A MARBLE STATUE BY GERMAIN PILON
BORN towards 1515, either at Paris or Loué, and dying only in 1590, Germain Pilon lived through a momentous century in the history of France. The native art, so prolific during the two preceding centuries, which commands our admiration to-day by its originality and simplicity, was essentially French in feeling and execution, but towards the close of the fifteenth century the all-powerful influence of the great Italians manifested itself, partly by the general spread of knowledge which noised abroad the fame of achievements in Italy to which the civilized world was then paying homage, and again by the migration of Italian artists to adjacent countries, which, in the majority of cases, received them with acclamation.
ADORATION OF THE MAGI, AND DORMITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN; PROBABLY FRENCH OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
LA CHARITÉ, SCULPTURE IN MARBLE, BY GERMAIN PILON
In one way this had a beneficial effect upon the productions of the northern countries, for it incited a spirit of emulation laudable in the extreme, but it was also the cause of a decline in native resourcefulness and originality due to an unduly thorough assimilation of Italian methods and aims. The result of this was a strange co-mingling of Italian and native ideas and technique producing an eclecticism which robbed art somewhat of the virility apparent in the creations of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Still, side by side with this we have a growing tendency to tenderness and sympathetic treatment quite in keeping with the lofty aims of the sixteenth century, which compensates to some extent for the loss of robustness and impetuous energy. ¶ In such a condition did Pilon find art in France, when, leaving his father, also a sculptor, with whom he had hitherto collaborated, he came to Paris about 1550, and here we find him, in conjunction with Pierre Bontemps and Ambrose Perret, at work upon the tomb of François I, which had been designed by Philibert Delorme. After the designs of the latter Pilon was employed from 1560 to 1565 upon the well-known tomb at Saint-Denis of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis, which must be counted amongst his most important achievements. For the King and Queen he executed about this time the fine group of Les Trois Grâces in the Louvre, which represents, perhaps, the culminating point of his genius, and is manifestly superior both in elegance of contour and in technical qualities to Les Trois Parques ascribed to him which has found a permanent resting place in the Hôtel de Cluny. In Les Trois Grâces he presents to us the culmination of the French Renaissance in sculpture; the rhythm and balance of the composition is aided by the superb technique displayed in the modelling of the well-chosen figures, and a further beauty is added by the grace with which they support the urn. ¶ But quite equal to any single figure is the fine example of Pilon’s art which we illustrate this month by permission of Mr. E. Lowengard, its present owner. It represents as an emblematical figure of Charity a tall and dignified woman holding a child to her breast with the right hand, whilst the left, with protecting care, sustains another, which is clinging to her mantle; a third stands at her feet with a look of trustful assurance upon its upturned face. The head of Charity is crowned with laurel. The drapery is entirely characteristic of Pilon at his best; while not unduly severe, it does not err in being too florid, a failing of Pilon on many occasions. Moreover, it fully illustrates the French master’s profound knowledge of anatomy, a study in which he easily outstripped most of his contemporaries. It is open to question whether such an important and characteristic example of Pilon’s work has been seen in London before, and its presence at the moment furnishes an admirable opportunity of studying the style of this master.