Tomb of François II de Bretagne and Marguerite de Foix, in the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Nantes (southern transept).

The tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany is a monument located in Nantes, in the Cathedral of St. Peter. The project was commissioned by Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, who was the daughter of Francis and his second wife Margaret of Foix, who is also depicted beside Francis.

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The corner statues

These four statues are particularly interesting; in fact, they are arguably the best examples of Michel Colombe's genius. They are four full-length women, each standing at a corner of the tomb. Some specialists tend to say that they are rather awkwardly integrated into the whole, but this is not the most important thing in our opinion.

These four women represent the four cardinal virtues. It's worth noting in passing that the designers probably didn't have in mind the idea of associating these virtues with the two deceased (which doesn't mean they weren't virtuous, no doubt!), but rather that of conveying a moral message through art. These virtues concern us all, they point the way to a path that everyone should follow. The parallel with the Cenotaph of La Moricière, another important monument in the Cathedral, is interesting in this respect.

 

Let's take a look at these four virtues, starting with the head of Marguerite de Foix. The statue that stands there is that of Prudence.

 

Source of the text:

nantescathedrale.free.fr/tombeau.htm

Source of the photo:

laurentdetours on flickr

Done