197, 198. Jean de Liège (1361-1381), French,

Recumbent Statues of Charles IV the Fair and

Jeanne d’Evreux, second half of the 13th century.

Marble, 135 x 36 x 16 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Gothic.

 

 

This pair of effigy statues comes from the Cistercian abbey church of Maubuisson in France. Queen Jeanne d’Evreux commissioned the pieces before her death. The statues are only about half life-size; their small size is due to the type of tomb they surmount. Called an “entrail tomb,” it was designed to hold only the entrails of the king and queen. Each figure is shown holding a small bag that would have contained the entrails. In parts of France, such as Normandy and Ile-de-France, there was a long-standing custom among aristocratic families, especially the Royal Family, to have multiple tombs for different parts of the body. The body would be eviscerated upon death, and the entrails, or heart, would be destined for one tomb, the bones for another.