ORLÉANS - Lot 202

ORLÉANS Seal matrix for Don Jacques Lucas, Dean of Sainte-Croix Cathedral in Orléans, in lead, in the shape of a Gothic shuttle or mandorla. Bears inscription: S(igillum) DOMINI IACOBI LVCAS AVRELIANENSIS DECANI. Represents the Virgin of Piety, seated at the foot of the cross, holding the body of Christ, and below, a shield bearing the coat of arms of Jacques Lucas, blazoned as follows: quarterly (1 and 4: rampant lions, 2: a bend, 3: fleurs-de-lys) with a shield over all (six annulets ordered 3, 2, 1). 7.5 x 5 cm. Probably a 19th-century cast, but a very rare and interesting piece of sigillography. Don Jacques Lucas was a churchman close to Humanists such as Christophe de Longueuil and Nicolas Bérault. He was a member of the first association of humanists who admired Guillaume Budé. History recalls that, in May 1519, he was commissioned by Queen Claude of France to petition Pope Leo X for the canonization of Saint François de Paule, founder of the Minimes.