van eyck's leal souvenir

7
The Sitter for Jan van Eyck's 'Leal Sovvenir' Author(s): Jacques Paviot Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 58 (1995), pp. 210-215 Published by: The Warburg Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/751512 . Accessed: 06/03/2013 22:35 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The Warburg Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Van Eyck's Leal Souvenir

The Sitter for Jan van Eyck's 'Leal Sovvenir'Author(s): Jacques PaviotReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 58 (1995), pp. 210-215Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/751512 .

Accessed: 06/03/2013 22:35

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The Warburg Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of theWarburg and Courtauld Institutes.

http://www.jstor.org

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Page 2: Van Eyck's Leal Souvenir

210 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

THE SITTER FOR JAN VAN EYCK'S 'LEAL SOVVENIR'*

T he identity of the sitter in Jan van Eyck's painting 'LEAL SOVVENIR', now in the

National Gallery in London (Fig. 71),1 has been the subject of much speculation since Erwin Panofsky's article, published in 1949.2 Panofsky proposed the composer Binchois. Six years later Maurice Brockwell opposed this view, suggesting on account of his facial type and the Greek inscription that the man was a Greek merchant.3 In a series of articles published in 1961-3, Maria Julieta Ruival identified him as the Infante Dom Henrique of Portugal (Henry the Navigator).4 In an unpublished study of 1965, Father Eugen Schiltz concluded that the sitter was Johan- nes Kheudsen, Leal Souvenir herald-even though there appears to be no record of any such herald in the ducal archives of Bur- gundy.5 In 1978, Wendy Wood supposed him to be the sculptor Gilles le Blackere.6 The following year, Zdislaw K4pifiski identified the man as Jean de Cro?.7 In 1980, Elisabeth

Dhanens proposed the name Thomas rather than Timotheos.8 In 1984, Edward Lovinsky pronounced himself in favour of Binchois against Gilles le Blackere.9 Three years later, the state of the question was reviewed by Martin Fruhstorfer.l0 For Dieter Jansen, the most recent contributor to the subject, the sitter is the painter himself."1

The purpose of this Note is not to re- solve the issue, but to review the informative elements of the picture and to offer some pointers for future research. None of the previous identifications is satisfactory since all lack explanations for important aspects of the painting. They fail to explain, for ex- ample, the scroll in the right hand of the sitter: it is not a musical score, or a letter, or a drawing. They fail to link all the elements of the picture. The original frame has been lost and it is difficult to draw conclusions from the reverse, which is painted to look like porphyry.12 The elements of the paint- ing which have to be linked to offer a satis- factory identification are as follows.

(1) The man's appearance. At first sight he seems to be bald, although in fact some thin, extremely fair hair is visible. He has no detectable eyebrows and his eyelashes have been added by a restorer. 13He wears a red * I wish to thank Dr Lorne Campbell, Dr Raphael de

Smedt, Dr David Howlett and the staffs of the public libraries of Bruges and Tournai for their help in the course of my research.

1 Inv. 290; oak panel, painted surface 131/8 x 71/2 inches; dated 1432; see M. Davies, 'Les Primitifs fla- mands. I. Corpus de la peinture des anciens Pays-Bas m6ridionaux au quinzieme siecle, 3', The National Gallery, London, ii, Antwerp 1954, pp. 132-5; idem, National Gallery Catalogues. Early Netherlandish School, 3rd edn, London 1968, pp. 54-5.

2 'Who is Jan van Eyck's "Tymotheos"?', this Journal, xii, 1949, pp. 80-90.

3 'Who was Tymotheos?', The Connoisseur, cxxxvi, 1955, pp. 12-14.

4 'Retrato de Tim6teo ou D. Henrique, O Navega- dor?', Diario de Lisboa, 25 Mar. 1961, pp. 2, 10; ibid., 1 Apr. 1961, pp. 3, 9; ibid., 10 Aug. 1963, pp. 9, 15.

5 'Jan-van Eyck. Essai d'identification du portrait du soi-disant Timoth6e', typescript, Antwerp 1965 (copy in the library of the Royal Archives, The Hague). I have searched the following recettes gingrales in the Burgun- dian archives: toutes les finances (1384-1482), Flandre (1384-1482), Hollande-Zilande (1425-82), and Brabant (1430-82). On 28 May 1434, however, the Duke of Burgundy gave 74 sous to 'Povre et Leal, poursuivant', but it is not clear whom the poursuivant served (Lille, Archives D6partementales du Nord, B 1951 fol. 150v).

