The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

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

1404–1410

Claus de Werve

(Netherlandish, 1380–1439)

Netherlands, active Dijon, 15th century

vizille alabaster

Overall: 41.7 x 16.6 x 11.7 cm (16 7/16 x 6 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1940.128

Location: 109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture

Did You Know?

During his life, Duke Philip founded the monastery of Chartreuse de Champmol to serve as a final resting place for himself and his family.

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
1825-1875
Vicomte Edouard de Broissia & son, Georges (d. 1875), Dijon, France
1875-?
(M. Legay, 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)
?-1940
(Jacques Seligmann, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1940-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Musée Des Beaux-Arts, Dijon France mba-collections.dijon.fr
Milliken, William M. "Two Pleurants from the Tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 27, no. 8 (1940). pp. 119-21 www.jstor.org
Beaulieu, Michèle. 1949. "Deux pleurants de Jaume Cascalls provenant des sépultures royales de Poblet: Musée du Louvre". Musées De France. 96-98. In no. Iv
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 182 archive.org
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
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
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. New York: Harper & Row, 1982. Reproduced: fig. 4
De Winter, Patrick M. "Art from the Duchy of Burgundy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 10 (1987). pp. 414-424 www.jstor.org
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. Dijon, France: Musée des beaux-arts, 2004. Cat. No. 83; Reproduced p.233, no.18
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
Klein, Holger A. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 202-205, no. 73
Kemperdick, Stephan, and Friso Lammertse. The Road to Van Eyck. 2012. Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2012. Cat. No. 24A; pp. 164-165
Anna Simon, review of The Road to Van Eyck, by Stephan Kemperdick und Friso Lammertse, Journal für Kunstgeschichte, 17 (April 2013). Mentioned: p. 258-268; Reproduced: p. 259
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 272
Cuzin, Jean-Pierre, et. al. Le Saint Joseph Charpentier de Georges de la Tour: Un Don au Louvre de Percy Moore Turner. [Gent] : Snoeck, 2017. Mentioned: p. 118 & 459, n. 1256
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).
The Road to Van Eyck. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (October 13, 2012-February 10, 2013).
The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 1-May 23, 2010).
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).
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).
Treasures in America, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, (January 13-March 5, 1961).
Deux Pleurants de Jaume Cascalle Provenant des Sepultures Royales de Poblet, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France (May, 1949).
{{cite web|title=Mourner from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1364–1404)|url=false|author=Claus de Werve|year=1404–1410|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.128