Page of Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy by SLUTER, Claus in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European paintings and sculptures (1100-1850)

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Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy

1390-1406
Alabaster, height 243 cm
Muse Archologique, Dijon

The tomb of Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy poses the difficult problem of Sluter's workshop. The tomb was commissioned as early as 1377 from Marville, the Master Mason of the Carthusian monastery. After Marville's death in 1389 Sluter took over the workshop, but abandoned the tomb for more pressing works. When the Duke died in 1404, work on the tomb was begun again; it was still unfinished when Sluter died. Some historians have tried to minimize the part played by Sluter, attributing the overall scheme to Marville and the sculptures of the mourners on the base to Claus de Werve, Sluter's nephew; however, it is almost certain that Sluter designed the models for these last.