THE BURGUNDIAN PERIOD
The luxurious Dukes of Burgundy—Possessions of the House of Burgundy—
The Burgundian Court—Household of Philip the Good—the Feast of the
Pheasant—the Duke of Burgundy at the Coronation of Louis XI—Arras
Tapestries—Sumptuous _Dressoirs_ and their Adornments—Celebrations
in honour of the Knights of the Golden Fleece—Luxury of Charles
the Bold—Charles the Bold at Trèves—Furnishings of the Abbey of
Saint-Maximin—Charles the Bold’s Second Marriage—Furnishings of
the Banqueting Hall at Bruges—Descriptions by Olivier de la
Marche—Aliénor of Poitier’s Descriptions of the Furniture of the
Duchess of Burgundy’s Apartments—Rich _Dressoirs_—the Drageoir and
its Etiquette—the Etiquette of the _Escarbeau_—Philip the Bold’s
Artisans—Flemish Carving—the _Forme_ or _Banc_—Burgundian
Workmanship—Ecclesiastical Work—Noted Carvers—Furniture of the
Period—the “Golden Age of Tapestry”-Embroideries—Tapestry-weavers
of the Low Countries—Introduction of Italian Cartoons—Goldsmiths’
Work—Furniture of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.
The most luxurious prince of his age was Philip the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy (1342–1404), son of John the Good, King of France. By its
alliances, conquests and inheritances, the House of Burgundy attained
such wealth and power as to overshadow the French throne itself. Under
his grandson, Philip the Good, the Burgundian Court displayed greater
splendour than any other in Europe. The reigning dukes were powerful
protectors of the arts. Their immense resources, drawn from the Flemish
hives of industry, enabled them to indulge their taste for architecture,
painting, sculpture, illuminated books, tapestry, goldsmiths’ work and
sumptuous furniture. They were also insatiable collectors of everything
that was curious and rare. Any able artist, sculptor, architect,
goldsmith, or image-maker, driven from home by the perpetual civil wars
in England, France and Italy, was sure of refuge and employment at the
Court of Burgundy. Thus, for a century and a half, the Low Countries
were the most important art centre of Europe. Dijon and Brussels, the
capitals of the Burgundian dominions, were Meccas of Mediaeval Art; and
Tournay, Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, Dinant, and many other industrial centres
swarmed with craftsmen who produced all that was luxurious and beautiful
for domestic comfort and decoration.
The house of Burgundy constantly increased its possessions. Some idea of
its power is gained by a list of Philip the Good’s titles. He was Duke
of Burgundy, of Brabant, of Lothier, of Luxembourg; Count of Flanders,
of Artois and of Burgundy; Palatine of Hainault, of Holland, of Zeeland,
of Namur and of Charolais; Marquis of the Holy Empire; and Lord of
Friesland, of Salins and of Mechlin.
The brilliance and luxury of the Burgundian Court are attested by many
chroniclers. The pages of Philip de Comines, Olivier de la Marche, and
others are full of descriptions of feasts and pageantry from which we
can form an idea of the luxurious appointments of the palatial dwellings
of the day. Foreigners also, who were well acquainted with other
European courts, bore witness to Burgundian splendour. One of these, Leo
von Rozmital, who visited the courts of Europe in 1465–7, saw the Duke
of Burgundy’s treasures. His suite was overpowered by the magnificence.
The scribe, Tetzel, tried to enumerate and describe these marvels, but
gave up the task in despair, noting “there was nothing like it in the
whole world and that it far exceeded the Venetian collection.”
The son and successor of John the Fearless, Philip the Good (1396–1467),
was even more luxurious than his grandfather, Philip the Bold. His Court
was unequalled in Europe, and when in attendance upon the King of
France, his retinue completely eclipsed royalty. His palaces in
Brussels, Dijon and Paris were sumptuously furnished; and his
collections of tapestries, silver, gold, jewels, embroideries,
illuminated manuscripts and printed books excited the admiration of the
travellers and chroniclers of the age. His household, composed of four
great divisions—the _Panetrie_, _Échansonnerie_, _Cuisine_ and _Écurie_,
with subordinate departments, was subject to the strictest rules of
etiquette and was adopted as a model by the Spanish sovereigns of the
sixteenth century. The ceremonies of the levee, procession, council,
audience, service of spices, banquet, etc., were selected as precedents
for Vienna and Paris, as well as Madrid.
One of Philip’s most celebrated banquets—the Feast of the Pheasant,
which took place at Lille in 1454—will serve to give a glimpse of the
Court entertainments in his day. The large hall was hung with tapestry
representing the labours of Hercules, and was encircled by five tiers of
galleries for the spectators. The _dressoir_ of enormous size was
adorned with gold and silver vessels, and on either side of it stood a
column. One of these had attached to it a carved female figure from
whose breast flowed a fountain of hippocras; and to the other was
fastened by an iron chain a live lion from Africa, a great curiosity in
those days. The three great tables were covered with the most ingenious
productions of the cooks, confectioners and machinists. “On a raised
platform at the head of the first table sat the Duke. He was arrayed
with his accustomed splendour—his dress of black velvet serving as a
dark ground that heightened the brilliancy of the precious stones,
valued at a million of gold crowns, with which it was profusely decked.
Among the guests were a numerous body of knights who had passed the
morning in the tilting-field, and fair Flemish dames whose flaunting
beauty had inspired these martial sports. Each course was composed of
forty-four dishes, which were placed on chariots painted in gold and
azure, and were moved along the tables by concealed machinery.” As soon
as the company was seated, the bells began to peal from the steeple of a
huge pastry church with stained windows that concealed an organ and
choir of singers, and three little choristers issued from the edifice
and sang “a very sweet _chanson_.” Twenty-eight musicians hidden in a
mammoth pie performed on various instruments, and the fine viands and
wines were circulated. After the exhibition of _entremets_, the pheasant
was brought in, the Crusade proclaimed against the Sultan, and the vows
registered.
