DIJON'S MEDIEVAL MOURNERS TO BE EXHIBITED IN THE US

THE WHITE ALABASTER FIGURES DRAPED IN CLOAKS SHOW THEIR GRIEF IN DIFFERENT WAYS: FROM A BENT HEAD, THE FACE SHROUDED BY A HOOD, TO A HAND SWATHED IN CLOTH REACHING UP TO WIPE A TEAR. THE NEARLY 40 'MOURNERS' COMMISSIONED IN THE 15th CENTURY TO ADORN THE TOMB OF JOHN THE FEARLESS, THE SECOND DUKE OF BURGUNDY, WILL BE SEEN TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME OUTSIDE FRANCE WHEN THEY BEGIN A TOUR OF SEVEN US CITIES THIS SPRING. THE 16 INCH TALL SCULPTURES, COMPLETED IN 1457 FOR THE TOMB OF THE ASSASSINATED DUKE, ARE TRAVELING WHILE THE DIJON MUSEUM WHERE THEY RESIDE IS RENOVATED. FOLLOWING THEIR US TOUR, THE SCULPTURES THAT DEPICT CLERGY, FAMILY AND OTHERS WILL BE DISPLAYED AT PARIS' MEDIEVAL CLUNY MUSEUM BEFORE RETURNING HOME. RICK BRETTELL, THE MUSEUM EXCHANGE'S US DIRECTOR, SAID THE BURGUNDY COURT WAS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL IN EUROPE IN THE 14th AND 15th CENTURIES. HE SAID PEOPLE TRAVEL TO DIJON SPECIFICALLY TO SEE THE SCULPTURES. 'THE MOURNING FIGURES ARE UNIVERSALLY ADMIRED', HE SAID. FOR THE FIRST FOUR VENUES OF THE US TOUR, A JOHN THE FEARLESS MOURNER THAT THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART OWNS WILL JOIN THE OTHER 39. THERE WERE ONCE 41 MOURNERS FOR THE AMAZING TOMB, BUT ONE WAS LOST DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. THE DIJON MUSEUM, WHICH IS THE FORMER DUCAL PALACE, WON'T BE WITHOUT MOURNERS DURING THE TOUR. THOSE ADORNING THE TOMB OF JOHN'S FATHER, PHILIP THE BOLD, WILL BE ON DISPLAY OUTSIDE THE TOMB DURING THE RENOVATION. THE TOMBS OF THE DUKES WERE COMMISSIONED FOR THE FAMILY'S MONASTIC COMPLEX OUTSIDE DIJON, BUT WERE MOVED AFTER THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND PLACED IN THE MUSEUM, WHILE THE DUKES' ACTUAL REMAINS ARE IN DIJON'S SAINT BENIGNE CATHEDRAL. THE MOURNERS FOR BOTH DUKES ARE THE WORK OF THE DUCAL SCULPTURE WORKSHOP, WHICH SHOWED INNOVATION WITH THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL, NATURAL FIGURES. IN DIJON, THE MOURNERS FOR JOHN THE FEARLESS ARE LINED UP IN ARCADES BENEATH EFFIGIES OF THE DUKE AND HIS WIFE RESTING ON A BLACK MARBLE SLAB, SO THE TOUR WILL BE A CHANCE TO SEE THEM 'IN THE ROUND'. THE MOURNERS' FIRST TOUR STOP WILL BE IN NEW YORK CITY AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.