jan van eyck, canon joris van der paele, and the art of commemoration

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This article was downloaded by: [Jawaharlal Nehru University] On: 03 May 2015, At: 12:45 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Click for updates The Art Bulletin Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcab20 Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration Douglas Brine Published online: 02 Oct 2014. To cite this article: Douglas Brine (2014) Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration, The Art Bulletin, 96:3, 265-287, DOI: 10.1080/00043079.2014.889513 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2014.889513 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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  • This article was downloaded by: [Jawaharlal Nehru University]On: 03 May 2015, At: 12:45Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

    Click for updates

    The Art BulletinPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcab20

    Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art ofCommemorationDouglas BrinePublished online: 02 Oct 2014.

    To cite this article: Douglas Brine (2014) Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration, The Art Bulletin,96:3, 265-287, DOI: 10.1080/00043079.2014.889513

    To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2014.889513

    PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

    Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content) contained in thepublications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations orwarranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsedby Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings,demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectlyin connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

    This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone isexpressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

  • Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art ofCommemoration

    Douglas Brine

    Jan van Eycks Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele (Fig. 1)was commissioned in the 1430s by Joris van der Paele, acanon of St. Donatians church in Bruges, Flanders, aroundthe time that he founded a series of masses there to ensurehis future salvation. It depicts the patron kneeling before theenthroned Virgin and Child with his namesake, SaintGeorge, behind him and Saint Donatian standing opposite.The painting remained at St. Donatiansone of the mostimportant collegiate churches in the Burgundian Nether-landswith only occasional interruption until 1794, when itwas hauled off to Paris along with the central panels fromvan Eycks Ghent Altarpiece for display in what became theMusee Napoleon at the Louvre.1 When the van der Paele Vir-gin was restituted to its home city in 1816, unlike the Ghentpanels, it could not return to its original setting, since St.Donatians was sold off and demolished in 17991800.2

    The pictures requisition in 1794 reflects the reputation itenjoyed from an early date as one of Brugess treasures. Itmust have been one of the good pictures proudly shown toAlbrecht Durer during his 1521 visit,3 and when Mary ofHungary, governess of the Netherlands (and an early ownerof van Eycks Arnolfini Portrait), attempted to acquire thepainting from St. Donatians in 1547, the chapter respectfullybut firmly turned down her request, stating that the picturehad been a treasure of the city as well as of the church formany years, and that its removal would provoke moans, pro-tests, uproar, and complaints among the inhabitants.4 Cer-tainly, the numbers of copies and derivations of the van derPaele Virgin indicate that it was readily available to and anenduring source of inspiration for generations of Brugesartists throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.5

    Indeed, the picture seems to have become emblematic of thecity, embodying its artistic prowess.In common with all van Eycks works, the painting tends to

    generate strings of superlatives from its commentators. Cer-tainly, the artists glittering vision, conjured simply from oil-bound colors on an oak panel, is a stupendous feat by anyaccount, securing its familiar place in the canon of Westernart history. Standing before the picture at the Groeningemu-seum in Bruges, the viewer is transported into van Eycksimagined but convincing world, an immersive experiencefostered by the painter himself: his reflected image in SaintGeorges shield (Fig. 2) cues the viewer to position himselfor herself in the same spot at which the painter purports tostand (three feet or so from the picture plane, directly oppo-site the Virgin).6 There, the beholder completes the circle offigures and thus becomes a participant in the visualizationmaterializing in the minds eye of van der Paele.7

    The interiority of this viewing experience is evoked in therich and extensive literature on the pictorial content of thevan der Paele Virgin.8 Van Eycks sophisticated illusionism

    gave scholars plenty to look at and ponder, and althoughErwin Panofsky was uncharacteristically subdued in hisresponse to the picture,9 many have attempted Panofsky-styleanalyses of the pictures iconographic complexities. Thebackground sculptures, the color scheme, the reflections,the canons spectacles, his gaze, the Virgins parrot, her nose-gay, as well as a veritable library of theological, liturgical, andclassical texts have all been declared, at one point or another,as key to unlocking the pictures meaning.However, in its modern museum setting, long divorced

    from its original location, we lose sight of the experience ofviewing the van der Paele Virgin in its intended environment.Its principal audiencethe colleagues of the man it com-memoratesobserved the painting in conjunction with thealtar he had endowed, the tomb where he was buried, thecelebration of masses he had funded, and within the churchto which he had been a generous benefactor. They scruti-nized the inscriptions that van Eyck painted on the frame,and they would have appreciated how cleverly and subtly res-onant the picture is of the commemorative traditions fromwhich it arises. With this in mind, and guided by a convictionshared with Hans Belting that images best reveal their mean-ing by how they were used,10 a more contextual approach isoffered here. While Belting made his assertion in connectionwith images predating the advent of Eyckian artistic self-awareness (exemplified in the Bruges painting both by thesignature on its frame and by the schilders reflected image inSaint Georges schild; Fig. 2),11 consideration of function andusage has proved a fruitful means of investigating Early Neth-erlandish art. Our inquiry into van Eycks work from this per-spective may provide a path to a clearer understanding ofwhat the picture meant in fifteenth-century Bruges and afirmer, more nuanced grasp of the nature of its paintersachievement.Discussions of the van der Paele Virgins function some-

    times assume that the painting was an altarpiece, interpretingits content, therefore, in terms of liturgical associations,12

    or that it was conceived as a focus for devotional medita-tion,13 or as a commemorative epitaph or memorial, placedabove its patrons grave.14 These interpretations are by nomeans mutually exclusive, but comparisons with contempo-rary objects suggest that the last proposal, that the paintingwas conceived primarily as a memorial, best explains why itlooks the way it does. Our conception of how artworks func-tioned as memorials has been greatly enriched by the workof mostly German and Dutch scholars inspired by OttoGerhard Oexles work on memoria and the commemorationof the dead in the premodern period,15 and although north-ern Netherlandish art has been extensively analyzed fromthis standpoint,16 that of the southern Netherlands hasbeen comparatively neglected.17 Therefore, it seems timely

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  • to reexamine the van der Paele Virgin in the light of thisresearch through consideration of the circumstances of itscreation, the question of its placement within St. Donatianschurch, and the precise nature of its memorializing role.

    Wall Memorials in the Burgundian Netherlands

    The van der Paele Virgins identification as a memorial ispartly based on comparisons with contemporary wall-mounted memorials, or epitaphs, as they are sometimestermed. In the Burgundian Netherlands it was common forthe likes of secular church canons, lower-ranking nobles, andwealthier members of the urban laity to be buried withinchurches or cloisters under flat tomb slabs and to have anaccompanying memorial installed above their grave in anearby wall or pier. One of the best-known and most fre-quently reproduced examples is a relief tablet commemorat-ing Jean du Bos (d. 1438) and his wife Catherine Bernarde(d. 1463), which was unearthed in 1825 at the site of theFranciscan convent in Tournai, a popular burial location forthe citys elite during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

    (Fig. 3).18 The deceased couple, together with their daugh-ter and namesake saints, John the Baptist and Catherine ofAlexandria, are shown before the seated Virgin and Child.Behind them, two angels hold up a cloth of honor withinscribed banderoles imploring Christ and his mother tobestow mercy on the couple. Carved across the sculptureslower edge, a four-line inscription states, Before here lie duBos and his wife, and records their death dates and Jeanspious foundation at the Franciscan convent church.19 Thesculpture is in reasonably good condition despite the loss ofsome figures heads during the Calvinist assault on Tournaiin August 1566.20

    Although the cultural patrimony of the Low Countries hassuffered alarming levels of loss and destruction, similar memo-rial tablets survive in surprising numbers, particularly in itssouthern provinces, where over two hundred remain, mostnotably at Mons, Soignies, and Tournai in Belgium and at St-Omer in northern France.21 There are many variations on thetype of monument represented by the du BosBernarde relief,but its size, format, and imagery are fairly standard. As their

    1 Jan van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele, ca. 143436, oil on oak panel, 55 69 in. (141 177 cm).Groeningemuseum, Bruges (artwork in the public domain; photograph by Dominique Provost, LukasArt in Flanders VZW)

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  • example shows, these works were installed above graves andserved to commemorate the deceased interred below. Theypreserved the memory of the departed and functioned as per-manent, public reminders to the living to pray for their souls.The vast majority of extant wall memorials are sculptures,

    but there is ample evidence, both from documents and ahandful of existing works, that they could equally take theform of paintings. Some of the earliest surviving Netherland-ish panel paintings are memorials, and although very fewsuch works now survive, the frequency with which theyare mentioned in wills and other written sources indicates thatthey were once a common sight in Netherlandish churches.22

    One key remaining example commemorates Pieter van derMeulen (d. 1459), dean of St. Pauls collegiate church in Liege(Fig. 4).23 He is depicted kneeling before the enthronedVirgin and Child, opposite Mary Magdalene, with Saints Peterand Paulhis namesake and the dedicatee of his church,respectivelylooking on from behind. The panels memorial-izing function is conveyed by the inscription painted on thelower edge of its frame:

    Here is buried the distinguished master Pieter van derMeulen, doctor of law, dean and canon at the churches ofSt. Paul in Liege and St. Savior in Utrecht, who died in theyear of Our Lord 1459, on the 23rd day of the month ofMay. May his soul rest in peace.24

    Van der Meulens memorial is apparently the only extantpanel painting predating Charles the Bolds sack of Liege in1468, but what makes it doubly rare is that the actual graveslab over which the picture originally hung, and under whichvan der Meulen was interred, also remains at St. Pauls(Fig. 5). The text with which the slab is inscribed is similar tothat on the pictures frame and leaves no doubt that the twomonuments were in close proximity.25

