# Tomb of Richard the Lionheart and his Wife [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MEDIEVAL SCULPTOR, French]() - Date: 1201-1250 - Technique: Stone ## Commentary Around the middle of the 12th century in northern France the 'gisant'.an effigy of the deceased lying on his or her tomb, became widespread. This form of funeral monument was increasingly used, particularly in the burial places of secular rulers. The Plantagenet tombs in the abbey church at Fontevrault, executed in the first quarter of the 13th century, probably represent the first attempts at direct portrayal of the dead actually lying in state. The figures \(four out of an original six\) are depicted as they would have appeared when ceremoniously laid out just after death, placed on finely draped beds and dressed in their finest clothes. ## Related artworks - [Ambulatory capital]() - [Ambulatory capital]() - [Annunciation]() - [Apocalypse]() - [Apostles James the Great and Paul]() - [Apostles James the Great and Paul]() - [Apostles John and Peter]() - [Apostles]() - [Ascension]() - [Bearded Man's Head]() - [Capital from Nazareth]() - [Capital of a column]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()