You are on page 1of 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 support@jstor.org.

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

210

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS


than Timotheos.8 In 1984, Edward Lovinsky pronounced himself in favour of Binchois against Gilles le Blackere.9 Three years later,

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

Dhanens proposed the name Thomas rather

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in 1961-3, Maria Julieta Ruival identified him as the Infante Dom Henrique of Portugal (Henry the Navigator).4 In an unpublished study of 1965, Father Eugen Schiltz concluded that the sitter was Johannes Kheudsen, Leal Souvenir herald-even though there appears to be no record of any such herald in the ducal archives of Burgundy.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 T
* 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 flamands. 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

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 resolve 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 of the painting. They fail to explain, for example, the scroll in the right hand of the sitter: it is not a musical score, or a letter, or 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 painting which have to be linked to offer a satisfactory 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
a drawing. They fail to link all the elements all lack explanations for important aspects

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 Navegador?', 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-vanEyck. 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(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 7'Jan van Eyck's "TYM.WeEOC"-Portrait of Jean de Croy?', Artium quaestiones(Universytet im. Adama
and CourtauldInstitutes,Volume 58, 1995 Journal of the Warburg

Gallery Catalogues. Early Netherlandish School,

dian archives: toutes les finances (1384-1482), Flandre and Brabant (1384-1482), Hollande-Zilande (1425-82),

Tymotheos Portrait', Art Bulletin, lx, 1978, pp. 650-4.

Micktewicza W. Poznaniu, Seria Historia Sztuki no. 8), 1979, pp. 27-53. 8 HubertetJan 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 sogennanten Timotheos', OudHolland, 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 Jansen mistakenly supposed the 'Tymotheos' picture to be identical with a self-portrait of the artist mentioned in inventories of the British Royal Collection: Jansen ignored the Charles II inventory, where the portrait is described as measuring 17 x 14 inches, against 131/8x 71/2 for 'Tymotheos' (L. Campbell, The Early Flemish Pictures in the Collectionof Her Majesty The Queen, Cambridge 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 painting, which has not been identified satisfactorily; cf. Brockwell (as in n. 3). 13 I am grateful to Dr Campbell for this detail.

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JAN VAN EYCK

211

09

-0

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

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

212

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS his profession, and not that of the painter. This word was used at the end of notarial deeds, to introduce the place, date and witnesses.17 Van Eyck could not write the entire formula on the parapet, but included the essential part.18Thus, 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 SOVVENIR'. The use of the French language is exceptional for Van Eyck, who was Dutchspeaking,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 propose 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 personifications in a series of poems written in the wake of Alain Chartier's La Belle Dame sans merci.In Le Parlementd'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

woollen garment lined with brown fur at the collar, and on his head a green hood (chaperon). 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 (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 abbreviations suggest that it was probably in Latin, though it could have been in the vernacular (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 SOVVENIR' ('lkal souvenir', or 'loyal remembrance'), 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 painting 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 administration of Van Eyck's employer the Duke of Burgundy, or of a town.16 The use of the word 'actum' is another reference to
the high bourgeoisie.

17 j. Yernaux, 'Les notaires publics du XIlIe au XVIe si&cle, specialement au Franc de Bruges', Bulletin de la

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 holding 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').

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 rogatis'. 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.

Commission royale d'histoire, lxxxii,

1913, pp. 111-82,

p.

64). 19 L. van Puyvelde, 'De taal van Jan van Eyck', Verslagen 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 MoyenAge, 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.

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JAN VAN EYCK Love. In L'H6pital d'Amour, written by Achille Caulier of Tournai before 1441,22 'Souuenir' is one of the three councillors in the hospital 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 neighbours. The notaries in Bruges could be found mostly around the church of St Donatian,24 the area in which the painter lived. 25 If this notary was also a poet, he was proba rhetorician, a member of ably a rederijker, 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
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 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

213

one of the rederijkerskamers, the chambers

may have been the sitter for 'LEAL SOVVENIR'. 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 figure of 'Souvenir'.29 A stronger possibility is that the sitter was not from Bruges at all. In view of the prominence 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.30He then returned 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 Hauteville 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

n. 20), p. 7, s.v. 'Achille Caulier'.