    Until recently, discussion of the possibility of pictures serv-ing as grave memorials has been somewhat lacking in the lit-erature on Early Netherlandish painting despite the fact thatcelebrated practitioners like Rogier van der Weyden, HansMemling, Hugo van der Goes, and Simon Marmion areknown to have produced such works. Jan van Eyck is the oneexception, since a number of his key paintings have beeninterpreted in terms of their possible memorializing func-tions. For example, in the light of typological links betweenLeal Souvenir (National Gallery, London) and Romantombstones,26 it has been surmised that the picture is a post-humous portrait.27 Ludovic Nys and Daniel Lievois proposedthat it was a tomb picture, hung above the grave of thereceiver-general of Flanders and Artois, Godevaert deWilde.28 The intercessional imagery of the Virgin and Childwith Nicolas Rolin (Musee du Louvre, Paris) and its docu-mented presence in 1705 in the church of Notre-Dame-du-Cha^tel at Autun, which was substantially rebuilt and endowedby Rolin and the site of his grave, have led some to concludethat the painting was created specifically to serve as his defacto epitaph there.29 Even the famed Arnolfini Portrait(National Gallery, London) was reinterpreted by MargaretKoster as a posthumous memorial to Giovanni di NicolaoArnolfinis wife, Costanza Trenta, who had died by 1433, theyear before the portrait was painted.30 Koster did not

    speculate as to where and how it was displayed as a memorial,but it is clear, from the example of van Eycks two Saint Fran-cis pictures bequeathed by Anselm Adornes to his daughtersin 1470, that paintingsunlike sculpted tabletsdid notnecessarily have to be associated with burial places in orderto fulfill a memorializing role. Adornes instructed his daugh-ters, both nuns, to have portraits of him and his wife paintedon the little shutters attached to the two pictures, and speci-fied that they had to be good likenesses, so that they andother devout persons may remember us.31

    Given the interest in memorializing aspects of van Eycksoeuvre, the lost Virgin and Child with Nicolas van Maelbeke, hisonly picture securely documented as installed above itspatrons grave, is of especial relevance. As Susan Jones dem-onstrated, the painting, probably completed around vanEycks death in 1441, was a memorial to Nicolas van Mael-beke, provost of St. Martins church in Ypres, who died in1445.32 The picture, lost in the revolutionary upheavals ofthe 1790s, had been very well known, attracting the attentionof several writers from the mid-sixteenth century onward.33

    Its appearance is recorded in various copies, apparently mostaccurately in a triptych made for Petrus Wyts (d. 1629), can-tor of St. Martins (Fig. 6).34 That the original was placedabove van Maelbekes grave, in an analogous manner to vander Meulens picture (Fig. 4), is evident from its inscription,transcribedsomewhat inaccuratelyin 1720 by an anony-mous British traveler: it records that the picture marked the

    2 Van Eyck, detail of Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele,showing Saint Georges shield (artwork in the public domain;photograph by Dominique Provost, LukasArt in FlandersVZW)

    VAN EYCK , VAN DER PAELE , AND THE ART OF COMMEMORAT ION 267

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  • provosts grave, that it was made by Jan van Eyck, painter ofthe duke of Burgundy, and that it was installed in 1441.35 Asboth the van der Meulen and van Maelbeke pictures demon-strate, it is the presence of a commemorative inscription,identifying the individual portrayed and recording that per-sons death and burial place, that approximates to a definingcharacteristic of these painted equivalents to the sculptedmemorials, like the du BosBernarde tablet (Fig. 3), whichpopulated Netherlandish churches and cloisters.

    Canon Joris van der Paele and His Foundations

    A starting point in determining whether or not the van derPaele Virgin had an analogous function and setting to theabove-discussed examples is provided by its original engagedoak frame, where documentation of the pictures author,patron, date, and commission appears in the form of thecoats of arms and Latin inscriptions that van Eyck paintedthere. The lateral frame texts recount the legends of SaintsDonatian and George;36 the one spanning the upper frameis a quotation from Wisdom praising the Virgin,37 but mostinformative is the lower frame inscription, which states:

    Master Joris van der Paele, canon of this church, has hadthis work made by the painter Jan van Eyck, and hefounded here two chaplaincies (to be served by) the clergyof the choir, (in the year) of Our Lord 1434, but the workwas completed in 1436.38

    The patrons identity is reinforced by the van der Paele coatsof arms (featuring crossed bakers peels, pala in Latin) andthose of his mothers family, Carlins, which appear at eachcorner of the frame, painted in imitation of enameledshields.39

    X-radiographic examination of the lower frame inscriptionrevealed that some of the poorly preserved central portionwas altered and repainted: below the words de i gmo choriare traces of letters that do not correspond to the visible text,

    while the area where duas capellias appears is so damagedthat it was impossible to discern what was originally written.40

    Nonetheless, the information supplied by the inscription islargely corroborated by documents from St. Donatians,which confirm that van der Paele indeed founded two chap-laincies in gremio chori (meaning that his services were per-formed by chaplains who participated in choir services, asopposed to those who only serviced other altars extra chorum).However, just one chaplaincy dates from 1434: the canon didnot receive permission to found his second chaplaincy untilMay 1441, although it was not actually established until 1443,well after van Eycks death in the summer of 1441. While theprecise chronology of the inscriptions execution may beclarified only with further technical analysis, it seems likelythat it was altered sometime shortly after May 1441.41 Sincethe creation of the painting was manifestly connected to aparticular set of circumstances, it is worth reexamining themin detail. Alfons Dewitte and Maximiliaan Martens providedinvaluable accounts of van der Paeles pious enterprise;42

    what follows reiterates, expands, and clarifies their findings.Joris van der Paeles biography can be reconstructed to a

    considerable extent, primarily because of his career as acanon.43 Secular canons (as opposed to canons regular) arean especially well-documented category of patron, since theirprominent role within Burgundian society means that it isfrequently possible to trace their education, travels, profes-sional activities, and even their artistic and literary tastes to agreater degree than their lay counterparts. In van der Paelescase, despite his illegitimacy (not uncommon among can-ons) and the fact that, unusually, he appears not to haveattended university, he enjoyed a respectable career as ascribe at the papal curia in Rome from 1396, which appar-ently earned him the title of magister recorded in his picturesinscription. The presence of his uncle, Joos (d. 1402), acanon of St. Donatians from 1364,44 probably helped securehis own appointment to the chapter in 1387, as well as that ofhis brother, also called Joos, who remained a chaplain until

    3 Memorial tablet of Jean du Bos andCatherine Bernarde, ca. 1438, Tournailimestone relief, 34 52 in. (87 132 cm). Notre-Dame Cathedral,Tournai (artwork in the public domain;photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

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  • his death in 1413. During the Western Schism, van derPaeles loyalty to Rome cost him his prebend in 1394, whenBruges followed its ruler, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, in rec-ognizing the reestablished Avignon papacy. Van der Paelewas reinstated at St. Donatians in 1410 by Antipope JohnXXIII, and following the Schisms resolution with Martin Vselection, the canon retired from the curia and returned toBruges in July 1418.Concerns of mortality lay behind the establishment of van

    der Paeles chaplaincy in 1434, since on September 9 of thatyear, St. Donatians chapter relieved him from church atten-dance without penalizing his income, due to his age andinfirmity.45 Previously, illness had hindered his regular atten-dance at matins in November 1431,46 and his continuingsickness relieved him of the obligation to attend the annualchapter meeting in July 1437.47 In fact, the sickly canon, reg-ularly described as infirmus in the chapter registers, survivedfor another nine years, dying in 1443 (outliving van Eyck bynearly two years).48

    On September 13, 1434, four days after being excused forill health, van der Paele founded a perpetual chaplaincy atSt. Donatians. The foundation charter (App. 1) sets out atlength and in detail the financial terms and logisticalarrangements agreed between the canon and the dean andchapter of St. Donatians.49 The purpose of van der Paeleschaplaincy, founded in honor of almighty God and the

    glorious mother of His son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the evervirgin Mary, the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, the martyrGeorge, and our most holy archbishop, father and patron,Donatian, and all the holy men and women of God, was toensure the salvation and good of his soul and the souls ofhis parents and benefactors. For this purpose, three weeklymasses were to be said: on Mondays a requiem mass, onWednesdays a mass of the season or of a feast which mayoccur, and on Fridays a mass of the Holy Cross. These wereto take place at the altar of the blessed apostles Peter andPaul, situated in the nave of the church at the south side.After van der Paeles death, the chaplain was required, atthe end of each mass, to approach his tomb and there, withaspersion of blessed water, to read the psalm Miserere meiDeus or De profundis with the Collect for the Dead for hisdevotion. The chaplain charged with these responsibilities,to be appointed by van der Paele in the first instance, wouldbe an ordained priest (or become so within a year of hisappointment) of a status equivalent to the choir chaplains;he was to enjoy the honors and liberties, but also bear theburdens and services, of the choir. As was conventional, thecharter details the financial penalties in the event of anyerrors or failings on the part of the chaplain in his duties. Italso records that, because he did not have perpetual rentsor lands with which he might accomplish his intention, vander Paele had donated monies of 72 of Flemish groten to

    4 Memorial painting of Pieter van derMeulen, Liege? ca. 145960, oil on oakpanel, 46 43 in. (117 111.5 cm).St-Paul Cathedral, Liege, Treasury(artwork in the public domain;photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

