Column Statue of a King

Unknown

ca. 1150–60 · Limestone · Medieval Art

The royal abbey at Saint-Denis housed the shrine of this national saint. It possessed many of the regalia of the kings of France, and the abbey served as their burial site. Under the energetic Abbot Suger (1122–51) the abbey was rebuilt in a new style that was hailed in the Middle Ages as “the French style” and subsequently called Gothic. This column figure of an unidentified king is the only complete statue to survive from the now destroyed cloister. The jeweled crown and halo distinguish the royal and saintly nature of the figure whose identity may once have been inscribed upon the scroll. Integrating a standing figure with a cylindrical column is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the new Gothic style.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1150–60

Medium

Limestone

Culture

French

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1920