Another instance of the magnificent display of this Duke occurred when
he accompanied Louis XI to Rheims for the ceremony of his coronation in
1461. This is described as follows by the Duke of Burgundy’s chronicler,
Georges Chastelain (1403–75):
“Their journey resembled a triumphal procession, in which the Duke of
Burgundy appeared as if he were the conqueror and Louis the illustrious
captive. The trappings of the horses, that reached to the ground, were
of velvet and silk, covered with precious stones and ornaments of gold,
embroidered with the Burgundian arms and decorated with silver bells,
the jingling of which was very agreeable and solacing. A great number of
wagons draped with cloth of gold and hung with banners carried the
Duke’s tapestries, furniture, silver and other table service and the
utensils for the kitchen. These were followed by herds of fat oxen and
flocks of sheep intended for food during the progress of the Duke and
his suite. Philip and his son, with the principal nobles, appeared in
their greatest magnificence, and were preceded and followed by pages,
archers and men-at-arms, all in gorgeous costumes and blazing with
jewels.”
Their entrance into Rheims was regarded as the most superb spectacle
France had ever witnessed. Louis was crowned by the Duke of Burgundy,
“the dean of the peers of France”; and at the banquet that followed the
coronation, the Duke of Burgundy was still the most conspicuous figure.
The same chronicler continues:
“Though the King sat at the head of the table, arrayed in regal attire,
with the crown upon his head, he was still the guest of his fair uncle,
whose cooks had provided the dinner, whose plate was displayed upon the
sideboards and whose servants waited upon the company. In the midst of
the repast, the doors were opened and porters entered bearing a costly
present for the new sovereign. Such of the guests as were strangers,
except from hearsay, to the splendours of the Burgundian Court, gazed in
astonishment at the images, goblets, miniature ships, and other articles
of the finest gold and rarest workmanship—amounting in value to more
than two hundred thousand crowns—which Philip presented to the King as
an emphatic token of his loyalty and good-will.”
Chastelain’s note of the great number of wagons that were required to
carry the Duke’s tapestries in his journeyings is of interest. The
products of the Flemish looms were highly prized by the Burgundian
dukes, and great encouragement was given by them to the best work of
this nature.
It was from Arras that they chiefly filled their superb store-chambers
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Arras looms had become
famous, far and wide; for, when Philip the Bold’s son was taken prisoner
at the Battle of Nicopolis (1396), the Sultan Bajazet said to the Duke
of Burgundy’s envoy that he “would be pleased to see some high-warp
tapestries worked in Arras and Picardy,” and that “they should represent
good old stories.” Philip thereupon sent two pack-horses laden with
“high-warp cloths, collected and made at Arras, the finest that could be
found on this side of the mountains.” The set he chose was _The History
of Alexander_. In 1374, there is an entry in the accounts of the Duke of
Burgundy “to Colin Bataille, _tapissier et bourgeois de Paris_,” for six
pieces of tapestry “of Arras workmanship,” with the arms of M. the Duke
of Burgundy “to cover the pack-horses of Monseigneur when he travelled.”
The favourite subjects produced at Arras were romances of chivalry, such
as _Charlemagne and his Peers_, _Doon de la Roche_, _Baudouin de
Sebourg_, _Percival the Gaul_, _Renaud de Montauban_, _Aubri de
Bourguignon_, etc.; stories from Greek mythology, such as _Theseus_,
_Jason_, _Paris and Helen_, _The Destruction of Troy_, etc.; and
contemporary events such as _The Battle of Rosbeck_, _The Battle of
Liège_, _History of Bertrand Duguesclin_, _The Jousts of St. Denis_ and
_The Battle of the Thirty_. Hunting scenes and pictures of cavaliers and
ladies in everyday life were popular, and stories from the Old and New
Testaments, Lives of the Saints and Acts of the Martyrs. Allegory also
makes its appearance as a subject for cartoons, such as the _Virtues and
Vices_, the _Seven Cardinal Sins_, the _Tree of Life_, _Fountain of
Youth_, etc.
When Philip the Good married Isabella of Portugal, Le Fèvre de Saint
Rémy notes that on each side of the hall there was a _dressoir_ twenty
feet long on a platform two feet high and well enclosed by barriers
three feet high, on the side of which was a little gate for entrance and
exit; and both _dressoirs_ had five stages, each two and a half feet
high. The three upper tiers were covered and loaded with vessels of fine
gold; and the two lower ones with many great vessels of silver gilt.
Again, Chastelain, describing a banquet given by Philip the Good, says:
“The Duke had made in the great hall a _dressoir_ constructed in the
form of a round castle, ten steps (_degrés_) in height filled with gold
plate in pots and flagons of various kinds, amounting to 6,000 marks
(_argent doré_) not counting those on the top which were of fine gold
set with rich gems of marvellous price.”
The above gives some idea of the importance of the _dressoir_, which
undoubtedly was the most showy piece of furniture in hall or chamber. It
often assumed enormous proportions on great state occasions.
A very ornate one of this period is reproduced in Plate III. It is
beautifully carved with Gothic tracery, leaf-work, Biblical scenes and
personages, and coats-of-arms. It is interesting to compare this with
the simple form of Plate IV, which has no intermediate shelf for the
display of plate; but is also interesting on account of its carving.
This, with its drawers and cupboards, was a most serviceable piece of
furniture and must have produced a fine effect in a room when the
cupboard head was decked with plate.
The great celebrations in honour of the Knights of the Golden Fleece
also offered occasion for the display of the greatest splendour at the
Burgundian Court. A veritable army of painters, sculptors, illuminators,
carvers and machinists was employed to design and prepare the
_entremets_ exhibited during the banquets. Among the _huchiers_ who
worked for the banquet given to the Knights of the Golden Fleece in 1453
were Guillaume Maussel and his son, Jacob Haquinet Penon, Jehan Daret
and his two companions, and Jehan de Westerhem.