    VAN EYCK , VAN DER PAELE , AND THE ART OF COMMEMORAT ION 269

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  • create an endowment yielding 3 groten per year to fund thechaplaincy. He also gave a further 125 groten to be con-verted and applied to the needs and use of our said church,as seems most useful and promised to provide the chap-laincy with service book, chalice, ornaments, and necessaryvestments.To commemorate his foundation, van der Paele commis-

    sioned van Eyck to paint the panel around this time, but thepicture, of considerable size, was not completed until 1436,the second date inscribed on its frame.50 The foundationreceived formal approval from Pope Eugene IV in a bull ofSeptember 6, 1438, addressed to the abbot of Ter Doest,near Bruges. On April 29, 1439, the abbot conveyed Eugenesletter and confirmed van der Paeles right to nominate thecandidate for his chaplaincy; this privilege would pass to St.Donatians chapter after the canons death.51

    Six years later, on September 13, 1440, the Acta capitulirecord that van der Paele donated a further 100 groten topay for annual breakfasts for his colleagues on the anniversa-ries of both his funeral and the death of his brother, Joos. Healso received permission to install a slab over his brothersgrave, which lay next to that of their late uncle.52 Van derPaeles own eventual burial place (unmentioned in the 1434charter) is stated as being under a slab in the nave of thechurch on the north side of the altar of Saints Peter andPaul, at which he founded a perpetual chaplaincy. Latersources suggest that his gravestone, lost by an early date, wasconventional in form, featuring an engraved image of thecanon, two coats of arms, and an inscription, with an appar-ently incomplete death date, indicating that it was made dur-ing his lifetime.53

    On May 8, 1441, a month before van Eycks death, van derPaele received permission to found a second chaplaincy,54

    although it was not actually established until January 30,1443. It is clear from the foundation charter (App. 2)55 thatit was intended to augment the 1434 arrangements, which itcites, by providing masses on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays,and Saturdays, the four days of the week not covered in thefirst chaplaincy. The terms more or less replicate those of1434, with the additional requirement that candles be placedon the tombstones of van der Paele and his brother on theiranniversaries. Jooss anniversary, on the Vigil of the blessedapostles Peter and Paul (June 28), explains why the saintsaltar was selected for the chaplaincies.56 Unlike the first foun-dation, the 1443 chaplaincy was funded from various localproperties situated northeast of Bruges, which van der Paelemust have acquired specifically for this purpose. The alloca-tions of these lands and their annual revenues are outlinedin meticulous detail: 66 parisis were to support the chaplainresponsible for the masses, 96 parisis went to the office ofthe obedientiary, and 18 parisis went to the church fabric tofund the bread, wine, and candles for the masses and tomaintain and, if necessary, replace the altars liturgical orna-ments. Despite van der Paeles considerable expenditure, theincome from these properties by 1447 had depreciated to aninsufficient level to maintain the foundation.57 In 1494, itwas decided that Canon Bernardijn Salviatis newly foundedmass at the Sts. James and Philip altar was to be performedby the van der Paele foundations oldest chaplain,58 perhapsto augment his income.The liturgical objects and textiles that van der Paele gave

    in connection with his two foundations are listed in St. Dona-tians inventories, one undated but probably made sometimeafter January 1443,59 and two others from 1462 and 1538.60

    Among his donations were a silver-gilt chalice and paten, twosilver flasks, two corporals, two candlesticks, a missal with astand, an ivory and cypress pax, and a portable stone altar.He provided two sets of vestments, including two chasubles,one in red and one in black, along with two antependia withmatching sets of altar curtains, one in white and red clothand one in black and red silk. Van der Paele further assertedhis presence at the masses said in his memory by having thechalice and chasubles decorated with his coats of arms. OnSeptember 11, 1441, he also donated a silver-gilt and rockcrystal reliquary containing relics of Saints Christopher,Ursula, and others. Recorded in later inventories, it was inthe form of a tower surmounted by a crucifix with the figureof Saint George below, and it, too, bore the canons arms.61

    The 1434 and 1443 foundations and the associated dona-tions amount to a concerted campaign by van der Paele toguarantee his remembrance. His motivations are plainlyexpressed in the 1443 charter, which declares that his chap-laincy was founded because he was

    contemplating with prudent forethought that the fragilityof the human condition is vulnerable to uncertainty, andthat we do not have here an enduring city, but rather seekthat which is to come, namely the heavenly Jerusalem, inwhich, after the course of this life has run, each willreceive mercy according to his works.

    Establishing foundations of masses were the works widelyperceived as the single most effective means to preserve ones

    5 Grave slab of Pieter van der Meulen, ca. 145960, incisedMeuse valley limestone, 94 55 in. (240 141 cm). St-PaulCathedral, Liege (artwork in the public domain; photographprovided by the author)

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  • memoria. Van der Paele was by no means unique among hisfellow clerics in his effortsindeed, his late brother, Joos,had endowed plainsong performances at St. Donatians in140162but the ailing canon seems to have devoted all hisenergy and resources to securing his souls salvation duringhis latter years. Moreover, his patronage was not confined toSt. Donatians. One perk of being a canon was the ability toaccumulate prebends and benefices at different locationsconcurrently without needing to reside in each. Van derPaele enjoyed numerous canonries and chaplainries, and heno doubt funded his Bruges foundations from their reve-nues.63 At least two locations were also recipients of thecanons benefaction: St-Omers collegiate church of St.Omer, where he bequeathed money for stained glass, andMaastrichts collegiate church of St. Servatius, where heestablished a pious foundation in 1431, perhaps alreadymindful of his deteriorating health.64 Nonetheless, Bruges,as his main residence and eventual burial place, was the prin-cipal site of his memoria provisions and, hence, the intendedlocation for van Eycks painting. Through his prudent fore-thought van der Paele had ensured that comprehensive pro-vision was in place for the care of his soul and those of hispredeceased family: masses would be performed, prayerswould be said, and his grave would be sprinkled with holywater, on a daily basis in perpetuity.

    The Van der Paele Virgin in St. Donatians Church

    The van der Paele Virgin was admired in St. Donatianschurch for over three hundred years, and from the sixteenthcentury onward it is possible to trace its history and where-abouts to a remarkable degree. During the religious upheav-als of 1578 the picture was safely kept in the home of a goodcitizen of Bruges;65 when the church was restored in 15881600, the painting was mounted in a retabelwerk with sidewings on the high altar to replace the silver retable donatedby Margaret of Artois, countess of Flanders (d. 1382), whichhad been removed and melted down.66 Pieter Stevens, ownerof van Eycks Albergati portrait (Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna), recorded sometime between about 1628 and 1643that he had seen the van der Paele Virgin in the sacristy andthat it used to be on the high altar.67 It was also described asthe old painting of the high altar when placed on the newSt. Macharius altar in 1643.68

    The paintings arrival and original placement at St. Dona-tians, though, remain uncertain, since it is not mentioned inany of the known documents concerning van der Paelesfoundations. Of itself, this is unsurprising; van Eycks GhentAltarpiece is similarly absent from the Vijd foundation docu-ments at St. Johns church, Ghent.69 The prime concern ofsuch texts was to establish the practical arrangements neces-sary for the foundations implementation, and since vanEycks painting (regardless of whether or not it was an altar-piece) was not liturgically necessary to his chaplaincies, ithad no place in the written testimony of their establishment.Likewise, it is unsurprising that the painting should be absentfrom subsequent inventories listing van der Paeles donatedliturgical objects, since their purpose was principally torecord the churchs small, movable, and intrinsically valuablepossessionstextiles, plate, books, reliquaries, and the like.

    The dearth of documentation has led to assumptions thatthe painting was initially kept in the canons home and onlyinstalled in St. Donatians following his death.70 There is nodirect evidence to support this notion, and since van derPaeles last will and testament remains untraced, it is impossi-ble to verify (if it even mentioned the picture).71 Certainly,ample evidence exists that domestic pictures were sometimesconverted into memorials, usually by adding a commemora-tive inscription, and publicly displayed above their ownersgraves; such a scenario could explain how the Rolin Virgincame to be at Notre-Dame-du-Cha^tel church, Autun, whereits commissioner was buried.72 Yet the size alone of the vander Paele Virginit is van Eycks largest extant single-panelpainting73implies it was intended for public display fromthe outset, and its lower frame inscription is obviously aimedat an audience other than the canon of this church whohad founded two chaplaincies here. Moreover, in view ofvan der Paeles chronic sickness and continued nonatten-dance at the church, van Eycks vivid depiction must alsohave served as the canons de facto surrogate during his

    6 Central panel of the Wyts Triptych (copy after Jan van EycksVirgin and Child with Nicolas van Maelbeke), ca. 1629, oil on panel,69 39 in. (175.5 99.1 cm). Groeningemuseum, Bruges(artwork in the public domain; photograph Hugo Maertens, LukasArt in Flanders VZW)

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  • declining years, securing his memoria both before and afterhis death.The reference in the frame inscription to the chaplaincies

    founded here explicitly connects the painting to the altarof Sts. Peter and Paul, the site of van der Paeles foundations.This altar was located in St. Donatians nave in the fifteenthcentury; it is referred to there in the foundation documents,and the first explicit reference to the painting, Mary ofHungarys attempted acquisition in 1547, also situates itthere.74 The question of its exact position has caused confu-sion, though, since the altar has usually been conflated withthe chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul, whichbased on later

    records of van der Paeles gravestoneis generally taken tobe the second chapel from the south door on the nave aisle(Fig. 7, no. 1), described in the 1462 inventory as the Arboischapel, after its founder, Philippe dArbois, bishop of Tour-nai (d. 1378).75 However, Winfried Wilhelmy found thatthere was no nave chapel dedicated to Peter and Paul at St.Donatians in the fifteenth century. It did not come intobeing until the sixteenth century, when the Peter and Paulaltar was shifted to a chapel on the north side of the ambula-tory (Fig. 7, no. 2), constructed in about 148084 at theexpense of Martin Lem, burgomaster of Bruges.76 Only in1643 did the van der Paele Virgin find its way into this chapel,when it was installed on the new St. Macharius altar there.77

