Saint John the Baptist, who presents a lamb on an open book, refers to the fulfillment of prophecies of Christ, hailed by John as the Lamb of God. This sculpture, with the statue of Saint James the Greater exhibited nearby, was found near the church of Mouthier-Viellard in Poligny. The monumental dignity and voluminous drapery style derive from the work of Claus Sluter (active 1379–d.1406) and Claus de Werve (active 1396–d.1439), both of whom worked for Duke Philip the Bold at the Chartreuse de Champmol near Dijon in Burgundy.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Saint John the Baptist
Date:ca. 1450–75
Geography:Made in Burgundy, France
Culture:French
Medium:Limestone with traces of paint
Dimensions:59 1/2 in. × 24 in. × 17 in. (151.1 × 61 × 43.2 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Stone
Credit Line:Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1934
Accession Number:34.44
François Vuillermet, Poligny (until 1918); [ Georges J. Demotte, Paris and New York (1918-1931)]; [ Brummer Gallery, Paris and New York (about 1931-1934)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy," March 1–May 23, 2010.
Rorimer, James J. "A Statue of St. John the Baptist Possibly by Claus Sluter." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 29, no. 11, pt. 1 (November 1934). pp. 192–95, fig. 2.
Wethey, Harold E. "Guillermo Sagrera." The Art Bulletin 21, no. 1 (March 1939). p. 55.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guide to the Collections: Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. fig. 56.
Müller, Theodor. Sculpture in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1966. p. 50, pl. 56A.
Boccador, Jacqueline. Statuaire medievale en France de 1400 à 1530. Vol. 1. Zoug: Les Clefs du Temps, 1974. pp. 178–79, 187, 190–91, 196, 200, 219, 241, fig. 213.
Forsyth, William Holmes. "Three Fifteenth-Century Sculptures from Poligny." Metropolitan Museum Journal 22 (1987). pp. 80–91, fig. 19, 22, 29–33.
De Winter, Patrick M. "Art from the Duchy of Burgundy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 10 (December 1987). p. 448, n. 21.
Wixom, William D. "Late Medieval Sculpture in the Metropolitan: 1400 to 1530." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 64, no. 4 (Spring 2007). pp. 18–19.
Witt, Sabine. Die Skulpturen der Sluter-Nachfolge in Poligny: Stiftungen und Hofkunst in der Freigrafschaft Burgund unter den Herzögen aus dem Hause Valois. Korb: Didymos-Verlag, 2009. pp. 78–88, fig. 37, 38.
Vieille, Michel, Ghislain Moret de Rocheprise, and Juliette Rollier. "La Vierge a l'Enfant de Claus de Werve, copie de la statue originale se trouvant au Metropolitan Museum de New York." Revue de L'Association de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine Polinois 31 (2016). pp. 17–18.
Brennan, Christine, Christel Hollevoet-Force, and Yaëlle Biro, ed. The Brummer Galleries, Paris and New York: Defining Taste from Antiquities to the Avant-Garde. Boston: Brill, 2023. fig. 7.7, pp. 338–339.
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