Doorway and Staircase Enclosure
This carved door and stairway exemplify the fine craftsmanship lavished on domestic architecture in the late Middle Ages. The carver has borrowed motifs, such as the slender openwork arches, from Gothic church architecture to achieve an exceptionally delicate ornamental effect. A photograph of 1887 shows the woodwork in its original setting on Abbeville’s "Street of the Tannery." Still today, street names in Europe often derive from the profession of a city’s medieval residents.
The figures in the archway and the iron knocker, although contemporary, were added later.
The figures in the archway and the iron knocker, although contemporary, were added later.
Artwork Details
- Title: Doorway and Staircase Enclosure
- Date: late 15th or early 16th century
- Geography: Made in Picardy, France
- Culture: French
- Medium: Oak
- Dimensions: 10 ft. 5 1/2 in. × 14 ft. 9 in. × 72 in. (318.8 × 449.6 × 182.9 cm)
- Classification: Woodwork-Architectural
- Credit Line: Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1913
- Object Number: 13.138.1
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters
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French (?)
15th century
French
late 15th century
French
early 16th century
French
early 16th century
French
early 16th century
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