[Illustration:
PLATE IV.—_Credence (Fifteenth Century)._
CLUNY MUSEUM, PARIS.
]
When Charles the Bold (1433–1477) succeeded his father, Philip the Good,
in 1467, he maintained his Court with the same state, ceremony and
luxury. His daily life was surrounded by pomp and punctilious etiquette.
He dined in state every day and was always attended by a retinue of
knights, equerries and pages. When he went to war, he always carried
rich silver and tapestries, as well as costly viands and wines. The
Swiss gained rich spoils after the Battle of Nancy and carried away
among other articles of value tapestries which can be seen to-day in
Nancy, Berne and other cities.
The meeting of Charles the Bold with the Emperor at Trèves, in 1473,
occasioned a great display of magnificence. The far-famed luxury of the
Burgundian Court was well exhibited during the eight weeks that the two
Courts spent in the Rhenish city. Charles gave the most superb
entertainments. The Abbey of Saint Maximin, which the Duke chose for his
temporary residence, was fitted up for the occasion with furniture,
tapestries, richly embroidered stuffs, gold and silver from his palaces.
The great hall was hung with tapestries, and the chair of state for the
Emperor, the canopy and the seats for the other great personages on the
daïs were covered with rich embroidered hangings. The arms of Burgundy,
the insignia of the Golden Fleece and other heraldic decorations were
conspicuously displayed. Many of the most valuable ecclesiastical
treasures collected by Philip the Good, such as silver images,
candlesticks, and crucifixes, and reliquaries of gold studded with gems
were brought to adorn the altars and shrines of the church; and, in the
refectory, an immense _dressoir_, twenty feet broad, reached from floor
to ceiling, its ten receding shelves gleaming with gold and silver
plate.
Charles the Bold’s second marriage in 1468 to Margaret of York furnished
another occasion for the display of his wealth and magnificence. John
Paston, who went to Bruges to attend the wedding, was simply dazzled and
overwhelmed by what he saw. Writing to his mother, he says: “As for the
Dwkys coort, as of lords, ladys and gentylwomen, knyts, sqwyers and
gentylmen, I herd never of non lyek it, save King Artourys cort. And by
my trowthe, I have no wyt nor remembrans to wryte to you, half the
worchep that is her.”
Passing by the descriptions of jousts and other entertainments, we may
note that workmen—painters, decorators and machinists—had been engaged
for many months to adorn Bruges fittingly for the nuptial festivities.
The streets were hung with tapestries and cloth of gold, triumphal
arches were erected at intervals, and at different points along the road
the bride was diverted with “Histories,” the joint productions of
dramatist, decorator, painter and machinist. The front of the palace was
covered with paintings of heraldic devices and magnificent decorations,
and behind the palace, in the tennis court, a new banqueting hall was
erected for the occasion. This building was a hundred and forty feet
long, seventy feet wide and more than sixty feet high. The walls were
hung with some of the Duke’s most famous tapestries, one set of which
represented Jason’s quest of the Golden Fleece; the ceiling was painted,
and at every possible place banners and heraldic devices were hung. An
enormous _dressoir_ in the centre of the hall displayed on its tiers of
shelves an overwhelming exhibition of gold and silver treasures
glittering with gems. The tables were arranged lengthwise on either side
of the hall, except one reserved for the Duke’s family and the guests of
highest rank. This table was placed on a raised platform at the upper
end of the hall, and over it was spread a canopy with curtains hanging
to the floor, so as to present the appearance of an open pavilion. The
chroniclers of the day note that “the hall was lighted by chandeliers in
the form of castles surrounded by forests and mountains, with revolving
paths on which serpents, dragons and other monstrous animals seemed to
roam in search of prey, spouting forth jets of flame that were reflected
in huge mirrors, so arranged as to catch and multiply the rays. The
dishes containing the principal meats represented vessels, seven feet
long, completely rigged, the masts and cordage gilt, the sails and
streamers of silk, each floating in a silver lake between shores of
verdure and enamelled rocks, and attended by a fleet of boats laden with
lemons, olives and condiments. There were thirty of these vessels and as
many huge pasties in a castellated shape with banners waving from their
battlements and towers; besides tents and pavilions for the fruit, jelly
dishes of crystal supported by figures of the same material dispensing
streams of lavender and rosewater, and an immense profusion of gold and
silver plate.”
The festivities continued for more than a week. Every day a tournament,
banquet and dance took place. At one of the banquets, the decorations
were so wonderful that the guests marched around the tables to examine
the artistic creations. These consisted of gardens made of a mosaic-work
of rare and highly polished stones, inlaid with silver, and surrounded
with hedges made of gold. In the centre of each enclosure was placed a
tree of gold with branches, foliage and fruit exquisitely enamelled in
imitation of orange, pear, apple and other trees. Fountains of variously
perfumed waters rendered the air deliciously fragrant.
Olivier de la Marche’s description of the banqueting hall is as follows:
“In this hall were three tables, one of which was placed across the ends
of the others. This table, higher than the others, stood upon a
platform. The other two tables were placed on the two sides of the hall,
occupying the whole length; they were very long and very handsome, and
in the centre of the said hall a high and rich buffet in the form of a
lozenge was placed. The top of the said buffet was enclosed with a
balustrade, and the whole was covered with tapestries and hung with the
arms of Monsieur le Duc; and above rose the steps and degrees on which
were displayed many vessels, the largest on the lowest, and the richest
and smallest on the top shelves; that is to say, on the lowest shelves
stood the silver-gilt vessels, and above them the vessels of gold
garnished with precious stones, of which he had a great number. On the
top of the buffet stood a rich jewelled cup, and on each of the four
corners large and entire unicorns’ horns, and these were very large and
very handsome. These vessels of parade were not to be used, for there
were other vessels, pots and cups of silver in the hall and chambers
intended for service.”
