Doorway and Staircase Enclosure

Unknown

late 15th or early 16th century · Oak · The Cloisters

This carved door and stairway exemplify the fine craftsmanship lavished on domestic architecture in the late Middle Ages. The carver has borrowed motifs, such as the slender openwork arches, from Gothic church architecture to achieve an exceptionally delicate ornamental effect. A photograph of 1887 shows the woodwork in its original setting on Abbeville’s "Street of the Tannery." Still today, street names in Europe often derive from the profession of a city’s medieval residents. The figures in the archway and the iron knocker, although contemporary, were added later.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 15th or early 16th century

Medium

Oak

Culture

French

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1913