About

The cloister of the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux housed a unique collection of finely crafted column-statues depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Erected around 1170–1180, these sculptures served the canons as aids for contemplation and instruction, although this trend, linked to early Gothic art, was short-lived and quickly abandoned during the subsequent liturgical reforms.

This is a figure from the Old Testament, representing a foundational act for the three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Abraham, tested by God, is asked to offer his son as a sacrifice. At the very last moment, he is told to spare his son and replace him with a ram whose horns have become tangled in a nearby bush. This Binding of Isaac is also called the "Sacrifice of Isaac," even though he is spared.

historical Background

Severely lacking funds for the upkeep of their cloister in the 18th century, the monks proceeded with the demolition of the cloister between 1759 and 1766. The cloister was destroyed, and the grounds were rebuilt using the debris for the foundations. The cloister and its sculptures would fall into obscurity for two centuries, escaping the destruction of the Revolutionary period. Rediscovered in fragments during excavations by Léon Pressouyre between 1963 and 1976, it was reassembled and supplemented with plaster reinforcements.

State of Preservation

Only two pieces of this column-statue remain: the head of Abraham, gazing upwards to the heavens, and the upper torso of Isaac, with one adult hand gripping his hair. It is the gestures of the characters, similar to those found in representations of the Binding of Isaac, that have allowed these two fragments to be connected.