FAMILY PORTRAIT

I photographed this reproduction of a small painting by Jean Bourdichon. It shows Anne, Louis and their daughter Claude with Francois, to whom she was already betrothed. As heir to the crown unless or until Anne and Louis should have a son, Francois lived with them in the court.

The original is at the Ecole nationale superiore des beaux-arts, Paris.

Anne's family

As I was walking through the Louvre, I saw a painting of a child that looked very familiar: it was Charles Orland, the son of Anne and Charles VIII, the much-beloved Dauphin, who died in 1495 at the age of three. The artist was Jean Hey. 

Most of the representations were formalized portraits, except for one large oil from the Musee de Beaux Arts de Lyon, painted by Francesco Bassano. Both of Anne's husbands sought to win Italy, and were often at war. This is described as "Charles VIII receiving the crown of Naples in Battle." However, the text says that he did not gain Naples by combat; which reinforces my decision that there is so much lack of clarity that I can only tell this story as a novel. 

Image, Art, and History

HISTORY IS REVEALED THROUGH ART 

It was art that started me on this pursuit, and that has been foundational in developing content.  Because Anne, both of her husbands, and her family were patrons of the arts, it is largely through art that important parts of their lives have been revealed to me. Although I haven’t gone back to the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum is my second home, and in the past few years it has had special exhibitions of illuminated manuscripts and tomb sculpture as well as lectures about them that have been valuable and pertinent. The Cloisters is a repository of works of the period and before, and its lectures have provided information about herbal medicine, dyes, and images in art and tapestry, with insight into patronage and religious views. The JP Morgan Library and Museum had a fabulous exhibition of illuminated manuscripts, including some made for Anne and her family; and I was fortunate to hear the curator himself talk about them, with a group of people fascinated by the Renaissance who had come from Boston for the same exhibitions and lectures I was attending. I was surprised and delighted that my esoteric interests were shared by so many enthusiasts.  

REWARD FOR GOING OUT ON A FREEZING DAY

One January Saturday I braved the frigid weather to walk uptown to visit a gallery on Madison Avenue. I’d seen a small item in the paper that they were featuring art of France in 1500. How could I not follow through? Once there, I was immediately warmed by what I found. First of all, there was a beautiful miniature that was framed by the cordelière: the image of twisted ropes that was Anne’s symbol. Everything there was interesting; much of it directly involved characters I already knew. I turned to talk to the man working in the gallery and learned that he was a graduate student studying this artistic period, focusing on Bourdichon, one of the artists whose names I had become familiar with. The gallery director told me that a major show, assembled and curated by the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago, would be in Chicago in the Spring, and that there would be a definitive catalog in English about this subject. Fortunately, my brother lives in Chicago, and welcomed me for a wonderful visit with his family.  The nearby Newberry Library supplemented that show with manuscripts and art of the period. I spent a tremendously valuable day at the extraordinary exhibitions, and many hours afterward poring over the catalog, which is the most informative piece I've read, even resolving some of the conflicts of other historians.  It was as though it was all put together for me!

Anne de Bretagne is a legendary figure in Brittany, somewhat less so in the rest of  France. Hotels, streets,  restaurants and  historic sites bear the name of Anne de Bretagne. She is better represented in the arts.  However, the depth of information or explanation is minimal, and some of it is contradictory. Rather than being frustrated by that, I realize that it confirms my original determination that if I want to write about her, I would have to go beyond the accepted facts.

 The most significant recognition of Anne de Bretagne in America and much of the world is for the art and books she commissioned. The Book of Hours of Anne de Bretagne, in the JP Morgan Library Museum in New York, is considered one of the finest of its kind. And the tomb of her parents, which is in the Cathedral of Nantes, is recognized as one of the finest examples of early Renaissance sculpture and funerary art…and was the lure that brought me into her world when I saw a reproduction in the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.

France gave me  some new images of Anne and the people in her world.  At the Chateau de Saint-Malo, there was a very large painting of a procession in which Anne is entering Saint-Malo with the Bishop, showing an impressive retinue. The Château de Saint-Malo was largely built by Anne and her father…but the painting was not mentioned in its flyer or known about by the museum guide. I came upon it after he told me not to bother going there!caption

HISTORY REVEALED THROUGH ART

One important realization is scale: this small woman lived in a very large world. Each château  is really a small city, inhabited by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The image on the right is a model of the Chateau des duc de Nantes, and below are the main wings and tower walls.

 The rooms are large, the furniture I saw (with qualifications that most is not original) is massive. Distances are quite large. It is hard to understand how the court could have traveled so much, so far, so often. And she was frequently pregnant! My train rides from place to place were lovely and comfortable, through beautiful farmland and occasional woods, and took several hours each. Horses, carriages, litters, and even barges are much more cumbersome and slower means of transportation.

My encounters with Anne

As you see, I found Anne, more than once: the blue version is in Nantes, the white in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. She is formidable, and still hard to get to know. I could not interview her, or see much of the inner woman. But by visiting her most important homes—the châteaux at Blois and Amboise—and experiencing her environment, I do have a better perspective on Anne, her life, and her times.

