The Cleveland Museum of Art Special Exhibitions Dukes & Angels

  Dukes and Angels > Hometown Highlights > Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, c. 1404-10
 
 
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, c. 1404-10
Alabaster; H. 41 c.
Dijon
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fund
1940.128
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, c. 1404-10

Mourners from the tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1342-1404). The figures were among forty-one "mourners," or pleurants forming a funeral procession in stone around the tomb of Duke Philip the Bold. They are among the most remarkable sculptures to have been produced during the Middle Ages, and they form the high point of Burgundian court sculpture. The mourners are precisely and masterfully carved with constant attention to the minute details of costume, facial features, and gesture. Each figure is endowed with individuality drawn from the expressive variations of human emotion. Each is meant to convey the essence of grief, anguish, and contemplation. They form a fitting memorial to one of the Middle Ages' most important patrons of art.

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