Olga Karaskova, Le mécénat de Marie de Bourgogne : entre dévotion privée et nécessité politique, Le Moyen Age, Tome CXVII, 2011 : p. 507-529

The patronage of Mary of Burgundy is not, at first sight, an obvious subject of study : she has rarely been considered as a serious patron and when she has, she is described as a very modest one. This view would appear to be justified when we compare Mary’s commissions with those of her ancestors, the dukes of Burgundy. However, although she added very few works to the enormous cultural heritage left to her by her ancestors, it is evident that the works she did commission expressed very clear political and cultural intentions on her part. “The greatest heiress in Europe” had to deal with attacks and intrigues from Louis XI as well as rioting from her own people right from the beginning of her unexpected rise to power in 1477. Acutely aware of the fact that she was the last descendant of the glorious house of Burgundy-Valois, as well as the weakness of her position as a woman, Mary sought suitable responses to the challenges she faced – not only military and diplomatic responses but also iconographical ones. Her desire to emphasise dynastic lineage, to create an image of a female sovereign that legitimized her succession and her power suo jure in order to assert her rights to Burgundian territories, as well as to impose her power on her uncontrollable subjects, all had a considerable influence on her resulting and carefully-considered cultural politics.