n. a. lat. 3027) has any connection to this queen. François Avril summarised some of the discrepancies in 1994: the monogram does not easily fit the name ‘Anne’ and differs from the monogram used for Anne in other works, and a small animal featured throughout the manuscript, often identified as the Brittany ermine, is depicted more often with a brown pelt and thus appears closer to a civet. In this paper I argue that this manuscript was commissioned as a gift for Jeanne de France (1464–1505), Louis XII’s first wife, rather than his second wife, Anne de Bretagne. I argue that the monogram is a cipher of the name ‘Jeanne’ and that the small animal and white flower, used throughout the manuscript in the border decoration, are the genet and the ‘janette’, each a play on the name Jeanne. The strong connection to Louis and to the House of Orléans, indicated throughout the work, suggests that it was produced before the annulment of his and Jeanne’s marriage in 1498. Furthermore, the unusual choice of iconography in the illuminations may reflect Louis’ involvement in the Italian campaigns at this time. BnF, n. a. lat. 3027 is one of the finest works attributed to the Master of the Petrarch Triumphs, an artist active in Rouen and Paris c.1500. A clarification of the origin, circumstances, and purpose of this manuscript is important not only for our understanding of the role of Jeanne as a collector, but also for our understanding of the career of this artist.