OF SIX MEDIEVAL WOMEN 



white varnish to simulate gold or silver. The 

 lower portions of the walls were often painted 

 in imitation of short curtains, sometimes of but 

 one colour, sometimes gorgeously decorated, 

 but in either case reminiscent of the real 

 draperies hung on festal days. Immediately 

 above there might have been, as in other 

 examples, a border painted with coats of arms, 

 or with a foliated design interspersed with 

 mottoes. 



During Mahaut's lifetime this decorative 

 work seems to have been undertaken principally 

 by one special family or community of artists 

 from Boulogne, of which a certain "Jacques" 

 was the leading spirit. In those days artist 

 and craftsman were one and the same. It was 

 the quality, and not the particular subject, of 

 the work that mattered, and thus we find that 

 the painting of a parrot's cage, or of the shafts 

 of a litter, was not considered derogatory for 

 even the most skilled to undertake. From the 

 accounts it would seem that linseed oil was used 

 to mix with the colours, cherry gum or white 

 of egg being added to make them dry more 

 quickly. Payment for work was made three 

 times a year at Candlemas, Ascension-tide, and 

 All-Saints or by the day or piece, the last 

 being the form preferred by the business-like 

 Mahaut. Besides such payment, presents were 

 occasionally given for specially fine work, and, 

 if a man was married, a gift to his wife of a 

 gown, or of a cloak with fur, was sometimes 



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