Duke Francis I of Brittany Painted a Picture of His New Bride on The Image of His First Wife

Duke Francis I of Brittany had an illustration of his first wife painted over in a 15th century manuscript with a picture of his new bride, a new study shows. 

The duke made the alteration in Hours of Isabella Stuart, a book of hours, a Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages that was completed by 1431. 

Researchers at the University of Cambridge used non-invasive analytical techniques to identify pigments and reveal sketches beneath the paintings.

Staff at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum, where the book is currently housed, 'noticed there was something slightly odd' about it.

Co-curator Dr Suzanne Reynolds said a 'darker area' was noticed on a page 'so it was decided to use infrared and see what was going on there'.

'That's when the under-drawing was revealed,' said Dr Reynolds.

The Hours of Isabella Stuart is one of the most extensively illustrated Books of Hours in existence, and contains a unique, personalised combination of images and texts. 

It was commissioned in 1431 by the powerful patron of the arts, the Duchess of Anjou, Yolande of Aragon (1381- 1442).

She gave the volume to her daughter, Yolande of Anjou (1412-1440), on the occasion of her marriage to the future Duke Francis I of Brittany in 1431 (1414-1450).   

After Yolande died in 1440, the duke remarried Isabella Stuart (1427-1494) on October 29, 1442 and had the manuscript altered. 

Yolande, kneeling before the Virgin, was painted over and replaced with his new wife, Isabella. Isabella's coat of arms was also painted into each corner of the decorated borders. 

Scientists also discovered that Breton artists working in Nantes had adapted and added illuminations for Isabella, and later, her daughter Margaret (1443-1469). 

Variations in the underdrawings helped to distinguish between the original artists who were based in Angers, but the use of different pigments has confirmed the modifications and additions made in Nantes. 

'It's a very exciting discovery,' Dr Reynolds said. 

'These books in a way are sort of archaeological sites and when you start to uncover what lies under these images it actually unlocks the human story of how these books were commissioned and then passed from one person to another as the story of these different marriages and different dynastic alliances evolved.'

It was discovered that the overpainting was done in two stages. 

During the first stage, Isabella's face and heraldic dress were painted over those of Yolande, and the figure of St Catherine was added behind her in blue robes. 

The red of Isabella's ermine-lined coat is vermilion, the same pigment used for her coat of arms in the border.

Meanwhile, the original red elsewhere on the page – in the main image, the marginal miniature and the floral border – is red lead. 

St Catherine's garments were painted in insect-based organic pink and ultramarine blue, except the darker, oval area behind Isabella's head which was painted in azurite instead. It conceals the head dress of Yolande, which Isabella retained at first.

During the second stage of overpainting, the head dress was covered with azurite and Isabella's ducal coronet was painted over it. 

The Hours of Isabella Stuart was given to Fitzwilliam Museum by its founder Richard Fitzwilliam upon his death in 1816. 

It forms part of the founding collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum bequeathed by Fitzwilliam and as such can never leave the museum. 

The 15th century medieval manuscript is part of a new exhibition opening to the public on Tuesday, May 18 that lasts until August 1 this year.  

This article has been adapted from its original source.