Phillip the Bold reigned from 1364 until his death in 1404...
His son John the Fearless took over the court of Burgundy until 1419 when he was assassinated.
These were the so-called Dark Ages. But Curator Stephen Fliegel says the art that Phillip and John sponsored, brightened things up considerably.
"This was a period of great paradox in France, the malaise of the French King Charles the sixth, the invasion of the English but paradoxily the works of art being produced in France, in particularly in the capital of Paris were among the most sophisticated produced anywhere. Luxury objects like enamels, ivories, illuminated manuscripts, paintings are the finest anywhere."
And the biggest patrons of this art were Phillip the Bold and John the Fearless, the Valois Dukes of Burgundy, partly because they were so incredibly rich. In 1369 Phillip
acquired an enormous swath of land in what is now the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Northern France, and Belgium through his marriage to Margaret of Flanders.
"He inherited the revenue streams of taxation from the cloth industry. He was uniquely placed in a situation that allowed him to hire the best artists and to acquire the most deluxe manuscripts and the most deluxe goldsmith vessels of the age."
Many of the 150 objects in the exhibition are drenched in gold and silver...
They're on loan from 20 French churches and 30 museums around the world.
But many pieces have been in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection for decades.
Like the 684 year old Table Fountain that's been in Cleveland since 1924.
"The one here in Cleveland is the only complete table fountain known to have survived from the middle ages"
Fliegel says its typical of the kind of luxury objects Phillip the Bold liked to have around to dazzle his guests.
"It's gilt silver with applied translucent enamels."
It looks like a crown.
"Well it does have that appearance, it was intentionally made to be opulent, to stun people. It has crenellation, so it might remind some visitors of a miniature castle and it has a turret on top. It's typical of gothic architecture of the age."
Phillip the Bold's brother King Charles the fifth had seven table fountains and another brother had 38 of them. More than a status symbol, the table fountain was a medieval air freshener.
"Rose water was circulated through them. It operates hydraulically, so a pump would have been used to force water up through a central stem and water would have emerged from 24 orifices turning the little wheels, ringing the bells so it would have been a delightful object, it would have entertained people of the period."
Technology of our period helps visitors understand how it worked. Hollie Ritchie, Manager of New Media at the Cleveland Museum of Art says a virtual table fountain is one of several interactive elements in the exhibition.
"When you read the label and it's explained that it worked by hydraulics in the middle ages and that water came through it and rang bells and cascaded in levels immediately you want to see what that looks like. The water would flow, and the bells would ring"
"Can we hear it here?"
Table fountains, luxury objects , panel paintings, tapestries and gold and silver furnishings graced the duke's many palaces.
"The dukes were very cognizant of panoply and display and using art to signify their place in society."
His place in heaven was even more important to Phillip the Bold. His crowning achievement was the art and architecture of the monastery he and his wife built at Chartreuse de Champmol.
"It was staffed by 24 monks and within that space the duke had an oratory a kind of private chapel where he could go to pray."
Phillip commissioned panel paintings for his devotions at the monastery, including a portable folding quadriptich, 18 inches high by 10 inches wide.
"We see two scenes on the left, the annunciation and the nativity, Christ's entry into the world. And on the right two additional scenes of the crucifixion and the resurrection showing the culmination of Christ's mission on earth. So, it had a Eucharistic significance."
"This dates from about 1400 but the boldness of the colors, the royal blue, the reds how is this possible that there was no fading?"
"Well, keep in mind that through much of its history this could have been kept in a closed position. It's much like the illuminated manuscript seen in this exhibition also the illuminations are very often pristine and the colors still vibrant because the book would have been kept closed and that would have protected the pigments ...protected the pigments."
Just as pristine are a group of alabaster statues of bishops and monks carved between 1404 and 1410. Many of them are on loan from the museum of Dijon, thanks to its director, Madame Sophie Jugie. Stephen Flieger says the statues, known as the pleurants or Mourners, once surrounded Phillip's tomb and were intended to recreate the Duke's funeral procession.
"We see many mourners holding books and I think if you look very carefully at the edges of those books you can see how each page has been delineated in alabaster. They almost look like you can actually turn the pages of these books."
How does Dijon feel about not having these for a while?
"Dijon was very happy to have the four mourners from Cleveland."
Because some of these were from the Cleveland collection that were loaned out to Dijon.
"Yes, three of them in this particular gallery. We were able to take ours to Dijon were they were could be seen in conjunction with the other mourners around the tombs. I want to express my profound gratitude to the city of Dijon, to Madam Jugie and to her museum for parting with 11 of these magnificent mourners to share with our audience here in Cleveland."
"Yes, the people of Dijon are very happy with the exhibition I find that that are proud to show Burgundy Art in America.
Dukes and Angels, marks the 600th anniversary of the death of Phillip the Bold. It first opened in Dijon last summer. The Cleveland Museum of Art will be its only U.S. venue. Curator Stephen Fliegel says its been six years in the making and won't happen again for generations.
"It allows us to see that this indeed was a sophisticated age. It wasn't a dark age, it wasn't a time that Hollywood has shown over and over again to be drab and unsophisticated, quite the contrary."
But wasn't it really a dark age for those outside the royals and the courts?
"It was in certain quarters but nobody was isolated from the opulence of those times. Even lay people, burgers and peasants would be with in earshot of a great parish church or a very great medieval cathedral. They would hear continuous peeling of bells, the would see roadside statues, they would from time to time witness a religious procession or a procession of princes passing through their town. "
The Dukes and Angels exhibition isn't just passing through. It remains at the Cleveland Museum of Art through early January.
