Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes
A French illuminated manuscript of Boccaccio's Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, made in 1413 and held by the J. Paul Getty Museum, probably for a noble patron. The four pictures are small marginal miniatures on gold-sprigged vellum: a man carrying a severed head, a winged centaur-like rider, a mermaid-like figure with a parasol, and a knight facing a dragon. A designer could take the compact border-vignette layout, the gold foliage scrolls, and the flat, jewel-bright colour pairing of red, blue and green.
