The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 17, 2024

Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404)

1404–10

Claus de Werve

(Netherlandish, 1380–1439)

Netherlands, active Dijon, 15th century

vizille alabaster

Overall: 41 x 12.7 x 15 cm (16 1/8 x 5 x 5 7/8 in.)

Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1958.66

Location: 109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture

Did You Know?

A plaster cast of this mourner decorates the empty niche in the Tomb of Philip the Bold in Dijon, France.

Description

This figure comes from the tomb of Duke Philip the Bold from the church of Champmol near Dijon (Burgundy, France). Philip, who founded the monastery and designated it as his burial place, hired the best artists, many of whom came from the Netherlands. While the commission was given in 1381, the work was not completed until 1410, six years after the duke’s death.

This mourner is unusual for the time because it is not carved as a static low relief on the pedestal of the tomb but interacts with the viewers and their fellow procession members. The lifelike quality of the figure is due in large part to the alabaster. Its softness allowed artists to carve details into the material, and the transparent, milky white stone could also be polished to a high gloss.

M. M. Hocquart, Dijon, France
-1875
Vicomte Edouard de Broissia & son, Georges, (d. 1875) Dijon, France
1875-?
(M. Legley, Nancy, sold to Charles Stein)
(Charles Stein, Paris, France)
Baron Arthur de Schickler, Paris, France
Count de Pourtales, Paris, France
1919-?
(Duveen Bros., Paris, France)
by 1922-1939
Clarence Mackay (d. 1939), New York, NY
1939-1940
(Jacques Seligmann, New York, sold to Leonard C. Hanna)
1940-1958
Leonard C. Hanna, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1958-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Musée Des Beaux-Arts, Dijon France mba-collections.dijon.fr
Beaulieu, Michèle. 1949. "Deux pleurants de Jaume Cascalls provenant des sépultures royales de Poblet: Musée du Louvre". Musées De France. 96-98. no. Iv
Parker, Clifford S., and Paul L. Grigaut. Initiation à la culture française. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. p. 63
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 64 archive.org
Wixom, William D. Treasures from Medieval France. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 256-257; cat.no. VI-21 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland). "Selected Works." 1967. no. 97
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 64 archive.org
Martí-Ibáñez, Félix. The Adventure of Art. New York: C.N. Potter; distributed by Crown, 1970. p. 280
Musée des beaux-arts de Dijon, and Pierre Quarré. Les pleurants des tombeaux des ducs de Bourgogne. 1971. pl. 38
Clasen, Karl Heinz. Der Meister Der Schönen Madonnen: Herkunft, Entfaltung Und Umkreis. Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1974. pp. 91, 203, abb. 13
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 72 archive.org
Alsop, Joseph. The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared. 1982. pl. 2, No. 4
Schreckenberg, Hella, and Claus Sluter. Claus Sluter. Bochum: Brockmeyer, 1987. p. 32, fig. 53
De Winter, Patrick M. "Art from the Duchy of Burgundy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 10 (1987). pp. 411-424 www.jstor.org
Petrusevich, N. B., I︠U︡. S. Pamfilov, Ljudmila Brylenko, and E. B. Georgievskai︠a︡. Five Hundred Years of French Painting: The Hermitage, Leningrad, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1990. p. 56, no. 20
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Fliegel, Stephen N., Sophie Jugie, and Virginie Barthélémy. Art from the Court of Burgundy: The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless 1364-1419 : Musée Des Beaux-Arts De Dijon, May 28-September 15, 2004, the Cleveland Museum of Art, October 24, 2004-January 9, 2005. [Dijon]: Musée des beaux-arts, 2004. Cat. No. 83, p. 233
Domine, Heidi, "Time Machine", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 44 no. 01, January 2004 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9 archive.org
Fliegel, Stephen. "Patronage and the Burgundian Court, 1364-1419" The Magazine Antiques (October 2004). pp. 142-151, pl. XII
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 202-205, no. 73
Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. p. 188-9, no. 68
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Mikolic, Amanda. Fashionable Mourners: Bronze Statuettes from the Rijksmuseum. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017. Reproduced: p. 1, fig. 1
Freundeskreis des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums. Hommage: Renate Eikelmann. München: Sieveking Verlag, 2018. Reproduced: p. 60
Riemenschneider and Late Medieval Alabaster. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 23, 2023).
Johan Maelwael from Guelders. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (October 6, 2017-January 7, 2018).
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Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
Dukes and Angels: Art from the Court of Burgundy (1364-1419). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, Dijon, France (May 27-September 15, 2004); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24, 2004-January 9, 2005).
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Treasures of Medieval France. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1966-January 29, 1967).
Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).
Deux Pleurants de Jaume Cascalle Provenant des Sepultures Royales de Poblet, Musées de France, Paris, France (May 1949).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.66