N INTRODUCTION Ti $1.

95

rom Its Origins to Today

224 ILLUSTRATIONS

A Golden Art Guide

 AN INTRODUCTION TO

SCULPTURE
From Its Origins to Today

By GUILLAUME JANNEAU
and SIMONE HOOG

GOLDEN PRESS • NEW YORK

 contents

THE ART OF Peru 108

SCULPTURE 5 Oceania 110
Materials and Africa 112
Techniques 6
Patronage and
Commissions 18 FROM THE MIDDLE AGES
TO THE RENAISSANCE 115
ANTIQUITY 22 Byzantium 116
The Eastern Influence of the
Mediterranean 28 Barbarians 118
Egypt 38 Influence of Islam. . . . 119
Greece 53 Beginnings of
Rome 70 Romanesque
Sculpture 120
ASIA, Romanesque France . . 122
PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA, Romanesque Spain . . . 125
OCEANIA, AFRICA 81 Romanesque Italy .... 126
India 81 Romanesque Art in the
Khmer Sculpture .... 88 Germanic Countries . 128
China 92 Flemish Romanesque . . 129
Japan 97 12th and 13th Centuries
Pre-Columbian America 101 in France 130

Published in 1970 by Golden Press, New York, NY.,

a division of Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Copyright © 1970by Editions des Deux Coqs d'Or, Paris,

and Mondadon-OGAM, Verona.

Printed in Italy

Golden, Golden Art Guide and Golden Press

are trademarks of Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-119565.

13th Century Germany . 136 17th Century France . . 184
-Spain 138 18th Century France . . 189
-Italy 140 17th and 18th Centuries
14th Century France . . 142 in Italy 192
—Burgundy and —in the Low
Flanders 144 Countries 200
15th Century Germany . 146 —in Central Europe 204
14th Century Italy. ... 150 —in Northern
14th and 15th Centuries Europe 208
in Spain 152 -in Spain 210
12th to 15th Centuries —in Portugal .... 215
in Portugal 154 Neo-classicism 216
—in England .... 155

FROM THE RENAISSANCE THE CONTEMPORARY

TO CONTEMPORARY PERIOD 218
TIMES 157 Romanticism 220
15th and 16th Centuries Forerunners of
in Italy 158 the Modern Movement .222
Michelangelo 166 Rodin 224
16th Century France . . 173 Cubism and Futurism . 229
—Spain 177 Figurative Sculpture. . . 231
-Portugal 179 Abstract Sculpture . . . 234
—Low Countries . . 180 Conclusion 236
—Germanic
Countries 182 Index 238

A GOLDEN ART GUIDE

This book is the fourth in the series
of Golden Art Guides. Others in the series include
ARCHITECTURE by Charles Rambert
PAINTING by Genevieve Monnier
MODERN PAINTING by Michel Hoog

Cover picture: The Kiss, Auguste Rodin, 1886.

Rodin Museum, Paris. (Photo Giraudon)
© by S.P.A.D.E.M., Paris, 1970.
 the art of sculpture 1

The art of sculpture— which work on almost any scale: a

involves carving hard ma- tiny carved ivory knife from
terials or modelling soft ones Djebel-el-Arak is sculpture,
into some definitive form- as are the monumental glazed
is one of man's easiest and brick bas-reliefs of the palaces
simplest ways to express him- at Susa, and also Chinese
self. Whereas painting re- bronzes and Sevres porcelain
quires elaborate techniques, figurines— all are pieces of
a sculptor can simply shape sculpture.
clay with his hands, letting
Although engraved jewels and
the sun harden it, or he can
medals are customarily stud-
tackle harder materials with
ied separately, as are small
a cutting tool.
hammered, drawn, cast and
Sculptors can work in a wide engraved metal works, all
variety of materials and make these nonetheless can be con-
the most of their individual sidered as sculpture. It should
qualities. Furthermore, they be remembered that Jean
Varin, one of the 17th cen-
tury's greatest medallists,
Nike of Samothrace, or Winged also excelled in making por-
Victory. Marble, end of 3rd cen- trait busts, while Benvenuto
tury B.C. Unearthed at Samoth- Celliniproduced exquisite jew-
race in 1863, this statue formerly
decorated the prow of a votive
ellery the same genius
with
ship. Louvre, Paris. (Normandy that he executed the famous
Photo) Perseus now in Florence.
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES

Modelling. The oldest and itto the dimension he wants,

simplest sculptural tech- he uses a maul (a sort of
nique is that of modelling, oversized hammer), a chisel
usually in a plastic substance (a metal bar whose cutting
such as soft clay. Originally, edge is angled), a drill, a gra-
sculptors moulded material dine (a kind of chisel with a
to the desired shape with toothed cutting edge), files
their hands. Later such simple and burnishers.
tools as roughing chisels and
jointers were invented to re-
Hard materials most often
move excess Then the
clay.
employed are wood, stone
finished product was either and ivory.
sun-dried or fired in a kiln:
Being in relatively good supply,
hence the name terra-cotta
wood is therefore inexpensive.
(baked earth) given to works
Of the immense variety of
made in this manner. Because woods, sculptors usually pre-
of this material's fragility, a
fer fine-grained species, such
metal armature is also some-
as the walnut used by Flemish
times used.
artisans in the Middle Ages
Sun-dried or kiln-fired ob- to produce monumental altar-

jects can remain unadorned, pieces of fantastically detailed

or may be painted various relief. Wood may be left in

colours or coated with a vitre- its natural state or else poly-

ous glaze. The art of creating chromed or gilded by applying
objects out of terracotta is gold foil over a coating of
called ceramics and includes wood filler.

both porous pottery (terra-

Stone poses more difficult
cotta, faience) and imper-
problems, as quarries must
meable pottery (stoneware,
be found and the material
porcelain).
extracted from them. Marble,
Hard materials and direct carv- which is in reality a fine-
ing. Carving hard elements re- grained limestone, has for
quires more elaborate tools, aeons been favoured by
but these have changed very sculptors. Certain quarries
little over the centuries. The have been famous since an-
sculptor attacks the material tiquity: the white marbles from
directly. In order to fashion Mount Pentelikon near Athens,
those from Paros (a small Artistswould first make a
island the Cyclades) and
in model and then delegate the
the Carrara quarries in Italy. stone cutter of his studio to
In France, exploitation of the reproduce it in the desired
marble quarries of the Pyre- scale and in the chosen hard
nees began only in the 17th material. For large copies, the
century. When marble is un- cutter would use the so-called
obtainable, soft white lime- three compass method (pro-
stones are generally employed. portional compasses and a
In addition to working soft curved compass), while for
limestones, Egyptian sculp- smaller pieces a special ap-
tors did not hesitate to tackle paratus was employed. Such
challenging and hard-to-cut methods have been standard
igneous rocks likegreen dio- practice since the Renaissance.
rite, black basalt and pink
For ages sculpture in metal
granites.
has been popular despite the
Ivory is the name given to difficulties involved in min-
the teeth of certain mammals ing and smelting ores.
as well as to elephant and
Antique craftsmen — whose
rhinoceros tusks; its relative
works belonged more in the
scarcity tends to make it ex-
pensive. Because of its in-

trinsic original shape, ivory

is generally used only for
small pieces.

Working from a scale model.

As early as the Hellenistic
period (1st century B.C.),
many sculptors abandoned
the contemporary technique
of cutting directly into the
stone and instead began to
work from scale models made
of clay or terra-cotta.

The Coronation of the Virgin.

Polychromed and gilded ivory,
end of 13th century. The gentle
expressions are typical of this
period. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte) ***<.
realm of goldsmithing than
sculpture— mostly used gold
and silver in the form of thin
hammered sheets. Yet this
limited method resulted in
such treasures as the gold
mask of Agamemnon in the
National Museum in Athens
and the famous mask of Tu-
tankhamen in Cairo.

