Stone sculpture: crowned female head, upper right part missing. Front view.

Queen of Sheba, Cl. 23250 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Stone sculpture: crowned female head, upper right part missing. Three-quarter view.

Queen of Sheba, Cl. 23250 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Sculpted head of a bearded man wearing a hat. Frontal view.

Moses, Cl. 23312 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Moses, Cl. 23312

Moses, Cl. 23312 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Sculpted head of a bearded man wearing a hat. Three-quarter view.

Moses, Cl. 23312 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Sculpted head of a bearded man wearing a round hat. Frontal view.

Prophet, Cl. 23415 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Sculpted head of a bearded man wearing a round hat. Three-quarter view.

Prophet, Cl. 23415 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Heads of column statues

From the Abbey of Saint-Denis

Description

On display - room 3

Circa 1135-1140

High Middle Ages

Column statues were first erected in the embrasures of the portals on the west façade of Saint-Denis. This ensemble, produced at the behest of Abbot Suger and completed in 1140, featured prophets and kings from the Old Testament. Destroyed in 1771, it was only known through drawings, among them six heads dispersed between the Musée de Cluny and American museums. These remains include the head of the Queen of Sheba, her hair braided and wearing a crown decorated with cabochons.

From one artwork to another

Stone sculpture: an angel blowing a horn near figures emerging from their tombs. Front view.

Resurrection of the Dead from Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 18643 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Resurrection of the Dead

13th century

Sculpted and fragmented head depicting a man with curly beard wearing a hat. Front-facing stone sculpture.

Head of the king of Judah No. 6, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 22988 © GrandPalaisRmn / René-Gabriel Ojeda

Heads of the kings of Judah

First half of the 13th century

Stone capital decorated with acanthus leaves. Front photograph.

Acanthus-decorated capital from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, Cl. 12119 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Capitals from Saint-Denis

1140-1145