Eastern France, possibly Lorraine, 16th century Godefroy... - Lot 254 - FW Auction

Lot 254
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
Eastern France, possibly Lorraine, 16th century Godefroy... - Lot 254 - FW Auction
Eastern France, possibly Lorraine, 16th century Godefroy de Bouillon, knight, duke of Lower Lotharingia and avowed of the Holy Sepulchre (1058-1100) Head sculpted in limestone Dimensions 40 x 42 x 27 cm on a marble base 16.5 x 35.5 x 35.5 cm Fragmentary condition, accidents and wear "My lords, I cannot gird a golden crown where Christ had to wear a crown of thorns crown of thorns" said Godfrey of Bouillon when he conquered Jerusalem during the first crusade in 1099. This bearded man's head, whose status as a knight is visible thanks to the presence of the gorgerin, is crowned with a crown of thorns, just like Christ. This attribute is given to Godefroy de Bouillon at the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, It was notably diffused through engravings. However, Godfrey of Bouillon had already been represented iconographically since the 14th century the fourteenth century, thanks to his appearance in the poem of the Lorraine writer Jacques de Longuyon the Vows of the peacock. This illustrious work specified the role of the "Nine Preux", divided into triads, who embodied the chivalric ideal: the Old Testament knights represented by Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus; those of Antiquity with Hector, Alexander the Great and Caesar, and finally, those of Christian times represented by Arthur, Charlemagne and Godefroy de Bouillon. The model of the nine valiant men was then very successful and was taken up in literature by the famous writer Guillaume de Machaut in his Dit de Lyon in 1342. It is mentioned in the Chronicles of Froissart in 1369, and finally it appears in the Roman du chevalier errant by Thomas de Saluces. A model of courage and piety, Godefroy de Bouillon is represented in all figurative in all figurative arts, from tapestry to enamels, generally in his knight's panoply, as shown in knight, as evidenced by his effigy preserved in Pierrefonds Castle. The Nine Preux carry an exemplary character rooted in the life and culture of the nobility and are used for used to glorify a sovereign or a lineage. It is therefore possible to consider that our sculpture possible that our sculpture originally adorned a large castle hall or accompanied a funerary accompanied a funerary monument of a prince, like the eponymous bronze guarding with 27 other monumental figures in the famous cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg in Innsbruck. Our work may have been made in a princely context in Lorraine, the region of origin of of Godfrey of Bouillon. Even in the sixteenth century, and until 1624, historians and historiographers historians and historiographers, anxious to please the dukes of Lorraine, claimed that these princes were descendants of Godefroy de Bouillon, duke of Lower-Lotharingia and son of Eustache II, count of Boulogne. This fabulous genealogy allowed them to affiliate them with Charles of France, removed from the Kingdom by Hugues Capet and to answer the territorial claims in addition to make known their virtues.
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