Turning now from the _buffet d’apparat_, he describes the “_buffet
d’usage_.” Regarding the service, “The new Duchess was served by the
cup-bearer, the carver and the pantler, all English, all knights and men
of noble birth, and the usher of the hall cried: ‘Knights to the meat!’
And then they all went to the buffet to fetch the meat, and all the
relations of Monsieur and all the knights marched around the buffet in
the order of the great house two by two after the trumpeters before the
meat.”
We sometimes get a glimpse of a luxurious chamber of the Burgundian
Court from Aliénor of Poitiers, who wrote _Les Honneurs de la Court_.
Her testimony is trustworthy, for her mother was maid of honour to the
Duchess Isabella, third wife of Philip the Good; and, therefore, she
undoubtedly witnessed what she describes. She tells us that the chamber
of Isabella of Bourbon, wife of Charles the Bold, Count of Charolais,
was very large and contained two beds, separated by a space four or five
feet wide. A large _ciel_, or canopy, of green damask covered both beds;
and from it hung curtains of satin which moved on rings, and could
completely screen the beds when desired. The lambrequin of the canopy
and the curtains were fringed with green silk. On each bed was an ermine
counterpane, lined with very fine violet cloth. The chronicler expressly
notes that the black tails were left on the fur. “_La grande chambre_”
from which the “_Chambre de Madame_” was entered, called the “_chambre
de parement_,” contained one large bed in crimson satin. The _ciel_ was
very richly embroidered with a great gold sun, and “this tapestry was
called _la chambre d’Utrecht_, for it is believed that Utrecht gave it
to the Duke Philip,” writes Aliénor, who adds: “The curtains of crimson
samite are looped up like those of a bed in which nobody sleeps.” The
hangings of the wall were of red silk. At one end of the bolster was a
great square cushion of gold and crimson, and by the side of the bed a
“large shaggy carpet.”
In each of these rooms there was a handsome _dressoir_; and our scribe
continues: “In the chamber of the Countess de Charolais there was a
large _dressoir_ of four beautiful shelves, the whole length of the
_dressoir_, each covered with a cloth; the said _dressoir_ and the
shelves filled with vessels of crystal garnished with gold and precious
stones, and some of fine gold; for all the richest vessels of Duke
Philip were there—pots, cups and beakers of fine gold, and other vessels
that are never exhibited except on state occasions. Among other vessels
there were on the said _dressoir_ three _drageoirs_ of gold and precious
stones, one of which is estimated at 14,000 _écus_, and another at
30,000 _écus_. On the back of the dressoir was hung a _dorset_
(_dorsal_) of cloth of gold and crimson, bordered with black velvet, and
on the black velvet was delicately embroidered the device of Duke
Philip, which was a gun....
“Item, on the _dressoir_ which was in the chamber of the said lady,
there were always two silver candlesticks which they called at Court
_mestiers_,[1] in which two lights were always burning, for it was
fifteen days before the windows of her room were allowed to be opened.
Near the _dressoir_ in a corner was a little low table containing the
cups and saucers in which something to drink was served to those ladies
who came to see Madame, after they had been offered a _dragée_[2]; but
the _drageoir_ stood upon the _dressoir_.”
Footnote 1:
Night candles.
Footnote 2:
Bonbons.
In the “_chambre de parade_” there stood a very large _dressoir_,
ornamented with superb pieces of gold and silver.
It was the custom for both lords and ladies to receive their
acquaintances informally in the “_chambre de parade_,” while the inner
room was reserved for their intimate friends. On the occasion of a
birth, these two rooms were as superbly furnished as the house could
afford. The richest cloths and tapestries were brought out, and the
_dressoir_ was adorned with articles of gold and silver that were only
placed on view on important occasions.
When Mary of Burgundy was born, the same authority informs us that
Isabella of Bourbon’s room was very richly furnished; and in honour of
Mary of Burgundy, the daughter and heir of Charles the Bold, there were
five shelves upon the _dressoir_, a privilege reserved for queens only.
The _drageoir_ was a very important article. It contained the various
“_épices de chambre_,” generally called _dragée_, and meaning all kinds
of sugar plums and _confitures_, conserves, sugared rose leaves (_sucré
rosat_), etc. A writer in the sixteenth century mentions “Curious
_dragées_ of all colours, some in the shape of beasts, others fashioned
like men, women and birds.” Sometimes the bonbons were taken with the
fingers, as may be seen in one of the fine set of tapestries in the
Cluny Museum, representing _The Lady and the Unicorn_. An attendant
kneeling presents the _drageoir_ to the lady, who is standing with a pet
bird on her left arm, and she is about to dip the fingers of her right
hand into the _drageoir_ to get something to delight the bird.
The _drageoir_ was generally handed to the guests after dinner, and made
its appearance at all ceremonial feasts. Froissart, describing the
reception to the English knights sent by the King of England in 1390 to
negotiate peace in France, says they were entertained at the Louvre, and
“when they had dined they retired to the King’s chamber, and there they
were served with wine and sweetmeats in large _drageoirs_ of silver and
gold.” It was always handed with solemnity, and subject to strict
etiquette. The Constable of France had the honour of presenting the
_drageoir_ to the King. At the Duke of Burgundy’s Court, according to
Olivier de la Marche, the steward handed the _drageoir_ to the first
chamberlain, who handed it to the most important personage present, who
then presented it to the prince or duke. When the latter had helped
himself, the honoured guest returned it to the chamberlain, who gave it
to the steward.
Aliénor also informs us: “When one of the princes had served Monsieur
and Madame (the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy) with sweetmeats, one of
the most important personages, for example, the first chamberlain, or
Madame’s _chevalier d’honneur_, took the _drageoir_ and served the
Duke’s nephews and nieces; and after they had been served it was handed
to everybody.”
