Philip of Burgundy | |
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Bishop of Utrecht | |
Church | Catholic Church |
Diocese | Archdiocese of Utrecht |
Appointed | 18 March 1517 |
Term ended | 7 April 1524 |
Predecessor | Frederick IV of Baden |
Successor | Henry of the Palatinate |
Orders | |
Consecration | 28 Feb 1518 by Érard de La Marck |
Personal details | |
Born | 1464 |
Died | 7 April 1524 Wijk bij Duurstede |
Philip of Burgundy (1464 in Brussels – 7 April 1524 in Wijk bij Duurstede) was Admiral of the Netherlands from 1498 to 1517 and bishop of Utrecht from 1517 to 1524.
Philip was an illegitimate son of Duke Philip the Good. 1486 he was knighted and in 1491 he single-handedly killed an opponent. He was at the head of the Burgundian army in the Sticht and, as such, refused to bury his half-brother David of Burgundy, bishop of Utrecht, as long as the election of a Burgundian-favoured successor had not been arranged. He was appointed admiral in 1498 by Duke Philip the Fair and after an expedition to Rome in 1508 he settled in the castle Souburg on Walcheren.
In a politically motivated move, Philip was appointed bishop of Utrecht by Duke Charles (later Emperor Charles V) to replace Frederick IV of Baden. When he made his entrance into Utrecht he had not received any kind of ordination; these were given to him in the following days. He led a luxurious life in the episcopal residence, Duurstede Castle, taking a particular interested in weaponry, women and horses. He was a true renaissance-ruler, and was little concerned with religious matters, which he delegated to his servants. He ignored the rising Lutheranism.
Philip's politics were not very successful; he left much to his councillors and had trouble keeping himself standing in the midst of the faction-struggles in the bishopric. During his rule the Oversticht was largely lost in the Guelders War between the Empire and Guelders. The bishopric maintained only Hasselt, Steenwijk and Oldenzaal.
Philips only positive contribution was his patronage of the arts. For years he maintained the painter Jan Gossaert and the humanist Gelderhouwer, and he acted as a protector of Erasmus. He also was the sculptor Conrad Meit's first employer in the Low Countries. He also owned works by Hieronymous Bosch.
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Claus Sluter and Claus de Werve, Mourners, from the Tomb of Philip the Bold
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Transcription
(piano playing) Dr. Zucker: We're in the museum of fine arts in Dijon and we're looking at one of the great treasures of Burgundy. These are the mourners, a series of small alabaster carvings of Carthusian monks, the clergy, and the family mourning the death of Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy. Dr. Harris: The Dukes of Burgundy, specifically at this time Philip the Bold ruled Burgundy which included Flanders areas that are today France. He was very powerful, very wealthy and he had established a Carthusian monastery just outside of the city walls of Dijon as a burial place for his family. These mourning figures occupied an arkaded space below a sculptural effigy of the Duke himself in prayer and Angel's ushering him into Heaven. The idea of making his tomb there was that the monks in this monastery would be available to pray for the soul of Philip the Bold. Dr. Zucker: The most remarkable element here is the individuality of each of these figures. Dr. Harris: That's something that Claus Sluter, who was one of the sculptures, along with Claus de Werve was known for, a kind of attention to realism and expressiveness. Dr. Zucker: There's something incredibly powerful and monumental about these tiny little figures. They're only about 18 inches, 14 inches tall, and yet there's a real sense of solemnity. Dr. Harris: They're certainly not the ethereal swaying figures that we see normally in Gothic art. Here's this transitional moment away from the Gothic toward what we think of as the Renaissance. The figures have that waviness and a new monumentality to the drapery and bodies that we associate with the Renaissance. But these figures are so expressive, each one represents, in a way, a different aspect of grief. It's not just in the faces, in many cases we don't see the faces, the figures are hooded. It's in their drapery, it's in their body, that emotion. Dr. Zucker: They do embody the very notion of mourning. Dr. Harris: This is a figure where we don't see the face at all, we see hood in place of a face and this vertical folds of drapery gathered in one place where the monk underneath is obviously holding the drapery in a sense of pain. Dr. Zucker: That's right, it's turning inward and the drapery becomes as expressive as a human face, as hands even when they're not exposed to us. Dr. Harris: In someways it's almost incredibly modern, it's like Martha Graham in Dance where the movement of folds of cloth is expressive of feeling. Dr. Zucker: I love the way so many of the figures deal with the pain of mourning in an isolated way. Then there are also these very tender moments where there's a comforting that takes place. Seeing these figures isolated outside of the context of the effigy allows us to see that abstraction. Of course, this would have been just one element in a grand space that was meant to honor the dead. Dr. Harris: You're right, we're here and the figures are in glass boxes and we can walk around them, but we were certainly never meant to see them this way. (piano playing)
Sources
- Sicking, L. (1998). Zeemacht en onmacht, Maritieme politiek in de Nederlanden, 1488–1558. De Bataafse Leeuw, Amsterdam. ISBN 90-6707-465-9.