Column Statue of a King
Unknown Artist
ca. 1150–60
Medium
Limestone
Dimensions
45 7/8 × 9 1/4 × 9 1/8 in., 155 lb. (116.5 × 23.5 × 23.2 cm, 70.3 kg) Other (Column without king): 45 7/8 × 5 1/2 in. (116.5 × 14 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Stone
Culture
French
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1920
Accession Number
20.157
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the majestic world of 12th-century France with this *Column Statue of a King a striking limestone sculpture dating to around 1150–60. Carved from a single block of stone, the figure stands about 3 feet 10 inches tall, weighing a substantial 155 pounds, and depicts a regal male figure—likely representing a biblical or historical king—atop a detachable column shaft. Such architectural sculptures were integral to medieval cathedrals and churches, adorning doorways or columns to convey spiritual and royal authority to worshippers. Crafted during the Romanesque period, just as Gothic inn...