Gisant: knight in armor

This gisant figure from a Spanish tomb is dated on stylistic grounds to the first quarter of the sixteenth century. It shows an as-yet unidentified nobleman dressed in armor. Its many anomalies suggest that quite apart from being generic, the armor portrayed represents the actual armor owned by the deceased. The gauntlets, the warrior’s protective gloves, do not match, and, according to specialists, there are some visible repairs in the armor. The hat worn in lieu of a helmet helps to date the sculpture to circa 1500–25, as hat styles changed more quickly than did some other styles. The animal that traditionally should be at his feet is missing.

Gisant tombs (from the Old French verb gesir, meaning to lie horizontally) became a widespread type of royal tomb in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the form has continued into modern times. The deceased is represented as if on a bier. In the Middle Ages the figure was understood to be awaiting the Last Judgment, and by convention, no matter the age of the deceased at death, he or she was shown as thirty-three years old, the age when Christ died. As gisant sculptures became affordable for the nobility, tombs such as this one were erected in churches, usually in family chapels. These separate spaces were designed to receive the deceased and also subsequent family members. When churches were destroyed or deconsecrated, tomb sculptures from the chapels could be returned to the family, and sometimes were sold.