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European Decorative Arts and Sculpture

Fountain from the Monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa

Made in Roussillon, France

1125-50

Artist/maker unknown

Marble
Height: 5 feet 4 1/4 inches (163.2 cm)

* Gallery 204, European Art 1100-1500, second floor (Knight Foundation Gallery)

1930-79-1

Gift of Mrs. William W. Fitler in memory of her husband, 1930

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Additional information:
  • PublicationPhiladelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections

    In the center of the Museum's medieval cloister stands a rare Romanesque fountain known to have come from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, the largest monastery in the eastern Pyrenees. The massive basin of the fountain is decorated with a continuous design of arches on columns that echo the elements of the cloister itself. Fountains served a variety of practical purposes in monasteries, such as providing water for shaving or washing clothes. Transplanted to a museum, the fountain and its cloister setting afford modern day visitors a space for quiet thought. Eda Diskant, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections (1995), p. 109.

* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.

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