6 'A New Identification of the Sitter in Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos Portrait', Art Bulletin, lx, 1978, pp. 650-4.

7'Jan van Eyck's "TYM. WeEOC"-Portrait of Jean de Croy?', Artium quaestiones (Universytet im. Adama

Micktewicza W. Poznaniu, Seria Historia Sztuki no. 8), 1979, pp. 27-53.

8 Hubert etJan van Eyck, Antwerp 1980, pp. 182-7. 9 'Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos: Sculptor or Musician?

With an Investigation of the Autobiographic Strain in French Poetry from Rutebeuf to Villon', Studi musicali, xiii, 1984, pp. 33-105. 10 'Fiktionssprfinge in Van Eycks Bildnis des sogen-

nanten Timotheos', Oud Holland, ci, 1987, pp. 277-9. 11 'Jan van Eycks Selbstbildnis-der "Mann mit dem

roten Turban" und der sogennante "Tymotheos" der Londoner National Gallery', Pantheon, xlvii, 1989, pp. 36-48. Dr Campbell has pointed out to me that Jan- sen mistakenly supposed the 'Tymotheos' picture to be identical with a self-portrait of the artist mentioned in inventories of the British Royal Collection: Jansen ig- nored the Charles II inventory, where the portrait is described as measuring 17 x 14 inches, against 131/8 x 71/2 for 'Tymotheos' (L. Campbell, The Early Flemish Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, Cam- bridge 1985, p. 40; cf. above, n. 1). 12 E. J. Mundy, 'Porphyry and the "Posthumous"

Fifteenth-Century Portrait', Pantheon, xlvi, 1988, pp. 37-43. There is also a mark on the back of the paint- ing, which has not been identified satisfactorily; cf. Brockwell (as in n. 3). 13 I am grateful to Dr Campbell for this detail.

Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 58, 1995

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JAN VAN EYCK 211

09

-0

Fig. 71--Jan van Eyck, 'LEAL SOVVENIR', 1432. London, National Gallery

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212 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

woollen garment lined with brown fur at the collar, and on his head a green hood (chape- ron). There are no rings on his fingers. He does not appear to be a rich man, such as a member of the aristocracy, the Church, or the high bourgeoisie. (2) The scroll. The sitter holds in his right hand a scroll of parchment or paper with six lines of writing on the outside. The writing is indecipherable, but the forms of the ab- breviations suggest that it was probably in Latin, though it could have been in the ver- nacular (either French or Flemish).14 (3) The three inscriptions, in French, Greek and Latin, on the parapet above which the sitter is painted: - The prominent inscription 'LEAL SOV-

VENIR' ('lkal souvenir', or 'loyal remem- brance'), carved into the stone in large roman letters. The two words are separated by a fissure in the stone, which is larger towards the top of the parapet. - 'TYM. WOEOC', with the last letter partly obliterated by an area of damaged stone.15 This inscription is rendered as if painted on the stone. - 'Actu[m] an[n]o d[omi]ni- 1432- 10

die octobris - a ioh[anne] de Eyck' ('Done on 10 October 1432 byJan van Eyck'). This inscription is rendered as if painted on the parapet. The script used is a cursive called bastarda, used by clerks and notaries.

The key to an understanding of the paint- ing is the scroll, which provides a clue to the sitter's profession: it involved writing. This suggests that he may have been a notary, scrivener or clerk, for example in the ad- ministration of Van Eyck's employer the Duke of Burgundy, or of a town.16 The use of the word 'actum' is another reference to

his profession, and not that of the painter. This word was used at the end of notarial deeds, to introduce the place, date and wit- nesses.17 Van Eyck could not write the entire formula on the parapet, but included the es- sential part.18 Thus, on the basis of the scroll and the subscription of the parapet, I would propose that the sitter was a notary.

