Claus Sluter (1340s in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

– 1405 or 1406 in

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

) was a Dutch sculptor, living in the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

from about 1380. He was the most important northern European sculptor of his age and is considered a pioneer of the "northern realism" of the

Early Netherlandish painting Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flour ...

that came into full flower with the work of

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

and others in the next generation.

Life

The name "Claes de Slutere van Herlam" is inscribed in the Register of the Corporation of Stonemasons and Sculptors of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

around the years 1379/1380. He then moved to the Burgundian capital of

, where from 1385 to 1389 he was the assistant of Jean de Marville,

court sculptor A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

Philip the Bold Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg. Philip was th ...

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

. From 1389 to his death he was court sculptor himself, with the rank of ''

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on ...

''. He was succeeded by his nephew Claus de Werve.

Work

Sluter's most significant work is the so-called ''

Well of Moses The Well of Moses (French: ''Puits de Moïse'') is a monumental sculpture recognised as the masterpiece of the Dutch artist Claus Sluter (1340–1405–06), assisted by his nephew Claus de Werve. It was executed by Sluter and his workshop i ...

'' (1395–1403), or the Great Cross. It was created for the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Champmol The Chartreuse de Champmol, formally the ''Chartreuse de la Sainte-Trinité de Champmol'', was a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Dijon, which is now in France, but in the 15th century was the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. The monast ...

, which was founded by Philip the Bold right outside Dijon in 1383. For many years, the top portion was thought to have included (along with Christ on a cross), sculptures of the Virgin and John the Evangelist. However it was more likely just Christ, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at the foot of the cross. The cross, and whatever was on the terrace below, was destroyed at some point after 1736 and before 1789, probable because the roof of the building protecting the monument collapsed. Some fragments from the original Cross are preserved in the Musée Archéologique de Dijon. Life-sized figures representing Old Testament prophets and kings (Moses, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zachariah, and Isaiah) stand around the base, holding phylacteries and books inscribed with verses from their respective texts, which were interpreted in the Middle Ages as typological prefigurations of the sacrifice of Christ. The work's physical structure, in which the Old Testament figures support those of the New Dispensation, literalizes the typological iconography. The pedestal surmounts a hexagonal fountain. The entire monument is executed in limestone quarried from Tonnerre and Asnières. The portal of the former mortuary chapel of Champmol is positioned a few feet away from the Well of Moses. It consists of three sculptural groups by Sluter: a standing Madonna and Child at the

trumeau A trumeau is the central pillar or mullion supporting the tympanum of a large doorway, commonly found in medieval buildings. An architectural feature, it is often sculpted. Monolithic or paired, it becomes sculpted or decorated in Romanesque arc ...

; the duke and St. John, his patron saint, at the left jamb and the duchess and her patron saint, Catherine, at the right one. Sluter was also responsible for the main part of the work on Philip's tomb, which (restored and partly reconstructed) has been moved to the Museum of Fine Arts which is housed in the former ducal palace in Dijon. Sluter was one of the sculptors of the pleurants, or mourners, which occupy niches below the tombs of Philip the Bold, his wife Margaret, and John the Fearless.

References

Sources

* Antoine, Elisabeth. ''Art from the Court of Burgundy: The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless, 1364-1419''. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, 2005. * Jugie, Sophie. ''The Mourners: Tomb Sculpture from the Court of Burgundy ''. Paris: 1; First Edition, 2010. * Nash, Susie. ''Northern Renaissance art''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. * Kaldenbach, Kees. Web page on the Calvary sculpture, Rijksmuseum, 2021 https://johannesvermeer.info/sluter-calvary-rijksmuseum.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sluter, Claus 14th-century French sculptors 1340s births 1405 deaths Artists from Haarlem Arts in the court of Philip the Good Dutch sculptors Early Netherlandish sculptors Gothic sculptors Northern Renaissance Early Netherlandish art