The Gotha Missal: Fol. 141v, Text

c. 1375

and Workshop

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Culture

France, Paris

Medium

ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; blind-tooled leather binding

Measurements

Codex: 27.1 x 19.5 cm (10 11/16 x 7 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1962.287.141.b

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Location

Not on view

Description

The style and quality of this manuscript's decoration is typical of deluxe Parisian books made for aristocratic or royal patrons. Most of the book's decoration appears to be the work of the Master of the Boqueteaux, an artist active at the court of King Charles V (died 1380). His style was apparently shared by a number of book illuminators working in and around Paris. It is very possible that the Gotha Missal belonged to Charles V, but is not provable because the manuscript has no royal portraits and lacks a colophon. Given the book's magnificent decoration, however, it would seem that it was produced for a Valois prince, if not for the king himself. The manuscript receives its name from the German dukes of Gotha, its later owners.