Jean Pucelle

Focusing on the Breviary of Blanche de France (Rome, Biblioteca Vaticana Apostolica, ms. Urb. Lat. 603), this study proposes a revised notice on this masterpiece partially attributed to Jean Pucelle. The analysis of earlier literature concerning the manuscript, with a re-examination of its possible patronage, is arguing for a more precise dating. Its unique place within the context of book production at the beginning of the 14th century is an opportunity to question the rise of Jean Pucelle as an artistic figure as well as his collaboration with first rank artists.
Indeed, historiographic elements have contributed to the success of Jean Pucelle’s artistic figure and induced as a side effect the lack of attention given to the other artists. Dimensions such as the perception of the leading artists’ roles reflect the methodological difficulty to go beyond the individuality of the artist even if the state of research has demonstrated the complexity of working processes. This article will highlight the critical role of the artistic collaborations for manuscripts book production studies, within a tightly interconnected small artistic community.

The north transept portal of the cathedral of Bordeaux (also called "Porte des Flèches") is certainly the most well-preserved great sculpted portal of the first half of the 14th century in France, as well as one of the finest representatives of its kind. It has been largely funded by the pope Clement V (1305-1314), former archbishop of Bordeaux (1299-1305). Its sculptural style is closely related to Parisian works such as the reliefs inserted in the choir chapels of Notre-Dame of Paris or the miniatures of Jean Pucelle. As suggested by its construction dates (ca. between 1320 and 1332), the portal might be a work conceived by Bertrand Deschamps, master of works of Bordeaux cathedral in 1320.

Il volume analizza dal punto di vista stilistico-formale la Pulcella d’Orléans di Vincenzo Monti, traduzione-riscrittura dell’omonimo poema volterriano del 1798-’99. L’opera, autonoma e originale, riduce le componenti filosofiche ed ideologiche dell’originale, privilegiando gli aspetti ludici e provocatori della storia di Giovanna d’Arco - già raccontata con piglio ironico e dissacrante - attraverso una maggiore sperimentazione sul piano linguistico, metrico e sintattico, in primo luogo adottando una griglia strofica fortemente connotata, quella dell’ottava cavalleresca, dotata di una solida “grammatica” compositiva e di una straordinaria tradizione. Il traduttore attiva quindi una costante dialettica tra la pressione del testo francese, con le sue esigenze di trasposizione lineare, e la spinta sottostante del codice stilistico legato all’ottava. E sul punto di frizione generato da questa doppia costrizione trova lo spazio per conferire al poema una sua personalissima cifra stilistica, individuata in una serie coerente di cadenze intonative, che definiscono il timbro complessivo della “voce” autoriale, specie nei suoi valori di ironia e comicità, corposità e icasticità lessicale, velocità ed elasticità ritmico-sintattica.

Dans l’histoire de l’art du XIVe siècle, la notoriété de Jean Pucelle n’est plus à faire. Nombre de publications ont permis de reconstituer cette extraordinaire personnalité artistique depuis la découverte par Léopold Delisle de son nom dans la Bible de Robert de Billyng. La monographie incontournable de Kathleen Morand a fixé les bases du corpus de ses œuvres. Depuis, la découverte de la date de sa mort a permis de préciser ses interventions et s’est surtout focalisée sur ses suiveurs. Plus obscurs sont les débuts de Pucelle : un sceau pour la Confraternité de Saint-Jacques-aux-Pèlerins – dont la commande est mentionnée dans les rouleaux de comptes entre 1319 et 1324 – serait ainsi la première œuvre de cet artiste alors « jeune et immature ». Le propos de cet article est d’ajouter à son corpus une nouvelle œuvre à savoir l’ornementation d’une charte datée très précisément de juin 1318. Il sera démontré que non seulement Pucelle est déjà un artiste abouti mais aussi introduit dans les plus hautes sphères de la commande royale française.