Jean de Marville (died July 1389) was a sculptor who worked at the end of the fourteenth century. He is known for his work on the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monastery of

Champmol The Chartreuse de Champmol, formally the ''Chartreuse de la Sainte-Trinité de Champmol'', was a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Dijon, which is now in France, but in the 15th century was the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. The monast ...

for

Philip the Bold Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and '' jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg. Philip II was ...

, Duke of Burgundy at a time when the Burgundy became a major cultural centre of Europe. Dijon - Chartreuse de Champmol - Portail 4

Origins

From his name it appears that de Marville originated in Marville in what is now the department of

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

, in northern France. He worked in Burgundy. Some say that he was Flemish. He is also known by the names Hennequin or Hannequin de Marvile, Jan van Mergem, Jehan de Marville or de Mervile.

Career

The Jean or Hennequin de Marville who worked on the tomb of Philip the Bold has been identified with the Jean de Menreville who was named in 1366 as working on the church of Saint-Pierre at

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. He is named as working in Rouen Cathedral in 1369, where he helped decorate the chapel of the king's heart at the command of King

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

. He joined the service of Philip the Bold on 22 January 1372 as ''ymagier et valet de chambre de Monseigneur''. The next year he moved to

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

on the command of the Duke. An account from 27 January 1377 records the purchase of 26 pounds of ivory for ''Mainreville, tailleur de menues oeuvres''. Based on this an ivory figure of the Trinity in the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

may be attributed to him. Jean de Marville created an important school of sculpture.

Claus Sluter Claus Sluter (1340s in Haarlem – 1405 or 1406 in Dijon) was a Dutch sculptor, living in the Duchy of Burgundy from about 1380. He was the most important northern European sculptor of his age and is considered a pioneer of the "northern reali ...

was the most noted member. Sluter's nephew

Claus de Werve Claus or Claux de Werve ( 1380–1439) was a sculptor active at the Burgundian court under Philip the Bold between 1395 and 1439. He was probably born in the Dutch city of Haarlem around 1380. In 1396 he became the assistant to his uncle, Cla ...

was another member of this school. Lesser sculptors of this school were Jehan de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier. Claus Sluter (c. 1360 - 1405), a sculptor from

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in the Netherlands, joined Jean de Marville's studio in 1383. At that time de Marville was directing the construction and decoration of the Chartreuse of Champanol, which was to be the Duke's burial place. The image of the virgin and child in the center pillar of the monastery's chapel is attributed to either Marville or Sluter. On 29 March 1381 Marville was charged by the Duke with making an alabaster sepulcher for him in Dijon, and the work was started in October 1384. Sluter succeeded Jean de Marville as ''ymagier '' when he died in 1389. There seems little doubt that the bulk of the work was done by Sluter, or under Sluter's direction, since it was not completed until 1404. The tomb is unusual in being decorated with free-standing statues of monks, clergy and laity rather than the conventional relief figures. This concept may have been Marville's, but could have been a change introduced by Sluter when he took charge of completing the project.

Notes and references

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marville, Jean de 1389 deaths 14th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Year of birth unknown