A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Artists now began to study nature and the life about them in preference to the antique, and the sculptors of the thirteenth century were fortunate in living in a time when costumes were picturesque and suited to artistic representations. The dress of a knight was as graceful as one could wish, with its flowing lines and the mantle clasped at one side of the neck, or thrown loosely over the arm and shoulder; and the costume of the other sex, with the full folds of the lower garment fastened by the girdle, and veiling without hiding the movement of the figure, was scarcely less fitting for the artists use than were the classic robes of the Greeks.

The effect of the sculpture of this period was frequently heightened by the use of color. The draperies were enriched by gold ornaments, and painted in rich blue and red, while the flesh parts were delicately tinted. Colors were used with care, and often served to conceal the defects in the sculpture itself, and were thus of great advantage. Color was most frequently used in interior decoration, but it was not unknown upon exterior portals, and porches were introduced to protect this polychromy, as the painting of sculpture was called.

The subjects now represented in sculpture were far more numerous than formerly. While the life of Christ and the Virgin still made the central and most important topic, there were added scenes from the lives of the saints, those who were regarded as the patrons of the city or those to whom the edifice was dedicated being most frequently chosen. New symbolic designs were made showing the flight of time by seasons and months; others represented the virtues, and even the customs and habits of the people were sometimes introduced. There were also humorous representations, even on sacred edifices. Water-pipes and gutter-spouts were ended with the heads of monsters and curious animals, and even with grotesque faces; in short, the smaller details of the architecture of this period show the vividness of the imagination of the time. For example, the leaf-work which was used in the ornamental portions of sculpture had hitherto copied the antique acanthus leaf; now the flowers and leaves native to France were the models of the sculptors, and a charming variety of life-like ornament was the result.

The church of Ste. Chapelle, at Paris, completed about 1248, was the first edifice in which this style was seen in its full development. Here, for the first time, the statues were not placed in the stiff, perpendicular posture, but, by being inclined to different positions, had a light appearance and an air of movement, which was a great relief from the rigidity which had ruled up to this time.

The cathedral at Rheims, however, shows the perfection of thirteenth-century art. It is conceded to be the best example of church building of its time, and its façade the most beautiful structure of the Middle Ages. Its wealth of sculpture is wonderful; its three great portals, the buttresses, the space above the great window and various other portions are so much ornamented that the whole effect is that of a forest of sculpture, and it is difficult to turn from it to consider the architecture of the edifice. It naturally follows that in this vast amount of artistic work there is no equality of excellence; some of the statues are like those of an earlier date: some are too tall and awkward; others too short and rotund; but there are many elegant figures, full of grace and dignity, with the drapery falling in natural folds, and an air of life and freedom of movement about the heads quite unknown before this time.

In one of the side portals of this cathedral there is a figure of Christ which was not surpassed by any work of this period. The study of every portion of the figure is so perfect as to surprise us when we remember that anatomy was not then studied by artists as it had been in classic times or as it has been in more recent days. This statue holds an orb in the left hand, and the right hand is uplifted; not only the nails of the fingers, but the structure of all the joints is skilfully indicated.

It frequently happens that the reliefs are far more excellent than the statues of mediæval date. This is so noticeable that it would seem as if the best sculptors preferred to make the reliefs, and that the figures were left to those of less talent. On the pediment at Rheims the Last Judgment is represented in five divisions, and these reliefs are among the most beautiful sculptures of this century. The scene of the Resurrection of the Dead is arranged in two rows of figures; a section of it is here given (Fig. 75).

There are twenty-nine of these little figures in the whole subject, and the variety of positions and the naturalness of the various expressions are all that could be desired in any age of art. The forms are in good proportions, and the faces are filled with fear, surprise, hope, and supplication. A volume might be written upon the sculptures of the Rheims Cathedral which would be full of interest to the student of mediæval art.

Fig. 75.—From the North Transept of Rheims Cathedral.