Coat-of-Arms of Anthony of Burgundy

This coat-of-arms belongs to a series of 28 which is fixed above the choir-stalls of St Saviour’s Cathedral to commemorate the 13th chapter of the order which was held there in 1478. The entire series was painted by Pieter Coustens, a court painter in Burgundy.

The coat-of-arms of Anthony of Burgundy (1421-1504), as Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Great Bastard of Burgundy, knighted during the 9th chapter in The Hague in 1456, is adorned with a helm, a crest and mantling and is enfolded by the golden chain of the order, from which a ram’s fleece hangs. The highly decorative calligraphy reads in gilt gothic letters: Antoine b[âtard] de Bourg[og]ne / Conte de la Roche en Arden[n]e[s]. The richly decorated letters which run out into flowing curls are borrowed from the fashionable calligraphy which reached a high point in the third quarter of the fifteenth century and was very popular at the sophisticated Burgundian court. Gilt curls of this kind also appear in Hans Memling’s work.