Philip the Bold (Filips de Stoute), Duke of Burgundy

Philip the Bold (Filips de Stoute), Duke of Burgundy

75 €

Portrait of Philip the Bold (Filips de Stoute), engraving, c.1617.

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Description

Portrait of Philip the Bold (Filips de Stoute), engraving, c.1617

Philip the Bold (1342–1404), Duke of Burgundy — Filips de Stoute in Dutch, his sobriquet meaning courageous or stouthearted — was the youngest son of King John II of France. He first drew attention at fourteen when he fought beside his father at the Battle of Poitiers. In 1369 he married Margaret of Flanders, heiress of the rich territories of Flanders, a union that vastly expanded his ducal domain and laid the foundations of the Burgundian State.

From his ducal seat he shaped a remarkable court, embracing splendid dress, lavish banquets and princely patronage of the arts. He founded the Carthusian monastery of Champmol near Dijon as his dynastic mausoleum; his tomb stands today as a masterpiece of Burgundian sculpture. In governance he was shrewd and far-seeing, using marriage alliances and skilful diplomacy to consolidate power and assert influence over France. His legacy shaped the Low Countries and the culture of the fifteenth century.

Frontispiece from Nicolaes de Clerck’s “Tooneel der beroemder hertogen princen graven ende krygs-helden etc.”, published in Delft in 1617; collection Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

This engraving is from Tooneel der beroemder Hertogen (Delft, 1617), a folio of some 80 half-page portraits of famous dukes, princes, counts and military leaders of Christendom, published by the Delft bookseller Nicolaes de Clerck. The range of subjects is wide, from Cesare Borgia and Willem van Orange to Montezuma and Hernán Cortés. Many portraits from the volume survive as loose engravings and appear in institutional collections. This impression captures Philip’s dignified bearing and princely dress, engraved in a strong late-mannerist style after an earlier likeness.

Philip the Bold portrait page from Nicolaes de Clerck’s “Tooneel der beroemder hertogen princen graven ende krygs-helden etc.”, published in Delft in 1617; collection Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.