- Period
- Late Gothic
- Date
- 1409
- Collection
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object no.
- 1964.360
Kneeling Prophet from the Reliquary Chasse of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Jean de Clichy, 1409
Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund · Public domain
- Maker
- Jean de Clichy
- Date
- 1409
- Medium
- gilt bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 13.8 x 9.3 x 8.7 cm (5 7/16 x 3 11/16 x 3 7/16 in.)
- Period
- Late Gothic
The record
Why it matters
This figure is one of only two known surviving fragments of the Reliquary Châsse of Saint-Germain. Fashioned from silver, gold, and precious stones, it was designed to hold the body of the saint. A contract from 1409 gives the names of the commissioned goldsmiths: Jean de Clichy, Gautier du Four, and Guillaume Boey.The reliquary was housed in the ancient Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris and formed the monastery’s great treasure until it was destroyed in the French revolution. The exquisite modeling of the prophet, originally a supporting foot of the reliquary, reveals the sophistication of Paris around 1400.