Renaissance Gothic at Brou
as a Court Style
Matt Kavaler, University
of Toronto
The church that Margaret
of Austria erected at Brou helped fashion an identity
for herself before an elite European audience. Rather
than look to the patrons of Italianate design or back
to Burgundian glory, Margaret sought comparison with
other leaders of her day. The Bourbons and the Spanish
monarchs were judged more appropriate models, and
their magnificent Late Gothic creations established
a discourse on dynastic greatness.A
At Brou Margaret acknowledged
the contemporary vogue for Renaissance forms yet concentrated
on an inventive program of Gothic decoration. Rich
and abundant, it creates an atmosphere of wealth and
power, while allowing for a new means of orientation.
Distinctive tracery motifs, which register from afar,
act as markers of identity, geometrical signatures
and multivalent signs of the church, the patron, and
the artist. Memorable like musical melody, they comprised
a system of ordering that acknowledged a hierarchy
of locations. The church, the tombs, and the other
furnishings at Brou should be seen in this context,
as an authoritative statement in a vital mode of design
that situated Margaret of Austria at the forefront
of artistic and political life of Europe.
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