Indeed, Mr. A.F. Didot strongly urged the probability that Cousin was
himself the illuminator of the splendid Breviary or Hours of Claude
Gouffier.[61] The drawing is in his best manner, the frame-border of
_caryatides_ in camaieu is of a richness of ornamentation in keeping
with the rest of the volume. The arms and motto of Gouffier are painted
in it. It is objected that Cousin's name does not appear in the Gouffier
account-books, while those of other artists are given. But only a
portion of the accounts is extant. Cousin may, perhaps, only have
designed the book, and the other miniaturists carried out his designs.
At any rate, the accounts give us the names of three miniaturists which
we may here record--Jean Lemaire, of Paris (1555), Charles Jourdain, and
Geoffroy Ballin (1359). These "enlumineurs" are stated to have decorated
two Books of Hours for Gouffier's wedding. As a good example of the
style employed in the decoration of title-pages, we may quote the
chimney-piece of the Ch?teau d'Anet, executed for Diane de Poitiers,
where a sculptured marble frame surrounds a painted landscape. Many of
the books of the time of Francis I. and Henry II. are ornamented in this
style.
[61] Now belonging to M. le Vicomte de Tanz?.
In the British Museum are several fine MSS.
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