André Beauneveu and Mehun-sur-Yèvre

Mehun-sur-Yèvre must have been the climax of magnificence among the splendid châteaux of the Duke of Berry. It was the cherished gem of ‘le plus grand bâtisseur de la maison de Valois’ and a most sumptuous accent in the secular art of the fourteenth century. A miniature of the Temptation of Christ, in the Duke's celebrated Trè riches Heures, shows this château as the dominating feature, occupying most of the foreground (fig. 1). Representations of other castles belonging to the Duke are to be seen in various other miniatures of the same manuscript. Those in the calendar, provide incidental background setting for the subject appropriate to the particular month, thus suggesting personal, associative, seasonal or temporal meaning. The scene showing Mehun, however, is charged with pointed iconographic significance. None, better than the precious castle and this beautiful island panorama, could epitomize ‘all the kingdoms of the world’ with which Satan hoped to tempt Christ. Upon Mehun were lavished the creative energies of a remarkable constellation of artists whom the Duke had gathered into his service. Construction was directed by the bold and original architect, Guy de Dammartin. André Beauneveu, renowned in France and the Netherlands, was in charge of painting and sculpture. Among his younger associates was Jean de Cambrai, a gifted sculptor, destined to become head of the atelier in his turn. To view the works which these men created, there were invited artists of distinction matched only by the masters themselves.