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. These two figures 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: 24.2 x 14.7 x 7.6 cm (9 1/2 x 5 13/16 x 3 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1966.113

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.