Translating the Past: Laurent de Premierfait and Boccaccio's De casibus (Getty)

In 1409 Laurent de Premierfait produced a French translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s De casibus virorum illustrium, a fourteenth-century text containing cautionary historical tales that exemplify the corrupting effects of power. Richly illustrated copies of the translation, known as Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, became enormously popular, allowing for a consideration not only of how Boccaccio’s Latin made its way into Laurent’s French but also how the text was converted into visual images.

In Translating the Past, art historian Anne D. Hedeman traces the history of Laurent’s work from the first copies made for the dukes of Berry and Burgundy to manuscripts independently produced by artists and booksellers in Paris. In certain cases, masterpieces resulted, such as the copy owned by the J. Paul Getty Museum, which was painted around 1415 by the Boucicaut Master under King Charles VII of France.