Cleveland Museum of Art

Door and Frame

Date

late 1400s

Medium

oak with traces of polychromy

Culture

France, late 15th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This elaborately carved door and frame was intended for use in a protected interior space as suggested by the delicate open tracery above and its use of polychromy. Though its original context is unknown, the door's placement may have been within either a domestic or ecclesiastical building. The inscription in Old French— Mal vit qui ne mande —is enigmatic and has been suggested to translate roughly as "He lives badly who does not ask." The source of the inscription is unclear but may have been a proverb or motto current during the time.

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