The _drageoir_ was one of the most valued and popular presents during
the Middle Ages. In the inventory of Margaret of Austria occurs a
beautiful and large silver-gilt _drageoir_, fluted, presented to Madame
by the gentlemen of the town of Brussels for her New Year, 1520.
Aliénor de Poitiers also says there should always be in the lady’s room
a chair with a back near the bolster of the bed; and that this chair
should be covered with silk or velvet, for “velvet is the most
honourable covering, no matter what colour”; and “near the chair should
be placed a little bench, or stool, covered with a _banquier_ and some
silk cushions for visitors to sit on when they call to see the invalid.”
The little stool or bench, called _escarbeau_, was very low and without
back or arms. Sometimes it was triangular in form. Sometimes it served
for a low table. Rich people often threw over these _bancs_ a piece of
tapestry or silk, known as _banquiers_.
The memory of the vast majority of the artists of this period has
perished, but a few names have survived.
When Philip the Bold built a second St. Denis for his race at Dijon
(1390), his art and craftsmen were all drawn from the Low Countries.
Nicholas Sluter was in charge; and under his direction the Chartreuse
became a veritable Flemish museum of carving. He sent for his nephew,
Nicholas van de Werve, and paid him from six to seven shillings per
week. Other Flemish workmen in his employ were: Jehan Malouel, Hennequin
van Prindale, Roger Westerhen, Peter Linkerk, John Hulst, John de
Marville, John de Beaumetz and Williken Smout. The coloured windows were
made at Mechlin, by Henry Glusomack. The oak retables with their
numerous figurines, were the work of a Flemish carver named Baerze of
Termonde.
In fact, the only Frenchman who had any part in the work was Berthelot
Héliot, “_varlet de Monseigneur_,” an ivory-carver.
The two _retables_ carved by Jacques de Baerze in 1391 for the
Chartreuse are now in the Dijon Museum. One was made for the Duke’s
chapel at Termonde (Dendermonde), and the other for the Abbey of
Billoche, near Ghent. These were painted and gilded by Jehan Malouel and
Melchior Broederlam, who had been engaged by the Counts of Flanders; and
worked in Hesdin and Ypres before becoming court-painters to Philip the
Bold.
The same Museum contains three cylindrical boxes of beautiful
workmanship of the same period. Two of these are ornamented with
arabesques and birds painted and gilded; the third is decorated with
polychromatic bas-reliefs, and a round boss representing scenes from the
New Testament. These boxes are supposed to have belonged to the
toilet-tables of the Duchesses of Burgundy. Two _retables_, ornamented
with bas-reliefs in the Cluny Museum are called “_oratoires des
Duchesses de Bourgogne_.” These were bought from Berthelot Héliot,
“_valet de chambre_” of Philip the Bold; and it is thought that they
came from Italy.
Another fine piece of Flemish wood-carving is preserved in the old
_Salles des Gardes_ of the Palace in Dijon, where it forms a decoration
of the chimney-piece. This is a panel of carved wood, the last remnant
of the choir-stalls in the ducal chapel. The centre of the panel was the
back of John the Fearless’s seat. The upper part terminating in a
pointed arch and bordered with festoons ornamented with foliage
surrounds the Duke’s shield, which is supported by two angels. The arms
of eight dependent provinces are carved in the lower part of the panel,
enlaced in a trellis of mouldings decorated with chicory leaves, and
further enriched by four angels playing various instruments.
The Dijon Museum contains another splendid piece of wood-carving of the
same date in the seat or _forme_ for the accommodation of the priest,
deacon, and subdeacon of the Chartreuse. This was carved in 1395 by John
of Liège, a carpenter, for the sum of two hundred and fifty francs, to
which another hundred were afterwards added in recognition of the
excellence of the work.
The _forme_ is a species of _banc_ divided by arms into stalls like
choir-stalls. The _forme_ always had a back which grew larger about the
end of the twelfth century, and at a later date, it was surmounted by a
daïs. The _forme_ was always considered to be a seat of honour.
John de Marville set to work on the Duke’s tomb in 1383, and in 1388 was
succeeded by Claus Sluter, who also executed much important work. In the
chapel of the Chartreuse at Dijon, he represented Philip the Bold and
the Duchess Margaret kneeling at the feet of St. Anthony and St. Anne.
In 1404, he retired to the monastery of St. Etienne de Dijon, and was
succeeded in his post of “_imagier_ and _valet de chambre_” to the Duke
of Burgundy by his nephew Claes, or Nicholas, van de Werve.
In 1393, Philip the Bold sent his painter, Jehan de Beaumetz, and his
sculptor, Claus Sluter, to see the works that his brother, the Duke of
Berry, had had André Beauneveu make at the Château Mehun-sur-Yèvre.
Burgundy was especially famous among French provinces for its woodwork.
Many masterpieces were created by the Dukes of Burgundy. There were,
however, other patrons of this art, the great Abbeys of Clairvaux,
Citeaux, Cluny and Vézélay. Numerous schools of workmen gathered around
these monasteries, faithfully preserving the traditions of the
master-sculptors of the past and bequeathing them to their successors of
the Renaissance. A great deal of their most ornate and skilful work was
naturally upon the choir-stalls. Those in the Abbey of Charlieu with
figures of saints painted on wooden panels (later in the Church of
Charolais), and the old Abbaye de Montréal (Yonne) are especially
notable.
The Brabant artists perhaps manifested their fertility most in
wood-carving. Flanders, during the fifteenth century, produced an
enormous number of _retables_, choir-stalls, pulpits, chairs, tables,
communion benches, and similar work. The energies of the skilful
wood-carvers found vent in civil as well as ecclesiastical work. The
public buildings of the prosperous cities contained many beautiful
products of the chisel.
