During the first half of the 13th century, a high point for the Kindom of France, the royal family invested in religious foundations at the same time that it assured dignified burial places for itself. In Saint Denis, the king ordered a large number of recumbent statues to honour royal ancestors. Not far from his private residence, near Brie-Comte-Robert, Jeanne, the daughter of Count Raymond VII of  Toulouse, and wife of Alphonse of Poitiers, the brother of Saint Louis, set up an abbey for canonesses of the order of Saint Victor of Paris, and chose to be buried there. The abbey disappeared during the Revolution. Ordered by king Phillippe III The Bold, the statue of the countess who died in 1271 is known because of a drawing by Gaignieres (17th century), though only the mask remains. Of very high quality, this mask confirms the superiority of the Ile-de-France sculptors. The head, sculpted with a touaille and a wimple held by a chin strap shows great sensitivity and shows the gentleness of sculptures at the turn of the century.