Frontispiece Miniature from the Manuscript of a Poem by Guillaume Crétin: Debate Between Two Women (c. 1537–1540): Art, History and Details

Frontispiece Miniature from the Manuscript of a Poem by Guillaume Crétin: Debate Between Two Women (c. 1537–1540) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of Francis I (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This leaf is one of four surviving miniatures from the only known illuminated manuscript of the poem Débat entre deux dames sur le passetemps des chiens et oyseaux by Guillaume Crétin. The poem takes the form of a debate between two women, represented here, who argue at length as to the relative merits of hunting with falcons versus hunting with dogs. The volume was likely made as a presentation copy or gift for King Francis I (1515-1547). This artist is known to have painted many miniatures for the king as well as for other members of the court during the 1530s.

Object facts

• Title: Frontispiece Miniature from the Manuscript of a Poem by Guillaume Crétin: Debate Between Two Women
• Date: c. 1537–1540
• Creator attribution: Master of Francis I (French)
• Culture: France, Paris
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and liquid gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 27.1 x 20.1 cm (10 11/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1991.157

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. "Selected 1991 Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (1992): 63-83.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.