But one of the most remarkable compositions of the entire series is the _Enthronement of the_ _Virgin_, a scene which Bossuet describes as follows: "_Le ciel aussi bien que la terre a ses triomphes, et l'exaltation de la Sainte Vierge dans le trône que son fils lui destine doit faire un des beaux jours de l'éternité_." And Fouquet does indeed depict this scene in a glow of colour which affords a vivid idea of triumphant festivity. The Virgin, clothed in white, is seated beneath a Gothic canopy to the left of the Trinity. Above her are countless angels and below saints, priests and prophets who are praising God in concert. Anatol Gruyer speaks of this miniature as the most important of all: "What Dante so well described in the _Divina Commedia_ Fouquet painted with masterly hand. It is a painting which may be described as sublime." This wonderful series is brought to a close with a representation of _La Toussaint_.[64] Our Lord, surrounded by angels, is enthroned between the Virgin and the beloved disciple St. John. Below are seated apostles and saints, amongst whom we can again discover Etienne Chevalier clad in a red mantle beside his Patron Saint. On the opposite side kneels his wife, Catherine Buti. [Illustration: Plate XLVIII. Photo. Giraudon. ALL-SAINTS'-DAY. Jean Fouquet. Musée Condé. _To face page 194._] Hung separately in the _Santuario_ at Chantilly these forty miniatures of Fouquet form an important monument of French fifteenth-century Art and provide strong evidence that French works of the highest merit certainly existed at that time. Their present scarcity is no doubt due to vandalism and wilful destruction. In these miniatures are apparent all the qualities so characteristic of French Art, _i.e._ its exquisite grace, its adaptability to foreign elements without loss of its own individuality, its sense of humour, its restrained realism and its overmastering love for Nature. CHAPTER XV JEAN PERRÉAL AND BOURDICHON It is hardly conceivable that a master like Fouquet, so famous as a painter of miniatures and portraits, should really have left no followers. Indeed, it has been said that he ought to have been succeeded by a French Raphael. Unfortunately the adverse circumstances which surrounded French Art at that period prevented Fouquet's followers from arriving at the eminence achieved by their master.