|
|
|
Stylistic Analysis and Historical Research
|
|
 |
|
|
One of the key sculptures in this study is the Metropolitan Museum's Head of King David. Acquired by the Museum in 1938, it was identified in 1940 as having originated from a column figure on the façade of Notre-Dame, Paris. This provenance was based on its close similarity to an 18th-century engraving by Bernard de Montfaucon. To document its association with the cathedral further, researchers chose the Head of King David as one of the first works sampled to determine its chemical composition. The fragment's limestone was found to be chemically similar to that of the "Notre-Dame reference group," which included samples from Parisian quarries, from the monument itself, and from works in Parisian museums already documented as coming from Notre-Dame. Thus both traditional art historical investigation and nuclear science have confirmed that the Met's Head of King David originated at the Paris cathedral.
Images (left): Head of King David, France, Paris, ca. 1145, Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral, south portal of west façade (Saint Anne portal). Limestone, H. 11 1/4 in. (28.58 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1938 (38.180); (right): King David (detail). Engraving after drawing by Antoine Benoist, from Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, Les monumens de la monarchie françoise (Paris,1729-33), pl. VIII
|
|
|
|
|
