SLUTER, Claus
(b. ca. 1350, Haarlem, d. 1406, Dijon)

Tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy

1390-1406
Alabaster, height 243 cm
Musée Archéologique, Dijon

The work of Claus Sluter for the Duke of Burgundy in some sense marks a stylistic change in sculpture at the end of the fourteenth century. Sluter's main innovation lies in the degree of emotive power with which he instilled his figures, and his tendency to dramatize.

The tomb of Philip The Bold is the only French royal monument to survive complete. It was begun c. 1390 and it remained unfinished at Sluter's death. On the side of the tomb-chest the famous mourning Carthusian monks can be seen.