COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.35.50
AMICA Library Year:
2002
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Description:
The chapter house was the place where members of a monastic community met each day to discuss the business of the day. This example comes from an abbey in Pontaut in southwestern France, founded in 1115 under Benedictine rule. Stone benches around three walls of the chapter house provide seats for the monks, and large archways on the fourth side open onto the cloister walk. The columns supporting the vaulting have capitals carved with stylized animal and plant motifs. This ornament probably belongs to the first phase of construction at Pontaut, before the abbey became Cistercian in 1151.
Creator Nationality:
European; French
Creator Dates/Places:
French
Creator Name-CRT:
From the Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Pontaut, Gascony
Title:
Chapter House
View:
Principal view
Creation Date:
12th century
Creation Start Date:
1100
Creation End Date:
1199
Materials and Techniques:
Limestone
Creation Place:
From the Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Pontaut, Gascony
Dimensions:
42 x 33 ft. (1 m 280 cm x 1 m 5 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York
ID Number:
35.50
Credit Line:
The Cloisters Collection, 1935
Copyright:
Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.h1_35.50.tif
