Dear listmembers:
Pippin's query leads me to a question I have not been able to solve.
Panofsky (Tomb Sculpture, p. 57) states that Mathilda of Saxony 'gisant' (c.
1240) "is the earliest effigy to show the deceased with hands joined in
prayer". I have tried to check this point but without any _firm_ results.
For example, M. Barasch (Giotto and the language of gesture) says that
although "there seems to be no study of how this gesture spread [...] among
the earliest examples is the tomb of Matilda". Willibald Sauerlaender says
that this is the first example, but he limits his assert to the
"deutschsprachigen Gebiet"
I checked Gaignieres' catalogue and think it could be some earlier
French example.
Any idea?
Thanks in advance
Carlos
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