Well of Moses

The Well of Moses (fr: Puits de Moïse) is a sculptured fountain created by the Flemish artist Claus Sluter (1340-1405/6), executed in 1395–1403 for the Carthusian monastery of Chartreuse de Champmol built as a burial site by the Burgundian Duke Philip the Bold just outside the Burgundian Capital of Dijon.

The work was executed for Philip’s son, John the Fearless (1371-1419), in what is now known as the Northern Realist Style. It was carved from stone quarried in Asnières, France and consisted of a large crucifixion scene with the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalen, and St. John surmounting a hexagonal base which was surrounded by the figures of the six prophets who had foreseen the death of Christ on the Cross (Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Daniel and Isaiah) surrounded by six weeping angels. The figures were richly painted and gilded by Jean Malouel.

Originally placed in the central courtyard of the cloister, the work was heavily damaged in 1791, during the French Revolution. Only fragments of the Crucifixion survive; they are now housed in the Musée Archéologique in Dijon. The hexagonal base with its sculptures remains and now stands in the Hospital de la Chartreuse. [ "Art from the Court of Burgundy, The Patronage of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless, 1364-1419", ed. Stephen Fliegel and Sophie Jugie, exhibition catalogue (Cleveland and Dijon, Paris: RMN, 2004); Kathleen Morand, "Claus Sluter, Artist at the Court of Burgundy" (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991); Renate Prochno, "Die Kartause Von Champmol. Grablege Der Burgundischen Herzöge (1364-1477)" (Munich: Akademie Verlag, 2002).]

References