Bronze casting. Casti ng statues

requires a technique which is

fundamentally opposed to that

of direct carving. For example,
let us take the casting of
bronze, a material that has pro-
duced masterpieces through-
out the long history of sculp- Descent from the Cross. Poly
ture. chrome wood, 12th century.
The treatment of draperies and
Bronze is an alloy of copper the nobility of the figure are
typical of Burgundian Roman-
and tin, sometimes with a
esque sculpture. Louvre, Paris.
small proportion of zinc or (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
lead. Its composition may
vary widely depending on the
dates from antiquity. An exact
mineral resources available
wax copy, complete in every
in any specific country or
detail, is made of the original
period.
work and coated with a fire-

There are several methods of proof material into which

casting bronze, the two best openings are made to allow
known being sand-casting and the molten bronze to be
the lost-wax method. The latter poured in and to let the molten

8
wax and gases escape: the In sand-casting method,
the
former are known as casting the model is cut up into
holes, the latter as vents. As sections and a separate sand
the molten bronze is poured mould made for each part.
into the fireproof shell, the The bronze is poured into
wax melts and flows out, to these and, when cool, the
be replaced by the bronze parts are filed and burnished,
which thus adopts the form then assembled with rivets.
of the original figure. Sub-
sequently all that is needed Contemporary techniques.
to get a perfect reproduction Contemporary sculptors fully
is to file and burnish the metal exploit the marvellous variety
cast. of new materials now avail-
able, and in order to work
them they have created equally
Flora. Faience bust from Rouen,
new techniques. Hence saws,
17th century. Many decorative
faience busts depicting the sea- hacksaws, blowtorches and
sons were made by Rouen pot- welding apparatus have been
ters. Rouen Museum of Decorative added to the sculptor's stock
Arts. (Normandy Photo)
range of tools. Many artists
have a preference for sheet
aluminium, zinc and steel,
and a few have even gone
back to forged iron, a ma-
terial heretofore only em-
ployed in producing utilitarian
goods. Among the other mod-
ern materials that sculptors
favour nowadays are the
various plastics and plexiglas,
which offer a satisfactory
range of colour, transparency
and flexibility.

The extreme complexity of

contemporary sculpture stems
not from the development or
extension of traditional tech-
niques but from putting their
very existence and purpose to
question. In fact, some mod-
ern techniques are so far re-
 moved from traditional values ishable, was popular since
as to fall beyond the range of itcould be found almost every-
accepted forms of sculpture. where. Nevertheless, in some
Middle Eastern countries,
Naturally, the technique em-
such as Assyria, stone was
ployed by the artist depends
laboriously hauled down from
upon his goal and on the ma-
nearby mountains. The Per-
terial he has chosen, and this
sians substituted brick for
choice in turn may hinge on a
this relatively rare material,
whole series of economic and
and glazed it to add per-
technical factors.
manence and colour to their
The choice. Ancient sculptors monumental reliefs. In Greece
were limited in their selection and Italy, where marble
of materials to local products quarries are readily found,
because of inadequate trans- sculptors soon abandoned
portation. Wood, though per- wood and terra -cotta except
for utilitarian objects.

Engraving by B6nard, showing Because of the complicated

one of the steps casting
in
and highly skilled techniques
Bouchardon's bronze equestrian
statue of Louis XIV by the lost- required for metal-working,
wax method. Bibliotheque Na- gold, and bronze were
silver
tionale, Paris.
rarely employed and only for
commissions of special im-
portance.

The discovery of kaolin de-

posits Meissen (Saxony)
at
in 1709 and at Saint-Yrieix
(France) in 1769 led to the
production of true porcelain
in Europe, where for centuries
Western artists had tried un-
successfully to imitate Chinese
ware. The result was a wave
of porcelain sculpture— col-
oured and glazed in Germany
(the works of Kandler in
Meissen) or unglazed, fine-
grained biscuit-ware (like that
produced by Falconet in

JgaS^ ^^^i^'l ^ Sevres).

10
 variety of different materials
in the composition of a single
opus.

Use of materials. Statues

composed of one or more ma-
terials requiring widely varied
techniques have been pro-
duced throughout sculpture's
history. Some of these statues,
though no longer extant, have
kept their legendary fame.
Perhaps the greatest of these
was the chryselephantine (gold
and ivory) likeness of Athena
which once graced the Par-
thenon's interior.

Polychrome, or the use of

coloured paints and glazes
to enhance the form and re-
alistic aspect of sculpture,
also had its adherents. Egyp-
tian, Roman and Japanese
sculptors all used colours,
Apollo of Piombino. Bronze, about and even the marvellous
500 B.C. This masterpiece of
Greek reliefs, whose stark
Greek sculpture represents a
young kouros. Louvre, Paris white simplicity is so much
(Photo Giraudon) admired in museums today,
originally were covered with
the liveliest of tints.
Thanks to scientific and in-

dustrial progress, modern On the other hand, sculptors

sculptors now have a dazzling working in porcelain or stone-
array of materials to work ware were far more restrained
with. Besides the traditional in their use of polychrome.

wood, stone and bronze, mod- In France, the sculptors of

ern artists can and do utilize Rouen, and Joseph Fauchier
plastics, aluminium, finished of Marseilles (18th century),
manufactured goods and even considered polychrome too
industrial by-products and easy and instead sought an
waste. Quite often they em- effect comparable to that of
ploy several techniques and a stone relief.

11
Young smelling a lotus blos-
girl
som. Limestone,
Egyptian, Old
Kingdom (5th dynasty). An ex-
ample of "hollowed-out relief"
from a Memphite mastaba.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)

reliefs

In reliefs, the carved portions

jut out from the surface of
the material,and depending
on the extent to which they
do so are known as low re-
lief (bas-relief) or high relief.

Such a distinction is purely

theoretical, of course, since
no one has ever decided the
exact degree at which a low
relief turns into a high relief.
Consequently, we shall simply
use the word relief for them
both.

One of the peculiarities of A sculptor chiselling a relief

Egyptian art is that reliefs must face approximately the
were cut either into the back- same problems as a painter
ground or out from it. A trying to. represent a three-
carved-in relief has an out- dimensional subject on a flat
line deeply cut into the stone, or two-dimensional surface.
and the enclosed shape is
Like painters, sculptors of re-
gently modelled, thus creating
liefs have adopted a whole
a line of shadow around the
series of conventions in repre-
subject. In dimly lit areas
senting the human figure or
such as tombs, however, the
the different planes of a scene.
subject usually stands out
slightly and is enlivened with In a relief, the human figure
bright colours. does not obey the laws of

12
frontality but is almost in- 58) creates an impression of
variably shown in profile. calm, in contrast to the vio-
Such a representation, gen- lence of Scopas' reliefs, where
erally an intellectual recon- crossed diagonals break the
struction, may vary according rhythm of the whole. Reliefs
to the civilization concerned. may be associated with natural
The Egyptian example is the sites such as cliffs, though
most outstanding: the head they are more often used
is seen in profile but the eye architecturally to decorate the
is full face, the torso full exterior or interior of buildings.
face and everything below In Greek architecture, for in-

the waist in profile. Thus the stance, reliefs may

run con-
artist has picked the most tinuously around the building
typical integrants of a human as a frieze (Panathenaean
being and shown each from Procession) or they may be a
its most recognizable angle. set of sculpted slabs(metopes)
separated by vertical elements
Sometimes, a scene's differ- called triglyphs. Relief was a
ent components are shown flourishing art form during
on a relief or painting as a the Middle Ages, when the
series of registers or super- portals (tympani and lintels)
imposed horizontal bands. and capitals of Romanesque
Thus both Romanesque fres- and Gothic cathedrals were
cos and the tympani of Ro- entirely covered with decora-
manesque churches consist of tive or story-telling reliefs.
superimposed registers, and
in 15th century Florence both
Donatello in his reliefs and
Masaccio in his paintings
used this form of perspective.

A relief's internal arrange-

ment follows the same laws
as those of a painting. Thus
the composition in vertical,
parallel lines Pana- of the
thenaean Procession (see page

Athena and the Giants, by Scopas.

