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| Keywords: French - Head of an Old Testament King - Walters 2721.jpg Sculptural innovation of the Gothic period can be seen in this head of an Old Testament monarch carved for the carved for the abbey church of Saint-Denis outside Paris The head from a pier column figure on the building's west façade represents the transition between the abstraction and solidity characteristic of the eleventh and earlier twelfth centuries often called the Romanesque period and the increased interest in naturalism seen from the later twelfth century through the end of the medieval period Although this example is by no means a realistic representation of the human figure the sculptor has incorporated elements based on the observation of nature such as the softly rounded contours of the face and the wavy curls of hair This interest in naturalism continued to develop through the later Middle Ages and the early modern period When this sculpture was in situ the feet of the full-length figure would have been at about the height of a viewer's head and the monarch would have stared down at the viewer his crown robe and eyes brightly painted and adorned with inset glass and metal The heads of the jamb figures were removed from the portal in the late eighteenth century just before the royal burial church became a target of vandalism during the French Revolution ca 1140 Medieval limestone cm 36 5 23 22 3 accession number 27 21 28513 Abbey of St Denis Paris said to be a head from a west façade portal jamb statue Raoul Heilbronner Paris date and mode of acquisition unknown Dikran Kelekian Paris date and mode of acquisition unknown Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1911 The Royal Abbey of St Denis at the Time of Abbot Suger 1125-1151 The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 1981 Highlights from the Collection The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1998-2001 Vive la France French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1999-2000 Set in Stone The Face in Medieval Sculpture The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 2006-2007 place of origin Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis France Walters Art Museum license Medieval art in the Walters Art Museum Art of France in the Walters Art Museum Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review Vive la France French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet | ||||
