(piano playing) Dr. Zucker: We're standing
on a wooden walkway suspended over water, which
is actually fairly deep. Dr. Harris: Well, this
is a well after all. We are looking at a beautiful monument by Claus Sluter called The Well of Moses. It got that title fairly recently, it was originally known
as The Great Cross. Dr. Zucker: Of course the
cross is no longer here. Let's give this a little bit of context. Dr. Harris: There's a
lot of things that are no longer here, right? This monument stood in
the middle of a cloister surrounded by the cells
of Carthusian monks, the rooms where they would meditate and this cloister was in
a monastery established by Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy. Dr. Zucker: So we're
talking about the late 14th Century. We're in Burgundy, in Dijon,
or rather I should say just outside of the old walls of the city. This was a place that
the Duke had commissioned in order that monks could
continuously say prayers over his soul. Dr. Harris: It also
was intended by Philip, and became his burial
place and the burial place of his family. Dr. Zucker: It's important
to remember that the Carthusians are a closed society. That is they dedicate themselves entirely to solitary prayer. Dr. Harris: What better
environment to ensure the salvation of your soul for eternity. Dr. Zucker: It's interesting
that Philip the Bold, the Duke actually seems
to have really loved the Carthusians. In fact, he specified
that he would be buried in a Carthusian robe
and of course he wanted to be buried here. Dr. Harris: We're looking at a very well funded monastery, the
most brilliant artists of Europe are working here
including Claus Sluter. We're looking up at a hexagonal structure. On each side is a Prophet standing in front of a niche. Dr. Zucker: Interestingly and importantly, this is breaking with
the Medieval tradition of having those figures
completely embedded within the architecture. Dr. Harris: Each figure of
the Prophet is separated by a lovely column with a Capital and standing on those
Capital's are Angel's in positions of grieving and prayer with their wings outstretched. Above them we see a base
and on the base would have stood a very tall and narrow cross with Christ on it and at
the base of that cross the single, kneeling
figure of Mary Magdalene. All of this was painted, you can see blue, there would have been gold and green. It really would have come alive and the monks would have been inspired in their prayer when they
looked at this monument. Dr. Zucker: Sluter is able to give an individual life to each figure. The drapery really does give a sense of the movement of the body within it, maybe not so much the
structures of the body but at least its engagement
with the space around it. Dr. Harris: And look up at
the figure of King David. First of all, a figure
that would have been very important to the Duke of Burgundy, of David, himself, a King. He's so specific, so individualized. There's a depth and sense of wisdom in his personality. There's a recent suggestion
that that figure next to King David, who is the Prophet Jeremiah is also a portrait of Philip the Bold. Dr. Zucker: In fact, if
we look at contemporary portraits of Philip they
look awfully similar. Dr. Harris: They do. Dr. Zucker: Moses is looking out past us, above us as a seer, but
Zachariah looks down. Dr. Harris: And almost
offers us his prophecy. Dr. Zucker: But also challenges us, challenges the monks that
would have lived with this sculpture, "Do you see as I see? "Do you understand the
importance of the tragedy "of the spiritual and miracle
that transpires above?" Dr. Harris: We have these Angel's all in different positions, some
with their arms folded on their chest, some
with their arms raised, some clutching their drapery
or touching their face. There's a depth of emotion
in the figures of the Prophets and a real depth
of emotion in the Angel's, all of which, I think, would have been inspiration to the monks. Dr. Zucker: That's important to remember. I mean, here we are at the well, the center of life of the monastery. The monastery itself was
meant to continuously pray for the soul of the Duke, so in some ways this
sculptural group of what we now call The Well
of Moses was the engine in the center of the
monastery that was meant to power, in a sense, inspire the prayer of the monks. It is one of the most spectacular late Medieval sculptures that
certainly I've ever seen. (piano playing)