According to medieval artistic conventions, Saint Paul is traditionally identified by his bald head and long beard, a sword, the instrument of his martyrdom, and a book, representing his writings. While working within a specified tradition, this Burgundian sculptor invested his carved Saint Paul with exceptional vitality and intelligence. Paul’s left knee pushes against the fabric of his robe, suggesting a relaxed, but attentive posture. His inclined head and furrowed brow project a sense of resolute determination and quiet solemnity. These qualities were especially important for a statue that presided over a private chapel, where the saint served as a heavenly advocate for the de Plaine family.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Saint Paul
Artist:Circle of Claus de Werve (Netherlandish, active in France, ca. 1380–1439, active Burgundy, 1396–ca. 1439)
Date:ca. 1420–30
Geography:Made in Poligny, Burgundy, France
Culture:French
Medium:Limestone with traces of paint
Dimensions:Overall: 47 1/4 x 25 1/2 x 12 in. (120 x 64.8 x 30.5 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Stone
Credit Line:Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness Fund, 1922
Object Number:22.31.1
From the de Plaine family chapel in the monastic Church of the Jacobins (Dominicans), Poligny, Jura; Claude Antoine Dubois and heirs, Poligny; François Vuillermet, Poligny (until 1918-19); [ Georges J. Demotte, Paris and New York (1918–sold 1922)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy," March 1–May 23, 2010.
Breck, Joseph. "A Statue of the School of Claus Sluter." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 17, no. 4 (April 1922). pp. 79–83.
S. R. "Au Musée Métropolitain de New-York." Revue Archéologique, 5th ser., 17 (January-June 1923). p. 361.
Troescher, Georg. Claus Sluter und die burgundische Plastik um die Wende des XIV. Jahrhunderts. Vol. 1. Freiburg im Breisgau: Urban Verlag, 1932. pp. 80, 81, pls. XLV, XLVI:2.
Breck, Joseph. "A Late Gothic Sculpture." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 28, no. 4 (April 1933). p. 74.
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, 194.
Rorimer, James J. "Une statue bourguignonne du XVe siècle au Metropolitan Museum de New-York." Bulletin Monumental 97, no. 1 (1938). p. 16.
Troescher, Georg. Die burgundische Plastik des ausgehenden Mittelalters und ihre Wirkungen auf die europäische Kunst. Frankfurt: Prestel-Verlag, 1940. pp. 117, 188, n. 399.
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Studies of Italian Renaissance Sculpture. New York: Phaidon Press, 1950. pp. 26–27, fig. 22.
Rorimer, James J. "Late Medieval Sculpture from the Byways of Burgundy." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 9, no. 7 (March 1951). p. 183.
Müller, Theodor. Sculpture in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1966. p. 50, pl. 56B.
Art sacré dans le Jura du Moyen âge au XVIIIe sìecle : Poligny, Baume-les-Messieurs, Saint-Claude: Exposition juin-septembre 1972. Poligny: Conservation Départementale des Antiquités et Oeuvres d'Art du Jura, 1972. p. 56.
Boccador, Jacqueline. Statuaire medievale en France de 1400 à 1530. Vol. 1. Zoug: Les Clefs du Temps, 1974. pp. 178–81, 187–90, 219, fig. 214.
Quarré, Pierre. "Les statues de Claus de Werve en Franche-Comté." In Actes du 99e congrès national des sociétés savantes. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1974. p. 125.
Marks, Richard. "Sculpture in the Duchy and County of Burgundy, c. 1300-1500." The Connoisseur 194 (March 1977). p. 61, fig. 11.
Oursel, Hervé. "Proposal for the Dating of Two 15th-Century Burgundian Virgin and Child Sculptures." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 55, no. 4 (1977). p. 191, fig. 2.
Forsyth, William Holmes. "Three Fifteenth-Century Sculptures from Poligny." Metropolitan Museum Journal 22 (1987). pp. 71–91, fig. 1–6, 8.
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.
Camp, Pierre. Les imageurs bourguignons de la fin du Moyen Âge (1990). p. 136.
Cleveland Museum of Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. Art from the Court of Burgundy: The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless 1364-1419, edited by Stephen Fliegel, and Sophie Jugie. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2004. pp. 270–272, fig. 2.
Cleveland Museum of Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. L'art à la cour de Bourgogne: le mécénat de Philippe le Hardi et de Jean sans Peur (1364-1419), edited by Stephen Fliegel, and Sophie Jugie. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2004. pp. 270–272, fig. 2.
La sculpture du XVe siècle en Franche-Comté de Jean sans Peur à Marguerite d'Autriche (1404-1530). Jura Départment: Edition des Amis des Musées du Jura, 2007. no. 13, pp. 62–65, fig. 19.
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). p. 18.
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. 59–65, fig. 19, 20, 21, 22.
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.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.
