Arms of Isabella of Bourbon with angel supporter thumbnail 1
Arms of Isabella of Bourbon with angel supporter thumbnail 2
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images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 10

Arms of Isabella of Bourbon with angel supporter

Panel
ca. 1496 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Until 1795, the two-light windows of the Chapel of the Holy Blood in Bruges in Belgium contained images of the Dukes of Burgundy and their consorts (wives). The sequence started with Philippe le Hardi, or Philip the Bold (ruled 1364–1404). The Habsburgs were also shown in the case of Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493, who married into the Burgundian line. The figures were all identified by coats of arms displayed below them.

The stained glass was removed in 1795 and shortly afterwards sold to a British dealer. Some of it was later installed at Kilburn Grange, a private house in north-west London. This was demolished in 1910. The Museum acquired the present panels (inv. nos C.438 to 439, 441 to 443-1918) in 1918, together with other coats of arms and a late figure of Charles V.

The ducal figures in stained glass now in the Chapel of the Holy Blood were made in the years 1845-7. They were based on watercolours of the originals.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleArms of Isabella of Bourbon with angel supporter (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain.
Brief description
Panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain. Depicting the arms of Isabella of Bourbon. From the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges. Made in Flanders, c.1496
Physical description
Panel. Arms of Isabella of Bourbon. Grosvenor Thomas collection.
Inscription at base of panel describing her as Countess of Charolais.
Dimensions
  • Framed height: 113.3cm
  • Framed width: 79.8cm
  • Sight height: 105.1cm
  • Sight width: 71.5cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Marks and inscriptions
YZABEAUV DE BOVRBON COMTESSE DE CHAROLOIS
Gallery label
Stained Glass Panels from the Chapel of the Holy Blood Probably about 1496 These panels depict the armorials associated with the Dukes of Burgundy and their Hapsburg successors. Two of the armorials commemorate the marriages between Maximilian of Hapsburg and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy and also that of their son Philip the Fair and his wife Joanna, heiress to the Kingdom of Spain. Maximilian probably commissioned these windows to honour his wife's devotion to the Holy Blood and to publicise his dynastic succession to the Dukes of Burgundy. Flanders, Bruges Clear and coloured glass with painted details and silver stain; with later restorations Museum nos.C.443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448-1918 Purchased from Grosvenor Thomas from the Capt. HB Murray Bequest(2008 (TAB))
Object history
Reconstruction of the windows in the Chapel of the Holy Blood:
Were 9 windows of two lights each.
19th replacements
Window 7: Emperor Maximilian & Mary of Burgundy
Window 8: Charles the Bold and Isabel of Bourbon
Window 9: Charles V and Isabella of Portugal

From the archives of the Confraternity of the Holy Blood – payments for glazing were recorded in 1483 and in 1496.

The ancient glass disappeared during the French invasion of 1797. The glass from the Chapel was sold by the municipality of Bruges to a local man for a miniscule sum who then sold them, at great profit, to an English man in the early 19th century. Believe the glass ended up with firm of Watson & Bethell.

There are coloured drawings of the windows, pre-dispersal, in the Chapel archives. In 1845 reproductions of the panels were made from these drawings by the glass painter Pluys.

In 1913 they were owned by Grosvenor Thomas. He acquired them from Kilburn Grange which was erected after 1830.

Rackham, in a letter of 1921, says panels were previously in Kilburn Grange which had been pulled down 10 or 12 years ago [presumably meaning 1909 or 1911]. The family of Major Cecil Peters of Sunbury Manor, Sunbury in Middlesex, formerly owned Kilburn Grange.
Historical context
Isabel was the second wife of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. She died in 1465 before Charles became Duke (1467). She got her title of 'Countess of Charolais' from Charles, the Count.
She was the daughter of Charles I of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy.
The arms displayed in the panel are a mirror image. The arms of Bourbon appear on the left impaling those of Burgundy with an escutcheon of pretence for Flanders, the arms of the Dukes of Burgundy and thus of her husband, Charles the Bold. All of the arms are completely reversed.

In the Magie du Verre exhibition catalogue (cat.9) there is a fragmentary stained glass panel of the Deposition with these arms displayed at the base. In this instance the arms of Isabella and her husband Duke Charles are displayed correctly BUT Isabel's are prominent (displayed on the right side of the shield, or left as you face it). I think this is a strong indication that the wife's arms are intended to be prominent and that the Holy Blood arms should be examined in this light.
Production
From the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Until 1795, the two-light windows of the Chapel of the Holy Blood in Bruges in Belgium contained images of the Dukes of Burgundy and their consorts (wives). The sequence started with Philippe le Hardi, or Philip the Bold (ruled 1364–1404). The Habsburgs were also shown in the case of Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493, who married into the Burgundian line. The figures were all identified by coats of arms displayed below them.

The stained glass was removed in 1795 and shortly afterwards sold to a British dealer. Some of it was later installed at Kilburn Grange, a private house in north-west London. This was demolished in 1910. The Museum acquired the present panels (inv. nos C.438 to 439, 441 to 443-1918) in 1918, together with other coats of arms and a late figure of Charles V.

The ducal figures in stained glass now in the Chapel of the Holy Blood were made in the years 1845-7. They were based on watercolours of the originals.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Williamson, Paul. Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003. ISBN 1851774041
  • Bernard Rackham, The Stained Glass in the Chapel of the Holy Blood at Bruges, Actes du XIIe Congres International d'Histoire de l'Art, Bruxelles, 20-29 Septembre, 1930, pp.424-431
  • Bernard Rackham, The Stained Glass in the Chapel of the Holy Blood at Bruges, Actes du XIIe Congres International d'Histoire de l'Art, Bruxelles, 20-29 Septembre, 1930, pp.424-431
  • J. Gaillard, Recherches historiques sur las chapelle du Saint-Sang a Bruges, Bruges, 1846
  • Aymer Vallance, 'Some Flemish Painted Glass Panels', Burlington Magazine, XIX (July 1911)
  • The Grosvenor Thomas Collection of Ancient Stained Glass, catalogue, New York, 1913
  • E.O. Coe, drawing in WID (ES 101) Place of the Holy Blood. Toison d'Or
  • In WID: Bruges. Belgium. X.697 Views. Vol.15 3388-1940 Tomb of Mary of Burgundy, Notre Dame 3389-1940 Chapel of St Sang 3392-1940 Tomb of Charles the Bold
  • David Thomas Powell (ac.1800-c.1837), copies (12) of stained glass from the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges. Watercolours.
  • Barbara Butts and Lee Hendrix, Painting on Light: Drawings and Stained Glass in the Age of Durer and Holbein, J.Paul Getty Trust, 2000
  • Magie du verre, Bruxelles : R. Reyns, 1986 p.52
Collection
Accession number
C.443-1918

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Record createdAugust 4, 1998
Record URL
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