Patronage and the Burgundian court

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 2004 by Stephen N. Fliegel

After the investiture in 1364 of Philip the Bold as duke of Burgundy, the duchy of Burgundy became a cadet branch of the French royal house of Valois. The fourth and last reigning duke of Burgundy of the Valois line, Charles the Bold (r. 1467-1477), died on the battlefield near Nancy, France, leaving no male issue. Thus, the legendary dynasty came to an abrupt end in just over a century. The dukes' Burgundian lands reverted to the French crown while their Netherlandish territories were absorbed by the Habsburgs through the marriage of Charles the Bold's only child, Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482), to Archduke Maximilian of Austria (later Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor; r. 1493-1519).

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Valois Burgundy has assumed the mystique of sublime ostentation and unmatched aesthetic refinement. The dukes commanded vast financial resources, and their collective reigns chronicle the rise and fall of one of the most sophisticated courts in Europe. (1)

Within the past twenty years much new scholarship has been devoted to aspects of the Burgundian dukes' patronage. Indeed, 2004 marks the six hundredth anniversary of the death of Philip the Bold and is the occasion for a major international exhibition entitled Dukes and Angels: Art from the Court of Burgundy (1364-1419), which will be on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art from October 24 to January 9, 2005. Much of the new scholarship generated by the exhibition has been concerned with a fresh examination of archival documents relating to the household accounts, treasurer's accounts, and household inventories of the dukes of Burgundy. This has yielded a fuller picture of ducal patronage of specific artists, the formation of court workshops, and the role of particular artists in fostering a Burgundian court style. Another product of this research is an expanded group of ducal commissions, many still surviving into our century. The exhibition, comprised of objects from institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, offers Americans their first glimpse of the richness, breadth, and texture of life and art at the Burgundian court.

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Philip the Bold is known to history principally through his limestone likeness (Pl. I) on the facade of the Chartreuse de Champmol, the monastery he founded in 1385 on the outskirts of Dijon with his wife, Margaret of Flanders. His image has also survived in a few panel paintings, later copies of original portraits, and through representations of the duke and his court in the miniatures of illuminated manuscripts.

Flush with money, the dukes established themselves as discriminating patrons of the arts, attracting to their service the most accomplished artists of their time. The first two dukes constructed an elaborate palace complex in Dijon, their capital, which was eventually supplemented by dozens of residences scattered throughout Burgundy and the Netherlands, as well as two houses in Paris.

To embellish these residences, the dukes assembled the largest collection of tapestries of their day. Philip the Bold owned more than two hundred tapestries, purchased or commissioned. (2) The tapestries were rolled up and traveled with the ducal couple from residence to residence. A judicious selection was suspended in the castle of the moment, often chosen to make a grand political statement. With their allegorical or historical scenes these tapestries could function as portable propaganda or metaphors for princely deeds. Sadly, none of the tapestries described in Philip the Bold's inventories are known to have survived. (3) However, a small number of tapestries associated with two of his brothers, Jean, duc de Berry (1340-1416) and Louis I d'Anjou (1339-1387), are preserved. (4)

Philip the Bold and his wife are known to have purchased large and costly gemstones and commissioned elaborate brooches of enameled gold set with jewels and pearls to be worn on dresses and hats, and which are known as fermaux. A group of fermaux, now assembled as a necklace (Pl. V), includes a central brooch depicting a woman dressed in white (Pl. Va). (5) This brooch is closely related to a "gold fermail with a lady dressed in white and holding a bird in her fist" described in the inventory of Margaret of Flanders. (6)

Extraordinary gold vessels and votive shrines, exquisitely wrought in translucent, or ronde bosse, enamel were commissioned and exchanged as gifts. Such deluxe objects were highly favored by the Valois, who were all adept patrons of art, often employing the same artists and exchanging gifts, especially on New Year's Day. The circle of giving also included the ducal spouses and family. A votive shrine of the Crucifixion, which is among the finest extant examples of ronde bosse enameling, was given by Margaret of Flanders to her husband on New Year's Day 1403. (7)

An earlier object, the silver-gilt table fountain shown in Plate III, is the most complete example known to have survived from the Middle Ages, although many such fountains were made for the Valois. (8) The 1363 inventory of King Charles V mentions two fountains, (9) while that of his brother Louis I, duc d'Anjou, taken five years later, lists an astonishing thirty-eight fountains. (10) Given their fragile mechanisms and expensive materials, medieval table fountains must have been short-lived. Some must have been made for temporary use and linked to a great ceremonial or social event.