    Additionally, Wilhelmy noted that the seventeenth- and eigh-teenth-century records of van der Paeles tombstonewhichwas lost long before these records were compiledcontra-dict each other.78 Analyzing instead the 1462 and 1538 inven-tories of movable items in the nave chapels, he showed thatthe Peter and Paul altar was one of a series of altars setagainst the nave piers and whose belongings were stored inthe adjacent chapels. The 1462 inventory records that theArbois chapel, as well as containing its own altars items,housed the ornaments of the altar of the apostles Peter andPaul, in which the shrine was given by master Georgius dePala.79 Wilhelmy, presuming that van Eycks panel sur-mounted the Peter and Paul altar, proposed that it was setagainst a pier on the north side of the nave, where thepaintings lighting scheme would reflect its illuminationfrom the north aisle windows.80

    Wilhelmys distinction between the chapels and pier altarsis crucial,81 but his placement of the altar on the north sidecontradicts van der Paeles foundation documents, whichstate that it was on the south side of the nave. Clarification isprovided by the unpublished 1416 will of Pieter de Nayere, achaplain of St. Donatians who had also endowed the Peterand Paul altar. In his will, de Nayere elected to be buried inthe nave of the church, between the altar of the apostlesPeter and Paul and the chapel of master PhilippedArbois.82 Clearly, the altar was not contained within theArbois chapel and was sufficiently apart from it that the inter-vening space could accommodate de Nayeres tomb. All evi-dence indicates that the altar was set against a pier on thesouth side of the nave (Fig. 7, no. 3), adjacent to the Arboischapel,83 and its two benefactors, Joris van der Paele andPieter de Nayere, were buried at either side of it, in the cen-tral and right aisles of the nave respectively.

    The Van der Paele Virgin and the Altar of Sts. Peter and PaulErnst Gombrichs juxtaposition of the van der Paele Virginwith Domenico Venezianos Saint Lucy Altarpiece has cometo be used as a textbook contrast between Renaissance artnorth and south of the Alps.84 Van Eycks painting conformsto Italo-centric preconceptions of what an altarpiece lookslike, leading to its frequent characterization as a northernsacra conversazione,85 and while some consensus exists that thepicture was memorializing, it is still periodically referred toas an altarpiece.86 It was certainly used as such after the reli-gious upheavals of the late sixteenth century, but there is nodirect evidence that it was originally conceived as an altar-piece. Problems of survival preclude firm assertions, but the

    7 Plan of St. Donatians church, from Pierre de Molo, Recueilde tous les tombeaux, epitaphes et pierres sepulchrales qui ontexiste dans la ci-devant eglise cathedrale de S. Donas a Bruges,ca. 1785, 17 10 in. (43.5 27 cm). Stadsbibliotheek,Bruges, MS 595 II, fol. 19r (artwork in the public domain;photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

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  • pictures format is arguably rather unusual for a Netherland-ish altarpiece in 1436. Of the few known remaining, or docu-mented, contemporary altarpieces, hardly any assume quitethe same single-panel, rectangular format, comprising onevisual field, as does the van der Paele Virgin. Early Nether-landish altarpieces generally adopted a multipanel and/oran inverted T-shaped form, often incorporating sculpture.87

    Exceptional as it is, the Ghent Altarpiece, dated 1432, is amultipanel triptych, while Jacques Darets contributions tothe St-Vaast Altarpiece, completed in 1435, consisted ofpainted wings for a central, inverted T-shaped, sculpted cor-pus.88 Moreover, unlike Italian, Spanish, and German altar-pieces, the imagery in most Netherlandish examples tendedto be narrative rather than iconic in character. Later, thelikes of Hans Memling and Gerard David frequently paintedaltarpieces with Eyckian Virgins at their center, but in thefirst half of the fifteenth century it seems that Crucifixionsand other narrative scenes predominated in altarpieces,while the Virgin and Child were primarily employed as inter-cessional or devotional images.Not only is the van der Paele Virgins form dissimilar from

    contemporary altarpieces but also the saints to whom thealtar was dedicated are conspicuous in their absence.89 Thecanons decision to site his chaplaincies at the Peter and Paulaltar was due to the eve of their feast coinciding with hisbrothers anniversary, but had he intended to equip it with anew altarpiece, one would expect the saints to feature moreprominently in the imagery. Van Eyck subtly alluded to themby making Peter the uppermost apostle embroidered onSaint Donatians orphreys, implying, therefore, that Paulmust be on the (invisible) opposite side,90 but Saints Dona-tian and George clearly dominate. Furthermore, there is noevidence that van der Paele ever sought to have the altarrededicated to his own favored saints as other, later canonsof St. Donatians are known to have done for the altars theyendowed.91

    In fact, there was an altarpiece on the Peter and Paul altar,but it seems not to have been van Eycks painting. Martensfound a reference in the 1439 accounts of St. Donatians forcleaning the exterior of the retable on the altar of the apos-tles Peter and Paul.92 It is unclear precisely what this refersto, but there are no signs of any hinging mechanisms on thevan der Paele Virgins frame, nor are there records of it everhaving wings or covers.93 It would be strange for a paintingthat was then only three years old to need cleaning so soon,and stranger still for van der Paele not to fund the work him-self. At the very least, one would expect to see his name men-tioned in the account, particularly as the next item, paymentfor the repair of a missal, specifically names the booksdonor, Pieter de Nayere, who had also endowed the altar andwas buried nearby.94

    Much more persuasive associations can be made betweenthe van der Paele Virgin and contemporary wall-mountedmemorials, like that installed above the grave of Jean du Bosand Catherine Bernarde (Fig. 3). Several scholars have notedthat it and other Tournai memorials share the Brugespaintings form and content: Panofsky, for one, found thesefunerary monuments to be hardly distinguishable fromvan Eycks nonfunerary painting.95 Indeed, the Brugespictures illustrative pairing with sculpted memorials to the

    lay citizens of Tournai has become an alternative to its juxta-position with Domenicos altarpiece and forms the basis ofits categorization as an epitaph.96 It is worth rememberingthat van Eyck was in Tournai in 1427, when he was honoredby the citys painters, and that he was living in nearby Lille,where sculpted wall memorials were also common, between1425 and 1428.97

    However, it is important to note that this particular form offunerary monument was also especially popular with canons,accounting for more than one-third of surviving southernNetherlandish memorials. In some locations, like St-Omer,the wall-mounted tablet came to be a standard means bywhich canons were commemorated. Consequently, in view ofvan der Paeles vocation, his painting can be appropriatelycompared with other canons memorials, such as that ofMichel Ponche (Fig. 8), made for the collegiate church of St.Omer.98 Carved in black Tournai stone, it shows Ponche withthe Archangel Michael and Saint Omer before the Virginand Child. The inscription carved across its lower edgenames the canon buried below, records his death on Decem-ber 23, 1436, and entreats the viewer to pray for his soul.99

    Although no longer in its original position, it is probablythe certain representation in marble work that Poncherequested permission from St. Omers dean and chapter in1431 to install in the nave beneath the stained-glass windowwhich he had had glazed.100

    8 Memorial tablet of Michel Ponche, ca. 143136, Tournailimestone relief, 58 35 in. (149 90 cm). St-OmerCathedral (artwork in the public domain; photograph by theauthor)

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  • Compositionally, Ponches sculpture and van der Paelespainting are strikingly similar: both represent the kneelingcanon, observed by his institutions dedicatee saint, beingpresented by his namesake saint to the Virgin seated on acanopied throne. The comparison is particularly apt sincevan der Paele, in addition to his canonry in Bruges, alsobelonged to the chapter of St. Omer, having been a nonresi-dent canon since 1418, when he swapped two prebends atCologne for a more lucrative one at St-Omer.101 He mayhave personally known Michel Ponche from the annual gen-eral chapter meetings convened each September. Further-more, like Ponche, van der Paele paid for stained glass atSt. Omer. He bequeathed funds for making a stained-glasswindow in the church, in which there are images of SaintsGeorge and Donatian, and the same Master George with hisarms.102 The glass, now lost, was made in 144849 andinstalled in one of the crossing windows.103 Its dimensionsbetween 69 and 91 square feet (21 and 28 square meters)and its costmore than 26 (nearly a third of the valueof van der Paeles St. Omer benefice)may indicate that hefunded the glazing of an entire bay, comprising five or sixlancets.104

    The potential implications are fascinating: Might van Eyckor his patron have had the Ponche monument in mind whenplanning the Bruges painting? Apparently the earliest suchmemorial at St-Omer, Ponches tablet is of high quality(albeit obscured by nineteenth-century polychromy) and washeld in almost as high a regard there as van Eycks paintingwas at St. Donatians: it exerted an enduring influence onlater sculpted tablets at St-Omer, and the chapter was still see-ing to its maintenance in 149091.105 Survival rates notwith-standing, the paucity of similar memorials in Bruges suggeststhey were still a rarity there in the 1430s. Conversely, since itis uncertain at which point between 1431 and 1436 the

