The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 20, 2026

A vertically oriented color lithograph in muted green and pink on cream paper features a translucent, right-facing profile with hands together. To the left, a checkered floor recedes toward a pale horse in an archway, while two columns frame an opening on the right. A small emblem sits at top center. Handwritten French text and a signature occupy the lower margins of the soft, ethereal composition.

The Knight Did Not Die in the Crusade

1899

Maurice Denis

(French, 1870–1943)
printer

August Clot

(French, 1858–1936)
publisher

Ambroise Vollard

(French, 1867–1939)
color lithograph on wove paper
Image: 38.5 x 27.6 cm (15 3/16 x 10 7/8 in.); Sheet: 53 x 40.2 cm (20 7/8 x 15 13/16 in.)
Purchase from the Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust and partial gift of Stephen Dull 2021.170.6
Catalogue raisonné: Cailler 112
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Maurice Denis was a devout Catholic and often drew visual connections between his wife, Marthe, the subject of this print series, and the Virgin Mary.

Description

Maurice Denis belonged to the Nabis, a group of artists who came together in 1889 to pursue a radical new style informed by subjective experience and emotion. This print is from a series in which Denis explored his devotion to his wife, Marthe, by depicting her in a variety of settings alongside titles drawn from his own journal. The vague but evocative images were meant to encourage the viewer to draw connections to the theme and meditate on its meaning.
  • ?-2021
    (Georgina Kelman Works on Paper, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    December 6, 2021-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cailler, Pierre. Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre gravé et lithographié de Maurice Denis. Geneve: Éditions Pierre Cailler, 1968. Mentioned no. 112
  • {{cite web|title=The Knight Did Not Die in the Crusade|url=false|author=Maurice Denis, August Clot, Ambroise Vollard|year=1899|access-date=20 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.170.6