This article discusses the 20 blank spaces intended for illustrations in ms. Brussels, RL, 14601 (ms. B) [Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Ms. 14601], the only complete ms. of Reynaerts historie. After arguing that the five illustrations which the manuscript contained in 1836 were probably not original, the subjects of the 20 planned illustrations are reconstructed. This hypothetical cycle is then compared with the illustrations for branch I in ms. I [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 12584] of the Roman de Renart and with the oldest Dutch woodcut cycle of the Reynaert story. Arguments for a relationship between these three cycles are put forward, and as a possible explanation for this relationship I suggest the hypothesis of a no-longer extant manuscript of Reynaerts historie, based on ms. I and itself a source of inspiration for the cycle in ms. B and the oldest Dutch woodcut cycle.

Language: English

0925-4757; DOI: 10.1075/rein.16.13wac