    Ponche memorial was made, it could equally represent aresponse to the van der Paele Virgin.Van der Paeles painting clearly has much in common with

    his colleagues memorial at St-Omer, and it is therefore rea-sonable to see the panel as an extraordinarily deluxe paintedequivalent of the Ponche tablet, akin to the van der Meulenand van Maelbeke memorial paintings (Figs. 4, 6). Moreover,its funerary character is conveyed through the frame inscrip-tions pertaining to Saints Donatian and George, both ofwhich emphasize triumph over death,106 and perhaps by thearchitecture depicted, evocative of centrally planned mauso-leums.107 With this in mind, and in the absence of compel-ling evidence for it having been an altarpiece, it is proposedthat the van der Paele Virgin was intended not to surmountthe Sts. Peter and Paul altar but to be placed perpendicularto it, attached to the left, northerly side of the pier, directlyoverlooking the canons grave (Fig. 7, no. 3). A seventeenth-century depiction of St. Donatians nave seems to show atleast that the piers were large enough for large-scale paint-ings to be attached to their inner sides (Fig. 9).108 Placedagainst the north side of the pier, van Eycks picture, consis-tently painted as though lit from the left, would have had theappearance of being perpetually illuminated from the eastend of the church. It would also mean that the direction ofvan der Paeles peculiarly distant and much-discussed gazewould be directed toward the high altar, as well as to the Vir-gin and Child within his picture.109

    After performing their daily duties, the chaplains chargedwith celebrating the canons masses would step to the left ofthe altar and sprinkle his grave with holy water. They mighteven have stood in the position of the figure reflected inSaint Georges shield, thereby encroaching on the picturedrealm inhabited by van der Paele, while simultaneously con-necting him with the earthly realm he left behind. Since theretention of ones selfhood is a central tenet of the Christianconception of the afterlife, a memorials primary task is touphold that identity, keeping the deceased in the sight andminds of the living, ensuring that he is recognized as an indi-vidual, and preserving him from anonymity. Van der Paelesidentity is inscribed on the frame but visually reinforcedthroughout the picture, through the representation of hiscanonical dress,110 the inclusion of his institutional andnamesake saints, and the presence of his familial heraldry.Above all, though, his physical likeness makes the canonalmost palpably present in the nave of the church. Thus, asthe chaplains doused the site of van der Paeles mortalremains, reciting prayers in his memory, van Eycks astonish-ingly lifelike evocation above them powerfully reaffirmedtheir benefactors ongoing presence among the communityof St. Donatians.111

    Commemorating Foundations

    The texts on Ponches tablet and the van Maelbeke and vander Meulen Virgins recorded their donors death dates andexplicitly indicated their burial places (Figs. 4, 6, 8), but thevan der Paele Virgins inscription makes no mention ofits patrons decease or interment, a troubling omission ifindeed his painting should be understood as their directequivalent. However, since it describes the canons founda-tions, the picture may be profitably compared with other

    9 Jan Baptiste van Meunincxhove, View of the Interior of St. Dona-tian s Church, ca. 1696, oil on canvas marouflaged on panel,35 39 in. (90.4 100.2 cm). Groeningemuseum, Bruges(artwork in the public domain; photograph Hugo Maertens, LukasArt in Flanders VZW)

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  • monuments that similarly commemorate foundations. Oneof the most impressive, if least known, is an engraved brassplate made for the noble canoness Marguerite dEscornaix,abbess of St. Gertrudes at Nivelles, near Brussels.112 Its imag-ery employs the familiar formula for memorials, comprisingthe kneeling mortal with a patron saint before the Virgin andChild, although the accompanying inscriptionfire-dam-aged in 1940 but seen intact in prewar photographs (Fig. 10)like the Bruges picture contains no reference to itscommissioners death or burial. Instead, it describes in consid-erable detail a foundation of daily masses that MargueritedEscornaix had endowed in 1461, to be celebrated at thealtar of the Virgin in the abbeys chapel of St. Gertrude (on thewall by which the plate seems to have been originally set).113

    The choice of metal for Marguerite dEscornaixs memo-rial reflects a long-standing convention in the Netherlands ofusing inscribed brass plates to record pious or charitablefoundations. The inherent value and reusability of brass hasresulted in lamentable survival rates for such memorials; onlya handful still exist. For instance, Isabella of Portugal, duch-ess of Burgundy, instituted a series of pious foundations atvarious Carthusian monasteries, each of which was commem-orated with a brass plate showing her and her family withsaints before the Pieta, but only the one marking her 1433

    foundation at the Basel charterhouse remains.114 The otherplates are known from copies and appear to have been basedon a common model.115 Brass foundation plates did notnecessarily feature figurative imagery. At St. Martinschurch, Halle, near Brussels, the brass commemorating the1423 foundation of daily masses of the Burgundian courtier,diplomat, and knight of the Golden Fleece Guillebert deLannoy116 simply consists of a text plate set within a blackstone frame, carved with his coats of arms at each corner,analogous to those on the van der Paele Virgins frame(Fig. 11).117 His brother, Baudouin, was the subject of oneof van Eycks portraits, having accompanied the painter onthe 1428 ducal embassy to Portugal to negotiate Isabellasmarriage.118 Also at Halle, a similar text brass records thatGilles dEscornaix, provost of Nivelles (and MargueritedEscornaixs cousin), founded daily masses and providedcandles honoring the Virgin of Halle in 1448.119 He, too,participated in the 1428 embassy and was a canon of St.Donatians, having been nominated to the chapter in 1410,the year of van der Paeles reinstatement.120

    Documentary sources furnish additional evidence for theassociation of brass with foundations. Particularly revealing isthe 1418 will of the Tournai nobleman Pierre de Hauteville(whom one scholar proposed as the sitter for van Eycks LealSouvenir).121 It gave detailed instructions for de Hautevillesgrave in St. Jamess church, Tournai, including the provisionof 1 tournois for an accompanying relief memorial tablet,de pierre de marbre bis (Tournai limestone), to beinstalled in the wall above, showing him being presented by

    11 Foundation memorial of Guillebert de Lannoy, ca. 1423,engraved brass in black limestone frame, 31 24 in. (79 63 cm). St. Martins Basilica, Halle (artwork in the publicdomain; photograph provided by the author)

    10 Foundation memorial of Marguerite dEscornaix, abbess ofNivelles, ca. 1461, engraved brass, 47 32 in. (120 83 cm),in a view before 1940. Collegiate Church of Ste-Gertrude,Nivelles (artwork in the public domain; photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

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  • saints to the Trinity. He also bequeathed 4 tournois to theVerde Priore confraternity, based at the same church, so thatthey would hold requiem masses for him with a deacon andsubdeacon, at eight oclock in the morning and no later,attended by confraternity members wearing wreaths of leavesor flowers, after which they were to dine and drinktogether.122 Whereas the memorial above his grave was to bea carved stone relief in the manner of the du BosBernardetablet (Fig. 3), de Hauteville explicitly instructed his execu-tors, for perpetual memory of the foundation, to have thedetails of his bequest to the confraternity inscribed on a tab-let to be made of brass123presumably a text plate likethat of Guillebert de Lannoy (Fig. 11). For de Hauteville,therefore, the differing functions of his two monumentsone marking his mortal remains, the other commemoratinghis pious bequestwere to be fulfilled by different materials:stone for his grave memorial, brass for his foundationmemorial.The marked preference for brass in such contexts was a

    natural extension of the venerable tradition of tomb brasses,the manufacture of which was one of the chief specialties ofthe southern Netherlands in the late Middle Ages. Its specificusage for memorializing foundations largely arose from itsinherent durability (desirable for a perpetual foundation),the ease with which it could be inscribed, and its attractivecolor and luster, which when polished was evocative ofgold.124 It was a costly and prestigious material, too, indi-cated by its use for memorials to such members and associ-ates of the court as Duchess Isabella, Gilles dEscornaix, andGuillebert de Lannoy, and for several important Burgundiansepulchral monuments, most famously, that of Mary of Bur-gundy in Bruges.125 Ducal patrons increasingly favored metalover stone for tombs, perhaps because of the relative speedwith which they could be created and the challenges of sourc-ing large, flawless blocks of alabaster or marble in northernEurope.126 Indeed, it might be said that brass was seen assomething of a courtly medium by the later fifteenth century.In relation to the van der Paele Virgin, the association of

    brass with foundations is intriguing, since the pictureswooden frame is illusionistically painted on all four sides

    with what looks to be an inscribed brass band. The framespresent appearance, though, is rather different from its origi-nal state: a cleaning test on the lower edge of the frame(Fig. 12), just above the xxxiiij of the foundation date, showsthat the brass band was originally slightly wider than it nowappears.127 At some point following its completion (perhapswhen installed on the high altar in the late sixteenth cen-tury), the original frame was gilded. The inscriptions andheraldic shields were left visible, but the gilding was rathersloppily applied, overlapping the lettering in places, particu-larly at the edges of punctuation and contraction marks.Later, it was evidently decided to tone down the framesappearance with the application of a semitransparent layerof an unidentified medium over the gilding; it is this toninglayer that accounts for the dull gold color of the frame today.The labels identifying Saints Donatian and George on theslope of the lower side of the frame (Fig. 1) must be lateradditions, painted around the time of the gilding but leftvisible when the toning layer was added.128

    In its original state, the van der Paele Virgins frame wouldhave looked rather more like that of van Eycks 1436 Jan deLeeuw portrait (Fig. 13). Given the Bruges pictures context,though, it seems that by simulating brass in this way, van Eyckwas evoking contemporary memorials that, like the canonspicture, were made to commemorate foundations. Brass wasnot solely used in foundation plates, but considering theexplicit association between van der Paeles chaplaincies andthe painting, as well as the predilection for brass in founda-tion memorials, van Eycks decision to imitate it on the frame

    12 Van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele, detail of thelower frame, showing a cleaning test (artwork in the publicdomain; photograph by the author)

    13 Van Eyck, Jan de Leeuw, 1436, oil on oak panel, 13 10 in.(33 27.5 cm). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (artwork inthe public domain; photograph provided by KunsthistorischesMuseum, Vienna)

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  • is meaningful. The clerics and churchgoers of St. Donatianswould have admired the verisimilitude of the artists illusoryinscriptions as much as the modern viewer does, but the pres-ence of brass in this memorializing context was wholly appro-priate and undoubtedly resonated as such for its intendedaudience.