The ducal expense accounts that have come down to us contain many
entries of payments made to various Flemish joiners and cabinet-makers
(_huchiers-menuisiers_). When the great _Halles_ of Brussels had to be
rebuilt in 1409, the following experts were employed to do the work:
Louis Van den Broec, Pierre de Staete, Henry and Godefroy den
Molensleyer, Adam Steenberch, Henry van Duysbourg, Pierre van
Berenberge, Henry van Boegarden and John van den Gance. We find these
names employed on other contemporary work. A few years later, Charles de
Bruyn executed the wood-carving for the Louvain cathedral. In 1409, John
Bulteel of Courtray was commissioned to carve the choir-stalls for the
chapel of the oratory of Ghent. Peter van Oost received the order for
the ceiling of the town hall of Bruges; and in 1449, W. Ards was carving
that of the town hall of Mechlin. In 1470, the great altar-piece of
Saint Waltrude in Herentals was executed by B. van Raephorst. In 1459,
the beautiful stalls of the Abbey of Tournay, which were unfortunately
destroyed by fire in the following century, were carved by Jan
Vlaenders.
A noted carver of this age was Jehan Malouel Hennequin van Prindale,
who, as we have seen, was in the employ of the Duke of Burgundy. The
hands only of a Magdalen that he made (1399–1400) are in the Dijon
Museum. This statue was remarkable as having a copper nimbus, or diadem.
The fame of the Flemish wood-carvers spread far beyond the confines of
their own provinces, and their services were eagerly sought in England,
France, Spain, Italy and even Germany.
Although German wood-carvers were plentiful, John Floreins was employed
on the choir-stalls of the Cologne Cathedral. In 1465, Flemish
_huchiers_ were called upon to carve the stalls of Rouen. Italy
attracted many artists whose work still attests their ability. Among the
innumerable workers in intaglio and marquetry of that period, we find
the names of almost as many Northerners as native Italians. The Church
of St. Georgio Maggiore, Venice, contains forty-eight stalls, adorned by
Van der Brulh of Antwerp with carved bas-reliefs illustrating the life
of St. Benedict. The _armoires_ of the sacristy of Ferrara bear the
signatures of Henry and William, two Flemish carvers; and many other
examples might be cited.
In Spain, the entire Spanish school, until Berruguete brought the New
Art from Michelangelo’s studio in 1520, was led by Philippe Vigarny, a
Burgundian, who was considered the best wood-carver in Spain. His style
was frankly Gothic.
The influence of the Flemish and French was so great in Spain at this
time, that Juan de Arphe severely reprimands his fellow-workers, who
never cease copying the “_papelas y estampas flamencas y francesas_.”
There was not a prosperous city in the Netherlands whose public and
private buildings were not embellished with the products of the great
artists in wood-carving. The great masters of Bruges were Guyot de
Beaugrant, L. Glosencamp, Roger de Smet and André Rasch, sculptors and
carpenters who executed the chimneypiece in the _Palais du Franc_ in
Bruges after the designs of Lancelot Blondeel.
One of the most characteristic specimens of Flemish carpentry-work of
the fifteenth century is the oak pew richly carved in the Gothic style
(1474), belonging to the Van der Gruuthuuse family in Notre Dame of
Bruges that is connected by a passage with the Gruuthuuse Mansion, built
in (1465–70).
It is important to keep constantly in mind the fact that at this period
architects, sculptors, painters and goldsmiths did not confine
themselves to one particular field of labour. Sculptors worked both in
wood and stone in both civil and religious buildings, and the best
talent was employed equally on _retables_, choir-stalls, pulpits,
bishops’ thrones, _armoires_, _dressoirs_, chests and seats. The Duke’s
accounts show many entries of payments for elaborate furniture. Two
examples will suffice: “June 20, 1399: From the Duke of Burgundy to
Sandom, _huchier_, living in Arras, for a _dressoir_, with lock and
keys, which was placed in the chamber of our very dear and much-loved
son Anthoyne, xxxii _sols pariis_”; and again, “To Pierre Turquet,
_huchier_, living in the said town of Arras, for a bench, a table, a
pair of trestles, and for a _dressoir_ with lock and key for our chamber
in our abode in the said place, for goods supplied by him four _livres
pariis_.”
The fifteenth century has been called the “Golden Age of Tapestry.” Not
only were the halls and chambers of rich lords hung with “noble auncyent
stories,” woven in silk and wool of the most gorgeous hues and enlivened
with shining threads of gold, but the store-rooms were filled with sets
that were brought forth to decorate the outsides as well as the
interiors of houses on the occasion of some great festival, marriage,
tournament, or return of a conqueror from the wars. Wealthy princes
often took valuable sets to war to decorate their tents. Charles the
Bold, for example, had with him some of his richest treasures, which
became the trophies of his Swiss conquerors and are now in Berne.
Owing to her wars, the industries of France had declined, and among them
her tapestry. Flanders now, particularly under the patronage of the rich
and powerful Dukes of Burgundy, enjoyed the greatest prosperity.
Flanders became the centre of the manufacture of tapestry; and Arras,
Brussels and Bruges produced works that have never been surpassed.
Every subject lent itself to reproduction. The inventory of a princely
but small collector in 1406–7 mentions: _A Stag in a Wood_, _Story of
Pyramus and Thisbe_, _History of the God of Love_, _History of King
Pepin_, _Hawking_, _A Lord and Lady playing at Chess_, _A Trapped Hare_,
_Monkeys_, _Castles_, _Parrots_, and _Verdures_. The latter shows how
early the beautiful landscapes were valued. Throughout this century the
tapestries show charming backgrounds of daisies, violets, strawberries,
jessamine, primroses, bellflowers and lovely leaves often scattered in
artistic disorder.
The influence of Memling and the Van Eycks and their school was
insistent, although comparatively few of their pictures were translated
into tapestry. One of the pupils of the Van Eycks, Roger van der Weyden,
designed many cartoons, among which were the _Legend of Trajan_ and
_Story of Heckenbald_ for the Town Hall of Brussels.
