Master of Defense Scroll for Remy Delamontagne de Gascogne

So, I've only been doing scrolls about a year and a half officially. In that time I've done a number of AoAs and a few blanks. Nothing so 'high' in caliber as a Peerage scroll. That being said, you can probably understand my shock, surprise and panic attack at being given a Peerage assignment. But, for me, it wasn't JUST a peerage assignment. It was also for a friend; someone I admire and even look to for help in matters of the martial arts. Furthermore, I wasn't just GIVEN the assignment, I had been requested for it.

Let's just ratchet that panic dial up to 11, why don't we. Because now it had to be even more than perfect.

But there was also the excitement that the first Peerage scroll I did would be for a friend. And I knew what it was I wanted to do. I remembered Remy mentioning like a year ago that he really liked the pen/ink style that I had started doing and just knew that that was the direction to start in.

It was just a matter of some research!


Research: 

Anyone who knows Remy, knows that his bag is totally French. Late period, 1629, French, to be a bit more exact. So, I started my search there. I knew that I wanted to scroll to feature an image of him, with his fabulous outfit, hat, and cloak. There HAD to be a cloak. After all, it was a MoD award. So off to the Met website I went for inspiration. I sorted through numerous pen/ink pieces before finally settling on the one that absolutely screamed Remy. You can see the Met page HERE that goes to the reference image below.

Abraham Bosse: The Garden of the French Nobility In Which One Can Pick Up Their Way of Dressing

As a side note: Abraham Bosse has some beautiful woodcut work.

Once I had the 'Remy' of the situation figured out, I needed to figure out the rest of the scroll. Because just looking at him, I knew there had to be more to it. Where was he going? Where was he coming from? What if he was walking up the stairs, through a grand archway onto a tournament field? That sounded exactly like what Remy would do. So I set back out to search for the perfect archway.

Lo and behold, Abraham Bosse happened to have another beautiful piece I could draw from; one he had collaborated on with others of that time. You can find the link to the Met page for this inspiration piece HERE.

Triumphal arch, from 'Éloges et discours sur la triomphante réception du Roy en sa ville de Paris ...'

The only other hurdle was figuring out where the words/calligraphy would go, which to me was obvious. I took out the main scene in the upper half of the structure and left it blank for the calligraphy. The other adaptations were the side 'panels', that I changed over to bare the Caliver shield and instead of the angel/cherub head in the center of the arch I put Remy's device over the door. As if he was walking into his very own list field or as if he'd won so much he had his own dedicated archway.

My imagination may have gone crazy with the why and story behind the illumination. Sorry, not sorry.

Materials:

I would have killed to have gotten some velum and gold leaf for this particular scroll, in all honesty. But that wasn't exactly in the budget nor do I have any experience working with either materials, so it wouldn't have been the best time to start with all new materials. So, I went onto the next best materials I had.

Pergamenata
Higgins Black Magic Ink
Windsor Newton Gold Gouache
Ink dip pen

Progress:

First step was first, get the first draft out of the way and figure out sizing and spacing. I had to do a bit of finagling to get the two inspiration pieces to fit perfectly together. It was a matter of making sure 'Remy' didn't look like some giant in the middle of what was supposed to be a large archway. It took a few tries, but finally I got the first draft done, minus Remy's device over the doorway and the Calivers' device in the panels.

I also made a small adaptation to include a few more fleur-de-lis in the piece as well; since the frog that Remy usually carries wouldn't be visible, I wanted to tie that in a bit more.

As you'll notice, I didn't exactly leave a spot for any kind of placard to signify that this was a MoD award. Instead I decided to incorporate the award a bit more sympathetically into the illumination. I wanted to put it on the back of the cloak, but in order to make the piece even more personalized, I reached out to the person creating his cloak and spoke with her for a bit about how to do so. She also sent me the trim that she was going to use as well as showed me HOW it would be used so that I could draw the cloak as accurately as I could to match it. While I didn't do an exact replica, since the MoD symbols on the actual cloak were smaller, I did add the trim to personalize it a bit more.

MoD symbol added, prior to major shading.

It's here that I'd like to add that speaking with the lovely woman creating his cloak, we figured out the perfect way to incorporate a little bit of the Handsome Boys into the scroll as well. Nothing like a healthy rivalry, so I've been told.

Once all of that was set, I penciled the final product onto the perg while I waited to hear back from several calligraphers as to whether or not they'd be able to do the calligraphy for the final product. That's where my luck ran dry. There were several 'Sorry, I'm too busy' or 'Not enough time for me to do calligraphy on a Peerage scroll' before I finally had to gather the courage and do the calligraphy for myself. So, once I got the words, and translation, from Alys and Bruni I got to work.