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,

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

1990, pp. 83-93 (88, 91).


26 G. D. J. Schotel,

exhib. cat. (Brussels 1970), edn Leiden bibliothekeen, liederen 1972, pp. 126-9, no. 41. Editions: Oudvlaemsche

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, Willem 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.

Geschiedenis der rederijkers in Nederland, 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

en andere gedichten der XIVe en XVe eeuwen, ed. [C. L.] C[arton], Ghent [1848] (Maetschappy der Vlaemsche Bibliophilen, 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

CharlesVI(=vol. i), Paris 1982, pp. 36, and 58-9, no. 28. 1 A. de la Grange, 'Pierre de Hauteville et ses testaments', Annales de l'Acadimie d'archiologie de Belgique, xlvi

(=ser. 4, vi), 1890, pp. 23-33 (24).

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 StJacques c. 1350: see L.
Cloquet,

32 Ibid., pp. 30-1; and Choix de testaments tournaisiens anthrieurs au XVFe sicle, ed. A. de la Grange, Tournai

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

Monographie de l'iglise paroissiale de St Jacques a

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

214

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS


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, however, 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 diswe accept it as the name Timotheos,40 there are two errors in the Greek lettering: the word should have read 'TIMOOEOC'.41 Moreover, 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 knowlremains the quesedge of Greek42-there tion why the full stop and space should have

requiem mass after his death and then eat and drink to his memory. The only information about the 'compagnie du Chapel vert', the 'Society of the Green Hat', is that to be found in De Hauteville's will. It seems to have been a secular literary society34 and was composed of twelve the members, one of whom entertained 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 couronne 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 Similarly, 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

cussed is the inscription 'TYM. WOEOC'. If

34 As was supposed by Piaget, 'La Belle Dame sans merci en amourd'Achille et ses imitations: 'IV. La Cruellefemme Caulier', Romania, xxxi, 1902, p. 317 (however, as he did not mention it in his will, De Hauteville was certainly 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 ed. Puy d'escole de rhitorique de Tournay (1477-1491),

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 September 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.'

been inserted between 'TYM'and 'WOEOC'.

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 renamed the 'Escole de rethorique' in 1477. Renaissance, Paris 1887, s.v. 'chapelet'; F. Godefroy,
Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue fran(aise '8 ...j
37 V. Gay, Glossaire archiologique du moyen dge et de la

et de tous ses

dialectes du IXe au XVe sicle, Paris 1891-1902, repr. Geneva and Paris 1982, s.v. 'chapelet'.
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 Tresrichesheuresof 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 xxv, 1972, fir Kunstgeschichte, pp. 107-27. 4- Dhanens (as in n. 8) p. 184 (without reference). 44 A. O'Kelly de Galway, Dictionnairedes cris d'armies el devises..., Brussels 1865, p. 79. n. 7. See above, 45

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JAN VAN EYCK 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 Netherlandish 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 herethat the sitter was a poet-we can perhaps connect Otheos with the name Othea. In Christine de Pizan's L'Epitred'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 scrivener from Tournai, we may add to the list of possible sittersJean 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
Dhanens (as in n. 8), p. 184. See above, n. 42. 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 of the passive verb tiit&aOu could have been ab(ti0) 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.
4 48 46

215

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, especially 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 CNRS, PARIS PAVIOT

52 [E. 'Inventaire sommaire des ArPrudhomme], chives des Tabellions et des Notaires du Hainaut', Inventaires sommaires des archives [duIHainaut], n.d.; H. Nelis, 'Etude diplomatique sur le tabellionage royal de Tournai au moyen fge (1367-1521)', Bulletin de la Commission rovale d'histoire, lxxiii, 1904, pp. 1-142 (25, 40). 5 Paviot (as in n. 25), p. 86.

This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:35:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

You might also like