I am in France, and following Anne

But I have been having trouble trying to post to this blog as I had intended. My little Netbook is troublesome, and I have not had Internet, although it was promised, in several of my hotels. I have, however, been keeping up a journal and taking many pictures, which I will post as soon as possible.
I can fully attest to Anne's death: the first monument I visited, at Basilica St. Denis in Paris, was her tomb:

Blois was the favorite home of Anne's husband King Louis XII. It had been added to over centuries, and he made many additions and improvements when they lived there. This is known as the Louis XII wing:

This is the figure of the regal king over the entrance to the chateau





One important realization is scale: this small woman lived in a very large world. Each château  is really a small city, inhabited by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The image below is the Chateau des duc de Nantes, and below are the main wings and tower walls.The rooms are large, the furniture I saw (with qualifications that most is not original) is massive. Distances are quite large. It is hard to understand how the court could have traveled so much, so far, so often. And she was frequently pregnant! My train rides from place to place were lovely and comfortable, through beautiful farmland and occasional woods, and took several hours each. Horses, carriages, litters, and even barges are much more cumbersome and slower means of transportation.

Anne's symbols at Blois

 The rooms are large, the furniture I saw (with qualifications that most is not original) is massive. Distances are quite large. It is hard to understand how the court could have traveled so much, so far, so often. And she was frequently pregnant! My train rides from place to place were lovely and comfortable, through beautiful farmland and occasional woods, and took several hours each. Horses, carriages, litters, and even barges are much more cumbersome and slower means of transportation.

Curiosity, knowledge, the journey, and the hurricane

PURSUING ANSWERS AND GOING TO THE SOURCE: FRANCE

Art started me on this journey, but along the way I’ve found several areas that called for further exploration and analysis to better understand Anne and her time. I’m examining issues such as destiny, royalty, family roles, marriage, motherhood, education, art, science, medicine, religion (as motivator/explanation/vehicle), culture, differing male and female roles and responsibilities.  How did these influence Anne, in what proportion? What did people of that time know that we don’t?—allegory, spiritualism, superstition.  How different was she from other women of her class? My novel should give my reader more than the story of the characters and the time. I want to elicit new ways of thinking about our lives and era, as well as those. How did people live before science and the scientific method? Most people, of any class, grew up to live the lives they were ordained to. What was it like, despite having so much, not to have a real choice about what one would do in life?

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

In the back of my mind as I wrote more and grew confident in my work, I realized that I really have to see the places I write about, not only for physical descriptions, but for atmosphere. If not now, when? I’m healthy, I’m able, no one needs me on a regular basis. I won’t have to borrow for the trip. And so I determined, finally, that I would do it! I used my frequent flyer miles to book a trip to France for September. I worked out my own itinerary, which is not that of the typical tourist (I’d seen a lot of those sights on an earlier trip.) Then I decided (with the advice of members of my writers’ group) that since I will be traveling alone, by train, I’d better improve my French. I enrolled in a very good Intermediate French class and felt much more confident in my ability to get around and communicate, and have my time be more productive.

August 28, 2011--We in Manhattan seem to have gotten through the hurricane with little severe damage; although there has been a great deal of disruption. Because of all the early warnings and precautions taken for the last several days, normal activity stopped. People had time to stock up and do what was necessary. So although I spent many hours securing my apartment; taking in all the plants and furniture from my terrace—that means moving everything around to make room in a small apartment; filling pitchers, jars, pots, and pails with water; and cancelling weekend activities, everything is fine for me. Not everyone fared so well, depending on where they live and how seriously they took warnings. I've had time to spend working on the details of my trip, which is just ten days away.  

One of the fascinating things I’ve learned about the life and times of Anne of Brittany is that the court traveled a great deal. There must have been amazing logistics involved, since hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of people would relocate several times a year from one château or capital to another. And they would bring with them furnishings, food, and equipment to take care of the movable court. No hotels or motels along the way—they stayed at the châteaux of the nobles, who would have to be able to accommodate them. I haven’t seen satisfying details of how they managed all this. How long in advance would they send a messenger to say that “We’ll be coming by with 800 people next week.”?  Traveling by litter and barge, Anne’s trip from Lyon to Blois took eight days, and she did it rather often. Now it can be traversed in less than three hours, by train or auto.

I’ve been reflecting on the information we have available now, constantly being updated and refined:  weather maps following the storm, communications from government, utilities, first responders; the knowledge that allows informed predictions so that precautions can be taken. And of course weather is just the current topic; the same is true about disease, nutrition, space, and technology.  With all that, knowledge is not perfect. Compare that to earlier times, when they just didn’t know or understand the forces of nature, the relationships among events and conditions. Copernicus’ major book asserting that the sun is the center of the universe was published in 1543, after all of the characters in Anne’s life had died. And its validity was not established until 1616, by Galileo’s study of the tides.

Curiosity must be a universal instinct, and before the acceptance of scientific method would have had to be fed by imagination, religion, and magical thinking. How fortunate I am to be able to follow my curiosity across time and place.