Jeanne d'Évreux (1307-1371)

Jeanne d’Évreux (1307 † 1371), third wife of Charles IV in 1325.

The wife of Charles IV, widowed just two years after her marriage, was one of the most famous patrons of her time. Jeanne d’Évreux commissioned her own recumbent effigy long before her death. She initiated a process that was to become very common thereafter.

This work stands out in the attention given to the detail of her veil, the chin-strap and the nobility of her face. At the feet of the benefactress of Saint-Denis lie two puppy dogs with bells around their necks, a quaint scene typical of medieval funerary sculptures.

Her daughter Blanche of France, Duchess of Orleans was also buried next to her.

Recumbent statue of Jeanne d'Évreux (4th from left) between Philippe V and Charles IV. © Patrick Cadet - Centre des monuments nationaux.