Marble, late 4th century. A detail
from the main altar at Pergamum.
Berlin Museum. (Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)

13
sculpture In the round "the work must be planned
to satisfy the eye from an

By definition, sculpture in the infinite number of possible

round means isolated pieces angles, to each of which may
around which the viewer may correspond an equally in-

move and which are truly finite number of light sources.

three-dimensional. Every step the viewer takes,

every hour of the day, each
As the case of reliefs, any
in new light source applied,
size and material may be em- gives the sculpture a fresh
appearance ."
ployed. A Tanagra statuette . .

only a few inches high is just

as valid sculpture in the round For a long time— and this was
Memnon. true all over the world— sculp-
as the Colossi of
As opposed to reliefs, how- ture in the round was bound
ever, sculpture in the round by the laws of frontality, i.e.,
may occur independently of the body was treated com-
any architectural setting, pletely symmetrically in re-

though niches to hold statues lation to a middle axis.

are often incorporated in
The best example of this can
buildings. Isolated pieces may
be found in Greek art. Vir-
also make up an urban set-
tually 6th century B.C.
all
ting, as when they are placed
kouroi (sculptures of youths)
in public squares or form an
adopt the same frozen at-
integral part of fountains,
titude: "lifeless limbs, ex-
and they may be located in
pressionless faces. Conceived
gardens. Another difference
in two dimensions, the statue
between the two art forms
faces the viewer, the figure's
is that while reliefs may de-
two halves reflecting each
pict an episode or historical
other in absolute symmetry
event, sculpture in the round
on either side of an imaginary
must express life and move-
line" (P. Devambez).
ment by seizing the crucial
instant in any given situation During the course of the 5th
through the elimination of century B.C., expression be-
accessories and details. gan to appear on the faces,
volumes of the body began
The essential aim of sculp- to fill out and the arms were
ture in the round is the har- separated from the trunk.
monious arrangement and
balance of volumes in space, Polyclitus of Argos created a
for, as Paul Valery wrote, canon of proportions (in

14
 A Bourgeois of Calais, by Auguste
Rodin. Plaster, 1884-1886. One
of the preliminary studies for
the famous bronze group cast
in 1886. Rodin Museum, Paris.
(Photographic archives)

which the head represented Tanagra statuette. Terracotta,

late 4th century. Tanagra work-
1 /7th of the body), and his
shops in Boetia excelled in mak-
dictum was scrupulously ob- ing such figurines. Louvre, Paris.
served for centuries. He also (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
invented a standard pose, the
"arrested walk," in which
the body weight rests on one
leg, the other being slightly
bent and to the rear; the
torso is lightly tilted and the
body relaxed.

15
As balance is one of the Doryphoros (see page 62),
major problems to be solved may be noted in all civiliza-
in sculpture in the round, tions and in all periods of art.
large-scale works showing Thus Japan, the impassive
in
figures in motion often need serenity of the 13th century
support. The masses of which figure Minamoto
Yokitomo
a statue or group are com- diametrically opposes the
posed must balance one violence of the guardians of
another aesthetically and the Todaiji Temple in Nara,
physically around an imagi- though both stem from the
nary line passing through the Kamakura period. A similar
work's centre of gravity. Both exaggerated contrast may be
Bernini's Apollo and Daphne found in 17th and 18th century
and Myron's Discobolus, or
Discus Thrower, meet this
Miroku-Bosatu. Wood, Nara period.
criterion magnificently.
The refinec simplicity of the pose,
contemplative expression and
Artists not infrequently resort shrewd treatment of the material
to various tricks to prop their have justifiably made this statue
statues: figures may lean a famous example of Japanese
art. Koryuji, Kyoto. (Photo Kozo
against a tree trunk or hold
Ogawa)
onto an animal at their side.
An analysis of the lines of
force involved Puget's
in
Milo of Crotone (see page
188) provides a better under-
standing of its composition
and the reasons behind the
accessories used in this fa-
mous group.
Myron's Discus Thrower ranks
as a triumph of instability
and balance: the athlete seems
to revolve about an invisible
axis while light plays on the
carefully distributed volumes
of the body.

The between
conflict the
static and dynamic, as
the
exemplified by Myron's Dis-
cus Thrower and Polyclitus'

16
Europe, where baroque and The Discobolus, or Discus
classical sculpture flourished Thrower, by Myron, about 450
B.C. Roman copy in marble of
side by side. Many replicas
the lost original.
of the masterpiece still exist,
Nevertheless, the artist's re-
each with slight variations. Vati-
fusal to portray motion does can Museum, Rome. (Photo
not necessarily deny life to a Anderson-Giraudon)
statue, as proved by Roman
or 17th and 18th century
portrait busts, where the sub-
ject's individuality and per-
sonality clearly shine through.

17
PATRONAGE AND COMMISSIONS

The group statues on

of Child presented to the basilica
Easter those on the
Island, of Saint-Denis, near Paris, by
Athenian Acropolis, the sanc- Queen Jeanne d'Evreux in
tuaries of Nara and the ca- 1339. A parallel situation oc-
thedral at Reims all have one curred in the Far East where
point in common: their ex- the Shosoin in Nara was built
pression of man's faith and during the 8th century to re-
his desire to praise his Creator. ceive offerings made to the
colossal Buddha of Nara.
During the Middle Ages, ca-
thedrals went up all over Church patronage continued
Europe and the faithful from through the Renaissance and
every social level vied with the Counter-Reformation. But
each other tostock them toward the end of the 17th
with artistic treasures. Among century, princes of the church
these was the Virgin and began to commission more

i;
and more works for their own of such works is Verrocchio's
personal collections and far Colleone in Venice. Subse-
fewer for the religious edifices quently, from the 16th century
that they controlled. Only in to the present day, city squares
the past few years has re- have been decorated with
ligious art finally freed itself this kind ofmemorial statue
of standardized shoddiness. commissioned by municipal
bodies, heads of state or
The renewed popularity of
other civic leaders.
equestrian statues, an art
form which had not been In some cases an art pro-
seen since antiquity, derived gramme ordered by a king or
mainly from the policy of his ministers has launched
Italian cities to honour their the development of a certain
victorious "condottieri" or type of sculpture. Thus the
"tyrants." One of the finest work that Saint Louis had
commissioned in 1263-1264—
for Pierre de Montreuil to
Tomb of Pope Urban VIII, by
carve recumbent figures for
Bernini. Bronze and polychrome
marble. Typical of Italian funerary the tombs of his ancestors-
sculpture of the baroque period. was continued by Saint Louis'
Saint Peter's, Rome. (Photo descendants to make the
Scala)
basilica of Saint Denis a
Reclining Figure, by Henry Moore. museum of royal funerary
Bronze, 1960. An example of sculpture. Likewise, Louis
sculpture at the halfway point
XIV's construction of Ver-
between figurative and abstract
art. Museum of Modern Art, New sailles led to a blossoming of
York. (Photo Massin) garden statuary.
collections centuries and confers on their
owners still greater renown"
Because of their prodigious (E. Bonnaffe).
sculpted decoration, such During the Renaissance, the
monuments as the Buddhist
Medicis in italy particularly
sanctuaries of Japan and valued their collection of
China, the Khmer shrines of
bronzes, Grand Duke Fran-
Angkor Vat, the Greek temples
cesco devoting a special room
and the great Gothic ca-
in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio
thedrals could be considered
to them. Between 1580 and
museums even though their
1584, a member of the Gon-
original purpose was quite
zaga family had a special
different.
gallery built to house his col-

Whereas collections of paint-

lection of antique statues and
bas-reliefs, and Pope Julius
ings were formed at an early
II, one of the greatest of all
date in history, sculpture
art patrons, assembled the
collecting remains relatively
core of what was later to be
rare and consists of only
small pieces or a few large
the Vatican's Museum of An-
tiquities. engaged the
Julius
ones.
architect Bramante to build
the Belvedere Palace and its
The role played by private and
court lined with niches for
public collections and their
Greek and Roman works; here
owners is very important.
"The
he installed the Laocoon
history of art lovers is
sculpture group upon its pur-
theconsequence.thenecessary
chase in 1506.
result of artistic creation, for
works are passed from one The vogue for sculpture held
hand to another. Everyone sway on into the 17th century.
knows that Michelangelo's Cardinal Mazarin of France
Slaves are in the Louvre, but devoted the whole lower gal-
to show that they were handed lery of his palace to carved
down by the master to Roberto works. It held, according to
Strozzi, then to Francis I, to an inventory drawn up on the
Anne de Montmorency, to cardinal's death in 1661, 546
her grandson, to Cardinal pictures and 326 busts and
Richelieu, then to the Duke statues, most of which were
and Marshal de Richelieu be- purchased by Louis XIV.
fore going into the Louvre
the admiration that
testifies to Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's
they have commanded over the ill-starredfinance minister

