anonyme
L’Amiral de Graville chassant le sanglier
vers 1493 4e quart 15e siècle
parchemin (peint, doré) H. 37.6 cm ; l. 27 cm
inv. M-6206
don Wildenstein Daniel (donateur) (1981 acquis)
The armorial bearings painted in the rich border—gules with three gold buckles— clearly identify the admiral Louis Malet de Graville (d. 1516). Mounted on a white horse, he rides at the head of a noble wild boar hunt. Unconcerned by realism, the image brings together several moments of hunting with hounds: riding after the animal, putting it to death in front of the group of riders, and the host of huntsmen and valets holding the pack on their leashes. Although their postures are varied, the figures seem immobile. The aim, no doubt, is less to depict the violence of hunting than to underscore the authority and wealth of the person leading it. This sheet belonged to a land book (terrier), which has sadly been lost, inventorying the land and rights of Admiral de Graville in the southern part of the Île-de- France. Although it was common practice to compose such registers in the Middle Ages, the large format and rich illuminations make this Terrier de Marcoussis exceptional.