Engaged Capital

Unknown

late 12th century · Limestone · The Cloisters

he cloister sculptures of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert held a special appeal for Barnard. As a sculptor, he viewed them with particular attention to material and artistic process, once remarking that they revealed “the power of the chisel,” the awareness of which he felt modern American art students lacked. Perhaps reflecting on his own student days in Paris in the 1880s and his experiences teaching at the Art Students League in New York around 1900, Barnard advocated for students to examine medieval sculptures such as these up close.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 12th century

Medium

Limestone

Culture

French

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1925