Executed in much the same manner is a Book of Offices in the British
Museum, containing portraits of Philip the Fair and his wife, the
unhappy Juana _la Loca_, son and daughter-in-law of the Emperor
Maximilian. Similar, again, are the "Offices of the Elector, Albert of
Brandenburg," possibly the work of the same artists who produced the
Grimani Breviary. There are also some fragments in a guard-book in the
British Museum (Add. 24098), which may compare with any of the preceding
examples. But perhaps to many book-lovers no better specimen of the
highest class of Netherlandish art could be more welcome or more
interesting than the celebrated copy of the "Roman de la Rose," also in
our great national collection (Harl. 4425). This justly famous MS. is a
real masterpiece in every department, whether we consider the expression
in its miniatures or the consummate technical skill displayed in the
drawing and colour of the borders. These secondary embellishments
consist of fruit, flowers, birds, beetles, and butterflies. But, of
course, the great interest of this book lies in its miniatures, scenes
from the poet's allegory, and in the little statuesque figures of the
various characters in the poem.
[54] Cf. his "Judgement of Cambyses" in the museum at Bruges.
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