Kneeling Carthusian Monk (c. 1380–1400): Art, History and Details

Kneeling Carthusian Monk (c. 1380–1400) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

These are the only known surviving sculpted examples of kneeling Carthusian monks. Depictions of Carthusians in the same act of piety are found in paintings such as the one in this room from the Chartreuse de Champmol. These two figures are believed to come from the same Carthusian monastery as the mourners displayed nearby and would have formed part of a private devotional group, probably in a monk’s cell, with a sculpture of the crucified Christ or the Virgin positioned between them. They wear the recognizable white scapular, a hooded garment with front and back panels tied together with a tab.

Object facts

• Title: Kneeling Carthusian Monk
• Date: c. 1380–1400
• Culture: France, Burgundy, Dijon
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 25.7 x 14.1 x 6.8 cm (10 1/8 x 5 9/16 x 2 11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1966.112

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• Lee, Sherman E. “Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 7 (September 1966): 181–284.
• Wixom, William D. “Three Gothic Sculptures.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 9 (November 1966): 348–355.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.