It is said that Rene taught himself to paint during the years he spent while being held captive in the Tower of Dijon and continued to practise his art thereafter. ~~The sixteen paintings of the Vienna manuscript were created during the latter half of the 1460's while Rene lived at Saumer, in Anjou.
There are six manuscripts known to exist of Le Cueur d'Amours Espris( also known as Le Cuer d'Amours Espris or Le Coeur D'Amour Epris). Five date from the end of the fifteenth century-four in Paris (three at the Bibliotheque Nationale, one in the Bibliotheque d'Arsenal) and one in the Vatican Library, Vienna. This is the oldest and the most beautiful, being the only one illuminated by the Cueur Master himself. The original manuscript is 127 parchment pages in length. It was originally acquired by the Austrian national hero, Prince Eugene of Savoy; they do not know how or from whom. As part of Prince Eugene's library, it became one of the treasures of the Austrian Imperial Library in 1736.
I am attempting to have the sixteen illuminated Folios scanned so that Rene's paintings may be viewed here along with the commentaries on each. This along with the Introduction by Franz Unterkircher not only gives us an awareness of Rene's narrative but also into his own life as well.
Completed portions of the Introduction and commentaries on folios will be included as they progress.