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The “Ruby of Burgundy” or the “Sapphire of France”: The Stone in the Lost Portrait of Duke Philip the Bold

In the late Middle Ages, particular precious stones (e.g. sapphires, rubies, emeralds, etc.) were endowed with a special symbolic meaning. For the political elite, the possession of large colored gemstones was considered a mark of status and sometimes an expression of political ambitions. In 1397, Duke of Burgundy Philip the Bold purchased a red gemstone and named it the “Ruby of Burgundy”. Researchers O. Pächt and J.-B. de Vaivre claim that this gemstone set into a pendant is depicted in the copies of the lost portrait of the Duke. However, the copies, including those closest to the lost original, depict the stone differently, either as a ruby or a sapphire. The pendant of Philip the Bold and the stone that adorned it are the subject of research in this work. The purpose of the study is to determine the political significance of the stone depicted in the original portrait, which requires establishing the color of the stone in the lost original portrait and revealing its symbolic meaning. The author concludes that it was the blue gemstone that the pendant in the original portrait was adorned with, presumably a sapphire, but not a “Ruby of Burgundy” and puts forward a hypothesis about the symbolic and political significance of this stone in the image of Philip the Bold. The author conditionally calls this stone the “Sapphire of France”, since in this case, it is considered a symbol of the French monarchy. Demonstrating this stone, the Duke appears in the portrait as a son of the king and the holder of royal power. In addition, there is a connection between the pendant of Philip the Bold and a similar sapphire pendant depicted in the portrait of his brother, Jean of Berry, and the sapphire pendant of King Richard II of England. Presumably, these pendants served as signs of a special political union. The illustrations accompanying this article include a drawing depicting Philip the Bold from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, which is published for the first time.