The ivory carvers long continued repeating the old formulæ, and it was only by the end of the thirteenth century that they commenced to copy the exquisite statues which decorated the new cathedrals in such numbers.
There are several examples of thirteenth century work still extremely old-fashioned in style, as the three little pierced plaques in the Louvre, representing the twelve apostles, accompanied by the favourite French saints, Denis, Rusticus and Eleutherius. The style is still transitional, but the forms of the foliage are freer, and a considerable modification of type is visible. The Virgin in the Collection Fillon is seated full face with the Child sitting equally on both knees, the stiffness of the pose being only relieved by a little freedom in the turn of the Child’s head.
The marvellous impulse of religious enthusiasm, which, arising in the thirteenth century, became evident by the passionate fervour of the worship of the Virgin, and the multiplication of her images for public and private devotion. One of the most ideally noble representations is that in the group of The Coronation of the Virgin in the Louvre, ([Fig. 28]); it closely resembles the best sculpture in its severe lines, and was probably made about 1280. A hundred years later there is an entry in the Inventory of Charles V. which most probably refers to this group; it reads most quaintly in the old French. “Item, ung courronnement de Nostre Seigneur à Nostre-Dame, d’yvire et trois angellotz de mesmes.”
The earlier ivories were always painted, and much of the original colouring is preserved. The Virgin is dressed in rich robes, semées de France (as much in honour of the Royal House as of her attribute the “lily”), but she is utterly unconscious of self as she humbly bows her head to receive the crown. The two little ecstatic angels form a part of every group of the Glorification of the Virgin, either bearing tall candles, or with their hands raised in adoration.
A. GIRAUDON PHOTO.][LOUVRE, PARIS
28. CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
End of thirteenth century
There is hardly fifty years between this purely idealistic conception and the beautiful, but completely mundane Vierge de la Sainte Chapelle in the same collection. This magnificent figure is carved from one huge piece of ivory, and was probably the gift of St. Louis to his new chapel, about 1320. The masterly arrangement of the drapery and the exquisite finish make it one of the most celebrated ivories of the fourteenth century, but the old simplicity is quite gone, and the studied ease of the Virgin’s pose is chosen to give value to every line of drapery and figure. There is a feeling of movement in all her being, which, with the beautiful broken folds of the drapery has within it the germ of that restlessness which, rapidly increasing, became a painful fault in later Gothic sculpture. The colouring is very delicate, the pupils of the eyes are dark; the lips, which are just parting in a rather affected smile, are lightly touched with carmine, and a faint gilded border relieves the edges of the garments. The little seated figure of the Virgin in the Bargello ([Fig. 29]), is more direct and simple in design, and is probably of the last years of the thirteenth century.
The curve in many of these figures has been put down to the shape of the tusk; this is no doubt the case in many examples, but the peculiar twist is first found in some of the stone figures of the Sainte Chapelle, where it seems to have been introduced as a contrast to the perpendicular shafts of the architecture, and the constant employment of this peculiar twist in the tiny figures of the ivory reliefs and in stone carving, proves it to be more a question of taste than necessity.