The Burgundian Netherlands refers to an area encompassing the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) and northern France from the 14th to the end of the 15th century that came into the possession of the dukes of Burgundy, descendents of the French royal house of Valois, when the Count of Flanders Louis de Mâle died. His son-in-law Philip the Bold inherited the Low Countries through his wife, Margaret of Flanders. During the rule of Philip the Bold, his son John the Fearless and his successors, Philip the Good (1369-1467) and Charles the Bold (1433-1477), became patrons of the arts. The dukes of Burgundy governed until 1477 when the fourth and last Duke of Burgundy of the Valois line, Charles the Bold, died on the battlefield, leaving no male heir, ending the dynasty.

Philip the Bold's statesmanship and patronage of the arts created a sophisticated court that all others strove to emulate. Great banquets, grand civic tournaments and processions were held. The ducal libraries were among the most significant private collections of illuminated codices and included some 200 volumes. He assembled the largest collection of tapestries (over 100) to decorate this ducal palace and residences, expressing the prevalent court taste for luxury items.

Dijon became the capital of Philip the Bold's Burgundy, transforming this small town into a cultural location during the 15th century. A direct example of his influence lies on the outskirts of Dijon at the Chartreuse de Champmol, a monastery founded for 24 monks to house the tombs of the dukes of Burgundy and their successors in perpetuity. It featured some of the finest examples of Burgundian court sculpture from the chisels of Netherlandish sculptor Claus Sluter (ca. 1360-1406) and his nephew Claus de Werve (Netherlandish, died 1439), as well as Antoine le Moiturier (French) and Jean de la Huerta (Spanish, 1414-1461). Altarpieces and private devotional paintings were commissioned from Jean de Beaumetz (Franco-Flemish, c.1335-1396), Jean Malouel (Netherlands, 1365-1415), Henri Bellechose (Flemish, 1415-1440), and Melchior Broederlam (Netherlandish, active c., who served the court as painters at various times. At the center of the cloister is the Well of Moses, considered the great masterpiece of the court sculptor Sluter. The monastery was destroyed during the French Revolution; however, portions of the tombs of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless were preserved.

Philip the Bold's crowning achievement is universally recognized to be his tomb sculpture commissioned from the artists Sluter and de Werve. The tomb consists of a prominent polychromed alabaster effigy of the duke lying in state clad in ceremonial garb and plate armor placed upon a mensa of heavy black marble surrounded by heraldic symbols. Between the black marble base and the upper mensa is a contrasting double arcade in alabaster delicately embellished with trefoil arches, crocket capital and pinnacles. Positioned within the arcade is a procession of 41 alabaster statuettes, each approximately 16 inches tall, known as mourners or pleurants. CMA has four exquisite statuettes that will be reunited with 12 from the tomb, all of which will be on view, including three from the tomb of John the Fearless.

These statuettes placed around Philip's tomb are thought to represent actual individuals who participated in the duke's funeral procession. They are carved with attention to detail: the costume is heavy and draped; their facial features, expressions and gestures demonstrate their individuality, conveying the essence of grief, anguish and contemplation. Their arrangement around the tomb gives the feeling of a cloister as they weave dramatically in and out of the architecture of the arcade. Philip the Bold died in April 1404 of pneumonia.

His son John the Fearless reigned from 1404 to 1419. He was interested in power and politics but continued to support the arts, continuing his father's collection of tapestries, books and illuminations as well as paintings and sculpture.

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