20
(1615-1680), appreciated con- The Gallery of Antiquities, Pa-
temporary sculpture to a de- lazzo Sabbioneta, near Mantua,
16th century. Both the architec-
gree that perhaps contributed ture and decoration of this gallery
to his downfall. To decorate were specifically designed to house
his chateau of Vaux-le- a great collection of ancient
sculpture. (Photo Alinari)
Vicomte, he commissioned
Claude Poussin to carve the
series of terminals which now
magnificent collection of an-
grace the gardens of Ver- tique statuary was acquired
sailles, and he had Pierre by the British Museum in
Puget sculpt the Gallic Hercu- 1805.
les now in the Louvre.
From the end of the 18th
Such monarchs as Charles I

century onward, sculpture in

of England, Louis XIV of
museums became ever more
France, Frederick of Prussia
II
important as museums re-
and Catherine the Great of placed the private collections
Russia were passionate col- Today
of antique statuary.
lectors.
the large majority of art pa-
The ardour of sculpture lov- trons are inclined to buy both
ers is well exemplified
by paintings and sculpture,
Sir Charles Towneley, whose neither exclusively.

21
 antiquity

The very earliest works of tween these two stretched

sculpture appeared in the Old the long Solutrean period,
World around 40,000 years poor in sculpture though
B.C. during the Upper Paleo- famous for its finely worked
lithic or Old Stone Age. Three flint.

major periods can be distin-

guished: the Aurignacian, Aurignacian men tried to

Solutrean and Magdalenian. symbolize the continuity of

The tall, firm-jawed and ath- the species in their sculpture.

letic Cro-Magnons who lived Mostly these were upright
during the first of these epochs stones, roughly cut to form
stressed the female" form in crude masks summarily in-

their primitive sculpture. In dicated by eyebrows merging

the third stage, Chancelade together and extended by a
man saw animals as the vertical ridge or groove for a

principal subject matter. Be- nose. No neck separated head

from body, but gashes in the
stone indicated arms ending
Cycladic idol. Paros marble. A in a fringe of fingers whose
primitive form appeared in
art
the Cyclades about 2,000 B.C.
number varied.
Simple figurines like this one
were among man's first attempts
Ornament. Far more care was
to portray himself. Louvre, Paris. given to ornamental frills, such
(Photo Boudot Lamotte) as belts or baldrics worn over

23
the shoulder or around the Sexual attributes. Often the
neck. Relegating human fea- sex of these standing stone
tures to second rank, sculp- statues is doubtful, and some
tors concentrated on decora- have changed to con-
been
tive details. The statue of vert them from one sex to
Saint Sernin (Rodez Museum) the other. In principle at least,
wears a belt with two bosses a beaded collar indicates a
brought out in relief; another woman and a sharpened weap-
at Puech-Real wears a belt on a man. Nevertheless, there
as shown by an indentation are male figures with cavities
circling the waist, while the cut around their breasts to
statue at Ponsthorny has a transform them into women.
belt securely held in place by An exception is the charming
a rectangular buckle with a female bust from Brassem-
hollowed-out centre. pouy, Landes department,
France, a prognathous mask
whose hair is bound in a
Female head, found at Brass- sort of net.
empouy. Carved ivory. National
Antiquities Museum, Saint-
Germain-en- Laye. (Photo Giraudon) On the other hand, other ex-
cavations have revealed in-
dubitably female figures mod-
elled in the round; these are
the celebrated steatopygous
(obese) "Venuses" of Wil-
lendorf in Austria, Lespugne
in Perigord and Caussel in
Dordogne, France, and Gri-
maldi in northern Italy. They
have enormous bellies, pen-
dulous breasts, small round
heads and short thick thighs.
The same general type has
been found elsewhere in
France and in Poland, Egypt,
Thrace, Crete and Greece;
the Aurignacian universe was
a large one inspired by the
same concepts. These statues
were symbols rather than the
representation of any par-
ticular woman.

24
 The Willendorf Venus. Limestone.
A product of the Aurignacian
culture, steatopygous figure
this
symbolizes By contrast
fertility.
with the featureless head, the
belly modelling is carefully done.
Natural History Museum, Vienna.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

ning, they simply carved

javelin heads from stag ant-
lers. Later they cut saw-
toothed notches on one side
to eventually become barbs;
the same technique was then
applied to both edges to
make it a true harpoon.

The Copper Age. Between

the Paleolithic and Neolithic
came the Mesolithic or Middle
Stone Age which flourished
so splendidly in the Dordogne
region of France. The vigorous
carved relief of a horse at
Mas d'Azil eloquently testi-
Magdalen ian art
fies as to the march of prog-
ress. By this time, adventur-
Finally, steatopygous women
ous men of the Mediterranean
vanished, the first differing
had sailed out into the At-
type being the female statue
lantic in search of the Tin
found at Laugerie-Basse,
Islands, now known as Great
France. Magdalenian sculp-
Britain. the Copper
Thus
tors, true artists, keenly ob-
Age, by Cretan and
typified
served nature and especially
Greek pre-Mycenean products,
animals, as can be seen from
now gave way to the Bronze
the clay bison of Tuc d'Audou-
Age.
bert and the stretched-neck
Lourdes horse whose hairy The Bronze Age. From Ho-
coat is carefully indicated by meric Troy to the Baltic,
patient cross-hatchings. Mag- bronze sword pommels and
dalenian weapons show the jewellery appeared as well as
technical development of these such figurines as the re-
civilized men. In the begin- markable warrior bearing

25
 Baetyl, or standing stone statue,
from Saint- Sernin. Copper Age.
At the same time that pure cop-
per was first smelted, men tried
to represent themselves in stone
—here in granite. At the top of
the stone are signs indicating
features; below are grooves
for arms and legs. It is a male
figure wearing a strap belt from
which a weapon dangles. (Photo
Giraudon)

onto their scales. Four hun-

dred years later, at a time
when Romans still used hemp
to moor their ships, Caesar
in turn became fascinated by
the fierce Bretons' anchor
chains. Iron and bronze were
worked simultaneously during
the entire Hallstatt phase. A
votive bronze chariot found
at Strettweg in Styria is sur-
mounted by a giant female
figure holding a basin; she
is escorted by mounted men
and foot soldiers.

two shields found at Teti in

Sardinia, and equally inter-
esting
La Tene civilization
objects excavated in
Scandinavia.
The Age. The Iron Age
Iron
While bronze remained popu- can be conveniently divided
lar, new metal, iron, began
a into two periods, the first,
to be worked across southern or Hallstatt phase, lasting
Europe from Hungary to roughly from 900 to 510 B.C.
Spain, especially in Burgundy, and the second ending in the
France, and at Hallstatt, Christian era's first century.
Austria. Naturally enough, The latter included the La
iron was first used for weap- Tene culture, so-called from
ons; the Gallic chief Brennus a town on the shores of Lake
amazed the defeated Romans Neuchatel, one of the dy-
by throwing his iron sword namic hubs of this civiliza-

26
tion. The great works of near Nfmes; a naked kneeling
Memphite Egypt, Minoan art javelin thrower found near
and the Lion Gate of Mycenae Rome and now in the Berlin
belonged to the Bronze Age, Museum; the God of Bouray,
while the war chariots and cast of thin bronze, and the
andirons, some of bronze or stone bas-relief of the Gallic
iron, others of clay and re- goddess Epona (Saint Ger-
flecting a Greco-Phoenician main Museum), who sits
influence, exemplified the astride a mare following her
Iron Age. In the same tradi- foal.
tion were some Gallic stat-
In Ireland. Though ending on
ues: a figure in oriental pos-
the continent toward the mid-
ture found at Roquepertuse
dle of the first century a.d.,
in Provence and once thought
the La Tene culture contin-
to be a copy of the Seated
ued to flourish in Celtic Ire-
Scribe (Louvre); a torso of an
land in an entirely original
armoured warrior from Grezan
form. Human beings were
hardly represented, and then
in rudimentary form. Instead,

extraordinarily convoluted line-

ar patterns were carved in
relief on baetyls, or sacred
stones. The Celtic imagination
invented a system of inter-
locking lines interspersed with
fantastic monsters whose
only rival in weirdness ap-
peared in Viking art after
the first Nordic invasions of
about 775 a.d.

