File:Van der weyden miniature.jpg

(b. 1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles)

Miniature from the first page of the Chroniques de Hainaut 1448 Opaque colours, gold, and pen and ink on parchment Bibliothèque Royal de Belgique, Brussels

Although Duke Philip the Good often visited Brussels, there is no record of his ever having ordered a religious painting from Rogier. On the other hand, he did commission two portraits of himself from the artist. The originals are not extant, but have come down to us in many copies, so that they must in a certain sense have been official portraits of the duke. However, the original of one work done for Philip by Rogier's own hand is extant; surprisingly, this is not a panel painting but a miniature. It adorns the first page of the first volume of a French translation of the Hainault Chronicle, one of three extremely magnificent historical works commissioned by the duke in 1446 with a view to legitimising his claims to power and territory. Rogier's miniature was probably painted at the beginning of 1448, when the text had been written out by scribes.