Dunois Master (possibly Jean Haincelin, active c.1435-50s)
The Lady of Malohaut and Her Cousin visit Lancelot in Prison, cut from the Livre du Lancelot del Lac, Paris, c.1440-50

An evocative miniature from the famous Arthurian romance Livre du Lancelot del Lac illuminated by the Dunois Master.

90 x 90mm. The scene corresponds to H.O. Sommer’s The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances, III, 1911, p.221, lines 19-26 and shows the Lady of Malohaut and her cousin visiting Lancelot in prison. Both women gaze upon the knight as he rests in a luxurious bed, depicting a moment not long before the Lady of Malohaut is stopped short of kissing the valiant knight by her cousin. The Lady of Malohaut imprisoned Lancelot unaware of his identity, which she eventually discovers after inspecting his battle wounds and damaged armor. Verso inscribed with 13 lines of text, with a single 3-line initial in gold decorated in blue and red and one line filler. Mounted and framed.

Provenance:
(1) The Livre du Lancelot del Lac and the two-volume Roman de Guiron le Courtois (BnF, MS Fr. 356-357) may well be the same manuscripts for which Prigent de Coëtivy, admiral of France, paid Jean Haincelin in 1444, a crucial piece of evidence to the argument identifying the Bedford Master with Haincelin de Haguenau, perhaps the father of Jean Haincelin, identified by some scholars as the Dunois Master. The Lancelot manuscript originally contained at least 152 miniatures and was most likely dismembered by the 16th century.

(2) Joachim Napoléon, 5th Prince Murat (1856-1932), a member of the Bonaparte-Murat family; this cutting part of a series of 34 miniatures from the same parent manuscript which were mounted in a red morocco volume with the bookplate of Joachim Napoléon.

(3) Marie (d. 1960), widow of Joachim Napoléon and daughter of the duc d’Elschingen, from her estate handled by Henri Badereau.

(4) The album acquired from the estate of Joachim Napoléon by the London dealer W.R.H. Jeudwine in 1960, with the individual miniatures exhibited at the Alpine Club Gallery in London, 22 May to 2 June, 1962, and offered for sale, the present miniature no 3.

Sister leaves:
Since the dispersal of 34 miniatures in 1962 numerous cuttings have entered collections around the world and have appeared at auction. For a recent summary of the sister leaves, their dispersal, and auction history, see Gregory T. Clark’s catalogue entry for a sister leaf at the McMillen Museum of Art, Boston College, in Hamburger, et al, ed. Beyond Words, 2016, no 186, p. 222.

Illumination:
Among the leading illuminators of his day in Paris, the Dunois Master is named after a Book of Hours made for Jean de Dunois (London, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 3). The Dunois Master occupied a leading role in the workshop of the Bedford Master around 1435 to 1440, developing a similar style yet distinguishing his own work with soft colors and modelling. The Bedford Master has been identified as the Alsatian artist Haincelin of Hagenau, recorded in Paris from 1403 to 1424, while the Dunois Master might have been his son Jean Haincelin, mentioned between 1438 and 1449 (this identity not universally accepted by scholars). François Avril and Nicole Reynaud noted that Prigent de Coëtivy, admiral of France and the comrade in arms of Jean de Dunois, paid Haincelin in 1444 for copies of Tristan, Lancelot, and Guiron le Courtois, suggesting that the parent manuscript of the present miniature was part of this commission (Avril and Reynaud 1993, p. 38; for the payment see Delisle 1900, p.192).

Possibly Prigent de Coëtivy, admiral of France
Joachim Napoléon, 5th Prince Murat (1856-1932)
Marie (d. 1960), widow of Joachim Napoléon and daughter of the duc d’Elschingen, from her estate handled by Henri Badereau
W. R. H. Jeudwine

L. Delisle, 'Les Heures de l'amiral Prigent de Coëtivy,' Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes 61 (1900): 186-200 (for record of payment to Jean Haincelin in 1444).

H. O. Sommer, The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances, vol. III, 1911.

W. R. H. Jeudwine, Early fifteenth century miniatures: exhibited at the Alpine Club Gallery, 22 May - 2 June, 1962, London, 1962.

F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Manuscrits à Peintures en France: 1440-1520, Paris, 1993 [exhibition catalogue].

J. F. Hamburger, et al, ed., Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections, Boston, 2016.

Online resources:
Catalogue entry by G. T. Clark, McMillen Museum of Art, Boston College, 1995.4 (sister leaf): https://beyondwords2016.org/objects/lancelot-du-lac-equestrian-knight-entering-and-leaving-a-city-cutting

Dunois Master, Roman de Guiron le Courtois, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Fr. 356: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8514422s/

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