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Tomb of Mary of Burgundy

  • Object

Drawing of the tomb of Mary of Burgundy

The Ypres Museum recently received some wonderful news from the Flemish Minister of Culture: one of the drawings in its collection will be included in the list of movable cultural heritage of the Flemish Community, also known as the “Masterpiece List”.

The drawing in question dates from 1558 and comes from the Merghelynck Museum collection. The ink drawing depicts the mausoleum of Duchess Mary of Burgundy in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. In 1558, Philip II commissioned sculptor Jacques Jonghelinck to create a mausoleum for Charles the Bold, the father of Mary of Burgundy, as a counterpart to the one for his daughter. The artist was given this drawing as a model and reminder.

It is unclear who made the ink drawing on a large sheet of parchment. It may have been a Bruges artist. In any case, this model is of great value because it offers us a rare insight into the creation of a world-famous mausoleum. This drawing was discovered during the inventory of the Merghelynck Museum in 1994.

Being added to the Masterpieces List is not only a great honour. It also offers the museum the advantage of being able to apply for a restoration grant. In addition, the Ypres Museum has a duty to preserve and protect the drawing in the best possible conditions, which we naturally do. From now on, the drawing cannot be taken outside Flanders without the permission of the Department of Culture.

This drawing is not the first piece from the Ypres collection to be included in the Masterpieces List. Previously, 22 18th-century drawings from the Mergelynck collection were recognised as Flemish masterpieces, as well as a drawing by Louis-Jean Desprez from 1773. For the In Flanders Fields Museum, the collection consists of negatives and prints by the renowned photographers Antony, unique photographs of the execution of a Belgian soldier, a collection of embroidered flour sacks and the diary of Father Van Walleghem, which the museum manages on behalf of a private collector.

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