French crowdfunding bid could close chapter on British ownership of 16th-century treasure
Louvre races to raise £9m for King Francis I’s Book of Hours after historic tome failed to find buyer in UK
WITH its bejewelled cover and handpainted manuscript, King Francis I’s Book of Hours is a precious relic of Renaissance France.
Now, the rare volume made for the 16th-century monarch could soon be on permanent display back in its original country, after being held in Britain for some 300 years.
The Louvre has been trying to raise £9 million to buy the illustrated work. It is understood the manuscript, whose enamelled gold cover is studded with jewels, rubies, turquoises and a tourmaline, is being sold by the London antiques dealer SJ Phillips following the expiry of an export ban placed on it by ministers last year.
Ed Vaizey, culture minister at the time, imposed the ban to allow time for a potential buyer in the UK to be found and to raise the money, saying: “This exceptional book provides us with a rare glimpse into the royal courts of 16th century Renaissance France and is of outstanding scholarly value. I hope that this unique book remains in the UK for the public to enjoy.”
But the failure to find a buyer leaves it free to be sold to a foreign purchaser. To raise the cash, the Louvre is running a crowdfunding appeal in the hope of keeping the book in France – at the moment it is on temporary display at the Paris museum.
Half the funds have been raised so far, after the luxury goods firm LVMH, which runs the Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton brands, donated £4.5 million.
Jean-luc Martinez, the Louvre presbanker, ident, described the
Book of Hours as “a monument to jewellery as much as it is a book”.
Experts say the overseas sale of the devotional book, produced in 1532 and illustrated with 20 icons and prayers, would be a significant loss to the British public and academics.
Peter Barber, of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), which advises the Government on export bans, described the book as “a unique survivor of the luxurious books combining Flemish, French and Italian elements that typified the Renaissance culture of the court of François I of France”. He added: “Such splendidly bound manuscripts set the European standard and Henry VIII is recorded as owning very similar books. They are now only known through mentions in inventories.” An Arts Council England spokesman said: “The UK’S cultural export controls help to keep national treasures, such as T E Lawrence’s dagger and Jane Austen’s ring.
“It is never going to be possible to save every item, but the export bar system is designed to strike the right balance between protecting our national cultural heritage and individual property rights.” After being presented
to King Francis, the Book of Hours passed through several hands, including Marguerite d’angoulême, his sister, Henri IV and Cardinal Mazarin, the chief minister to Louis XIII and Louis XIV, before surfacing across the Channel in the early 18th century.
In 1755, it appeared in the collection of the royal surgeon Richard Mead, physician to Queen Anne and George II, before being bought by Horace Walpole, the Whig politician and antiquarian, for display at his home in Strawberry Hill, south-west London. It was acquired by Alfred Rothschild, the
‘If the UK had wanted it they would have bought it, but they clearly didn’t so it has come to us’
and his daughter Almina, countess of Carnarvon.
In 1942 the Book of Hours was bought by Martin Norton, an antiques dealer who dominated the international market in antique silver, jewellery and miniatures and whose grandfather founded S J Phillips in the 1860s.
The Louvre, which hopes to raise some more money from sponsors and to top up the remainder with support from the French public, said Britain had missed its chance to keep the book.
A spokesman for the museum said: “Apart from the fact that it is a Renaissance masterpiece, it is without parallel as it is the only vestige of the treasures of the Valois (the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589), which were once kept together at the Louvre but then totally dispersed at the end of the 16th century.”
Mr Martinez added: “The [current owner] tried to sell it in the UK, but no buyer was found and so he approached the Louvre a few months ago and offered it for the price of £8million.
“If the UK had wanted it they would have bought it, but they clearly didn’t so it has come to us. It has been registered as a national treasure [in France].”
Francis Norton, one of the Bond Street firm’s directors, confirmed the lapse of the export ban had left the Louvre free to buy it.
He said: “I’m not prepared to comment further. Quite frankly, it’s none of your business.”