France: Philip The Bold, Duke Of France

Introduced by the Valois dynasty around 1375, the use of visual objects to promote individual and royal authority became a popular practice and influenced later French and Western visual culture. Following the examples of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and King Charles V, Jean Duke of Berry (1340-1416), developed and reinforced this strategy. Regardless of the Duke’s fame as an adherent of material culture, politics had always been a crucial aspect of his agenda as collector and patron. In fact, he transformed the imagery of his objects into a manifestation of his political program and, as Jennifer Courts points out, his collection became the counterpoint to the military superiority of his rival, the Duke of Burgundy.
This paper focuses