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Manufacturer
Meester van de VorstenportrettenPeriod and date
15de eeuwMASTERPIECE
The linked gold chain around the neck of the man portrayed here has a ram’s fleece pendant (also in gold), complete with head and legs. This ornament is associated with the highly exclusive chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Duke Philip the Good in Bruges on January 10. The first 24 knights, all noblemen, received a necklace made by the Bruges goldsmith Jan Peutin, who often carried out commissions for the duke. One such order chain has survived from the fifteenth century (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). The man in the portrait is the influential Bruges nobleman Lodewijk van Gruuthuuse. He joined the Order in 1461. The chain can also be seen around his coat of arms, which was painted on the underside of the frame.