The next step is to explain 'LEAL SOV- VENIR'. The use of the French language is exceptional for Van Eyck, who was Dutch- speaking,19 although he had to know French because he worked for a French-speaking duke. No one has ever found an example of the two words used together in the French literature of the time, or as a motto. I pro- pose that 'LEAL SOVVENIR' conveys two meanings: it is both a description of the sitter, and part of the painter's record, for posterity, of his likeness. The break in the stone is a further indication of the second point: the portrait will outlive the sitter. The first meaning, however, is of more interest here. 'Souvenir' is one of the per- sonifications in a series of poems written in the wake of Alain Chartier's La Belle Dame sans merci. In Le Parlement d'Amour, written around 1425 by Baudet Herenc in French Flanders,20 'Souuenir' is 'Le bon Greffier d'amours',21 the good clerk of the court of

14 See the enlargement in Dhanens (as in n. 8), p. 186, fig. 127. We can note that eminent sitters of later portraits, for example Duke Philip the Good, are hold- ing scrolls, but with no writing on the outside.

15 See the enlargement in Panofsky (as in n. 2), pl. 29c. 16 There is no problem about such a man having his

portrait painted. In 1413, Jean Aubert, who occupied high posts in the financial administration of the dukes of Burgundy, owned a portrait of himself; he was painted praying to the Virgin (P. Cockshaw, 'La famille du copiste David Aubert', Scriptorium, xxii, 1968, p. 286: 'ung tableau a ymaige de Nostre Dame et y a la figure deJehan Aubert, taxe...I escu').

17 j. Yernaux, 'Les notaires publics du XIlIe au XVIe si&cle, specialement au Franc de Bruges', Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire, lxxxii, 1913, pp. 111-82, p. 130, a formule-type: 'Acta sunt hec Brugis, in claustro Sancti Donatiani, anno, indictione, die, mense, hora pontificatuque predictis, presentibus N et N, testibus, ad premissa in testimonium vocatis specialiter et ro- gatis'. 18 Lambert van Eyck also signed, a few weeks earlier, a

portrait of Jacqueline of Bavaria with the same phrase, above the picture: 'Actum a[nn]o d[omi]ni. 1432. G.IIJ [read: viij] augusti a Lamberto de Eyck' (J. K. Steppe, 'Lambert van Eyck en het portret van Jacoba van Beieren', Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor

Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van Belgie, Klasse der Schone Kunsten, xliv.2, Academia Analecta, p. 64). 19 L. van Puyvelde, 'De taal van Jan van Eyck', Versla-

gen en Mededelingen der Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde, 1955, pp. 213-23. 20 A. Piaget, 'La Belle Dame sans merci et ses imitations:

II. Le Parlement d'Amour de Baudet Herenc', Romania, xxx, 1901, pp. 317-21; Dictionnaire des lettres frangaises. Le Moyen Age, edn Paris 1992, pp. 130-1, s.v. 'Baudet Herenc'. 21 See Les Oevvres de maistre Alain Chartier, ed. Andre

du Chesne, Paris 1617, p. 697.

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JAN VAN EYCK 213

Love. In L'H6pital d'Amour, written by Achille Caulier of Tournai before 1441,22 'Souuenir' is one of the three councillors in the hospi- tal of Love.23 The first example might seem to confirm that the sitter was a notary or a clerk. But a further possibility arises from these poetic allusions: perhaps the sitter was also a poet.

In that case he might have been a citizen of Bruges and one of Jan van Eyck's neigh- bours. The notaries in Bruges could be found mostly around the church of St Don- atian,24 the area in which the painter lived. 25 If this notary was also a poet, he was prob- ably a rederijker, a rhetorician, a member of one of the rederijkerskamers, the chambers of rhetoric which flourished at that time.26 One such was the Bruges 'reden rijcke Gild van het Penseken', the 'Guild of the Trinity Herb' (viola tricolor) dedicated to the Holy Spirit.27 In 1428 this guild changed its name to the 'Gild van den heiligen Geest', the 'Guild of the Holy Spirit', the ceremony taking place in the house of its provost, the distinguished Flemish poet Jan van Hulst.28 The new guild had a first clerk, Lossche Luycke. If he was still in charge in 1432, he

may have been the sitter for 'LEAL SOV- VENIR'. All that is known of the poetry of the guild's members, however, concerns Jan van Hulst's early writings, before 1395. They include allegories drawn from the Roman de la Rose, but no poem in French and no fig- ure of 'Souvenir'.29

