3-041-903 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Byzantine Emperor Welcoming Roussillon and Martel; Histoire de Charles Martel, written 1463-1465; illuminated 1467-1472. Additional Info: Richly dressed in an ermine-collared cloak and magnificent crown, the Byzantine emperor emerges from the city of Constantinople on a white horse, surrounded by members of his court. A religious procession, including a group of clerics singing from open books, precedes him. The emperor appears again in the background at the right, this time greeting the Europeans who disembark from their boat after their long journey. As the rubric just below the miniature explains, in the 800s Girart de Roussillon and Charles Martel went to assist the Emperor of Constantinople in his battles with the Muslim forces. When Loyset Liédet painted this miniature in the 1400s, the subject had a special resonance: the recent Turkish capture of Constantinople in 1453 recalled the Muslim incursions and prompted calls for European crusaders to rescue the city.