Collecting in early modern age : the case of the Valois Burgundy court in the second half of the 15th century

In order to analyse the taste, character and content collector of modern collections, Julius von Schlosser's study should be mentioned. The historian of the Vienna School was the first who developed the interest and critical interpretations of the issue of collections, mainly in the case of the Habsburg's court. In his book "Die Kunst-und Wunderkammern der Spätrenaissance : ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Sammelwesens" published in 1908, he popularised examples of studies of the modern collecting phenomenon. Based on the study of Schlosser many historians developed their research, providing information about the most important collectors of modern age. This article resumed the historiography of the collecting in the Early Modern Age and focused on the case of the Dukes of Burgundy and Flanders in the second half of the fifteenth century, when their Court inherited the tradition of collecting initiated by the Duke John of Berry. With this fact it gave an example of wealth and splendour for all Europeans courts. Through the catalogue of the art pieces, analysis of the historical context and iconography, the aspects of taste and representing value of the artefacts from the ducal collection were defined. [Publication abstract]