Two marvellous little volumes there are in the National Museum at Munich
(861-2) which are surely unapproachable. One of the borders in 861
consists of the eyes of peacock feathers so absolutely perfect that we
can only wonder at its rainbow hues and pearly sheen of colour.
Something similar to it exists in a fragment (No. 4461) in the Victoria
and Albert Museum at South Kensington. The "Isabella Breviary" of the
British Museum (Add. 18851) ought not to pass unmentioned, but space
forbids us to add more on this inexhaustible topic. There is, however,
the class of work alluded to early in the chapter, and in that on French
work, which must be at least mentioned. We refer to what the Italians
call _chiaroscuro_ and the French _grisaille_; _i.e._ painting executed
in tones of grey, in which the lights are given in white or gold and the
backgrounds in rich blue. Occasionally the draperies and ornaments also
are touched with gold, and the flesh tints as in life. Grisaille is not
limited to Netherlandish illuminations. We find it both in French and
Italian, but perhaps it is among the Netherlandish books we meet with it
most frequently. Several examples are to be seen in the Royal Library at
Brussels, and there is at least one in the British Museum (Add.
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