Chapel from Notre-Dame-du-Bourg at Langon

after 1126

On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 04

The right wall of the Langon Chapel is composed of elements originally from the south wall of the choir in the church of Notre-Dame-du-Bourg, which was founded as a dependency of Notre-Dame-de-la-Grande-Sauve in 1126. These sober, spare, yet imposing elements have been installed with little variation from their Romanesque arrangement. Several original elements have been incorporated into the left wall, which was reconstructed with stonework that harmonizes with the facing wall.
The large heads on the capital to the right of the altar were once thought to represent Henry II of England and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, who in 1155 visited the monastery upon which the chapel was dependent. This seems unlikely, however, as similar capitals with crowned heads are rather common in Romanesque architectural sculpture. The images on the capitals appear to have no religious or narrative significance. Shaded areas indicate original elements.

Artwork Details

Overview

Catalogue Entry

Provenance

References

Title: Chapel from Notre-Dame-du-Bourg at Langon
Date: after 1126
Geography: Made in Aquitaine, France
Culture: French
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: 15 ft. 4 in. × 18 ft. 8 in. × 23 ft. 10 in. (467.4 × 569 × 726.4 cm)
Classification: Installations
Credit Line: Rogers Fund,1934
Object Number: 34.115.1–.269
Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Audio

Langon Chapel

Gallery 4

0:00

NARRATOR: The clean space and dim light of this room evoke a twelfth-century chapel, and, indeed, some of the sculpture near the apse comes from a chapel of this date in Western France.

One of the great treasures displayed here is a large statue of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, although the Child's head is not preserved.

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