The Game of Chess Moralized

This handwritten note indicates a later owner of the manuscript, likely from the 17th or 18th century, identifying him as Mr. de Vignolles. The Vignolles were a noble French family.

A hand-painted heraldic achievement, or coat of arms, fills most of the page. The central shield is divided into four quarters. The first and fourth quarters show a gules (red) background with a fess (horizontal bar) checkered in silver and blue. The second and third quarters show six horizontal bars of gold and blue with a red border. A smaller shield in the center contains a cross and patterns in black and gold. Two lions rampant (lions standing on one leg with paws raised) in a golden-brown color support the shield. Above the shield sits a helmet with a red and gold wreath. A golden crest shaped like a rocky peak sits on top. The background is blue with large, stylized pink leaf-like decorations called mantling. The lions stand on a green mound. A circular black ink stamp from the Library of the Arsenal is visible in the upper left corner. A faint number one is written in the top right corner.