The God of Bouray. Sheet bronze,

end of the La Tene period. Cast
in several parts and crudely as-
sembled, the figure shows the
influence of the Roman occupa-
tion of Gaul. There seems to be
no religious significance; the
statue probably imitates the bust
of a Roman emperor made by a
Gallic craftsman. National An-
tiquities Museum, Saint-Germain-
en-Laye. (Photo Giraudon)

27
 THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

The vast lands between the

Red Sea and the Persian
Gulf had been peopled by a
stock of richly varied ethnic
backgrounds: in the south,
the Elamites who had their
capital at Susa; in the west,
the Sumerians who in all
probability came from Ana-
tolia or the Iranian Plateau.
Excavations in lower Meso-
potamia along the banks of
the Euphrates have unearthed
their main cities of Ur, Lagash
and Uruk. These peoples had
two things in common: a
religion based on Ishtar and
chthonian, or underworld,
deities, and their own form
of ideographic writing. North
of Elam and Sumer were the
Akkadians, Baal- and Marduk-
worshipping Semites from
Mesopotamia, who had their
capital at Babylon. These origi-
nally nomadic tribes finally
stopped their restless roam-
ing, being peacefully trans-
formed into farmers and
craftsmen by the soil's fertility.

Gudea, King of Chaldea. Basalt,

about 2,500 B.C. This extremely
hard stone was carved with
flint drills and then polished.
The face is typically realistic.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Segalat)

28
Kuduru of King Nilischipak,
Assyrian, 4th century B.C.
Basalt. The stele with its
regularly arranged designs
probably comes from a
temple. The symbols and the
astral signs which dominate
the composition have a mysti-
cal significance, while the
somewhat chimerical figures
on the horizontal bands
represent divinities. Sanctu-
aries visible on the horizontal
bands add interest to this
well-executed work. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

The advance Neolithic civi-

lization appeared in
which
Europe around 8,000 B.C.
had developed some thousand
years previously in such na-
turally blessed regions as
Egypt and Chaldea. Five thou-
sand years before Christ, cop-
per was worked in Chaldea,
mainly to make the weapons
which ensured political
strength.

in the temples, so that the

Akkad and Sumer
people finally rebelled. Around
2,360 B.C., King Urukagine
The history of the primitive
overthrew the priests, in what
East was one of incessant
proved to be a futile libera-
clashes between city-states.
tion.
With metal weapons, the
Akkadians defeated their The founder of the city of
Sumerian enemies and kept Agade, Sargon subjected
I,

them under heel for two the mountainous regions of

millennia. Sumer subsequent- the north as far as the Black
ly recovered to regain its in- Sea, then went south to con-
dependence, but wealth be- quer Sumer and Elam. His
came ever more concentrated successor, Naram Sin, man-

29
aged to maintain this em- tributes compass, ruler
as
pire. Yet some regions re- and squareon his knees.
mained self-governing; the Features indicate that Gudea
Sumerians of Ur and Lagash was of Indo-European origin,
had been independent since as is the Louvre's noteworthy
2,470 B.C. One of their sover- wavy-haired female bust with
eigns, Gudea, we have come its little cap and clothes or-
to know very well through namented by inset lace. Eye-
some finely workeo and brows are delineated by a
experienced sculpture. The deep groove whose shadows
Louvre in Paris displays sev- produce the same effect as
eral headless statues of this relief. This piece is Sumerian
king, as well as separate and dates back to the third
heads depicting him. A very millennium B.C.
hard basalt is the material
employed. Forceful broad
modelling was achieved by
patient abrasion, cutting
tools being utilized only on
the eyebrows, eyes and on
the marvellous undulations
of the heavy royal headdress.
About thirty other representa-
tions of Gudea have been
found. The king is shown
either in prayer or as the
builder of the temple, hold-
ing such architectural at-

Statue of Ebih-il, steward of the

Temple of Ishtar in Mari, 3rd
millenium B.C. Alabastar. Typical
Sumerian art of the protodynastic
period, this figure of soft stone
wears a short sheepskin tunic
and its eyes are painted on with
tar. Details of the beard and
fleece accentuate the sobriety of
the flesh areas. Louvre, Paris.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

30
 Stele of the Code of Ham-
murabi, King of Akkad. Carved
and engraved diorite, about
2,050 B.C. Above the long
cuneiform text of the laws
dictated by Hammurabi are
the symbols of the god
Marduk, who inspired the
law-giving king. In addition
to its great historical value,
this work can be considered
an excellent piece of sculp-
ture for its balanced com-
position, ease of movement
and refined modelling. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Giraudon)

graphic script. Babylon became

Babylonia
the capital of this empire and
remained so even under for-
The independence of Ur and
eign dynasties: the mountain-
Lagash was short-lived. About
dwelling Cassites from Zagros,
2,265 B.C. they were invaded
who ruled from 1,761 to
by the Elamites who swept
1,178 B.C., and then the
on through Babylon and
Semitic Armenians from the
beyond Akkad to conquer the
Iranian plateau.
Assyrian capital ofNineveh.
Later Babylon came under the Of allthese peoples, only the
sway of an Amorite dynasty, Chaldeans and Assyrians,
whose greatest ruler was although of disparate race
Hammurabi (c. 17th Century and abilities, left behind
B.C.) A brilliant administrator, sculptured monuments of un-
Hammurabi organized irriga- challenged artistic quality,
tion and promulgated a just surpassing technically and
code of laws. The Louvre owns in spiritual content the craft
a copy of this precious text objects used in everyday
engraved on a diorite stele living. For all their ferocious
(c. 1575 B.C.) in the cunei- reputation and historic ar-
form characters which re- rogance, the Assyrians had a
placed the primitive ideo- high aesthetic sense.

31
Assyria by the most obvious means.
Kingly figures all wear beards,
Decorators at heart, the As- their expressions invariably
syrians bequeathed unfor- impassive; servants are clean-
gettable images of the human shaven, dull and unimagina-
face, almost exclusively in tive. In some bas-reliefs of
bas-relief. They heavily em- warfare, enemy faces are not
phasized detail and acces- treated cursorily as before,
sories, such as the fastidi- but with a hint of pity that
ously braided hair and beards
of gods and kings, the or-
namentation of tiaras and
the decoration of tunics— all
carved with such precision
that it is believed that these
ornaments were the badges of
power. By contrast, the sculp-
<
tors used broad planes to r

define the naked flesh of

faces, arms and legs in such
a way as to accentuate the
values of the composition.
Muscles were delineated by
sharp, clean lines.

Incidentally, the Assyrians

never ceased to point up
their subjects' social status

Gilgamesh, bas-relief, Assyrian.

Limestone. Though the head
faces the viewer for a change,
the sculptor has obeyed the laws
of frontality by showing the legs
in profile. Nonetheless, the forms
are faithfully rendered and the
hair and beard exceptionally well
executed. The lion that the hero
is strangling is also reasonably
accurate. Yet the picayune detail
seems to rob this work of its
monumental quality, and only
its dimensions make it colossal.
Louvre, Paris.