A stronger possibility is that the sitter was not from Bruges at all. In view of the promi- nence of the French inscription it is perhaps more likely that he was French-speaking. If the connection of 'LEAL SOVVENIR' with the works of Baudet Herenc and Achille Caulier is valid, it is worth pointing out that Caulier was from Tournai, a French royal town in an enclave between Flanders and Hainaut. One of the leading literary figures there was Pierre de Hauteville, who in 1401 became the 'Prince d'amours' of the newly created Court of Love in Paris.30 He then re- turned to Tournai, his native town, where he became a burgess in 1415.31 It is recorded in his will of 6 August 1418 that De Haute- ville was a member of the 'compagnie de la Verde Priore de Saint Jacques' and of the 'compagnie du Chapel vert'.32 As he lived in the parish of St Jacques, his membership of the 'confrerie de Nostre Dame de la verde Prioree', the 'Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Green Priory', is easily explained.33 In his will he asked his confreres to hear a

22 Piaget, 'La Belle Dame sans merci et ses imitations: XI. L'Hopital d'amour par Achille Caulier', Romania, xxxiv, 1905, pp. 558-602; Dictionnaire des lettresfrancaises (as in n. 20), p. 7, s.v. 'Achille Caulier'.

2'1 Les Oevvres... (as in n. 21), p. 726. 24 Yernaux (as in n. 17), pp. 129-30. 25 W. H. James Weale, Hubert and John van Eyck: Their

Life and Work, London and New York 1908, p. xxxviii, no. 19 (rent on his house due to the church of St Donatian), and pp. xlvi-xlvii, no. 30 and xlviii-xlix, nos 32-5 (burial and obituary at St Donatian); cf. J. Paviot, 'La vie de Jan van Eyck selon les documents ecrits', Revue des archiologues et historiens d'art de Louvain, xxiii, 1990, pp. 83-93 (88, 91). 26 G. D. J. Schotel, Geschiedenis der rederijkers in Neder-

land, Rotterdam 1871; H. Liebrecht, Les Chambres de

Rhitorique, Brussels 1948. 27 For what follows see Bruges, Stadsarchief, H.S. 80

[389 A 1], Beschrvvinge van de over onden Wijdvermaerde Reden Rycke Hoof tgilde van den H. Geest voerende voor

Kenspreuk mijn werk is hemelijk (18th century). Following the example of Christ and the Apostles, the guild had a provost and 13 members: Jan van Hulst (provost), Joos Prumboot, Jan de Roovere, Bartholomeus Suys, Jacob Bardevoet, Pieter Worst, Lodewyck Halinckbroodt, Wil- lem Michiels, Pierken van Bouchoutte, Gillis Hoonin, Jooris Jooris, Jan Bort, Antheunis Goossin and Lossche Lufcke (first clerk). Ibid., fol. 2v.

28 F. Loise, 'Jean van Hulst', Biographie nationale, x, Brussels 1888-9, cols 409-11; J. Oosterman, 'Jan van Hulst, Gruuthuse-dichter', Literatuur, ix, 1992-4, pp. 231-2.

29 His work is preserved in the so-called Gruuthuse manuscript of c. 1395 (Bruges, Koolkerke, Castle Ten Berge, Coll. Baron Ernest van Caloen); cf. J. Deschamps, Middelnederlandse handschriften uit Europse en Amerikaanse bibliothekeen, exhib. cat. (Brussels 1970), edn Leiden 1972, pp. 126-9, no. 41. Editions: Oudvlaemsche liederen en andere gedichten der XIVe en XVe eeuwen, ed. [C. L.] C[arton], Ghent [1848] (Maetschappy der Vlaemsche Biblio-

philen, ser. 2, ix); and in Liederen en gedichten uit het

Gruuthuse-handschrift, ed. K. Heeroma and C. W. H.

Lindenburg, i, Leiden 1966. 30 C. Bozzolo and H. Loyau, La Cour amoureuse dite de

Charles VI (=vol. i), Paris 1982, pp. 36, and 58-9, no. 28. 1 A. de la Grange, 'Pierre de Hauteville et ses testa-

ments', Annales de l'Acadimie d'archiologie de Belgique, xlvi (=ser. 4, vi), 1890, pp. 23-33 (24). 32 Ibid., pp. 30-1; and Choix de testaments tournaisiens

anthrieurs au XVFe sicle, ed. A. de la Grange, Tournai 1897, pp. 175-7, no. 594. 3 More exactly, 'confrerie de Notre-Dame de la G&-

sine', the 'Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Delivery'. It was created in the church of St Jacques c. 1350: see L. Cloquet, Monographie de l'iglise paroissiale de St Jacques a

Tournay, Lille and Bruges 1881, pp. 176-83 (notice by M. Drousie).

