Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants

attributed to Borman workshop, attributed to Renier van Thienen (I), c. 1475 - c. 1476

Mary of Burgundy had a mausoleum erected for her late mother, Isabella of Bourbon. Only the gisant (tomb effigy) of Isabella and 10 of the 24 figures originally surrounding the tomb have been preserved. These pleurants (weepers) represent five generations of grieving forebears. While the tomb commemorated Isabella, it mainly served to advertise Mary’s noble lineage. She was the sole remaining heir of the Dukes of Burgundy and therefore a highly desirable consort. A year after the monument was completed, she married Maximilian of Habsburg, whereby the Burgundian Netherlands became part of the vast Holy Roman Empire.

  • Artwork typetomb figure
  • Object numberBK-AM-33-G
  • Dimensionsheight 59 cm x width 21.5 cm x depth 13.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbronze

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Female Weeper Wearing a Large Linen Cap, from the Tomb of Isabella of Bourbon (1436-1465)
    • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants

  • Object type

  • Object number

    BK-AM-33-G

  • Description

    Zij heeft het hoofd iets naar rechts gewend; zij staart schuin naar beneden voor zich uit en houdt de handen ineen tegen de van voren opgeschorte rok. Het bovenkleed, om het middel door een riem samengehouden, vertoont een platliggende kraag en manchetten van bont. Van het onderkleed met V-vormige halsuitsnijding is de rok onderaan zichtbaar. Boven de halsuitsnijding is het hemd versierd met een rozet. De rechtervoet steekt naar voren onder de rok uit.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • inscription, on the back, at the bottom, incised after casting and finishing: indistinguishable location mark
    • number, on the back, at the top, in modern white paint: ‘8’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    • sculptor: attributed to Borman workshop
    • caster: attributed to Renier van Thienen (I), Brussels

  • Dating

    c. 1475 - c. 1476

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    bronze

  • Dimensions

    height 59 cm x width 21.5 cm x depth 13.5 cm

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Period

    1476

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    On loan from the City of Amsterdam

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    Commissioned by Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482), Brussels, as part of the tomb of her mother, Isabella of Bourbon (1436-1465), 1475; installed in the Sint-Michielsabdij, Antwerp, 1476; ? dismantled during the iconoclast uprising, August 1566; …; collection Jan de Vos, Amsterdam, before or in 1691; his son Pieter de Vos, Amsterdam, March 1691; from whom acquired by the City of Amsterdam, and installed in the ‘Thesaurie Ordinaris’ of the Town Hall (at Dam Square), Amsterdam, 1691; transferred to the Cabinet of Curiosities in the same building, April 1806; transferred to the Cabinet of Curiosities in the Town Hall (Prinsenhof), Amsterdam, 1808; transferred to the ‘Historische Tentoonstelling’ in the Oude Mannenhuis, Amsterdam, 1876; transferred to the Amsterdams Museum in the same building, 1877;{Provenance reconstructed in H.J. Wiggers, ‘De stad Amsterdam en haar vroegste beeldencollectie’, in M. Jonker et al., _In beeld gebracht. Beeldhouwkunst uit de collectie van het Amsterdams Historisch Museum_, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1995, pp. 60-75 and H. Vreeken in ibid., nos. 21-30.} on loan to the museum, since 1887

Documentation

    • Frits Scholten, 'Isabella's pleurants : een Bourgondische stamboom in beeld', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 33 (2007), nr. 2, p. 10-13, afb..
    • Zie koepelrecord.

Related objects

  • Part of

Persistent URL

Questions?

Do you spot a mistake? Or do you have information about the object? Let us know!
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants