Adoring Monk

A small gilt bronze statue shows a shaven-headed monk standing upright, hands pressed together at the chest in devotion, his long robe falling in simple folds to his feet. The figure rests on a square openwork base with a scalloped top edge, and the gilding is worn in patches, revealing dark metal beneath.

Look closer: The openwork base has a dark rod or support visible through its opening beneath the figure.

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 500s

Medium

gilt bronze

Source

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Size

2912 × 3400 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. John Lyon Collyer in memory of her mother, Mrs. G. M. G. Forman