32
Human- headed bull, Assyrian,
about 2,500 B.C. Steatite. Half-
human, half-animal forms were
worshipped in Assyria as in the
rest of the Middle East; in this
case the human head is treated
as realistically as the bull's body.
Regular curls on the hide of the
bull add a monumental note to
this statue.

shows Assyrian art could be pieces come from Assyrian

compassionate. Tricks or palaces at Khorsabad and at
perspective were quite un- Kuyunjik, Nineveh, as does
known. Like Sumerian Chal- the Louvre's much lauded
dea, figures are all on the bas-relief portraying Assur-
same plane, one beside the banipal standing in a canopied
other, never facing the viewer. war chariot. The features
Even the massive, tiara- and motion of both human
wearing winged bulls with and animal models are ren-
human heads who guarded dered with extraordinary fi-
the palace gates remained nesse.
subject to the imperatives of
The Onager Hunt pictures
bas-relief.
the sudden panic of the
Animal art. Assyrian artistic herd. Some, pierced by ar-
talent attained its true ful- rows, roll about in agony
fillment in the treatment of while others have turned to
animals. The British Museum fight off the dogs, and a few
owns group of superb bas-
a gallop off in terror. There is
reliefsshowing kinsmen Sen- a similar fascinating bas-
necharib and Assurbanipal relief depicting Wild Goat
a
both on horseback and in Hunt; still another shows the
their chariots. These master- royal pack of hounds, enor-

33
 as**

\ ^—-^ Afcj

\
>**

"V

Wounded Lioness, bas-relief, from Chronologically the bas-reliefs

Assurbanipal's palace, Assyrian, from Nimrud are oldest. The
about 680 B.C. The same pre-
cision was used by the Assyrians
conventional realism of As-
in treating the muscle structure surnasirpal sacrificing to the
of both animals and humans. gods well typifies this period.
Eliminating all superfluous detail,
Then there are the ones of
they concentrated on the accurate
rendition of masses in motion. Khorsabad with their more
British Museum, London. studied modelling, followed
by those of Kujunjik which
mark the apogee of Assyrian
mous mastiffs trained to sculpture just before the fall
bring down lions: and perhaps of the empire. One of the
itis the lion hunt itself which striking aspects of this art
best epitomizes Assyrian isthe total absence of females.
sculpture. An unusually memo- The seated queen figure in the
rable version is of a wounded bas-relief Assurbanipal's
of
lioness, dragging her para- feast is exception to
a rare
lyzed hindquarters yet still this rule, for Assyrian art
turning to bay defiance at deals mainly with a warrior
her tormentors. society.

34
Monsters. The Assyrians' pro-
found knowledge of animal
anatomy led to the creation of
a whole range of weird and
strange monsters. Besides
the winged bulls with human
heads, there is a winged god
with eagle head, as well as
a host of other bas-reliefs
exhibiting this odd bimor-
phism. They include a winged
horse of Nineveh, the sphinxes
from Xerxes' palace at Per-
sepolis and the griffons of
Sennecharib's palace. The
Chaldean-Assyrian east also
summoned up the chimeras
which appear nearly every-
where in ancient art.

Scenes from a military camp, Stele of Naram Sin, king of As-

bas-relief from Assurbanipal's syria and conqueror of Akkad,
Dalace in Nineveh, 7th century about 2,950 B.C. Louvre, Paris.
B.C.(Photo Boudot-Lamotte) (Photo Giraudon)

1 __^i- i

*'"- ""*
ij

'•:-.-
/ '^/7/1P*
;
the Medes the Persians

North of Assyria lived the Cyrus, the "King of Kings"

bloodthirsty and barbaric (558-524 B.C.), and his suc-
Medes whose leader Cyaxares cessors extended their sway
in the year 606 B.C. attacked over all Asia Minor, first
Nineveh, razed the city and conquering Lydia under
split the remains of the em- Croesus (580-524 B.C.), then
pire with the Akkadians. Chaldea and finally Meso-
Later he annexed Persia, potamia. Darius (521-481
giving his allies the kingdom B.C.) pushed on as far as
of Judah. Yet the sudden the Indus. Liberal-minded,
change from primitive life receptive to new ideas, he
to proved too much
luxury administered his immense
for the Medes, who, once empire without in any way
weakened, were no match trying to unify it, and for
for the Persians. Virtually two centuries Achemenid
nothing remains of Median princes ruled over this dis-
art. parate universe.

The Persian civilization of

this time left behind some
splendid works of art, in-
cluding the huge enamelled
brick bas-reliefs of the Archers
and the Immortals. Directly
inspired by Assyrian art, these
vast compositions possess
a rhythmical architectural
quality which was not without
its on the Helle-
influence
nistic They reflect the
East.
Assyrian concern for minute
descriptive detail contrasting
with broad sculptural planes.

Zoomorphic capital from the Royal

Palace at Persepolis, Persian,
4th century B.C. Stylization con-
fers a monumentality on these
forms which otherwise might
have been only colossal. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Segalat)

36
the Hittites

We have but the most ele-

mentary knowledge of the
Hittites. Still, we know they
had a highly developed civi-
lization. They were the first
to raise horses, and 2,500
years ago— in their capital of
Khattusas— they built palaces
and houses with terraced
gardens. Around 2160 B.C. the
Hittites became powerful
enough to threaten the strong
pharaohs of Egypt. But Ram-
ses III (1202-1171 B.C.) took
his revenge in 1195 and the
Hittite empire crumbled. They
left behind a few sculptured
pieces, all rather primitive,
that drew inspiration from
Assyria and Egypt.
:

I *^^n^--^ >ki
r - irt-w.

the Phoenicians Baal of the Thunderbolt, from

Ras Shamra, 16th century
early
B.C. Limestone. A fine example
The Semitic Phoenicians who of formalism and frontality which,
established a beachhead on despite crude modelling, shows
a narrow strip of the Pales-
the trend toward ornamental
stylization. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
tinian coast were essentially Boudot-Lamotte)
sailors and tradesmen; their
capital was the seaport of
premature death in 323 B.C.
Tyre. Artistically unoriginal,
they first based their sculp-
opened the Hellenistic Age,
ture on Mycenaean models,
and henceforth all Near East-
ern art was to be strongly
then on Hellenistic or Roman
works. Even the art of their
marked by the impact of
distant colonies like Carthage
Greek civilization. Antioch
provided little that was new.
on the Orontes River, Dura-
Europus and Pergamum be-
Alexander the Great's con- came the major centres of
quests between 354 and his this new culture (see page 68).

37
Serpent King stele
from Abydos, 1st
dynasty. Limestone.
Of the forms of the
falcon and serpent
and the architecture
they dominated, Old
Kingdom sculptors
retained only
volumes obtained
by slightly
hollowing out the
background. As in
the earlier style,
emphasis was
placed on types
rather than
individuals.
Louvre, Paris.
(Photo Segalat)

EGYPT

It was some 5,000 years ago in mystery. Still, the earliest

that the full-blown art of sculptures show a certain
sculpture appeared in Egypt affinity with Magdalenian
and created masterpiece after works— for example, in the
masterpiece. This sudden per- expression of volumes and
fection presupposes a long movement, and the inclusion
apprenticeship, yet the total of formal symbolical motifs
lack of examples from the as opposed to mere accessory
preceding period leaves the details. Though we are, un-
origins of this art shrouded fortunately, unaware of the

38
reciprocal influences exerted Later kings erected pyramids.
by various peoples on each Eighty of these still exist,
other at this time, certain the most famous being the
similarities can be detected one of Cheops, which dates
which could hardly be called back over 4,500 years and
coincidental. Subsequent dis- took 20 years to construct.
coveries have shown that According to Herodotus, over
quite apart from any aesthet- 100,000 workers were em-
ic considerations, a religious ployed in its construction,
principle inspired this sculp- and from the scenes found
ture, and nothing prevents showing the transport of
us from attributing this same statues and building stones,
mystical purpose to proto- the ancient historian's esti-

historic statues. mate seems well justified.

