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Source 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.<br><br>This mourner is unusual for the time because it is not carved as a static low relief on the pedestal of the tomb but interact 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
135539
label
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404)
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
135539
contentType
sculpture
title
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404)
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.<br><br>This mourner is unusual for the time because it is not carved as a static low relief on the pedestal of the tomb but interact 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.
date
1404–10
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60757403
creators
9759
genreSpecific
Sculpture
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 41.1 x 17.6 x 11 cm (16 3/16 x 6 15/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
cul
Netherlands, active Dijon, 15th century
accession
1958.67
Source extras
tec
vizille alabaster
tombstone
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404), 1404–10. Claus de Werve (Netherlandish, 1380–1439). Vizille alabaster; overall: 41.1 x 17.6 x 11 cm (16 3/16 x 6 15/16 x 4 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., 1958.67
collection
MED - Gothic
relatedWorks
id
119132
description
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404), 1404–1410. Claus de Werve (Netherlandish, 1380–1439). Vizille alabaster; overall: 41.7 x 16.6 x 11.7 cm (16 7/16 x 6 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1940.128
relationship
related series
id
135538
description
Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404), 1404–10. Claus de Werve (Netherlandish, 1380–1439). Vizille alabaster; overall: 41 x 12.7 x 15 cm (16 1/8 x 5 x 5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., 1958.66
relationship
related series
id
119143
description
Mourner from the Tomb of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria, 1443–45. Jean de la Huerta (Spanish, active Burgundy, 1431–62). Salins alabaster; overall: 41 x 20.3 x 12.4 cm (16 1/8 x 8 x 4 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1940.129
formerAccessionNumbers
3876.42
didYouKnow
The use of alabaster in the late Middle Ages began in the 1300s with court art in the circles of French kings, especially in the field of funerary sculpture.
citations
citation
Musée Des Beaux-Arts, Dijon France
citation
Beaulieu, Michèle. 1949. "Deux pleurants de Jaume Cascalls provenant des sépultures royales de Poblet: Musée du Louvre". Musées De France. 96-98.
page_number
No Iv.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken.<em> In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.</em> [Catalogue]. 1958.
page_number
no. 161
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 64
citation
Wixom, William D. <em>Treasures from Medieval France.</em> [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 256-257; cat. no. VI-21
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 64
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 72
citation
Alsop, Joseph. <em>The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared.</em> New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 4
citation
De Winter, Patrick M. "Art from the Duchy of Burgundy." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 74, no. 10 (1987).
page_number
p. 411-424
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N., Sophie Jugie, and Virginie Barthélémy. <em>Art from the Court of Burgundy: The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless 1364-1419. </em>Dijon, France: Musée des beaux-arts, 2004.
page_number
Cat. No.83; reproduced .p.233.no.35
citation
Domine, Heidi, "Time Machine", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 44 no. 01, January 2004
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9
citation
Klein, Holger A. <em>Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 202-205, no. 73
citation
Kemperdick, Stephan, and Friso Lammertse. <em>The Road to Van Eyck</em>. Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2012.
page_number
Cat. No. 24B; pp. 164-165
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N. "Medieval Masterpieces." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 52, no. 4 (July/August 2012): 13-15.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 13-14
citation
Anna Simon, review of The Road to Van Eyck, by Stephan Kemperdick und Friso Lammertse, <em>Journal für Kunstgeschichte</em> 17 (April 2013): 258-268.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 259
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 272
citation
“A Walking Tour: The entire new museum wing by wing, with curators calling out a few favorite works in the collection.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 8-33.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 13
citation
Mikolic, Amanda. <em>Fashionable Mourners: Bronze Statuettes from the Rijksmuseum</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 1, fig. 1
citation
Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. <em>The Middle Ages in 50 Objects</em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 188-191; Reproduced: p. 189
citation
Freundeskreis des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums. <em>Hommage: Renate Eikelmann</em>. München: Sieveking Verlag, 2018.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 60
citation
Truman, Samantha, and Angelica Verduci. “Mourners from the Tomb of Philip the Bold.“ In <em>Riemenschneider and Late Medieval Alabaster</em>, edited by Aumaine Rose Smith, 106-119. Cleveland, Lewes: The Cleveland Museum of Art; D Giles Limited, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 106, 114-118; Reproduced: p. 107-113,119, no. 4
creditline
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
sketchfabId
d81c143f00a140269047c0a4619e6263
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:16:25.306000
sourceId
135539
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Gothic
med
vizille alabaster
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a318450688a657df