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

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

In the countries north of Italy sculpture had no such aid or advantages. The Gothic style of architecture was a hindrance to the sculptor, whose works were combined with it. The Gothic construction afforded no broad, generous spaces for sculpture; all plastic work must be confined in limited spaces between columns and baldachins, or in arched niches, or between narrow flutings; and though something had been done to vary the upright stiffness of the statues of its earliest days, there was no freedom for the realistic and natural tendencies of the Renaissance art to develop in.

Another advantage on the side of Italian art was the fact that Italy was a land of grace and beauty; its people were more refined in manner, more elegant and picturesque in their costumes than were those of Northern Europe, and all the influences surrounding the Italian artist were far more favorable to a development of his artistic nature than were those of France or Germany. Then, too, the remains of antique art which were within reach of the Italian sculptor were quite shut off from others. For all these and other reasons the sculpture of the north was more tardy in taking on the better spirit and form of the Renaissance, and as a whole it never became as pleasing to most people as was the sculpture of Italy.

In a former chapter we have spoken of the sculptor Claux Sluter and his work at Dijon in the fourteenth century; the desire which he showed to make his figures like the men they represented, and a general study of nature rather than of older works of sculpture, had much effect upon the sculpture of his time, and gradually became much exaggerated. German sculptors tried not only to make exact portraits of the faces and heads of their figures, but they gave the same attention to imitating every detail of costume and every personal peculiarity of the model from which they worked. This tended to weaken and narrow their own designs, and the whole effect of their work is fantastic and exaggerated—an effect quite opposed to the noble and harmonious treatment of the whole which the best Italian masters strove to attain.

The attempt to produce startling effects in German art made such subjects as the Passion of Christ, the Temptation of St. Anthony, and the Martyrdoms of the Saints to be constantly repeated, and many reliefs are overloaded with such details as may very properly be used in painting, and which belong to picturesque art, but which take away the dignity and calm grandeur which should make the spirit of sculpture. But there is one feature of German sculpture at this time which appeals to our sympathy—that is, the deep, earnest feeling which pervades it, and which constantly tried new methods of expression.

In Germany there were guilds or trade-associations, and the members of these guilds were allowed to work in the special branch only of sculpture which belonged to their company, so that this art was divided by more fixed lines than in Italy, where, in truth, at the period of which we speak, the Florentine school was a supreme power, and its sculptors, as we have seen, worked in as many sorts of sculpture as pleased them.

The schools of Germany were far more independent of each other, and the entire organization of art in Germany was very different from that of Italy.

One of the most prominent effects of the architecture of Germany was to drive the sculptors to seek for such work as had no relation to architecture, and an important result from this was the great attention which they paid to wood-carving; indeed, this was the favorite pursuit of the German sculptors for many years. About the middle of the fifteenth century the importance of this art in Germany was far greater than those of bronze-casting or stone sculpture.

The principal works in wood-carving were the altars, which finally came to be colossal in size, and with their multitude of reliefs, statuettes, and ornaments were marvellous monuments to the industry and skill of the wood-carvers. The reliefs in these works are usually arranged on landscape backgrounds, and so much resemble pictures in many ways that the colors and gilding which were freely used on them do not seem out of place, and it appears to be quite natural that wood-carvers should often have been painters also.

The Swabian school, the principal seat of which was Ulm, was the earliest to adopt the new, realistic style. There are works by Swabian artists which show this tendency as early as 1431. Jörg Syrlin, who flourished during the last half of the fifteenth century, was an eminent wood-carver, and as he did not color his works he can be better judged as a sculptor than he could be if the effect of the whole depended partly upon painting. The choir-stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm and the fountain in the market-place, called "Fischkasten," are his most important works; but a singing-desk, now in the museum, and other lesser pieces are also excellent examples of his style. The choir-stalls have an immense number of figures and a mass of ornament, which made them far richer than any such work of an earlier date, and none that have since been made have equalled them. It is almost incredible that they were completed in four years, and yet there are no marks of haste upon the work. The figures are dignified and graceful, the faces delicate and expressive, the hands well formed, and a beauty of design and execution marks the whole. The lower figures, which come nearest the eye, are finer than those which are higher up, so that a unity of effect is preserved throughout the whole. He sometimes took occasion to give touches of humor in his works, and in these stalls he introduced his own portrait and that of his wife.

The "Fischkasten" is sculptured in stone, and has three knights upon it which appear to be boldly advancing, as if about to step off and walk away. Other works by this master are less important, and it is doubtful if all that are called by his name are really his own. Jörg Syrlin, the younger, trained by his father, adopted his style, and became an excellent artist.