Documentary evidence suggests that this tomb ensemble was made for Àlvar Rodrigo de Cabrera and his wife, Cecília of Foix, the parents of Ermengol X. The monastery of Bellpuig de les Avellanes was abandoned and badly damaged during the Wars of Succession that began around 1700. When the monastery was reinhabited in the eighteenth century, the church with its burial chapel was reconstructed. The sarcophagi with the arms of the counts of Urgell and Foix were probably made at the time to fit the original effigies.
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Title:Double Tomb of Don Àlvar Rodrigo de Cabrera, Count of Urgell and His Wife Cecília of Foix
Date:ca. 1300–1350
Culture:Catalan
Medium:Limestone, traces of paint
Dimensions:a: 19 x 82 7/8 x 28 1/4 in. b: 21 x 74 3/4 x 26 in. c: 16 x 74 x 29 in. d: 24 3/4 x 66 3/8 x 24 3/4 in.
Classification:Sculpture-Stone
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1948
Accession Number:48.140.1a–d
Marking: Arms: (on lid and sarcophagus of Count Urgell): checuy, or and sable (on lid and sarcophagus of Cecilia of Foix): or, 3 pales gules; checuy, or and sable on alternating shields
[ Lucien J. Demotte, Paris and New York] ; [ Vestiges, Paris (sold 1948)]
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Monfar y Sors, Diego. Historia de los condes de Urgel. Vol. 1. Barcelona, 1853. pp. 406–7, 409–11.
Pleyan de Porta, Joseph, and Frederich Renyé y Viladot. Album histórich, pintoresch y monumental, de Lleyda y sa provincia. Vol. 1. Lleida: Estampa de Joseph Sol Torrens, 1880. pp. 262–63.
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