The Chronology and Political Significance of the Tomb of Mary of Burgundy

Abstract

The tomb of Mary of Burgundy, the last Valois ruler of Burgundy, stands in its original site in the church of Notre Dame of Bruges. The date of this monument and the names of the artists who created it have been obscured in the past by an incomplete knowledge of the documentation for it. This essay provides transcriptions of newly discovered documents that detail the dates of construction and the personalities involved in the financing and execution of this project. The dating of the monument to a critical period in the rule of Mary's husband, Maximilian of Austria, leads to a reconsideration of the program of the tomb. The well-developed genealogies that are the great innovation of this monument are seen as a legitimization of Mary's status as the heir to the Burgundian patrimony, in the face of challenges to her right to inherit based on her gender.

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Notes on contributors

Ann M. Roberts

Ann M. Roberts received her Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982. She has published articles on 15th-century Flemish painting in Oud Holland, Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, and Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, and is currently working on a book concerning the art patronage of a 15th-century convent of women in Pisa. [The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242]