Photos

PHILIP THE GOOD (French: Philippe le Bon; Dutch: Filips de Goede) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. During his reign, the Burgundian State reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige, and became a leading centre of the arts.

Philip is known for his patronage of Flemish artists such as van Eyck and Franco-Flemish composers such as Guillaume Du Fay.

As a ruler of Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Luxembourg, Zeeland, Friesland and Namur, he played an important role in the genesis of the Low Countries.

In some ways he could be regarded as one of the founding fathers of what would (much) later become that quirky, surrealist and lovely little country of ours, Belgium.

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THIS PORTRAIT is featured on the cover of "De Bourgondiërs", the excellent history book on the dukes of Burgundy by Bart Van Loo, which is quite popular in our country/countries and rightly so.

The portrait has been attributed to Rogier Van der Weyde, though it is probably not painted by the master himself. It was painted in the second half of the 15th century and is one of the showcases in Bruges' small but excellent Groeningemuseum.

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We visited Bruges during the weekend of Ascension Day. It was cold and rainy, yet surprisingly crowded, as bars and restaurants are now allowed to open for outdoor seating. Most museums were still rather quiet which we thought was a good thing.

Note: the picture was shot on my daughter's mobile phone. :)