Interior of the north side-aisle of Notre Dame in 15C (Saint Véran exorcising demons from the insane)
Notre Dame (with Pietà)
High-status funeral at Les Innocents (albeit with a fanciful Italian tower added in towards left)
Sainte-Chapelle (with Christ carrying cross)
Gibbet of Montfaucon (in background of Martyrdom of St Catherine)
Château de ( Read more... )

Some pics (some of these are of the Mass of St Gregory, where he's supposed to have a vision of Christ, but I'm posting these for costume reference and practice):

• By Jean Poyer: NB cloth-of-gold chasuble and dalmatics.
• Mass of Saint Gilles, set in the Abbey of Saint-Denis.
• This one's a bit cartoon-y.
• French engraving of the Mass of St Gregory: NB Papal ( Read more... )

I've found some close-up details of a 15C linen surplice (the garment Claude throws on over his nightshirt in the Porte Rouge scene). It's from Jean Fouquet's Pietà at Nouans, worn by a canon who is probably called Jacques, as Saint James appears to be behind him as his name-saint:

• Upper part of sleeve insertion
• Lower part of sleeve insertion and ( Read more... )

Here's a lovely photo of the 19C Gothic revival effigies on the tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris that echoes through Claude's plight…

Pierre Abelard and his wife and pupil Héloïse, niece of Canon Fulbert…
( Read more... )

I got a book on Jehan/Jean Fouquet today (secondhand, ex-library). He is marvellous.
( Some fandom-related pictures… )

The Flemish masters of the 15C are very useful in terms of naturalistic depictions of 15C dress.
I just found this 1490s portrait of a priest by Memling. There would be little difference in ecclesiastic costume a decade earlier. The fur almuce signifies a canon, though, as also worn by Canon Joris van der Paele in van Eyck's altarpiece. (Also note ( Read more... )

OK, it's over 40 years too late in date and costume, and the sitter has rather more hair, but this painting does put me in mind of Claude… (He'd also be a rather good Hamlet!) I first noticed him as the cover-boy on my old acquaintance Andrew Pettegree's The Book in the Renaissance (which is very interesting and useful re: Claude's world).

Re: Claude's injuries, I think there's an element of Hugo deliberately reflecting the macabre nature of late 15C religious art. The novel is deeply saturated in the art and architecture of its setting and nothing was more characteristic of the era (post-Black Death Western Europe) than the devotional cults of the Wounds of Christ and Corpus Christi ( Read more... )

Mediæval & Renaissance Material Culture - includes pictures of gypsy dress.
Mediæval Woodcuts clip art
Monumental Brass Society - includes good costume images under 'Brass of the Month' and 'Picture Library'

(x-post to hond, les_sanspapiers).

My old friend ggreig sent me a splendid present yesterday: a 12"x16" print of Couder's painting Notre Dame de Paris. The original is in the Maison Victor Hugo in Paris. At the top we have Vic, Oliver Le Daim and Louis XI. The central section is Claude stabbing Phœbus. On either side, in the long narrow panels: the Truands attack Notre Dame, and Claude ( Read more... )