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King Clovis I

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King Clovis I

Date:
ca. 1250
Geography:
Made in Burgundy, France
Culture:
French
Medium:
Limestone with traces of paint
Dimensions:
Overall: 74 1/2 in. (189.2 cm)
Classification:
Installations
Credit Line:
The Cloisters Collection, 1940
Accession Number:
40.51.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 001

  • Description

    According to tradition, the monastery of Moutiers-Saint-Jean was founded by the first Christian kings of France, Clovis I and his son Clothar I. They are almost certainly depicted in the standing figures presenting their charters, now installed in the embrasures on either side of the portal. The small seated figures in the flanking niches represent biblical personages believed to prefigure or foretell Christ's Crucifixion. The tympanum above the doorway depicts Christ crowning the Virgin as the Queen of Heaven. This portal, probably from the north aisle of the cloister, would have led from the monastic precinct into the abbey church. The portal suffered severe damage during the sixteenth-century Wars of Religion; the heads of the two kings may have been repaired in the seventeenth century.

  • Provenance

    From the monastery of Moutiers-Saint-Jean, Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France; near Dijon

    M. Ohresser , Moutier-Saint-Jean, France (until 1909) ; [ Demotte Inc. , Paris (sold 1909) (?)] ; Michel Manzi , Paris (through M. Pagenel, Paris, until 1919) ; [ Demotte Inc. , Paris (sold 1919)] ; [ Duveen Brothers , London, Paris and New York (sold 1919)]

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
70014587

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