Doorway from Moutiers-Saint-Jean

It lay in ruin for decades, with the sculpture severely defaced, before the door's transfer to New York, where it is now situated between the Romanesque Hall and the Langon Chapel.

The sculptured forms of the donors, flanking either side of the doorway, probably represent the early Frankish kings Clovis I (d. 511), who converted to Christianity c 496, and his son Chlothar I (d.

The doorway has been described as "without doubt the finest Gothic portal in America",[7] while the Cloisters considers it amongst their most prized objects,[8] due mainly to the richness and delicacy of its style and the care shown to its overall composition.

[9] Art historian Bonnie Young observes that although individual styles are mixed, the frame overall forms a "harmonious and magnificent whole", and contains naturalistic carvings wholly different from the more common Romanesque type.

They were for a time believed to be David and Solomon, but were identified as Clovis and Chlothar in part from the large scrolls held in their hands, which are more associated with early medieval nobles than biblical figures.

[16] Most of the statuettes have been decapitated, but the figures are thought to include representations of John the Baptist, Simeon and the Christ child, Moses with the serpent, Abraham and Isaac, either David or Jeremiah, and Elijah alongside a raven.

[18] Other elements from the Moutiers-Saint-Jean abbey, including Romanesque capitals, are kept at the Louvre, at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University,[3] and in a private collection in Bard-les-Epoisses.

[7] It was sold by a Mr. Cambillard, a farmer on whose land the abbey was situated, to Jean Peslier, a dealer working out of Vezelay, who passed it to Joseph Brummer, from whom the Metropolitan made their purchase.