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Page 6: Van Eyck's Leal Souvenir

214 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

requiem mass after his death and then eat and drink to his memory.

The only information about the 'com-

pagnie du Chapel vert', the 'Society of the Green Hat', is that to be found in De Haute- ville's will. It seems to have been a secular

literary society34 and was composed of twelve members, one of whom entertained the others on the first Sunday of each month. One of its successors (as proved by the title 'chief du chapelet' given to its head up to 1484) was the 'Compaignie de l'Escole de

rethorique', the 'Society of the School of Rhetoric', whose thirteen members35 wrote

light poetry and ballads with a moral tone.

They met on the first Tuesday of each month to judge their works and to have a meal and wine together. The prizes for the best works of the month were 'une cou- ronne et un chapel d'argent', 'a crown and a silver chaplet', and the best works were entered in a book by the society scrivener. When a member died, the society had to attend a requiem mass for his soul.36 Simi-

larly, Pierre de Hauteville asked in his will for his companions of the 'Chapel vert' to attend a mass for his soul. He also asked that members of both societies should wear a 'chapelet vert', a garland of foliage on their heads or around their necks.37 This could be made of periwinkle or similar greenery, or of flowers.38

Might there be a reference to the 'Chapel vert' in Jan van Eyck's painting? The sitter, most unusually, is wearing a green hood

(chaperon), and the theme of remembrance

may point to the recent or imminent death of a member of the society. In 1432, how- ever, Pierre de Hauteville was no longer a member. Because of the political turmoil at Tournai in 1423-4, he left the city and went to live in Lille, where he died in 1448.39

The last feature which needs to be dis- cussed is the inscription 'TYM. WOEOC'. If we accept it as the name Timotheos,40 there are two errors in the Greek lettering: the word should have read 'TIMOOEOC'.41 More- over, even if we can accept that Van Eyck made a couple of mistakes in the lettering -an interpretation which entails believing that both artist and sitter had a poor knowl-

edge of Greek42-there remains the ques- tion why the full stop and space should have been inserted between 'TYM' and 'WOEOC'. As an alternative, Elisabeth Dhanens has

suggested that the inscription represents the sitter's motto, and has noted that the Vilain

family used 'Time Deum' ('Fear God').43 So also did the Van Goethem family.44 Yet apart from the problem that the assumed Greek

equivalent-tigb0 bov-actually means 'I honour God', there is no reason to link either of these families with the portrait.

Further possibilities have been suggested. Zdislaw Kepiiiski has seen in 'WOEOC' a reference to the battle of Othee (23 Sep- tember 1408) whereJohn the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, defeated the Liegeois, and in which Jean de Cro? took part.45 Elisabeth Dhanens made the suggestion that 'TYM.'

34 As was supposed by Piaget, 'La Belle Dame sans merci et ses imitations: 'IV. La Cruellefemme en amour d'Achille Caulier', Romania, xxxi, 1902, p. 317 (however, as he did not mention it in his will, De Hauteville was cer- tainly not a member of the 'confrerie du Puy royal', the rhetorical society of Tournai, founded in 1375, which had its chapel in the same church of St Jacques: see Cloquet, as in n. 33, pp. 195-200).

5 The same number as Christ and the Apostles: cf. above, n. 27.

36 Ritmes et refrains tournisiens, podsies couronnies par le

Puy d'escole de rhitorique de Tournay (1477-1491), ed. Fred[eric] H[ennebert], Mons 1837, pp. XI-XV; among the 25 authors, the editor has identifed three priests, an Augustinian, a prosecutor or attorney-general, and a 'master' (his art is not specified). The society was re- named the 'Escole de rethorique' in 1477. 37 V. Gay, Glossaire archiologique du moyen dge et de la

Renaissance, Paris 1887, s.v. 'chapelet'; F. Godefroy, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue fran(aise et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe sicle, Paris 1891-1902, repr. Geneva and Paris 1982, s.v. 'chapelet'.