The Egyptians were not try-

Accompanying the statue of
ing for portraiture but for a
the king are others, less
true representation of the
finelycarved but with equal
personage that would in-
regard for realism, of his ser-
struct his Ka, the double who
vants, guards and craftsmen.
accompanied him through life
His whole background lives
and then, upon his physical
again in these statues, whose
death, took up residence in
execution was the more pain-
the image so as to assure im-
staking the higher the sub-
mortality. Thus, in order for
ject's social rank. Yet the
the Ka to recognize it, the
Cairo Museum's famed statu-
image had to faithfully repro-
ette of the baker's wife and
duce the person's features
helper coating an amphora,
as well as his ritual or pro-
or jar, with pitch, already
fessional attributes. For this
foreshadows the broad, open
very reason, realism became
style of the Louvre's Seated
the fundamental rule of
Scribe. While the stele of the
Egyptian sculpture.
falcon Horus in Cairo seems
On being crowned monarch, a somewhat dry because of the
pharaoh's first concern was resistance of the hard schist
for his Ka, to ensure its sur- to the tool, the replica now
vival in the tomb which was in the Louvre attests to a
a replica of his palace. The sure mastery of both tech-
earliestmastabas, or tombs, nique and aesthetic values,
contained statues quite sepa- which aimed at essentials and
rate from the sarcophagi. nothing more.

39
 Sheik-EI-Beled, a village headman,
4th dynasty. Wood. Old Kingdom
sculptors reproduced the sub-
ject's features at the same time
that they idealized a type. Cairo
Museum. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

Statue of Chephren, 4th dynasty.

Diorite. Seated in a hieratical
position, this statue is distin-
guished by the broadness of its
modelling which is simultaneously
realistic and typical. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

Memphis
The first two dynasties es-
tablished their capital at
Tanis upper Egypt; from
in
this period stems the Louvre's
Horus. Whether this was the
product of a superior school
in some Tanite town or simply
that of a single genius is
unknown. Works of this period

40
are of uneven merit, but on Seated Scribe, 5th dynasty. Painted
the whole indicate an attempt limestone. The modelling mag-
netically draws the viewer's eye
to express form through a
to the face and torso. Excessive
contrast of planes rather detail employed on the legs dis-
than through the juxtaposition tracts from its interest. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Segalat)
of detail.

Around 3,100 B.C., the seat

of empire was transferred Beled (all in Cairo), and of
to Memphis in Lower Egypt, course the Louvre's fabled
where it stood as capital from Seated Scribe, whose eyes
the 3rd to the 11th dynasty. are animated by a silver
This was perhaps the golden nail. Here is remarkable in-
age of Egyptian sculpture, dividuality of features and a
with such treasures as the sincerely fresh approach un-
diorite bust of Chephren, tainted by any formalism.
the polychrome figurine of The bas-reliefs so popular at
Princess Nefrit, the beautiful this time show the same
wooden statue of Sheik-El- pointed concern for the main

41
Offering Bearer, 12th dynasty. motif. A light, cut groove
Painted limestone. Lofty monu-
separates the figures from
mental style is here beginning to
generate into realism as stress the background, creating
is laid on individual details. Louvre, just the required amount of
Paris. (Photo Segalat) shadow. Egyptian artists con-
tinued using this process,
though later they deepened
the composition's line to
convey the impression of
still greater relief.

These artists stayed remark-

ably true to the professional
techniques and traditions they
had inherited. For centuries,
standing royal figures re-
mained attached to walls,
a throwback to a time that
had not learned to calculate
the stresses on free-standing
figures. Less exalted persons
were represented with com-
plete freedom, however,
since ceremony did not con-
cern them. From the very
start of this period, Egyptian
sculpture adopted the two
paths it was to follow until
the final decline— royal studios
turning out statues of the
pharaohs in a style which
soon became a pat formula,
and private studios seeking
in general a picturesque
style. Nevertheless, royal
artists did not remain unaf-
fected by their independent
colleagues, and some of their
solemn figures began to de-
part from a ritually hieratical
posture. For instance, the
Ranofir of Cairo Museum is

42
 walking, as is the Louvre's techniques
Samonasrit and the Mikeri-
nos, who is framed by the Nevertheless, sculptors con-
goddess Hathor and another tinued to refer to the grandi-
female companion. ose canons of the past, and
the laws of frontality seen
Starting in the 4th dynasty,
in the bas-reliefs still strongly
Memphite statuary showed a
influenced even their free-
tendency to more idealization,
standing figures. In the bas-
though without sacrificing
reliefs themselves, heads are
resemblance. Yet it was at
seen in profile, the body full
this same time that factories
began to mass-produce the face, legs again in profile and
always with the left leg for-
figures of boatmen, brewers
ward. Whatever the sculptor's
and archers which needed only
talent, this was a matter of
to have a face sketched on
pure practicality, originally
in order to accompany their
illustrious patron to the tomb.
justified by ignorance but
substituting, as it continued,
Stone cutters then simply
academicism for the objective
carved the name onto these
study of nature. Still, there
near replicas. At this point,
the priests decided that it
was a sort of system to it,

was not the statue itself and covering surfaces with

in
figures subjected to a form
but rather the name on it
which contained a mystical of triangulation, Egyptian
virtue and which perpetuated
the personality of the de- Men bringing Middle
tribute,
ceased. One result of this Empire Stone.
bas-relief. Both
belief was that henceforth humans and animals are truth-
fully represented with a freedom
the pharaohs began to put their
of movement which at times
own names on the statues of defies the laws of frontality.
others. Louvre, Paris. (Archives photo)

* \

t lii

43
sculptors seemed to have Thebes(2165-1800B.C.)
tried for a purely decorative
effect.They carefully stylized Around 2,165 B.C. the Old
components, thus preventing Kingdom faded away rather
any naturalistic intrusion into than crashed, due to eco-
arbitrary composition. nomic troubles combined with
internal dissension. Then
When, on the other hand, about 2,050 B.C. the ener-
these same sculptors exe- getic and warlike Sesostris
cuted purely realistic groups, dynasty established itself at
all stylization was excluded. Thebes inUpper Egypt. Po-
Even the parade of offering litical turmoil rarely has any
bearers and the famous group repercussions in the arts,
of pikemen and archers in however, the latter being de-
the Cairo Museum, though termined by the general cul-
organized with a sharp sense tural level of the times. Sculp-
of balanced masses, show tors continued the realistic
a realism quite foreign to study of the individual that
the decorative convention. had insensibly crept into re-
ligious formalism, and even
Starting with the Memphite the official studios began to
period, two distinct tech- inject some
life into the ef-
niques employed
were in figies notables they were
of
carving surfaces. Some works called on to sculpt. Unyielding
are cut directly in bas-relief hieraticism gave way— models
in the stone, the subject were allowed a human gesture
being brought out from the such as simply holding an
bare ground and the light object in their hands, and
sliding across the modelling. postures varied.
Whatever anatomical mistakes
may appear in such realistic
compositions— for example, While the Old Kingdom had
that of the cowherds in the idealized its figures to create
tomb of Ptahhotep— the tech- an impression of serene maj-
nique reveals real experience. Theban sculpture seemed
esty,
More frequently, sculptors to stress realistic expression.
used the trick of carving a Its pharaohs remained gods
broad, deep groove around but were no longer idols. The
the main motif to give the Tuthmosis III in the Cairo
effect of jutting out from a Museum, cut from fine schist,
wall, though in fact the re- is a portrait that is particu-
lief was quite shallow. larly cleverly modelled, as

44
Colossal statue of Amenhotep
(Amenophis) III. 18th dynasty,
second Theban Empire. Granite.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

slight modulations in lighting

illuminate the planes, de-
pending on the position of
the viewer. Other examples of
12th dynasty work are the
polychrome wood Offering
Bearer of the Louvre and the
Head an Old Man, also of
of
wood, now
at Eton School,
England. This remarkable ex-
ample of the great Theban
tradition is reminiscent of
Cairo's Sheik-EI-Beled in its

simplicity, though the attempt

to portray individual character
shows the difference in ap-
proach of the two periods.

