The Lower Chapel introduces Blanche as patron, mother, and ruler. Its lower light levels are well suited to the display of fragile manuscripts and documents. The first section, Royal Monuments, opens with an interactive family tree of women rulers in Blanche's dynasty. This is followed by the first star exhibit: the charter for her foundation of the Cistercian abbey at Maubuisson, still bearing her wax seal with its stylized full-length portrait. The section concludes with the memorial tomb sculptures Blanche commissioned for her child Philip Dagobert and her grandchildren.
Lavish Manuscripts turns to some of Blanche's most celebrated commissions. The section opens with the Deus Artifex frontispiece of the Vienna Bible Moralisée showing God as Creator wielding compasses. The adjacent folio includes colour notations visible beneath the painted surface. These are grouped with material samples of thirteenth-century Parisian artists’ workshops. The culminating moment is the second star exhibit: the dedication page of the Toledo Bible Moralisée, where Blanche sits enthroned beside her young son Louis, while below them a tonsured cleric instructs the illuminator at work.
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Blanche’s grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine set a precedent for women in positions of power. Eleanor ruled as regent of various regions in France and in England during her son Richard’s Crusade. Her daughter Eleanor of England, Blanche’s mother, was entrusted with regency but did not live to serve.
Blanche of Castile would likewise serve as regent during both the minority and the crusade of her own son Louis IX.
Date
1241
Materials
Ink on parchment, wax
Holding Institution
Archives départementales du Val-d'Oise
City
Pontoise
Catalogue Number
(72H115)
Date
c. 1240–1253
Author
Matthew Paris
Materials
Ink and pigment on parchment
Dimensions
244 x 358 mm
Holding Institution
Corpus Christi College
City
Cambridge
Shelfmark
MS 1611, fol. 183r
Date
Late 13th century (?)
Patron
Blanche of Castile
Materials
Champlevé copper, enamelled, gilded, wood core
Dimensions
H. 105.5; W. 53.5 (Jean) 55 (Blanche); D. 6.5 cm.
Holding Institution
Basilica of Saint-Denis
City
Limoges
Date
13th century
Materials
Marble
Holding Institution
Basilica of Saint-Denis
City
Paris
Date
c. 1220–1226
Materials
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on parchment
Holding Institution
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
City
Vienna
Shelfmark
Cod. Vindobonensis 1179, f 1v
Date
c. 1220–1226
Materials
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on parchment
Holding Institution
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
City
Vienna
Shelfmark
Cod. Vindobonensis 1179, f 2r
Date
13th century
Materials
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on parchment
Holding Institution
Biblioteca del Seminario Vescovile
City
Padua
Shelfmark
(MS 353) fol. 133v
Date
c. 1227–1234
Materials
ink, tempera, and gold leaf on parchment
Dimensions
375 × 262 mm
Holding Institution
The Morgan Library & Museum
City
New York
Shelfmark
(MS M.240) fol. 8r
