GISANT

The tomb of Richelieu, begun 1675, with gisant by Franois Girardon; in the church of the in sepulchral sculpture, recumbent effigy representing the person in death; especially, an effigy depicting the deceased in a state of advanced decomposition, as was popular particularly in the 15th and 16th centuries in northern Europe. The gisant represented as a decayed corpse was often placed below a portrait, or orant, effigy, which represented the person praying or kneeling, as in life; in that way the gisant served as a reminder of the transitory nature of earthly life. Other Renaissance gisants were idealized, reflecting the classical emphasis on commemoration of the individual rather than the Christian emphasis on man's mortality. The dramatically conceived gisant of the Baroque period is exemplified by Franois Girardon's tomb of the Cardinal de Richelieu (begun 1675) in the church of the Sorbonne in Paris.