The great impetus to the Flemish looms was given by the Dukes of
Burgundy. Philip the Bold (1384–1404) encouraged the weavers of Arras by
giving orders and large payments in advance. Finally, he owned such a
superb collection that he had a special officer, a _garde de la
tapisserie_, to take charge of it.
Philip the Good (1419–1467) inherited this taste for beautiful tapestry
and gave numerous orders to the tapestry-makers of Flanders. The
inventory of his treasury made in Dijon in 1420, shows that he possessed
at the beginning of his reign five _chambres_ of tapestry, each
comprising several pieces, and more than seventy high warp “storied”
tapestries to ornament the halls and the chapel. Among them was a set of
eleven pieces containing portraits of “the late Duke Jehan and Madame
his wife on foot and on horseback,” hawking, with birds on their wrists
and birds flying all around them. The same prince also had: “A red room
of high-warp tapestry woven with gold, on which were represented ladies,
pheasants, persons of distinction and rank, nobles, simple folk, and
others, with a canopy ornamented with falcons.”
Then there was a rich “chamber,” “with high-warp tapestry of Arras
thread, called the _chambre_ of the little children, furnished with the
canopy, head-board, and coverlet of a bed, worked with gold and silk,
the head-board and coverlet being strewn with trees, grasses, and little
children, and the canopy representing trails of flowering rose-trees on
a red background.”
Another set of “high-warp tapestry, worked in Arras thread and gold” was
called “The Chamber of the Coronation of Our Lady.” It was furnished
with “a canopy, a head-board, a bed coverlet, and six curtains two of
which were worked with gold, and the remaining four without gold. On
each of these were two figures, the late Duke Anthony of Brabant and his
wife and their children, screened with a small _dosser_; the whole was
of Brabant work.”
In addition to these superb sets, there were sixty “saloon tapestries”
in which the hangings woven with gold depicted scenes from famous
romances, stories from Grecian mythology, pastoral scenes, and
contemporary events.
There were thirty-six _dossers, banquiers_ and thirty-six hassocks, and
nineteen long-pile carpets. Then there were thirteen “chapel hangings,”
with religious subjects, an altar-cloth “entirely of gold and silk,”
besides high-warp tapestries “of gold and Arras thread.”
Philip the Good was also a collector of embroidery. In his inventory
(1420) are mentioned many “_chambres_” of velvet and silk, embroidered
with gold and silks. More than thirty famous embroiderers were employed
regularly at the Court of Burgundy.
There was no more valuable possession in the Middle Ages than tapestry.
When Mary of Burgundy was married to the Duke of Cleves in 1415, one
prized item in her dowry was a “superb bed of tapestry representing a
deer hunt.”
Tapestry was considered one of the most complimentary gifts that could
be offered to a royal personage, or diplomatist; and when it is
remembered that every nobleman of wealth was a collector, a present of
this nature had to be of rare quality and exceptional beauty. The Dukes
of Burgundy were fond of making gifts from the looms they patronized.
For example, Philip the Bold sent several pieces to Richard II in 1394
and 1395, and superb sets to the Dukes of Lancaster and York. John the
Fearless gave the Earl of Pembroke, ambassador of Henry IV, three
handsome pieces, and to the Earl of Warwick, ambassador of Henry V, in
1416, “a rich hanging covered with various figures and numerous birds.”
In 1414, a “_chambre de tapisserie_” was sent as a present to Robert,
Duke of Albany, who then governed Scotland.
The weavers of Liège boasted as high an antiquity as those of Louvain.
The _Chronicle of St. Trond_ says that the weavers in 1133 at St. Trond
and Tongres, and they were more independent and high-spirited, or, to
quote more exactly, “more forward and proud than other artisans.”
Brussels, which in after years eclipsed both Paris and Arras in the
manufacture of tapestries, possessed one corporation only of
tapestry-workers (_tapitewevers_) in 1340. In 1448, these were
reorganized under the name of _Legwerckers Ambacht_ (tapestry-weavers
trade), but there was no great interest in the Brussels looms until
1466, when Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, bought in that city _The
History of Hannibal_ in six pieces and a set of eight landscapes.
The looms of Ypres, Middelburg, Alost, Lille, Valenciennes, Douay and
Oudenarde flourished during the fifteenth century. To this list we must
add the fine looms of Bruges, established by Philip the Good, which for
a time eclipsed all others in Flanders. After Bruges supplied this Duke
of Burgundy with _The History of the Sacrament_ and “two chambers of
tapestry” in 1440, many commissions were received from foreign
countries. The Medicis and other Italian families ordered rich sets, but
they supplied their own cartoons by Andrea Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci
and other great painters.
Bruges, doubtless, owed no little of its fame as a centre for fine
tapestry to the Flemish artists, Memling and the Van Eycks and their
school who lived there. It is believed that the famous tapestry that
found a home in the Château des Aygalades, representing the marriage of
Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany, under the allegorical figures of
Esther and Ahasuerus, was made in Bruges. The cartoons have been
attributed to the school of Van Eyck.
In 1449–53, Philip ordered from Tournay _The History of Gideon_ and _The
Story of the Golden Fleece_ in eight pieces.
In 1430, one Jean Hosemant, a tapestry-weaver of Tournay, was in Avignon
and the Pope’s chamberlain, the Archbishop of Narbonne, ordered him to
make “a tapestried chamber on the hangings of which were to be
represented foliage, trees, meadows, rivers and clouds, as well as birds
and quadrupeds.” Italy also attracted the French and Flemish weavers to
learn their secrets, and they flocked in numbers to Rome and other
cities. Their work was in such demand that the Flemish workers found
encouragement everywhere; and in the fifteenth century they emigrated to
England, Spain, Italy and even Hungary.