'8 ...j gracieux chapelet de pervenche ou d'autre telle verdure ou florettes qu'il lui plaira'. See De la Grange (as in nn. 31, 32), pp. 30 and 176, respectively. There seem to be no further examples of such a hat in

contemporary paintings, except in the May miniature of the Tres riches heures of the Duke of Berry. M De la Grange (as in n. 31), pp. 24-5.

40 Panofsky (as in n. 2), pp. 82-6, showed that the musician Timotheos of Miletus could have be known in the second half of the 15th century in the Netherlands. 41 Panofsky, op. cit., p. 80. Jan van Eyck used the

lunate sigma C rather than 1, as can be seen in his motto ALC IXH XAN, discussed below.

42 Cf. R. W. Scheller, 'Als ich can', Oud Holland, lxxxiii, 1969, pp. 135-9; G. Kfinstler, 'Jan van Eycks Wahlwort "Als ich can" und das Flfigelaltfirchen in Dresden', WienerJahrbuch fir Kunstgeschichte, xxv, 1972, pp. 107-27. 4- Dhanens (as in n. 8) p. 184 (without reference). 44 A. O'Kelly de Galway, Dictionnaire des cris d'armies el

devises..., Brussels 1865, p. 79. 45 See above, n. 7.

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might be an abbreviation of 'Tymme', a diminutive of Thomas, in this case without giving an explanation for the second word.46 Given that the painter's motto 'Als ich can' appears in Greek transliteration,47 it should certainly be considered that the words are actually in Latin or the vernacular. What then would be the meaning of a text such as 'Tum. Otheos' (or 'Autheos')? A full stop after a few letters is not a usual form of abbreviation in fifteenth-century Nether- landish texts.48 And while turn, 'then', is a perfectly standard Latin word, it is hard to make sense of Otheos. Similarly, I have been unable to find any corresponding words in Dutch or in French. But in the context of the general explanation presented here- that the sitter was a poet-we can perhaps connect Otheos with the name Othea. In Christine de Pizan's L'Epitre d'Othea, written around 1400-1, the Trojan deity Othea gives one hundred moral examples to the young Hector.49 We may speculate that the sitter had written didactic poetry of the same kind.

As a Greek phrase, the inscription might best be read as ttg(& 0 06;g, 'Be honoured, O God', with rtot( understood as a passive imperative.50 Again the case of Pierre de Hauteville can help us. After the theft of his seal in 1402, he took a new surname, a Flemish one: Goddanc, meaning 'Thank God'; and even used it in his signature.51 Could it be that another poet chose tit. o

Oeog? If such a man was a clerk or a scriv- ener from Tournai, we may add to the list of possible sitters Jean Datre, keeper of the seal (mentioned in the archives in 1424 and 1443), and the scriveners Jean Dequesnes (1421-4), Raoul de Chassy (1421-43) and

Jean de Maulde (1436-8).52 (The records are incomplete and these are now the only names to be found, since the archives were destroyed in 1940.) It would certainly have been possible for a Tournaisian to have come into contact with Jan van Eyck, es- pecially if we accept that this artist was the painter 'Johannes' who visited the town in 1427 and 1428.53

To sum up, I propose to see in Jan van Eyck's 'LEAL SOVVENIR' the portrait of a notary who was also a poet and a member of a chamber of rhetoric or a literary society. I would also suggest that he may have lived in the French city of Tournai, and that he was a member of the 'compagnie du Chapel vert'.

JACQUES PAVIOT

CNRS, PARIS

46 Dhanens (as in n. 8), p. 184. 4 See above, n. 42. 48 I have never encountered it in the Burgundian

records (see above, n. 5). 49 Dictionnaire des lettresfrangaises (as in n. 20), p. 282. 50 As Dr Howlett has kindly explained, the imperative

(ti•0) of the passive verb tiit&aOu could have been ab-

breviated as Typt. ('y' taken as a long 'Y'). The idea that there is a play on the Christian name Timothy should

probably be ruled out given that this name seems not to have been in use in the Netherlands in the 15th

century. 51 M. Prinet, 'Les Sceaux et le seing manuel de Pierre

de Hauteville, Prince d'amour', Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des

Chartes, lxxvii, 1916, pp. 428-38.

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