Rethinking the Renaissance : Burgundian Arts Across Europe

Review
"Belozerskaya examines and forcefully introduces those unique influences and contributions to the arts by the Burgundian court across Europe... Highly recommended." Choice

"Belozerskaya's excellent introduction to a fifteenth century dominated by a Burgundian, not Florentine, aesthetic is sure to renew investigation of the once-familiar and should help convinvec general and specialit readers alike of the need to adopt more international and pluralist perspectives." Renaissance Quarterly

Book Description
Marina Belozerskaya reestablishes the importance of the Burgundian court as an early modern European center of art, production and patronage. She analyzes contemporary documents and patterns of patronage, demonstrating that Renaissance tastes were formed through the fusion of international currents and art works in a variety of media. Among the most prestigious were those emanating out of the Burgundian court. This interdisciplinary study of the Burgundian arts provides a new paradigm for further inquiry into the pluralism and cosmopolitanism of the Renaissance.

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Marina Belozerskaya reestablishes the importance of the Burgundian court as a center of art production and patronage in early modern Europe. Beginning with a historiographical and theoretical overview, she offers an analysis of contemporary documents and patterns of patronage, demonstrating that Renaissance tastes were formed through a fusion of international currents and art works in a variety of media. Among the most prestigious were those emanating out of the Burgundian court, which embodied prevailing contemporary values: magnificence in appearance, ceremony and surroundings, chivalry inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity, and power manifested through ingenious ensembles of luxury arts. The potency of this 'Burgundian mode' fostered a pan-European demand for its arts and their creators, with rulers in England, Germany, Spain and Italy itself eagerly acquiring Burgundian art works. This interdisciplinary study of the Burgundian arts provides a new paradigm for further inquiry into the pluralism and cosmopolitanism of the Renaissance.


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In this study, Marina Belozerskaya reassesses the common perception of the Renaissance as an Italian-based phenomenon and reestablishes the importance of the Burgundian court as a cultural and artistic trend setter in fifteenth-century Europe. The Burgundian dukes embodied prevalent contemporary values: magnificence in appearance, ceremony, and surroundings; chivarly inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity; power manifested through ingenious ensembles of luxury arts. Their splendid deployment of goldwork, tapestries, manuscripts, music, and multimedia pageants elevated the dukes beyond their titular status to rival kings. The potency of this "Burgundian mode" fostered a pan-European demand for its constituent arts and their creators. Rulers of England, Germany, Spain, and even Italy eagerly acquired Burgundian artworks in multiple media. This interdisciplinary study of the Burgundian arts as internationally recognized markers of refinement and power offers a historiographical reappraisal of the Renaissance and provides a new paradigm for further inquiry into the pluralism and cosmopolitanism of the Renaissance.


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