research on the meaning of “artiste” fols 62r, 62v, 65v, 162v
Cotgrave: artisan, artist, and Master of art [meaning "of the liberal/university arts"]. DMF: Celui qui pratique un métier manuel (les arts mécaniques)" from 1405. Littre from 16th c: Nature faict naistre, ez nations moins cultivées par art, des productions d'esprit souvent qui luictent les plus artistes productions, Montaigne, I, 143. [Après avoir cité un tour de la fortune] Semble il pas que ce soit un sort artiste ? Montaigne, I, 253. La nature, dict-il, est un feu artiste, propre à engendrer, Montaigne, II, 278. Choses lesquelles se proposent tous bons ouvriers et artistes en cest art [de distillation], Paré, XXVI, 4.
In English, the most frequent use of artist in the 16th-c is as a skilled artisan, but it is just beginning to be used as someone skilled in the CREATIVE arts (in our sense).
Some of these entries, 62r, 62v, 65v (Blanc et noir) are about an apprentice becoming an "artiste," we could use artisan or artist. On fols. 65v (Paindre...) and 162v, "artiste" seems to be a modifier, and I guess could be translated as "artistic" or "skilled", but I think we should translate as "artistic".
Also, I will enter this as a glossary item: here: Artiste (m.) = In this period, “artiste” could mean skilled artisan, a Master of Arts (the university title), and was just beginning to be used in the sense of “creative artist,” as it is today. We chose to translate as “artist” (and as a modifier, “artistic,” but this older meaning of artisanal skill should be kept in mind.
we should also have an editorial note on these instances that says: "artist and artistic in this period referred to skilled artisanal work and was just beginning to be used in the sense of skilled creative artistic work in a more modern sense."