LONDON – Although the original oil on wood panel is now lost, the portrait of Philip the Good (1396-1467), Duke of Burgundy, by the 15th-century Dutch painter Rogier van der Weyden, is known through workshop copies.
The circumstances of the commission are uncertain, but, as Philip III is portrayed as middle-aged, it may have been one half of a matrimonial diptych, meant to be hung alongside a portrait of his third wife, Isabella of Portugal. By this time, heavy drinking had taken its toll on Philip’s features, but van der Weyden elongated his face and dressed him in a magnificent gown and a jeweled collar with the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
The recorded workshop copies include pictures in Lille, France; Antwerp, Belgium; and Paris, with the best-known version in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. The example in the British royal collection was first recorded in that of Henry VIII at Whitehall in 1542.
As Philip’s court was later regarded as the most splendid in medieval Europe, his portrait was also popular in later eras. A version dated to the late 17th century surfaced at Bonhams in Bond Street as part of the London sale of Old Master paintings on April 10. Consigned from a UK private collection with an estimate of just £4,000-£6,000 ($4,980-$7,470), it had enough quality to hammer for £160,000 ($199,300) and sell for £203,200 ($253,000) with buyer’s premium.
