BONDOL, Jean - b. ~1348 Brugge, d. ~1390 Paris

Netherlandish painter and miniaturist active in France. His name is spelled in various ways (Boudolf, Bandolf, and so on) and he is also known as Jean de Bruges, presumably indicating his birthplace. He is first recorded in 1368 in the service of Charles V of France, an ardent bibliophile. His only known signed work is the dedicatory miniature (1371) in a Bible historiale (a French translation of a Latin compilation of biblical history and legend) made for Charles (Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, The Hague). The only other work that can be confidently attributed to him is the design of the celebrated series of tapestries on the Apocalypse (woven 1373-82, Musée des Tapisseries, Angers), made for Louis I, Duke of Anjou, Charles V’s brother.

Bondol’s style combined French courtly sophistication with Netherlandish realism, looking forward to the International Gothic style.

Bible of Jean de Vaudetar

This Latin manuscript, containing biblical stories, was commissioned by Jean de Vaudetar, royal advisor, as a gift to King Charles V of France (reigned 1364-1380). The full-page dedicatory picture and the 269 text illustrations were produced by Jean Bondol, court painter to King Charles V, and other anonymous illuminators.

In the dedicatory miniature at the beginning of the manuscript (folio 2r) the chamberlain Jean de Vaudetar presents a retelling of the Bible as a gift to King Charles V. The volume he holds in his hands is identical with the codex to which this picture was added. The bulky and heavily modelled King Charles V sits in a clearly indicated space marked out by a tiled floor and, overhead, a circular baldacchino.

The painterly cultivation and the simple, clear composition are typically French, while the sharpness of observation is in the Flemish tradition.