Leaves from Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César (Main View (.1.recto) / book image source)

A medieval historical compilation drawing on the Bible and the works of classical authors, the French text of the Ancient History until the Reign of Caesar (Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César) was intended to explain the moral meaning of historical events to lay readers. Originally conceived as a universal history stretching from the creation of the world through the first years of the 1200s, the never-completed work ends during the reign of Caesar.

The Getty Museum owns six leaves from a luxurious copy of the Ancient History illuminated in Paris around 1390 by an anonymous artist known as the First Master of the Bible Historiale of Jean de Berry. Related to the grisaille technique often found in International style manuscripts, this artist's vigorous pen drawings give the scenes an immediate and improvisational character. They do not present a historically accurate picture of life before the time of Caesar but place the events in medieval settings. The familiar surroundings would help readers to make a connection between their own experience and the moral and practical examples in the stories.