Apostle
Culture Group
French (Sarlat, Périgord)
Datec. 1125–1150
MediumLimestone
Dimensions34 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (87.7 x 29.8 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineThe Brummer Collection
Object number1966.148.1
Collections
- MEDIEVAL
Label TextThis sculpture depicts one of the twelve disciples of Christ, known as the Apostles. It is one of a group of four from the museum's collection. All display similar pearly halos, striated hair and beards, and stylized garments with fluttering hems. In their original presentation on the front of a church, they would have been part of a sculptural program depicting the miraculous Ascension of Christ to Heaven. Some hold identifying attributes such as a book or scroll, while others gesture and grasp their hands in awestruck wonder. Compositions of this sort can still be found on exterior portals of churches in south central France.
The Nasher Museum owns four reliefs from the same church façade. Five other reliefs from this original group of twelve are divided among other museums. The rarity of such Romanesque sculptures in America and the variety of other Romanesque and Gothic artworks in the Nasher Museum’s collection, only a sample of which can be displayed in this gallery, make Duke University’s one of the best university collections of medieval art in the country.
The Nasher Museum owns four reliefs from the same church façade. Five other reliefs from this original group of twelve are divided among other museums. The rarity of such Romanesque sculptures in America and the variety of other Romanesque and Gothic artworks in the Nasher Museum’s collection, only a sample of which can be displayed in this gallery, make Duke University’s one of the best university collections of medieval art in the country.