    The Lettering of the Frame Inscriptions

    As Erika Boeckeler has recently noted, the pictorial aspects oftexts found on early modern paintings have generallyreceived insufficient critical attention,129 and while it is com-monly acknowledged that inscriptions constitute a centralaspect of van Eycks oeuvre,130 the texts with which the vander Paele Virgins frame is inscribed warrant further consider-ation, especially since they employ two distinct epigraphicstyles, most easily seen in the engraving published by W. H.James Weale (Fig. 14). The texts referring to the saints andVirgin along the sides and top are written in hybrid Romaniz-ing majuscules with occasional uncials,131 but that along thelower edge, recording the canons foundations and van Eycksauthorship, employs a kind of Gothic textura quadrata.132

    Van Eyck habitually used Romanizing majuscule inscrip-tions, including in Leal Souvenir, Jan de Leeuw, and (if theseventeenth-century copy accurately records the original)the van Maelbeke Virgin (Figs. 6, 13).133 The lettering isunmistakably archaic in style: its clarity and neatness,together with specific details like the square C and the A witha forked cross stroke and lengthened head stroke, have beenidentified as typical of the later twelfth century.134 The Brugespanels top and side frame inscriptions are akin to those onthe interior of the Ghent Altarpiece, especially in the gildedarches of the central Deesis group, which recall RomanesqueMosan reliquary shrines.135 Van Eycks audience would have

    interpreted this pre-Gothic script as being old in a generalway, calling to mind the lettering still visible on funerarymonuments and inscriptions in Brugess churches. By deliber-ately using this archaizing style, van Eyck engendered a senseof timelessness or authority, resonant of the generalized dis-tant past. Since the inscriptions are excerpted from ancienttexts relating to the Virgin and two saints, this sense of timeimmemorial is entirely fitting and parallels van Eycks depic-tions of Romanesque architecture.136

    By contrast, the textura quadrata employed for the van derPaele Virgins lower frame inscription rarely appears in vanEycks oeuvre; as Maurits Smeyers noted, in most cases VanEyck consciously distanced himself from the Gothic minus-cule, the contemporary epigraphical script-form.137 It musthave appeared modern to the paintings viewers, especiallywhen judged against the hybrid majuscule texts adjacent,and certainly would have been familiar from recent monu-ments that employed such script; such Gothic lettering isubiquitous on the fifteenth-century memorials, in all media,discussed thus far (for example, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11).138

    The use of these two contrasting epigraphic styles is neatlyparalleled by a gravestone in the church of St. Servatius,Maastricht, where van der Paele held a canonry (Fig. 15).The slab features two inscriptions indicating that it markedthe graves of both Renier van Oud-Valkenborgh, dean of thechapter who died in 1296, and Hendrik van Bylant, provost,who died in 1405. The outer inscription commemorates van

    14 Engraving of the frame inscriptions of van Eyck, Virgin andChild with Joris van der Paele, from W. H. James Weale, Hubert andJohn van Eyck: Their Life and Work, London, 1908, 79 (artwork inthe public domain)

    15 Grave slab of Renier van Oud-Valkenborgh and Hendrik vanBylant, ca. 1296 with additions of ca. 1405, incised limestone,107 52 in. (272 134 cm). St. Servatius Basilica, Maastricht,Treasury (artwork in the public domain; photograph by theauthor)

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  • Oud-Valkenborgh with an older majuscule script, akin to thaton the sides and top of the van der Paele Virgins frame, whilethe inner text added a century later for van Bylant utilizes thesame contemporary Gothic quadrata seen on the pictureslower frame.139

    The two epigraphs on the van der Paele Virgins frame arefurther differentiated by the fact that the top and side textsare painted to look as though they are incised into their brasssupport (Fig. 16), while the lettering along the lower edge isdepicted in relief, standing proud of the brass band(Fig. 17). That van Eycks fictive relief lettering conveyedmeaning is apparent on Jan de Leeuws painted frame(Fig. 13), where the text is rendered in incised majusculewith only certain letters in relief, forming chronogramsgiving the dates of the sitters birth and of his portrayal byvan Eyck.140 In the Dresden Triptych (1437), its interiorbrass frame features inscriptions in relief in the centerand engraved on its wings, but all are written in a Romaniz-ing scriptmajuscule lettering for the devotional texts,minuscule for van Eycks signature. Tantalizingly, the earliestreference to the Rolin Virgin records its lost wooden frame ashaving letters which appear in relief.141 Of the fourteeninscribed extant pictures within van Eycks oeuvre, though,

    the van der Paele Virgin is the only instance where Gothic tex-tura rendered in imitation of brass relief appears.The context of the commission explains the choice to rep-

    resent the texts in this way, since the style and form of theinscription recording van der Paeles chaplaincies evokebrass foundation memorials. The use of raised Gothic texturabrass letters, actually in foundation plates like Guillebert deLannoys (Fig. 11) and fictively on the Bruges pictures frame(Fig. 17), is striking and further reinforces van Eycks subtlereferencing of the likes of the former in his creation of thelatter. Moreover, rendering the lower frames lettering inrelief increased its legibility for its viewers.142 In the panelsoriginal setting, the observer would have had to tilt his head,or crane his neck, to make sense of the old-fashioned letter-ing inscribed on the side and upper frame edges, but theinscription nearest his eye level, written in contemporary,familiar script, stood out and could be read with relativeease. Van Eyck reserved the most accessible field andemployed the most legible epigraphic style and form to con-vey the most crucial information: van der Paeles identity,details of his pious foundation, and the name of the artistentrusted to commemorate it.The lower frame script is not simply a slavish rendition of

    the actual lettering on foundation brasses, however. Suchinscriptions were created by cutting away from the letteredges, leaving them standing proud of the excavated back-ground, as seen in the Lannoy plate (Fig. 18). This recessedfield was then scored to provide a key for the black pitch withwhich it was filled, creating a contrast between the brasss lus-trous surface and the matte inlay of the background (thescored background is clearly visible in Lannoys brass, whichhas lost its inlay).143 This contrast is absent from the van derPaele Virgins painted frame. The color of the backgroundto the relief lettering is that of burnished brass, not the mattepitch or mastic found in contemporary brass memorials.Moreover, while the lettering on brasses always appears flat,even when polished, that found on the lower frame seemsslightly rounded, catching the light at many points and cast-ing shadows onto its metal background (Fig. 19). Ratherthan engraved brass, then, the effect van Eyck sought toevoke was actually that of cast brass, perhaps individually castbrass letters applied to a flat metal band.

    16 Van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele, detailshowing the left frame inscription (artwork in the publicdomain; photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

    17 Van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele, detailshowing the lower frame inscription (artwork in the publicdomain; photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

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  • Evidently, van Eycks brass frame is no straightforward imi-tation of engraved brass memorials. In fact, it has no obviousdirect equivalent in existing contemporary brass objects, intwo or three dimensions. For example, a brass candelabra-lectern donated to St. Catherines church, Tournai, in 1442has inscriptions on both its book rest and foot, the formerdetailing the donation, the latter recording that this lecternwas made by Guillaume Lefevre, brass founder at Tournai(Fig. 20).144 Both inscriptions are engraved into the brassrather than formed at the casting stage; the same is also trueof texts found on Lefevres other works.145 The fact that theleading founder of van Eycks day chose to inscribe his workthrough engraving rather than at the casting stage perhapsindicates the laboriousness of casting lettering. This is not todeny Netherlandish founders technical abilities, which wereformidable, but the time, skill, and patience required tomold, cast, chase, and finish a relief inscription of such smallcharacters must have rendered it prohibitively expensive toundertake, especially when satisfactory results were obtain-able through engraving. A slightly later German examplewould appear to support this: a baptismal font in St. Jamesschurch, Lubeck, made in 1466 by the founder Klaus Grudefeatures cast relief lettering, but its characters are unevenand rough (Fig. 21);146 in fact, they look decidedly messywhen compared with the meticulous precision of van Eycksfictive cast brass letters (Fig. 17).By depicting the lower frame text in this particular way, van

    Eyck was describing something that was unlikely to haveexisted in real life, which concurs with what others haveobserved in van Eycks paintings. Lorne Campbells investiga-tions into The Arnolfini Portrait revealed that the ermine orminiver lining of the womans dress is of a purer color andfiner texture than any white fur then obtainable. Likewise,the famous mirror is unusually elaborate and perhaps ofgreater size than any that could be manufactured at thattime.147 The textile historian Lisa Monnas has noted thatwithin the van der Paele Virgin itself, the gold brocading inSaint Donatians cope is painted in a way that does not reflect

    the wefts of gold in actual brocaded velvet, but which servesto heighten the illusion of reality in the painting.148 The por-trait of the Bruges goldsmith Jan de Leeuw is surroundedby a similarly unlikely painted metal frame (Fig. 13).149

    One can easily imagine that this sitter, holding a ruby-setgold ring as a token of his profession but enclosed by a met-alwork frame of a facture rivaling his own capabilities,appreciated and was perhaps amused by van Eycks attemptsto surpass the more prestigious craft of metalwork withpaint.

