It was against this background, marked by the presence of Petrarch and by the creation
of the extraordinary library of Pavia, that one of the most
important schools of illustration came to maturity. Works such as
Guiron le Curtois, Lancelot du Lac, and the Messale 757 were
produced, as well as illustrations by Giovannino De' Grassi for Gian
Galeazzo Yisconti's Book of Hours. Lombard sacred painting favoured
frescos to painting on panels; altarpieces were generally sculpted
in marble or wood, or were substituted by objects of gold or silver,
following the more refined taste of the court. The Lombard influence
was soon felt in Piedmont where, from the late 13th to the early
14th century, a strongly expressive Gallic style asserted itself, as
in Sant' Antonio in Ranverso.
In France, too. thanks to court patrons, first in Paris then in
Burgundy, the elements of renewal in figurative culture were to be found
mainly in illustrated books Although the large Parisian frescos
disappeared, as in the Sainte-Chapelle
and old Louvre palace, important cycles can still be found in the
Haute-Loire and at Toulouse, where the close relationship with the
art of illumination can be identified, as can Italian influences.
Panel painting, much of which has been lost, at least until 1380,
centred on Paris, where the aesthetic ideals formulated at the time
of Saint Louis IX were developed. New stimuli came from Italian
aitists working in Avignon, especially towards the mid-1-tth
century, and from Flemish artists based in Paris, Rouiges, and
Dijon, who weie more closely involved with book illustration.
Evidence of this, towards the end of the century, can be seen in the
celebrated Wilton Diptych, painted in Paris for English patrons. Few
frescos remain in England, and most painting is preserved in
manuscript form - much of it influenced by the earlier Celtic
libraries and scholarict in the monasteries. In England, Matthew
Paris was a monk of St Albans, a historian and prolific illustrator
(active 1217—59). He has left evidence of lively exchanges in court
and ecclesiastical circles of borth a literary and graphic kind. His
restless line shows amusing, graceful figures full of activity.
Another important example of English manuscript art is the Douce
Apocalypse painting (late 1260s), which dramatized Revelations and
pictured exuberant figures. Executed with linear confidence, they
also suggest drawing from life and have a sense of volume. A rare
example of English panel painting is the Retable at Westminster Abbev (mid-13th century) made at the time French and Italian artists
visited the court of Henry III, bringing the sinuous line and
delicate detail of the international style. Melchior Broederlam
(active 1381-1409), who painted the altarpiece of the Charterhouse
of Champmol, was also influenced by book illustration. In this
Charterhouse, Claus Sluter brought Burgundian sculpture to new
heights of artistic expression: the Annunciation of the portal and
the Muses' Well are remarkable for their strength of composition,
finely drawn figures, and deep emotion. Illustration had already
begun a process of international renewal, thanks to Jean Pucelle
(active c.1319). who incorporated into his delicate yet dynamic
linearity a formal solidity and narrative style that were of clear
Italian origin. Flemish influence brought an even greater,
distinctly bourgeois, realism. The Duc de Berry and Philip the Bold
created two of the most refined courts in Europe, attended by great
illustrators such as Hainaut and the Master of Boucicaut, who
achieved extraordinary power of expression through freedom of design
and intensity of colour. In the middle of the 14th century, the
imperial court of Charles IV transformed Prague into a great
artistic centre. In about 1340. Sienese delicacy arrived in Bohemia
with the Master of the Altar of Hohenfurt. In 1357, the castle of
Karlstein accommodated artists of varying tastes and backgrounds:
alongside the Italian tone introduced by Tommaso da Modena. there
were elements of a sharper realism in the Kreuzkapelle. Prague, too,
would have a great sculptor and architect in Peter Parler, who, with
a new realism, would influence the artistic vision of all Europe.
