Mourner (Dolente) - Marble Tomb Figure

French or Franco-Flemish · Bourges · Mid 15th century
Marble
ADR · IV · MMXXVI

A dolente or pleurant is a small sculpted mourner placed in procession around the base of a tomb. These figures formed part of elaborate funerary monuments and represent attendants expressing grief.

The standing figure is fully enveloped in a heavy cloak that falls in long, uninterrupted vertical folds to the ground. The head is lowered and almost entirely concealed beneath a deep hood that obscures the face. The arms are hidden beneath the drapery, producing a compact, inward posture. The figure stands on a rectangular base. The extensive covering of the body and the emphasis on weighty, continuous drapery correspond to the restrained expressive language of Burgundian funerary sculpture.

The figure comes from the tomb of Duke Jean de Berry at Bourges and reflects the transition from late Gothic sculptural tradition toward the more natural observation of the mid fifteenth century.