L’Epitome des roys de France (Lyon, 1546) : un nouveau mode d’illustration

Abstract

The Epitome des roys de France (Lyons, 1546) : a new kind of illustration. The Epitome des roys de France was published in Lyons, in 1546, by Balthazar Arnoullet. It consists in a summary of the lives of the fifty-eight first French sovereigns, accompanied by their effigies in the shape of engraved oval medallions. These are ascribed to the anonymous engraver working in Lyons around 1550 : the Maître CC. The Epitome des roys de France provides perfect evidence for the evolution of illustrated books in France in the middle of the 16th century, wavering between tradition — as regards illuminated portraits such as those appearing in the various genealogies and universal chronicles — and innovation, especially with the clarity of their lay out as well as with the preference for copperplate rather than wood engraving. This work also allows for an interrogation about the notion of likenesses in the 16th century. The anonymous author of the Epitome indeed maintains that all the Kings portraits are depicted « as true as possible to nature ». At the time, such intentions are frequent, as for instance with Vasari ; nevertheless, be it with one author or the other, iconography and portrait merge together, and the alleged likeness proves to be hypothetical.