ID: 700002325 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700002325	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant (illuminated manuscript; Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation and assistant,...; about 1470 - 1475; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 83.MR.178; Ms. Ludwig XV 8)

Note: 237 folios + 1 flyleaf, 1 full-page miniature, 10 three-quarter-page miniatures, 3 one-column miniatures. The Getty Museum's imposing manuscript of Portuguese humanist Vasco da Lucena's Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great is the product of the interest in classical antiquity that characterized Renaissance humanism. The text is a French translation (Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant), completed in 1468, of a biography of the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great by the first-century Roman writer Quintus Curtius Rufus. In this manuscript's text and miniatures, Alexander is presented as a complex figure, a man capable of bravery and good judgment but also subject to human foibles. Both the positive and negative lessons of Alexander's story were considered valuable for a Renaissance prince and military leader such as Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, to whom Vasco dedicated his text. The Getty Museum's copy of this widely diffused text, a large and lavishly illuminated manuscript with fourteen miniatures, was probably made for an aristocrat associated with the Burgundian court, someone who would have particularly appreciated the manuscript's scenes of battle and court intrigue. While the scribe Jean du Quesne copied the text in Lille, the anonymous illuminator, who has been identified as the Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation, worked in Bruges.

Titles:

Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant (preferred,C,U,RP,French-P,U,U)

Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great (C,U,DE,English,U,U)

Ms. Ludwig XV 8 (C,U,MD,undetermined,U,U)

Catalog Level: volume

Work Types:

illuminated manuscript [300265483] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by conditions of production>, manuscripts (documents))

history (literary genre) [300026358]

..... (Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), <concepts in the arts and humanities>, <genres in literature and performing arts>, <genres for literature>)

book [300028051]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), information artifacts, <information artifacts by physical form>)

Classifications:

manuscripts (preferred)

Creation Date: about 1470 - 1475

Creator Display:

Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation and assistant, illuminators: Jean du Quesne, scribe; Vasco da Lucena, translator [preferred,JPGM]

scribe Jean du Quesne (French scribe, active 1473-1474) [500002399]

author Rufus, Quintus Curtius (Roman historian, 1st century) [500057142]

translator Lucena, Vasco de (Portuguese chronicler, diplomat, ca. 1420-1499) [500105089]

illuminator Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation (French illuminator, active 1450-1475) Qualifier: undetermined Extent: undetermined [500055815]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 83.MR.178; Ms. Ludwig XV 8

Other: Creation: Brugge [7007867] West-Vlaanderen (province), Flanders (region (administrative division)), Belgium (nation), Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Other: Creation: Lille [7008461] Hauts-de-France (region (administrative division)), France (nation), Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with red velvet; two engraved brass clasps

	tempera [300015062]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	gold leaf [300264831]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by composition>, inorganic material, metal, <metal by form>, leaf (metal))

	gilt paint [300343596]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, metallic paint)

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

	parchment (animal material) [300011851]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, processed animal material)

	wood board [300162666]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, plant material, <wood and wood by product>, <wood by product>)

	velvet (fabric weave) [300133711]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, textile materials, <textile materials by process or technique>, <textile materials by weaving technique>, pile weave (textile), warp pile weave)

Dimensions: Leaf: 43.2 x 33 cm (17 x 13 in.); Justification: 25.6 x 20.4 cm (10 1/16 x 8 1/16 in.)

Cultures:

French (preferred)

Flemish

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Renaissance [300021140] (preferred,style)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, European, <Renaissance-Baroque styles and periods>)

General Subject:

history and legend (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great [901000926]
	.....((Literary works: History, Biographies, Named written and performed works, Literature and Performing Arts)) (ICON)

	Alexander the Great (Macedonian king, 356-323 BCE) [500280655]
	.....(Non-Artists) (ULAN)

	history (literary genre) [300026358]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), <concepts in the arts and humanities>, <genres in literature and performing arts>, <genres for literature>) (AAT)

	French (language) [300388306]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), language-related concepts, <languages and writing systems>, <languages and writing systems by specific type>, <temporary alphabetical list: languages and writing systems>) (AAT)

Inscriptions: Secondary Inscription: Inscribed fol. 12v by Jean du Quesne, "escript par Jan du Quesne."

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
Ms. Ludwig XV 8	........ [VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP,JPGM]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)