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-E
  • Dimensionsheight 55.5 cm x width 25.5 cm x depth 12.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbronze

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
    • Male Weeper Dressed in a Short Houppelande, from the Tomb of Isabella of Bourbon (1436-1465)

  • Object type

  • Object number

    BK-AM-33-E

  • Description

    Hij staat wat martiaal met gespreide benen, het hoofd iets naar rechts; hij houdt de rechterhand tegen zich aan, de linkerarm omlaag. Een rijk versierde riem plooit de met bont gevoerde houppelande met opstaande kraag; de naar onderen breed uitlopende mouwen zijn, evenals de zoom, kanteelvormig ingesneden. Van de kaproen met hanekam loopt de gekartelde lamfer voor de borst langs over de rechterschouder naar achteren. De benen steken in hozen. Om de hals een ordekruis, waarvan het koord overeenkomt met dat van de Antoniusorde.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • 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: ‘4’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

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

  • Dating

    c. 1475 - c. 1476

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    bronze

  • Dimensions

    height 55.5 cm x width 25.5 cm x depth 12.5 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

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

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  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants
  • Isabella van Bourbon & Pleurants