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Mourner

Etienne Bobillet Franco-Netherlandish
Paul Mosselman Franco-Netherlandish
ca. 1453
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 305
The tomb at Bourges of Jean, duc de Berry (1340-1416), was begun by Jean de Cambrai and completed by Étienne Bobillet and Paul de Mosselman. For the duke's tomb, his life-size portrait-effigy was placed on top of a sarcophagus, with figures of mourners rendered in high relief along its sides. The idea of surrounding the tomb with such figures most likely derived from an early-thirteenth-century custom of attaching tokens of sorrowful remembrance of the deceased to his sarcophagus. Here the figures may represent specific members of the duke's family. The faces of the mourners are hidden by deep hoods, and their bodies are engulfed by the voluminous cloaks so typical of Burgundian sculpture. The duke's tomb was vandalized during the French Revolution, and the mourner figures were destroyed or dispersed. Of the original forty statuettes, only twenty-five survive, including this impressive example.

One of two mourner figures in the collection. See also 17.190.389.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mourner
  • Artist: Etienne Bobillet (Franco-Netherlandish, active Bourges, 1453)
  • Artist: Paul Mosselman (Franco-Netherlandish, active Bourges, 1453)
  • Date: ca. 1453
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Alabaster
  • Dimensions: Overall: 15 3/16 x 5 5/16 x 3 7/8 in. (38.6 x 13.5 x 9.8 cm)
  • Classifications: Sculpture-Stone, Sculpture-Alabaster
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.386
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

More Artwork

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Mourner, Etienne Bobillet Franco-Netherlandish, Alabaster with traces of gilding, French
Mourner
Etienne Bobillet
Paul Mosselman
ca. 1453
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Gold, ronde-basse enamel, and jewels, French
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
French
early 15th century
Saint Margaret of Antioch, Alabaster, with traces of gilding, French
Saint Margaret of Antioch
French
ca. 1475
Death of the Virgin, Alabaster, North French
Death of the Virgin
North French
ca. 1450–1500
Virgin and Child, Alabaster with traces of paint and gilding, French
Virgin and Child
French
ca. 1500–1525

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