Support Figure of a Seated Cleric or Friar

Support Figure of a Seated Cleric or Friar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The pose of this statuette of a cleric of friar, echoing ancient figures of Atlas, and the indentation cast into its back tell us that it was originally intended as a support for a larger object. Like the carved pair of altar angels in The Cloister's collection (acc. nos. 52.33.1, .2), the style of this cast figure derives ultimately from the seminal sculpture of thirteenth-century Reims Cathedral—in this case from the console figures on the west facade and nave exterior. No thirteenth-century shrine survives intact with support figures like this one, but there are examples from the later Middle Ages. Furthermore, a number of the scenes depicted in the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux (acc. no. 54.1.2) are set in architectural frameworks supported by similar bent figures.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Support Figure of a Seated Cleric or FriarSupport Figure of a Seated Cleric or FriarSupport Figure of a Seated Cleric or FriarSupport Figure of a Seated Cleric or FriarSupport Figure of a Seated Cleric or Friar

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.