Rinaldo Boteram of Brussels was in charge of the workshop in the court
of the Gonzagas in Mantua, where Andrea Mantegna was employed to design
the cartoons. Jehan de Bruges and Valentin d’Arras directed the
workshops in Venice as early as 1421; Giacomo d’Angelo the Fleming had
charge of the Marquis d’Este’s tapestries at Ferrara with a large number
of Flemish weavers under him. Flemish workmen and master workmen were
engaged in Siena, Florence, Correggio, Urbino and also by the Sforzas in
Milan.
A woman was also weaving Arras at Todi in 1468, one Giovanna Francesa,
“_maestra di panni de arazzi_.”
At home, the Flemings grew ever more and more realistic, weaving into
their woollen pictures types of character, costumes and scenes with
which they were familiar; and while their technical skill was
appreciated in Italy, their pictures certainly were not liked. All the
orders sent from princely patrons to the looms of the Low Countries were
accompanied by cartoons, which became the property of the workshop, and
were repeated again and again as their popularity asserted itself. The
Italians introduced perspective, clearness of grouping and a dramatic
feeling entirely opposed to the Flemish school. The Italian cartoons,
particularly those of Raphael and Romano, had a great influence upon the
Flemish tapestries.
Like all the other industrial arts, that of the goldsmith flourished
under the patronage of the Dukes of Burgundy. They spent an enormous
amount of money in acquiring fine pieces of gold and silver and richly
set jewels for their own treasury and use, and to give as presents. It
was not long before the chief cities in Burgundy, Artois and Flanders
saw the workshops of gold and silversmiths multiply greatly and gain a
widespread reputation. These goldsmiths not only produced vases and
chalices for the churches and chapels and beautiful articles for the
Duke’s _dressoirs_, but they particularly excelled in the setting of
jewels and in making beautiful pieces of delicately worked gold and
silver, with which the costumes were laden to such an extent that
Martial d’Auvergne, the author of _Arrets d’amour_, says “_on
s’harnachoit d’orfévrerie_.”
Some of the Duke’s silver is especially described in his inventory, and
among his possessions at the end of the fourteenth century, we find two
silver chandeliers for the chapel. The central bulbs were fluted and
they were hung with crystal. On the foot, the arms of France were
engraved. There were also three other chandeliers (these were evidently
what we should now rather call candlesticks), and were carved profusely
with big leaves; and also three candlesticks of silver for the
“_fruiterie_,” bearing on the base the arms of the Duke of Burgundy. The
foot of another silver-gilt candlestick was decorated with three
dragons; another candlestick of white silver (_argent blanc_) was
decorated with the arms of the Dowager Countess of Hainault. In all
probability these were among the candlesticks that Charles the Bold took
to the Abbey of St. Maximin.
Among the artisans that were patronized by the Dukes of Burgundy, we
find the names of Jehan Villain, a goldsmith of Dijon from 1411 to 1431,
and _valet de chambre_ to John the Fearless and Philip the Bold; Jehan
Pentin, goldsmith of Bruges under Philip the Good; Corneille de Bonte, a
celebrated goldsmith of Ghent; and Henry le Backer of Brussels and
Gérard Loyet, both goldsmiths of Charles the Bold. The former executed a
famous altar group for the Count of Charolais (Charles the Bold) in
1456, consisting of a great cross at the foot of which knelt the Count
and Countess of Charolais with St. George and St. Elizabeth. Gérard
Loyet, who was goldsmith and _valet de chambre_ to Charles the Bold,
made in 1466 a statue of gold that the Duke presented to the Cathedral
of St. Lambert of Liège. He also made in the year of Charles the Bold’s
death two silver busts and two statues of that Duke. The busts, of
natural size, were made for St. Adrien de Grammont and St. Sebastian of
Brussels and the statues for Notre Dame d’Ardembourg and Notre Dame de
Grâce of Brussels. The latter, although of silver, were coloured and
were large in size. They represented Charles kneeling with folded hands
dressed in armour with sword at his side and wearing the collar of the
Golden Fleece.
There is very little furniture of the fourteenth and fifteenth century
in existence. One of the few good buildings dating from the fourteenth
century is the Guildhouse of the Tanners (Toreken) on the Rue des
Peignes, Ghent. The Rijks Museum in Amsterdam has a copy of the solid
oak ceiling of the Senate House at Sluis, dating from 1396, an imitation
of the ceiling and chimney of the Senate House at Zwolle, built by the
architect Berent in 1447; and a cast of an ornamental fireplace of the
fifteenth century from the Markiezenhof at Bergen-op-Zoom. The Rijks
also owns several Gothic cabinets, and a large Gothic cupboard of the
fourteenth century from a convent in Utrecht. The Museum in the Steen,
Antwerp, contains some good fifteenth century furniture.
A few names of wood-carvers of this period have survived. For example,
the Town Hall of Louvain, the ancient capital of Brabant, is a very rich
and lovely example of late Gothic work. It even surpasses the famous
Town Halls of Brussels, Oudenarde, Ghent and Bruges. This was built by
Matthew de Layens between 1447 and 1463. It is very rich in statues of
local celebrities, and the supporting corbels are ornamented with almost
detached reliefs representing biblical subjects.
The models in wood for the stone-cutters were executed after the designs
of De Layens, by John Vander Eycken, Goswin Van der Voeren, Mathew
Keldermans and John Roelants in 1448.
In decorative art, the Gothic style is feebly represented by great names
that have survived. Most of the glorious work that was done by the
Mediaeval carvers has perished, and the names of its producers have
perished with it. Two names, of the period immediately before the
Renaissance, of men who applied themselves to the composition and
engraving of ornaments have survived. Le Maître à la Navette was born at
Zwott; and was at work about 1475. Alart du Hameel was a native of
Bois-le-Duc; and lived at the close of the fifteenth century.