Childebert I (511-588)

Childebert I (496 † 558), son of Clovis I king of Paris from 511 to 558.

The recumbent effigy of Childebert was a command by the monks of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It is considered as the most ancient recumbent statue preserved in the North of France. Represented as a donor, the king holds, in his right hand, the chevet of the church Saint-Germain-des-Prés which he had founded. The effigy stands out from the other tombs at Saint Denis by the technique used : the flat-plane technique.