ABSTRACT
Four articles in the statutes of the Bruges image-makers constituted the legal framework within which artistic production for the free market functioned: each Bruges image-maker was allowed to have one shop only. No work could be sold on the street, art dealers could only sell works in their inns under control of the corporation, and no work was to be imported for sale. Regulations for maintenance of shops or counters were fixed in a court verdict of 1466, legalising common practice. They imply the existence of a considerable production of cheap paintings in tempera on canvas, made on spec and especially geared towards export.
