The Last Judgment from Les Sept Articles de la Foi by Jean Chappuis

Egregius Pictor Franciscus · c. 1470

Medium

Manuscript cutting in tempera and gold leaf, and letter bâtarde inscriptions in brownish-black ink, unruled, with decorated initial, on parchment

Original size

23.7 × 17.2 cm (9 3/8 × 6 13/16 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Italian Renaissance

The Last Judgment from *Les Sept Articles de la Foi* is a jewel of late medieval illumination — dense with gold leaf, vivid tempera colour, and the hierarchical drama that defined devotional art of the period. The work is attributed to Egregius Pictor Franciscus, a designation meaning "the distinguished painter Francis," suggesting an artist of recognised standing whose identity has otherwise been lost to time. Working around 1470, likely in France, he painted on parchment using tempera — a medium demanding precision and speed — and applied gold leaf to give the composition the luminous, almost otherworldly quality that manuscript patrons expected. The accompanying letter bâtarde script, a refined Gothic cursive used in high-status French manuscripts, signals this was a prestige commission from the outset. The cutting now held by the Art Institute of Chicago was separated from its original manuscript at some point, as happened frequently with prized illuminations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when collectors valued individual leaves over intact books. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates the original's solemn intensity into a format made to last — preserving the hierarchy of figures, the warmth of the gold, and the careful attention to devotional iconography that made Franciscus's work worth collecting in the first place.