Les Quatre États de la Société

The exact date of the secular manuscript Quatre �tats de la soci�t� is not known, but judging by its style and the figures’ costumes it must have been executed at roughly the same time as two other secular manuscripts by Bourdichon, Le Voyage de Gênes (c. 1508, Biblioth�que National, Paris, MS. fr. 5091) and the Epîtres des po�tes royaux (c. 1510; National Library, St Petersburg,MS. fr. F.v. XIV, 8).

The picture shows four leaves irregularly cut out around the gilded frames of the miniatures. Their original location remains unknown, but they may have formed part of a book, possibly a collection of moralizing poems. The miniatures are clearly by Bourdichon’s hand: they have his characteristic figures, drapery, gold tooling, colours, effects suggesting sunset or night and his descriptive taste for interiors and furnishings. They were surrounded by the usual graded violet-hued background imitating the shadow cast by their flat gilded frames.