2020 Essays

Ms. Fr. 640: The Toulouse Context

Debuiche, Colin; Muñoz, Sarah

Ms. Fr. 640 belongs to the Béthune collection in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the names of three master artisans living in Paris are mentioned on the first page, thus appearing to connect the text to a Parisian context. Several personal and place names and other clues in the manuscript indicate, however, that it was written by an individual familiar with the Languedoc who probably lived in Toulouse at the end of the sixteenth century. This essay discusses the activity of Toulouse’s gunners, founders, painters, and goldsmiths to shed light on the political, economic, and artistic context in which the author-practitioner of Ms. Fr. 640 wrote. Several entries in the manuscript and the interests of its author-practitioner echo the activities, collaborations, and ambitions of the most prominent craftsmen of the Languedoc capital, such as the goldsmith Masse brothers and the Arsenal metal founder Barthélémy Fraysse. Cliquez ici pour la version française: https://edition640.makingandknowing.org/#/essays/ann_312_ie_19.