The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of AustriaTremayne, Eleanor E.
History
The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria
Tremayne, Eleanor E.
Margaret, of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 1480-1530; Netherlands -- History -- Charles V, 1506-1555
Margaret of Bourbon's monument is built into the thickness of the
wall. The princess's statue rests on a slab of black marble, her head
on an embroidered cushion, her feet on a greyhound. Four white marble
children support shields with her initials and the arms of Bourbon. On
the pillars on either side are five exquisite statuettes. Saint Agnes
and Saint Margaret stand near her feet, between them a symbolical
female figure, whilst near her head are Saint Andrew with his cross,
and Saint Catherine of Alexandria dressed as a maid of honour of
Francis I.'s Court. The sarcophagus is decorated with nine niches
containing five cherubs and four 'pleureuses,' or weeping women, whose
faces are almost hidden by their drooping hoods, sprays of marguerites
being scattered everywhere in great profusion about the moulding of
the pillars.
In the centre of the choir, facing the high altar, is the tomb of
Philibert the Handsome, Duke of Savoy. It is divided into two
sections. Underneath is the 'gisant,' or naked body, a little larger
than life. Twelve pillars, ornamented with niches containing statues
of saints in the dress of the period, surround the dead prince and
support a slab of black marble on which the figure of Philibert rests
in armour, with his coronet on his head, an embroidered surcoat
covers his cuirass, the collar of the Annunciation (composed
alternately of fifteen enamelled roses and the letters F.E.R.T.) round
his neck, the mantle of the Order wrapt round him, his feet resting on
a lion. His face is turned towards his wife on the left, his praying
hands towards his mother on the right.[149]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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