Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Jeu des échecs moralisé
France, probably Paris, between 1350 and 1360
MS G.52 fol. 1r

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Jacobus de Cessolis: Text, Jeu des Échecs, Rubrics -- Jean de Vignay, wearing cross-inscribed garment of Hospitaler, seated on bench, holds knife in left hand and pen in right hand to open book on lectern. Seated around him in a circle are crowned queen, seated on faldstool decorated with animal heads and feet, and with dog on leash seated on her lap; crowned king, with right hand indicating scepter surmounted by hand held in his left hand; cardinal, holding the ties of his hat in right hand; bishop, wearing miter, with left hand indicating crozier held in right hand, seated beside two men, including one holding gloves in right hand; falconer, holding hood (?) before falcon perched on his right wrist; man, with sword sheathed at waist, facing away; goldsmith, seated on round chair, with hammer raised in right hand above object held on anvil with left hand; man, hooded, digging with spade; and two men, wearing loin cloths, gnawing on bones, with one holding another bone and the other an animal head. All except Jean de Vignay are personifications of chess pieces.
Margins with ivy-rinceaux ornament.