    18 Foundation memorial of Guillebert de Lannoy, detail(artwork in the public domain; photograph by the author)

    19 Van Eyck, Virgin and Child with Joris van der Paele, detail ofthe lower frame inscription (artwork in the public domain;photograph KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

    20 Guillaume Lefevre, candelabra-lectern of Marie Folette,ca. 1442, brass, height 76 in. (193 cm). Musees Royaux dArt etdHistoire, Brussels (artwork in the public domain; photographby the author)

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  • Painting as Commemoration

    During the fifteenth century the demand for personal com-memoration was articulated by a far wider cross-section ofsociety than ever before, one that increasingly commandedthe resources to commission works of art. While carved stoneand engraved brass were the conventional vehicles for thistask, with the van der Paele Virgin, van Eyck made a compel-ling case for the effectiveness of painting for the purposes ofcommemoration. His extraordinary talents enabled hispatron, by the modest means of oil paint, to be immortalizedwith his intercessors in a setting of almost unimaginablesplendor; even its frame evoked monuments to those at thehighest strata of Burgundian society.As we have seen, the lower frame inscription signals a key

    aspect of the pictures meaningthe preservation of Jorisvan der Paeles identity and the perpetuation of his socialand legal presence among the livingand leaves little doubtthat van Eycks painting was conceived primarily as a memori-alizing image. It commemorated the piety and munificenceof the pictured canon, providing a cogent reminder tohis colleagues at St. Donatians of their obligations tomaintain his chaplaincies and remember him in theirprayers. In order to fulfill this function most effectively,the painting draws heavily on the traditions and conven-tions of contemporary monuments. While its fifteenth-century Bruges audience would have been as enthralledas modern viewers by van Eycks masterful illusionism,they would also have recognized how cleverly the picturealludes to the memorial sculptures, paintings, and brassesthey commonly encountered in Netherlandish churches.With its sophisticated play of resonance and associationsbefitting its commemorative purpose, the van der PaeleVirgin has proved highly successful. The canons chaplain-cies, tombstone, windows at St-Omer, and material gifts toSt. Donatians have all fallen victim to the passage oftime, but van Eycks painting has ensured that Joris vander Paeles identity and his concern for his memoria arestill evident today.

    Douglas Brine received his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Artand held postdoctoral fellowships at the Courtauld Institute ResearchForum and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts. He iscurrently assistant professor of art history at Trinity University, SanAntonio [Department of Art and Art History, Trinity University,One Trinity Place, San Antonio, Tex. 78212, [email protected]].

    Appendix 1

    First Foundation Charter of Joris van der Paele, September

    13, 1434 (Bisschoppelijk Archief Brugge, Fonds Sint-Donaas,

    D42 1a)

    Universis et singulis presentes literas inspecturis Amandus deBrevimonte Decanus et Capitulum ecclesie sancti DonatianiBrugensis Tornacensis diocesis salutem in domino sempiter-nam Notum facimus quod cum venerabilis confrater et Con-canonicus noster Magister Georgius de Pala literarumapostolicarum Scriptor singularem erga ecclesiam nostramgerens devotionem desiderantique animo cupiens divinumcultum augeri in eadem Ad laudem gloriam et honoremomnipotentis dei et gloriose genetricis filii sui domini nostriJhesu Christi perpetue virginis Marie beatorum Petri et Pauliapostolorum Georgii martiris ac sanctissimi Archipresulispatris et patroni nostri Donatiani omniumque sanctorum etsanctarum dei pro salute et remedio anime sue et animarumparentum et benefactorum suorum dudum proposuisset fun-dare unam perpetuam capellaniam de habitu et gremiochori ecclesie nostre cuius capellanus divinis interessendoobsequiis distributiones et alia emolumenta sicuti unus excapellanis de gremio chori eiusdem nostre ecclesie ex anti-quo fundatis percipere posset et lucrari; Oportunitate sua-dente Idem Magister Georgius suum laudabile propositumtotis animi sui conatibus desiderans optatum deducere adeffectum cum redditus perpetuos non haberet neque terrascum quibus intentionem suam perficere posset nobis nuperde substantia et bonis sibi a deo collatis obtulit et presentavit

    21 Klaus Grude, baptismal font, detail,ca. 1466, brass. St. Jamess church,Lubeck (artwork in the public domain;photograph by the author)

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  • pecuniarum summas infrascriptas videlicet septuagintaduaslibras grossorummonete flandrie pro emendis et acquirendistribus libris grossorum dicte monete annuatim pro funda-tione et dotatione dicte capellanie prout infra latius declara-bitur, et Centum ac vigintiquinque libras grossorum similismonete convertendas in utilitatem dicte ecclesie pro distribu-tionibus lucris et emolumentis Capellano huiusmodi capella-nie sicut uni ex decem et octo capellanis de gremio choridicte ecclesie nostre ab antiquo fundatis per eos ad quosspectat distribuendis nobis humiliter et devote iteratis etiamvicibus supplicans ut votis suis in hac parte annuentes huius-modi pecuniarum summas ad opus predictum recipere;Capellanoque dicte capellanie qui pro tempore foret cunctisfuturis temporibus tam de huiusmodi tribus libris grossorumpro grossis fructibus eiusdem capellanie quam distributioni-bus lucris et emolumentis universis sicuti uni ex capellanispredictis responderi facere et alias in fundatione et dotationedicte capellanie secundum ordinationem modum et formamsubsequentes tunc nobis in scriptis porrectum nostrum con-sensum benigne prebere dignaremur; Ordinatio vero forma-que et modus fundationis dicte capellanie per dictumMagistrum Georgium conceptum et nobis porrectum sunttales; Primo enim prefatus Magister Georgius, ad laudem glo-riam et honorem omnipotentis dei glorioseque genetricissue perpetue virginis Marie beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolo-rum Georgii martiris ac beatissimi patroni nostri DonatianiArchiepiscopi et Confessoris pro salute et remedio anime sueanimarumque parentum et benefactorum suorum omniumfidelium defunctorum fundare intendit atque fundat in hacecclesia ad altare beatorum apostolorum Petri et pauli situmin navi ecclesie ad latus meridionale unam perpetuam capel-laniam quam intendit dotare et dotat ac vult esse dotatam detribus libris grossorum sive trigintasex libris parisiensis mo-nete predicte annuatim ad opus unius persone ydonee insacerdotio constitute vel que infra unum annum post institu-tionem de qua infradicetur ad sacerdotium possit et cumeffectu debeat esse promota in capellanum ad dictam capel-laniam hac prima vice et deinceps quotiens eam vacare conti-gerit vivente dicto Magistro Georgio ad ipsius nominationemet post eius decessum libere et pleno Iure per nos instituendeQui capellanus tenebitur apud ecclesiam nostram residere eteidem capellanie deservire personaliter et ter in qualibet sep-timana pro anima ipsius fundatoris et animabus parentum etbenefactorum suorum Missam celebrare videlicet diebuslune de requiem pro defunctis veneris de sancta cruce ob re-verentiam passionis domini nostri Jhesu Christi et Mercuriide tempore vel de festo prout occurret nisi dicti dies forentmagnis festivitatibus occupati quo casu missa de requiemtransferetur in alterum diem minus occupatum Ita tamenquod semel in septimana pro defunctis celebret aliis duobusdiebus remanentibus ut est predictum; Et tenebitur etiampost decessum dicti fundatoris finita qualibet missa accederead eius sepulcrum et ibidem cum aspersione aque benedictepro anima eius legere psalmumMiserere mei deus vel de pro-fundis cum collecta pro defunctis ad devocionem suam; Et sicontingeret dictam capellaniam conferri persone in sacerdo-tio non constitute ipsa persona tenebitur se facere promoveriad sacerdotium infra annum ut predictum est Alioquin sitdicta capellania eo ipso privata et nos poterimus ac debebi-mus eam tunc alteri persone ydonee libere conferre; Proviso

