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The exterior of Gothic cathedrals, from
the
Abbey
Church of Saint-Denis to Reims cathedral, are elaborately
decorated with sculptures, with portals and jambs filled with life-size figures
of kings, saints, angels, and apostles. By the 1140s, Gothic sculptors took
a revolutionary step beyond their Romanesque predecessors in their conception
of the freestanding, detached jamb figures (fig.1). The Île de France
became home to many workshops or schools of sculptors who traveled from one
cathedral to the next, often producing works of extraordinary quality comparable
to Classical, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture. Fig.1: Porte des Valois at Saint-Denis, illustrating the Martyrdom of Saint-Denis, ca.1160-1170 (photo: Athena Review). By recessing the doors of the western façade
and creating a series of arches around the portal, Gothic architects
increased the amount of space available for sculptural decoration. The
formal, austere appearance
of Romanesque churches vanished as groups of sculptures now filled the
archivolts, tympanum, and lintel. The Abbey Church of Saint-Denis was
the first to introduce a statue of Christ on the trumeau, with him and
the Virgin Mary being one of the more common figures. In churches such as Notre-Dame and
Amiens, the sculptural decoration became
more elaborate, with a series of lower relief panels or socles connecting
the three portals. At Chartres, a frieze or upper relief panel showing scenes
of the Virgin and Passion of Christ connect the central with the lateral
portals. The monumental Gallery of the Kings of Judah at Notre-Dame (fig.2),
which spanned the entire width of the façade, became another popular
Gothic feature. The interior also contained an array of sculpture such as
the carved jube screen at Notre-Dame, a nd the late Gothic tomb effigies of
Saint-Denis - one of the best preserved examples of French funerary art.
The west façade, the north and south transept, as well as the church
interior literally became an immense workspace for Gothic sculptors who
transformed the cathedrals of northern France into timeless works of art.
The transformation from Romanesque to
Gothic owes part of its debt to Mosan goldsmiths (see below), as sculptors
imitated nature and strove to portray the figures in a realistic fashion
(Williamson 1995). The figures contained a very individualized quality that
differed from the formalized type of the Byzantine tradition, becoming more
plastic or three-dimensional. Beginning ca.1210 on the Coronation portal
of Notre-Dame (fig.2) and continuing through the late 13th century at Reims,
sculptors continued to refine and perfect such naturalistic elements in the
figures.
Fig.2: West façade of Notre-Dame cathedral
(AD1190-1220).Above the three portals is the Gallery of Kings (photo:
Athena Review).
Both the sculptures and the stained glass
windows of Gothic cathedrals were considered by
Abbot
Suger and others a life-size picture book for the mainly
illiterate population with stories from both the Old and the New Testament.
Masons carefully chiseled life-size figures on the jambs and miniature biblical
scenes on the tympanum and lintel above, all serving an instructional, religious
purpose. Those who entered the doors of the cathedral symbolically entered
the house of God. The representation of Old Testament kings, queens, and
prophets led to the designation of "Royal portal" at many cathedrals - a
title which, much later proved hazardous during the French Revolution as
revolutionaries often mistook the sculpted biblical figures to be statues
of French rulers. While the cathedral sculptures generally portrayed religious
themes such as the Last Judgment and Coronation of the Virgin (fig.3), semi-pagan
themes such as the Signs of the Zodiac and the Virtues and the Vices were
also widely sculpted on the cathedrals of northern France. The artists were
also adept at carving grotesque figures such as gargoyles and marmosets (grossly
deformed human or animal figures), and organic or vegetative motifs both
inside and outside of the church. As the period progressed, the subject matter
expanded and became more elaborate, as in the depiction of the events in
the life of the Virgin Mary (known as the Marial cycle) at Reims cathedral.
The Gothic and Late Romanesque sculpture of the 12th-14th centuries achieved
extremely high standards, as exemplified by the west and north portals at
Reims. Indeed, its quality (plus the anonymity of the artists) has probably
led to this being one of the more underrated fields of art history.
Sources of
Sculptural Influence: The revival of sculpture began in southern
France with the Romanesque tradition in the first half of the 11th century.
Romanesque sculpture specialized
in
the ornamentation of moldings, capitals, and tympanums, often containing
decoration such as the interwoven foliage (fig.4) and acanthus leaves highly
reminiscent of Late Antiquity. The figures tended to be more formalized,
lacking emotion, and were most likely influenced by the Byzantine tradition.
Multi-sided capitals from the Late Romanesque period contained narrative
biblical characters and scenes, such as capitals bearing religious reliefs
of angels and seraphs at the cloister of the Benedictine Abbey of
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières (Hérault). Spreadi ng its influence
to the Île de France, the Abbey Church of Sainte-Geneviève and
St-Germain-des-Prés (see
Merovingian Paris) also contained excellent
examples of Late Romanesque sculpture such as that depicting the biblical
story of Adam and Eve, now preserved in the Musée du Louvre and the
Musée national du Moyen Âge. Religious scenes such as the highly
popular Daniel in the Lion's Den and pagan themes such as Signs of the Zodiac
characterized Late Romanesque sculpture. While the technique of sculpture
was transformed in the Gothic era, the themes remained the same.
Fig.3: North (Coronation) portal of Notre-Dame
in Paris (photo: Athena Review)].
Beginning with the Romanesque church of
Notre-Dame du Port in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme), a school of competent
sculptors took root in southern France as sculptural decoration became prominent
in both cathedral and cloister interiors. Other cathedral schools then gradually
appeared at St. Etienne and St. Sernin in Toulouse, St. Pierre in Moissac,
and St-Lazare in Autun before catching the attention of artists living in
the Île de France. The Byzantine influenced sculptural decoration of
the Romanesque churches became an important source of inspiration for the
carved figures adorning both the interior and
exterior
of the Gothic cathedrals in the Île de France.
Other major changes in Gothic sculpture
can be attributed to Mosan goldsmiths of the Meuse valley. The Mosan goldsmiths
were a 12th century workshop located in the Meuse Valley of Belgium and northern
France that produced highquality gold, silver, and enameled objects. One
of the most famous of these pieces is the reliquary of Cologne by Nicolas
of Verdun. Their experimentation with three-dimensional form as well as a
detailed rendering of the drapery, realistic facial expressions, and relaxed
poses greatly influenced stone  sculptors of the workshops in the Île
de France. From the beginning of the 13th century onward, stone carvers who
wished to emulate such naturalism looked to the Mosan style. Abbot Suger
of Saint-Denis played a role in the revolutionary change in sculpture, as
it was he who commissioned the Mosan goldsmiths to create a cross, which
no longer exists, to adorn his choir (see
Abbot
Suger's memoirs). This monumental cross, which impressed
all those who viewed it, had a profound impact on the sculptural decoration
of subsequent cathedrals including the St. Anne portal of Notre-Dame in Paris
and the west façade of Senlis.
Fig.4: Romanesque capital with
the Carolingian foliage showing scenes of the devil from the Abbey Church
of Saint-Denis (photo: Athena Review).
Additional sculptural influences can be
traced to Byzantine ivories, as can be seen in the figure of St. Peter of
the north portal of Notre-Dame. Other Gothic churches, such as at
Reims, continued to be inspired by Classical or Antique Roman sculpture.
References:
Pirenne, H. 1936. A History of Europe. (tr. B. Miall). New
Hyde Park, New York, University Books.
Williamson, P. 1995. Gothic Sculpture. New Haven and London,
Yale University Press.
This article appears on pages 17-20 of Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review.
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