JEAN DE LIÈGE
(active 1361-1381)

Jeanne d'Évreux and Charles IV

1370-72
Marble
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The 'gisants' were made for the tombs containing the vital organs of Charles IV and Jeanne d'Évreux, his third wife. After the death of Charles IV his remains were laid to rest in three different places. While his body lay at St.-Denis, the Paris Dominicans received his heart, and his other vital organs went to Maubuisson. Shortly before her death, Jeanne began to favour this procedure. As the practice spread, it lead to a large increase in commissions for sculptors. At Maubuisson the small-scale gisants, now in the Louvre, lay on a slab of black marble with gilt inscriptions, columns and canopies. The left arm of each lies across the breast, and the hand holds a bag with entrails to indicate what the tomb contains.