20/1/20 21:35 The prosopographical approach for the study of Valets de chambre at the court of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold Página 1 de 12 https://mpa.univ-st-etienne.fr/index.php?id=422#texte 2018 > Articles atelier doctoral Oskar Jacek Rojewski, The prosopographical approach for the study of Valets de chambre at the court of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold Texte intégral | Citation Table des matières 1. Introduction 2. The state of the art 3. The prosopographical approach 4. Conclusions Texte intégral 1. Introduction[1] Across XIX th and XX th centuries historiographical movements generated specific kinds of studies on the Late Medieval Age and the beginning of the Renaissance. These studies resulted in an ideological interpretation of the artistic tendencies during XV th century, and lead to a rather ambiguous understanding of the phenomenon [2] . Indeed one relevant aspect of Late Medieval Art research is the role of the artist and his position in society ; according to the historiography it is posible to distinguish two types of artistic production : on the one hand the workshops that realized the orders of the bourgeois (mainly devotional altars and polyptychs) and, on the other hand, artistic production under court’s patronage, that is to say, artists maintained under royal or ducal protections. Interestingly, art historians analysed the relation between artists and sovereigns in order to understand how much the ruler was able to interfere with the creation process and the final result, considering the two former types of artistic production as the major major factor. Simultaneously, the phenomenon of singling out the artist from the rest of the society and from the rest of the court can be observed at the end of XIII th century as in the case of French, English or D’Anjou’s courts where some artists had been honoured with the title of pictores regis or peintres nostre sire. However, even if it is recognised that these artists realised orders for art pieces, unfortunately, it is not possible to better understand the relation between these artists and the court, since none of them was directly associated with it. Later on, at the beginning of XIV th century, artists working for the courts could reach the title of «valeti et alii hospitii» and «valeti et familia hospitii», similarly to other servants who did not proceed from the noble class [3] . The mention Valet de chambre appears for the first time at the French court between 1356 and 1359, referring to the painter Girard d’Orleans, showing a stronger relation to the King, like other first class servants, that allowed direct communication with the ruler [4] . Similarly, in the case of the court of the Count of Flanders Louis of Male, the artist Jean de Hasselt was mentioned in 1378 with the rank of paintre de MS. Apparently after 1384, and still with the same title, de Hasselt continued working for the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold [5] . In fact, only the artist’s successor, Melchior Broederlam, is documented to have reached the title of paintre de MS de Bourgogne et varlet de chambre at least from the 4 th of November, 1368 [6] . Furthermore, studies on the ritual court and ceremonial acts of the Duchy of Burgundy are possible thanks to the erudite narration of Olivier de la Marche and his l’Estat de la Maison du duc Charles de Bourgogne written in 1473. Being part of the close entourage of the duke and maître d’hôtel, the author described the court’s structure, explaining the hierarchy, the order of the organization, the interactions between the different ranks as well as the symbolism present in the court [7] . At the same time, the chronicler fascinatingly explored the court environment ; the official as well as the private one. De la Marche does not name all the personages, but offers a detailed description of the functioning of the court, and focusing on the prestige of its patron. Interestingly for this study, De la Marche described the valet de chambre according to the relevance of their profession. Thus, Valets de chambre are mentioned after physicians and garde de joyaux and before chefs and musicians. Nevertheless the narration gives some clues about the definition of valet de chambre : Le duc a bien quarante varletz de chambre, don’t la plus part servent tousjours, et les autres sont comptes par terme, et servant iceulx en la chambre en diverses manieres, les barbiers en leurs estaz, les chaussetiers, tailleurs, cousturiers, fourreurs et cordouaniers, chascun en leurs estaz. Les paintres fons les cottes d’armes, baniers et estandars ; les aultres varletz de chambre servent de faire le lict, et à mettre à point le chambre ; et doibt le fourrier battre et escourre le lict, c’est à sçavoir la coustelle et le coussin où le prince doit gestir ; et pour ce seullement est le fourrier nommé varlet de chambre ; et doibvent les principaulx estendre les linceux et la couverure. Et deoibt le sommellier tenir une torche en ses mains pour veoir faire de lict, et après refermer les courdines. Et doibt ung quatre sommelliers garder le lict, jusques à tant que le prince soit couchié [8] . The author indicates a supposition of the amount of servants with the rank of Valet de chambre and differentiates two kinds of courtiers : some of them attending the court every day and some others throughout the year with indications of their specific professions. In addition, de la Marche notes a difference between professionals that were able to practice their work at the court, and the servants who had obtained the privilege of participating during the ceremony of lying down the duke, and describes their function [9] .