René I of Naples

René d'Anjou, René I of Naples (René I the Good, French Le bon roi René) (January 16, 1409 – July 10, 1480), was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence (1434–1480), Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar (1430–1480), Duke of Lorraine (1431–1453), King of Naples (1438–1442; titular 1442–1480) and titular King of Jerusalem (1438–1480) and Aragon (1466–1480) (including Sicily, Majorca, and Corsica).

René and the arts

The King of Sicily's fame as an amateur painter has led to the attribution to him of many old paintings in Anjou and Provence, in many cases simply because they bear his arms. These works are generally in the Flemish style, and were probably executed under his patronage and direction, so that he may be said to have formed a school of the fine arts in sculpture, painting, gold work and tapestry.

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Two of the most famous works formerly attributed to René are the triptych, the "Burning Bush," in the cathedral of Aix, showing portraits of René and his second wife, Jeanne de Laval, and an illuminated Book of Hours in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. The "Burning Bush" was in fact the work of Nicolas Froment, a painter of Avignon. Among the men of letters attached to his court was Antoine de la Sale, whom he made tutor to his son, the Duke of Calabria. He encouraged the performance of mystery plays; on the performance of a mystery of the Passion at Saumur in 1462 he remitted four years of taxes to the town, and the representations of the Passion at Angers were carried out under his auspices.

Related Topics:
Triptych - Book of Hours - Bibliothèque nationale - Paris - Nicolas Froment - Avignon - Antoine de la Sale - Mystery play - Passion - Saumur - 1462

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He exchanged verses with his kinsman, the poet Charles of Orleans. The best of his poems is the idyl of Regnault and Jeanneton, representing his own courtship of Jeanne de Laval. Le Livre des tournois, a book of ceremonial, and the allegorical romance, "Conquests qu'un chevalier nomme le Cuer d'amour espris feist d'une dame appelee Doulce Mercy", with other works ascribed to him, were perhaps dictated to his secretaries, or at least compiled under his direction.

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