{"id":3257,"date":"2015-11-03T10:51:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T10:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.facsimilefinder.com\/articles\/?p=3257"},"modified":"2016-09-09T11:56:01","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T11:56:01","slug":"pierre-sala-back-lyon-500-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.facsimilefinder.com\/articles\/pierre-sala-back-lyon-500-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Pierre Sala Back to Lyon, 500 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pierre Sala<\/strong> was born in 1457 in Lyon<\/strong>, the son of an affluent and established bourgeois family. Around 1480 he found employment in the service of the French royal family, initially working for Charles VII<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait
Portrait of Pierre Sala, Stowe MS 955, f. 17r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Le Petit Livre d’Amour, an Intimate Gem from the Renaissance<\/h2>\n

Le Petit Livre d’Amour<\/strong><\/em>, one of the most intimate Renaissance manuscripts<\/strong> of the world, is a little book that the French poet Pierre Sala <\/strong>from Lyon presented to his future wife Marguerite Bullioud\u00a0<\/strong>when they were still courting.<\/p>\n

\"A
A man playing blind man\u2019s bluff with three women, from Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love, Stowe MS 955, fol. 7r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His chivalrous courtship<\/strong> is expressed in a number of different ways and culminates in the presentation of a little book in which pictures and text are combined<\/strong> to convey the presence of the absent lover. Through this action, Sala successfully attracts the attention of his beloved and gains a place in her heart.<\/p>\n

\"Detail<\/a>
Detail from Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love, Stowe MS 955, fol. 6r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the British Library blog on Pierre Sala<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Diminutive illustrations, filling the book’s small pages, transform the object into a sumptuous jewel<\/strong>, while also illustrating the love between author and reader.\u00a0 <\/span>In one particularly striking picture, a man \u2013 representing Pierre Sala<\/strong> himself \u2013 drops his heart into the cup of a large, red-and-white flower.\u00a0 The flower is a daisy,<\/strong> a ‘marguerite’ in French, and so an allegorical representation<\/strong> of Pierre’s beloved.\u00a0 <\/span>Close inspection of Pierre’s face in this miniature<\/strong> reveals hints of a plan for the picture that was never fully realized.\u00a0 The man’s face is unfinished, showing only the rough sketch of facial features to be added later.\u00a0 <\/span>The illuminator left the face blank so that another artist \u2013 most likely Jean Perr\u00e9al<\/strong>, a friend of Pierre’s \u2013 could complete the allegory with a likeness of Pierre himself.\u00a0 We can imagine how this would have looked by referring to the larger, full-page portrait of Pierre that Perr\u00e9al did<\/em> provide, at the end of the volume.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Love and Morality<\/h2>\n

The core of the work is composed of twelve iconologues<\/strong> thus forming an entity of pictures and text<\/strong>. While five relate to love<\/strong>, the others refer to moral topics<\/strong> such as wisdom and insanity, lies, success and favour.<\/p>\n

\"Pierre
Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love<\/em>, Stowe MS 955, f.9*r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With their veiled irony and underlying resignation, some passages betray a somewhat pessimistic view<\/strong> of the world and society.<\/p>\n

\"Pierre
Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love<\/em>, Stowe MS 955, f.9r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don’t miss the opportunity to view\u00a0the Pierre Sala’s Little Book of Love<\/strong> at Lyon Renaissance Arts et Humanisme<\/strong> until 25 January 2016.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0you Want to Know More:<\/h3>\n