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Relief of Saint John Mourning
Northern French or Meuse Valley
Medieval
about 1220–30
Object Place: Europe, Northern France/Meuse Valley
Medium/Technique
Metal; gilded bronze (93.3% copper, 3.7% lead, 3% tin, trace of zinc)
Dimensions
8.9 x 3.3 x 2 cm (3 1/2 x 1 5/16 x 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
H. E. Bolles Fund
Accession Number53.334a
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsMetalwork
DescriptionStanding figure open in back. Cast, chased, and gilded. Resting his head on his left hand with flexed fingers in a gesture of mourning, John stands in a contrapposto pose gazing out at the viewer. His clean-shaven chin and short hair, rendered in soft waves with a band of curls around the edge, provide the youthful appearance appropriate to this evangelist. Over a wide-sleeved tunic with deeply channeled folds he wears a pallium that is pulled across the abdomen and falls over the left hand and forearm. The concealed arm holds a closed book with a central clasp.
ProvenanceUntil 1953, with Mathias Komor, New York; 1953, sold by Komor to the MFA for $960. (Accession Date: April 9, 1953)