    tamen quod semper eidem capellanie omni casu cum fructi-bus predictis debite deserviatur quoad missarum predicta-rum celebrationem absque aliquo defectu; Quod si forsanper Capellanum qui pro tempore erit eiusdem capellaniepossessorem in Missarum huiusmodi celebratione aliquemdefectum quod absit committi contigerit Idem capellanuscommittet pro quolibet defectu quinque grossos flandrensesquos Magister fabrice dicte ecclesie nostre exiget et recipietde fructibus ipsius capellanie de quibus quinque grossis Cus-tos navis dicte ecclesie nostre quotiens defectum huiusmodidicto Magistro fabrice notificaverit unum prefatus Magisterfabrice duos et reliquos duos grossos habebit fabrica ad opussuum; Et si custos predictus defectum huiusmodi non notifi-caverit ut prefertur, ipse nichil habebit pro illa vice sed tuncduo grossi Magistro fabrice et reliqui tres eidem fabricecedent et applicabuntur; Pro quibus quidem Trigintasexlibris parisiensis monete predicte fundandis ad opus dicticapellani Idem Magister Georgius septuagintaduas librasgrossorum monete predicte ut premittitur nobis obtulit etpresentavit; Promittens etiam eidem capellanie de libro ca-lice ornamentis et vestamentis necessariis debite providere,que voluit cuilibet capellano eiusdem capellanie cum bene-ficio Inventarii reponendi et dimittendi penes dictum Magis-trum fabrice pro tempore existente tempore sue primevereceptionis et cum cautione fideiussoria de eis debite conser-vandis et non alienandis tunc per ipsum ultra solitum Iura-mentum capellanorum prestanda et non alias consignari;Preterea voluntas et Intentio dicti Magistri Georgii fundatorisest quod capellanus predictus de habitu et gremio choriannumeratus ceteris capellanis antiquis dicte ecclesie nostreet installatus existat in latere sinistro gaudeatque honoribuset libertatibus et subiaceat etiam oneribus et obsequiis choridicte ecclesie necnon lucretur et percipiat distributionespanem et alia lucra et emolumenta omnia et singula sicutunus ex antiquis Capellanis de numero decem et octo indicta ecclesia nostra fundatis sine aliqua exceptione Pro qui-bus quidem distributionibus lucris et emolumentis IdemMagister Georgius nobis obtulit et presentavit Centum et vi-gintiquinque libras grossorum monete flandrie convertendaset applicandas ad opus et utilitatem dicte ecclesie nostreprout nobis utilius videbitur expedire Nos igitur decanus etCapitulum predicti prehabitis super negocio huiusmodi internos pluribus et diversis tractatibus et matura deliberatione,huiusmodi tam laudabile propositum sanctamque et sin-cerem devotionem prefati Magistri Georgii in hac parte pronobis et successoribus nostris non inmerito laudantes etapprobantes ac piis eius votis et precibus benigne annuentes,oblationem et presentationem eius supradictas duximus gra-tiose admittendas et admittimus, nostrumque in fundationedotatione ordinatione et voluntate supradictis ipsius MagistriGeorgii consensum impartimur pariter et assensum; Et pre-dictas septuagintaduarum et Centum et vigintiquinque libra-rum grossorum monete flandrie nobis liberaliter ut preferturoblatas pecuniarum summas per manus dilecti confratris etConcanonici nostri Magistri franconis Rape obedienciarii adopus et utilitatem officii obediencie dicte nostre ecclesie proredditibus terris sive bonis aliis ad opus predictum emendiset acquirendis ab eodem Magistro Georgio nos realiter etcum effectu in bona pecunia numerata recepisse confitemur;Promittentes pro nobis et successoribus nostris bona fide

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  • quod ordinationem et voluntatem dicti Magistri Georgiiprout premittitur Inviolabiliter observabimus et adimplebi-mus faciemusque observari et adimpleri, necnon a festo Nati-vitatis sancti Johannis Baptiste proxime futuro Inanteasingulis annis imperpetuum dicto capellano de bonis pre-dicte obedientie tam de dictis trigintasex libris parisiensibusmonete flandrie quam omnibus lucris distributionibus etemolumentis quibuscumque capellanorum sicuti uni exdecem et octo capellanis ab antiquo in dicta ecclesia nostrafundatis sine fraude subterfugio aut contradictione quacun-que integre responderi; In quorum omnium et singulorumfidem et testimonium premissorum presentes literas fieri etsigilli magni dicte ecclesie nostre fecimus appensione com-muniri Datum et actum Brugis in loco nostro Capitularinobis ibidem hora consueta more solito congregatis Annodomini Millesimoquadringentesimotricesimoquarto Mensisvero Septembris die Terciadecima.

    Appendix 2

    Second Foundation Charter of Joris van der Paele, January

    30, 1443 (n.s.) (Bisschoppelijk Archief Brugge, Fonds Sint-

    Donaas, D42 3b)Universis et singulis presentes literas inspecturis RolandusScriptoris in Artibus et Medicina Magister Decanus et Capitu-lum ecclesie sancti Donatiani Brugensis Tornacensis dyocesisSalutem in domino sempiternam Notum facimus quod ve-nerabilis vir Magister Georgius de Pala confrater et Conca-nonicus noster sincere dilectus provida premeditationeconsiderans humane conditionis fragilitatem instabilitati sub-iectam fore et quod non habemus hic manentem Civitatemsed futuram inquirimus illam videlicet supercelestem Jerusa-lem in qua post huius vite cursum unusquisque mercedemrecipiet secundum opera sua, cupiensque dominum de suasubstancia honorare et cultum divinum secundum suam fa-cultatem salubriter in nostra ecclesia reddere ampliorem Adlaudem gloriam et honorem omnipotentis dei et gloriosesemper virginis dei genetricis Marie beatorum Petri et PauliApostolorum gloriosi Archipontificis et patroni nostri Dona-tiani ac Georgii Martiris omniumque sanctorum et sancta-rum dei, necnon pro salute et remedio anime sue etanimarum parentum et benefactorum suorum omniumquefidelium vivorum et defunctorum quandam perpetuam Cap-pellaniam de gremio chori ipsius ecclesie nostre ad altareprenominatorum Apostolorum situm in anteriori ecclesianostra ad quod ipse dudum de bonis suis quandam aliamperpetuam capellaniam similiter de gremio predicti choriinstituerat fundaverat et dotaverat, de nostris licencia et con-sensu expressis instituit fundavit et dotavit modo et formasubsequentibus videlicet quod possessor dicte cappellaniequi pro tempore fuerit tenebitur interesse in choro dicteecclesie nostre horis divinis diurnis pariter et nocturnis can-tare officiare et servire in omnibus sicut alii cappellani degremio eiusdem chori facere debent et tenentur, et percipietdistributiones refectiones pitancias et alia lucra chori sicutunus cappellanorum de gremio ipsius chori sine aliquaexceptione; Tenebitur quoque idem possessor singulis septi-manis quatuor Missas diebus videlicet dominica Martis Ioviset Sabbati per se vel alium celebrare sub pena quinque

    solidorum parisiensium monete flandrie pro quolibetdefectu committenda et per eum solvenda magistro fabricedicte nostre ecclesie, de quibus ipse magister fabrice defec-tum predictum supplere faciet et residuum pro suo laboresibi retinebit; Et post decessum prefati Magistri Georgii dic-tus possessor finita qualibet Missa cum aspersorio et aquabenedicta ad sepulchrum eius accedere et ibidem psalmumMiserere mei deus vel De profundis cum Collecta pro defunc-tis pro anima eius et animabus parentum et benefactorumsuorum omnique fidelium defunctorum legere secundumsuam devocionem; Dicte vero Cappellanie collationem etomnimodam dispositionem voluit ipse fundator penes nos etsuccessores nostros perpetuo remanere, proviso tamen quodipsa cappellania conferatur sacerdoti iam promoto aut taliqui infra annum a tempore collationis sibi facte de eademteneatur se facere promoveri statutis a Iure temporibus adordinem sacerdocii Quod si infra annum huiusmodi ad sa-cerdocium promotus non fuerit eo ipso sit cappellania pre-dicta privatus et sine aliqua dilatione licitum nobis erit eamalteri conferre, presentatione tamen sive nominatione per-sone ydonee ad eandem hac prima vice et deinceps quotienseam vacare contigerit ipsi fundatori quamdiu vixerit inhumanis salva remanente et reservata. Pro cuius quidem cap-pellanie fundatione et dotatione ac predictorum et alioruminfrascriptorum onerum supportatione prefatus magisterGeorgius fundator conferri et assignari fecit suis propriissumptibus et expensis Cappellano dicte cappellanie et officiisobediencie et fabrice ecclesie nostre sepedicte per providosviros magistrum Jacobum stephani et dominum Johannemwalteri presbiteros dicte ecclesie nostre cappellanos Sexigintaduas Mensuras unam lineam et quinquagintaduas virgatasterrarum arabilium iacentes in territorio de franco in diversisparrochiis in quibus ipsi magister Jacobus et dominusJohannes fuerant coram Scabinis dicti territorii inheredati etInvestiti, sicut litere ipsorum scabinorum super hoc confectequas et earum vim et effectum prefati magister Jacobus etdominus Johannes in ecclesiam nostram prout per publicainstrumenta super hoc confecta constat cesserunt et transtu-lerunt latius specificant et declarant; Quequidem sexaginta-due mensura una linea et quinquagintadue virgate terrarumde scitu et consensu ipsius fundatoris fuerunt per nos partiteet divise inter cappellanum et officia predicta in modum quisequitur. Primo enim fuerunt per nos assignate dicto cappel-lano pro dote predesignate cappellanie et onere Missarumpredictarum undecim mensure due linee et undecim virgateterrarum cum domibus et arboribus supra eas stantibus. . . .[a description of the properties and rents allocated to the chaplainfollows]Et mediantibus fructibus et emolumentis dictarum undecim

    mensurarum duarum linearum et undecim virgatarum terra-rum cum domibus et arboribus supra eas constitutis ascenden-tibus pro presenti estimative ad sexagintasex libras parisiensesmonete flandrie vel circiter singulis annis tenebitur idem cap-pellanus supportare onera dictarum quatuor Missarum quali-bet septimana sicut dictum est, et onus reparationis domorumet solvere redditus annuos supradictos et denarios aquarumde predictis terris exeuntes; Item fuerunt per nos assignateofficio obediencie dicte ecclesie nostre quadragintaquatuormensure una linea et quatuor virgate terrarum Iacentes indiversis parrochiis infra territorium de franco. . . .

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  • [a description of the properties and rents allocated to the office of theobedientiary follows]Et mediantibus fructibus et emolumentis dictarum quadra-gintaquatuor mensurarum unius linee et quatuor virgatarumterrarum ascendentibus pro presenti estimative quolibetanno ad Nonagintasex libras parisienses monete predicte velcirciter tenebitur dictum officium obediencie dicto cappel-lano respondere et responderi facere de distributionibuschori et omnibus aliis