« The story begins during my years in Khâgne with the discovery and study of ancient languages (Old French in particular). » 

It continues with numerous journeys to the heart of medieval literature from the 12th and 13th centuries, made up of fantastic metamorphoses, supernatural apparitions, enchanted woods and forests, marvelous gardens, graceful characters.

A literature rich in stories that explore a world that is both familiar and strange, on the fringes of the fairy tale.

​

« Then comes the first encounter with the art of illumination: the illuminated manuscript of the Grail Tale by Chrétien de Troyes. »

The purity of the colours, the brilliance of the gold, the freshness of the characters, the finesse of the line, the elegance of the calligraphy, the beauty of the parchment...

I am as if caught up in it.

​

« A long path of observation and study of illuminated manuscripts then began. » Under the gaze of the old masters, I explored and deepened my knowledge of numerous works devoted to the art of illumination and its techniques.

​

I experimented with the production of colours, tried my hand at gold leaf, practised calligraphy and tested different media.

​

I refine my strokes, I progress slowly with patience and perseverance while keeping in mind this exhortation taken from the Mutus Liber and dear to the alchemists: « Lege, lege, lege, relege, ora, labora et invenies », (Read, read, read again, pray, work and you will find).

« It took seven years for the thick, ungainly and approximate to give way to finesse, delicacy and subtlety. To the light. »

​

« I will walk and my walk will be a walk.

I will go not so much to the end of the road as to the end of myself.

I will be a pilgrim.

I will not only go on a journey.

I will become a journey myself, a pilgrimage. »

Jean Debruynne, Pilgrims' Prayer.