Friday 4 March 2011

Gisants


The recumbent statues of Charles of Burgundy, a.k.a Charles the bold (d. 1477), duke of Burgundy and Marie of Burgundy, duchess of Brabant and archduchess of Austria (d. 1482) in the palace. Those were the days when Burgundy, now a region of France, was far more powerful than the French kingdom...
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Les gisants de Charles de Valois-Bourgogne, dit Charles le Téméraire, duc de Bourgogne et de Marie de Bourgogne, duchesse de Brabant et archiduchesse d'Autriche dans le château.

30 comments:

andrew1860 said...

Are theses inside of the Palace? It reminds me of Saint Denis

Lowell said...

Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end...and now they live on in two statues!

Nice history lesson and super photos, Ciel!

Bob Crowe said...

Of course they certainly drank well. Makes me wonder whether Bordeaux was part of France proper at that time.

Halcyon said...

The statues are beautiful. So detailed...

brattcat said...

Oh, how the light falls on Marie...warming her stone cheek.

Thirtytwo degrees said...

Very nice to be able to recline next to windows....in Heavenly peace and quiet, no doubt!

Paulie said...

Nice tribute!

Olivier said...

avec la lumiere du jour qui tombe sur les gisants, sur la deuxieme on dirait qu'elle prie et que la lumiere du divin lui montre le chemin

Jack said...

I wonder why they were portrayed lying down. Does that signify that they were dead when the sculptor portrayed them?

Re your comment on today's blog, yes, the bronze definitiely shows a woman with a typically feminine gesture, doesn't it?

Day4plus said...

Wow such history. More interesting here than in history class at school. MB

Alain said...

Téméraire peut-être, mais il garde quand même son casque à portée de main.

Cergie said...

Bien apaisés ces gisants et loin des transis qui flanquent les jetons...

Cergie said...

Disons qu'Al est monomaniauqe rapport les ordures qui trainent en ce moment...
Souvenir de chiens, pour moi = le Vercors. Il faut toujours un bâton pour marcher et on n'en avait pas.

cieldequimper said...

@ Bob: Bordeaux was (and still is) in Aquitaine which was English for a while from 1360 onwards, as far back as the mid 12th century when Aliénor d'Aquitaine married Henry II Plantagenêt (she was Richard Lionheart's Mum!). The region was reclaimed by France towards the end of the 15th century never to change hands again. But... you now know why so many Bordeaux wine experts are... English... M'not kidding, it's the direct result of far away history.

@ Jack: you might want to look up recumbent statues.

Diane said...

I don't know much about French History - other than it is a bit lively! Great shots

VP said...

I am always glad to learn some French history. I like the peculiar light and the pose of the statues.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing the great power of Burgundy was from wine production?

Beautiful lighting from those old windows creates some nice shadows.

Cezar and Léia said...

History lesson and so lovely shots!
Thanks so much!
Léia

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Beautiful photos with a history lesson to go with them! Bon weekend, mon amie.

Bises,
G

Saretta said...

They must be tired after holding their hands up like that for all these centuries! ;-)

Loree said...

And now they sleep in peace. I like how they are lying next to windows. I wonder if they get up and look out at night ;)

Dimple said...

Interesting. The details of the clothing are wonderful!

Malyss said...

J'aime les gisants, ils m'impressionnent toujours! et dans cette jolie lumière, quelle merveille!

PS: je croise les doigts pour toi!

SRQ said...

Really like the angles of these shots. And, the helmet of the suit of armor. Bourgogne is calling!

Randy said...

Excellent shots. The second one is so beautiful.

Dina said...

Very unusual. Are they praying even in death? Or maybe just bedtime prayer?

cieldequimper said...

@ Dina: not unusual! There are thousands of recumbent statues like these of kings, queens, archbishops, bishops, archdukes, dukes etc. My knowledge of them is limited to Western Europe though. Many of them in England, France, Belgium etc.

Sharon said...

I am fascinated by these, Ciel. I have never seen anything like it!

These photographs are just fabulous. Thank you!

Sharon

Bergson said...

J'adore la lumière qui éclaire ce gisant

Becky said...

First of all, I love these pictures. Once again, the blue hues caught my eye.

Secondly, I love that you include history lessons with your posts. There is so much history in Europe and I love to hear about it.