Let's note here, that this is only the second or third time I've done my own calligraphy. It's not something I find easy to do and I'm well aware that I'm anything but amazing at it. But, for this piece, I poured every ounce of effort I could into it and I'm happy to say that I'm pleased with the final product. For the calligraphy I decided to go with Early Gothic for the font and it worked really well within the piece. Size took me a few tries (six is still a few....right?) but I finally got that down. Then I just had to do it on the ACTUAL piece.

This was sizing attempt number three

Eighth times the charm!

Words:

 - English:
Ioannes, by right of arms King of the East, and Ro Honig our Queen, to all to whom these present letters shall come, greetings.  Our extreme affection towards our subjects causeth in us a continual desire to acknowledge and recognize those who hath proven themselves to be worthy in deed, act and countenance.  Thus, by the advice of our Council, and upon the testimony of Peers given, and by our full power and royal Authority, We have enacted and decreed and do enact and decree as follows:  Remy Delamontagne de Gascogne shall be and hereby is elevated to and installed in the Order of Defense, with all rights, privileges, franchises, endowments and emoluments appertaining thereunto, as much as any other member of the Order aforenamed possesses.  And we further give, grant and by the present charter confirm unto the said Remy with Arms by Letters Patent in the form following: Argent, a chevron between three fleurs-de-lys and on a chief azure a wolf passant argent.  We further will and command all our beloved and trusty persons that keep our Court, and all Heralds, Bailiffs, and Justices, that they cause this our present edict to be read, published and registered in all the places and quarters in their authorities and jurisdictions, and the same mutually to keep, hold and observe inviolably hereafter.  Given at Glenn Linn upon __ July in the year of the Society fifty-two.

 - French:

De Ioannes, roi de l’Est par le droit des armes  et de Ro Honig notre Reine, à tous ceux qui recevrons ces présentes Lettres, salutations. Notre extrême affection envers nos sujets suscite en nous un désir continuel de reconnaître et de distinguer ceux qui ont prouvé être méritoires de par leurs faits, actions, et contenance. C’est pourquoi, suivant l’avis de notre Conseil et écoutant le témoignage des pairs ; et de par le plein pouvoir de notre autorité royale, nous avons décidé et décrété et faisons appliquer la proclamation suivante: Remy Delamontagne de Gascogne sera et par les présentes est élevé au rang et intronisé  dans l’ordre de défense, avec tous les droits, privilèges, franchises, dotations et émoluments qui lui sont attachés, et que tout autre membre de l’ordre susmentionné possède. Et de plus, par la présente Charte,  nous accordons, octroyons et confirmons au susdit Remy le droit de porter par lettres patentes les  armes suivantes : d’argent, à un chevron entre trois fleurs de Lys et sur un chef d’azur un loup passant d’argent. De plus, nous ordonnons à tous nos fidèles sujets qui soutiennent notre Cour et tous les hérauts, les huissiers et les juges, qu’ils fassent en sorte que notre  présent édit soit lu, publié et enregistré en toutes juridictions sous leurs autorités et que dorénavant de même ils gardent, maintiennent  et défendent ces droits. Fait à Glenn Linn en ce __ juillet de la cinquante-deuxième année de notre société cinquante-deux.

Once I was satisfied with the calligraphy, it was onto the finishing touches. Inking the whole piece followed by the full shading. Altogether, this piece easily took about 48 hours worth of work, not counting research. Between first touch of pencil to the draft to the last stroke of the brush on the gold paint, that is. That being said, I'm so happy with the way this piece came out.

Words by Mistress Alys Mackyntoich
(Based on Lettres patentes de declaration du Roy, pour la reformation du luxe des habits & reglement d'iceux. Publiées à Roüen en Parlement, le 30 de May, 1634)

French translation by Dame Brunissende Dragonette

Calligraphy and Illumination by Lady Mýrún Leifsdóttir 

Being able to see the piece go out was awesome. Even better was that I was retaining when it did go out, so I got a front row seat to see Remy when he first saw it. He looked a bit shell shocked, but in a good way. Not to mention, shell shocked was about what I was expecting, it was a big day for him. I was initially worried that he wouldn't like it; that it wouldn't be what it was he was looking for or that he would be disappointed with it and wouldn't tell me.

I'm really happy that he was happy with it. That's all that mattered to me.