Page:Archaeologia volume 38 part 1.djvu/227

 Notice of a Portrait of John, King of France. 197 When last I visited the Muse'e des Souverains I became anxious to obtain a faithful copy of the portrait above mentioned ; and, by permission of the autho- rities, the facsimile which I have the pleasure of placing in your hands for exhibition to the Society is the result.* It has been executed for me by Mr Edward Poynter, the son of Mr. Ambrose Poynter the well-known architect. He has imitated with remarkable fidelity the original, including the injuries and blemishes occasioned by time. The first account that we have of this portrait is furnished by Montfaucon, who, in his " Tresor des Antiquites de la Couronne de France," torn. ii. pi. Iv. fig. 1, gives a slight outline of the face, which he describes as " Buste du Roi Jean tire* d'un tableau de M. Gagnieres b peint dans le terns me'me." The picture seems to have passed from M. Gagnieres' hands into the Bibliotheque at Paris. In the "Notice des Estampes cxposees 11 la Bibliotheque du lloi, 1823," No. 205, a description of it is given, which, after alluding to the propriety of this portrait of King John, "fait de son temps," being placed in a library which had its origin in his reign, goes on to say, " Cette peinture est une espece de gouache, ou de peinture a la colle ; on a pretendu devoir attribuer ce tableau Jean de Bruges, qui 6tait peintre du lloi Charles V. dit le Sage. La bordure a e'te' faite, a ce qu'on croit, du temps de Louis XII. Elle a ete deterioree en 1793." In 1821 Dr. Dibdin saw the portrait in the Cabinet des Estampes, and describes it as follows : c " Hanging up on a pillar at the hither end of the second room you observe a large old drawing of a head or portrait, in a glazed frame, which strikes you in every respect as a great curiosity. M. du Chesnc, the obliging and able director of this department of the collection, attended me on my iirst visit. He saw me looking at this head with great eagerness ; ' Enfin, voila quelque chose qui merite bien votre attention,' observed he. It was, in fact, the portrait of 'their good but unfortunate King John' as my guide designated him." Dibdin was so much pleased with this interesting relic that he employed M. Coeure, " a young artist of established merit," to make him a drawing of it ; which was afterwards engraved, and published as an illustration of his " Tour in France." biblon Society, vol. ii., 1855-6. The accounts appear to have been kept by Denys de Collors, the king's chaplain and secretary. [The facsimile alluded to above is of the size of the original (22 in. by H in.), and executed in water colours. The accompanying illustration (PI. VIII.) has been reduced from it, and is presented to the Society by the liberality of the author of this communication. ED.] " M. Gagnieres formed the valuable collection of drawings of royal and other tombs formerly existing in the French cathedrals and abbeys, which is now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. " Bibliographical and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, 1821, vol. ii. p. 140.