In the first Theban period,

standard formalism was ap-
plied to official works, but
under the influence of an in-

creasingly free civilization,

artistic virtuosity began to
replace the august imper-
sonality of the past. The
Pharaoh Horus the Cairo
in

Museum is seen walking and

relaxed, the sculptor's tech-

nique able and smooth.

secrets of style

The authors of these works

seem to have deliberately
rejected the rules to which
classical sculptors had ad-

45
hered. Egypt had established The last reigns of the 18th
a canon of proportions for dynasty were darkened by
sculpting life-size figures: civil war and foreign inva-
the projection was ruled into sion. Yet the sculpture studios
eighteen squares, of which continued their work, after a
the top two covered the head, trend which seemed to put
the next ten the neck and extra emphasis on realistic
body as far as the knees, and detail. This troubled time
the last six the legs, which produced the curious statue of
invariably were long. Thus the heretic pharaoh Amen-
a rigid academicism became hotep (Amenophis) IV, or
established. Nevertheless, this Ikhnaton, which with its long
school produced a few out- verticaldominants was proba-
standing personalities who es- bly meant to be seen from
caped such backward-looking below. This pharaoh moved the
conformity, and the first capital to Tel El Amarna, be-
Theban school had its quota tween Thebes and Memphis,
of authentic masterpieces. thus reawakening the local
Among them is the Fighting sculpture studios whose out-
Sesostris in Istanbul (which put, though routine in exe-
Champollion held to be the cution, had a spontaneity
acme of Egyptian bas-reliefs). and life missing from that
of the official studios. The
sculptors of El Amarna worked
Tel el Amarna from nature, and the roughly
chiseled statue of an anony-
Lower Egypt's occupation at mous personage now in the
this time by the Semitic Hyk- Berlin Museum so closely
sos doubtless did much to resembles the king that it

stimulate the people of north- is probably a life sketch.

ern Egypt. The horse-raising

Hyksos owed their dominance
to new arms, including armour The artistic flowering of this
with bronze scales. They did period can be seen in
also
not seat their leaders on the the glittering funerary
gold
pharaonic throne but limited statue of Ikhnaton's successor
themselves to collecting taxes. Tutankhamen. In his brief
Thus the succession of Egyp- reign the boy king managed
tian dynasties continued un- to re-establish the old cult
interrupted, though in fact and dig the rock-cut tomb
controlling but a small part which held such astounding
of the country. archaeological treasures.

46
Mask of Tutankhamen, New King-
dom. Solid gold. This pharaoh's
effigy was found in his rock-cut
tomb. Its tiara was
decorated
with a serpent, symbolizing knowl-
edge. Cairo Museum. (Photo
Giraudon)

Colossal statue of Amenhotep

(Amenophis) IV, or Ikhnaton,
New Kingdom. Stone. Cairo Mu-
seum. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

Amenhotep (Amenophis) III

started the great funerary

temple in Thebes, whose only
remains are the two badly
damaged but colossal figures,
now known as the Memnons,
guarding its entrance. One
of his predecessors, Tuth-
mosis, felt that he could better
assure his Ka's safety by
abandoning the pyramid for-
mula and instead cutting a
shaft deep into the rock for
his tomb. Colossal statues
now guard the access
to the
Valley Kings where these
of
monarchs were henceforth
buried.

47
Queen Nefertiti. Painted
stone, 1,360 B.C. Theban
sculptors of the New
Kingdom individualized
their subjects without,
however, softening their
style. Facial features
are presented in detail,
with eyelids and lip
outlines lightly accentu-
ated. Berlin Museum.
(Photo Bruckmann)

Head of the colossal

statue of Sesostris. 18th
dynasty. Diorite. In spite
of damage, this statue
retains the severe monu-
mental quality of Middle
Empire sculpture. Only
the essential planes are
brought out in the mod-
elling and, seen at a
distance, these reproduce
the features. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Segalat)
Ramses II

Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty,

Seti (1,326-1,300 B.C.) and
I

Ramses (1,300-1.234 B.C.).

II

had to fight off the powerful

Hittites who. having overrun
Cappadocia and Phrygia, now
threatened Palestine. Ramses
eventually beat them at
Kadesh, but even after twenty
years of constant warfare he
still had to share Syria with
the invaders. He then started
on the immense projects to
which he owes his fame—
the great temples of Karnak
and Luxor, and the Rames-
seum at Qurna (Thebes),
dedicated to his glory. Also
he commissioned the won-
derful colossi of Abu Simbel
which today may be seen in
their original and glorious
mountain setting.

The sculptors' virtuosity then

became predominant, as can
be seen from such charac-
teristic works as the Queen
Taia (Cairo Museum), the
Lady Naia (Louvre), both
carved in wood with con-
summate artistry, and such
animal works as the statue of
the divine cow Hathor now
housed in the Cairo Museum.
Hathor was executed with Lady Naia, New Kingdom. Wood.
cunning; her nostrils (ap- This young lady, wearing a light,
parently worked with a toothed close-fitting garment, has also a
ceremonial wig reproduced in
instrument like a file) seem minute detail. Louvre, Paris.
to quiver with life and energy. (Photo Giraudon)

49
the Saitic period Queen Karomama, statuette.
Bronze inlaid with gold and
silver, 22nd dynasty. Posed with
Events rather like those which left leg slightly forward according
had brought the Old Kingdom to ancient custom, the standing
to its end now marked the queen wears a fine gown and a
ceremonial wig. Virtuosity had
history of Egypt between become the hallmark of late
1,085 and 663 B.C.— a lean Egyptian sculpture. Louvre, Paris.
period so far as sculpture is (Photo Giraudon)
concerned. The royal shops
continued to copy old works
without in any way modifying
their style through any direct
reference to nature. Of the
rare works showing any per-
sonality at all, we might cite
that of the Sannaficouple
in the Cairo Museum. Next
to them in the same museum
is a female with 'a
figure
large her figure draped
wig,
in a light fabric which allows
all the delicate modelling of

her body to show through.

No less beautiful is the head
of Queen Tiyi, or the canopic
jar of Amenhotep IV with its
wig and embossed collar.

Belonging to the same period

isthe small bronze of Queen
Karomama in the Louvre.
Despite the movement of her
arms, outstretched to hold an
offering, the sculptor could
not bring himself to abandon
the laws of frontality which
governed the positioning of
the legs. Still, the execution
shows great skill, as exempli-

fied by her body seen under

the thin gown, the latter's
lifelike folds and the designs

50
 on the bodice in damascened
gold and silver. This tech-
nique, which involved ham-
mering strips of precious
metals into shallow grooves
cut into the bronze, was also
employed for the large falcon-
headed statue of the god
Horus, also in the Louvre.

Harassed by incursions of
Ethiopians, then Assyrians,
the Egyptians moved their
capital to Bubastis in the
Delta, thence to Sai's. There,
under the last kings of the
26th dynasty, Egypt recovered
its independence for a century

until overrun by the Persians.

During this time the old re-
ligion regained its authority,
and sculptors paid increased
attention to realistic detail.
The British Museum now dis-
plays a relief of the pharaoh
Psammeticus I (651-611 B.C.)
which illustrates this: no
slavish regard for aesthetics
mars the brutal verisimilitude
of his profile. The head of the
Theban governor Mantimake,
now in Cairo, also ranks as
a forceful and expressive
sample of the last truly Egyp-
tian statuary.

Saitic art aimed at demon-

strating its virtuosity. It

Horus consecrating a pharaoh, showed a predilection for

Saitic period. Bronze. The falcon
such intractable materials
god pours holy water over a
figure which is now missing. as basalt, diorite and marble,
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Segalat) which were polished without

51
impairing their basic struc- selves are banal in the ex-
tural nature. The style itself treme because of this mass
was of cut-and-dried prac- production, the heads are
ticality, being carved
figures most carefully executed.
according to a strict formula. Funereal statues no longer
The Cairo Museum displays represent an idealized young
many examples of how the version of the defunct but a
procedure worked— there are close rendering of his ap-
bas-reliefs in rough form, pearance, warts and all, at
others carried to completion, the time of death. The Ka
and statues whose heads are was supposed to find in the
mere blocks awaiting a client. statue an accurate reproduc-
Yet though the bodies them- tion of the living man.

Torso of Isis, goddess of child- In 342 B.C. the last Egyp-

birth, Saitic period. Diorite. Here tian dynasty diedaway when
she wears a tunic whose pleats the country became a Persian
show arealism quite novel in
colony. Only a decade later
Egyptian art. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
Segalat) Alexander the Great drove
out the usurpers, founded
Alexandria, and proclaimed
himself the successor to the
native rulers. When his em-
pire was split at his death,
Egypt fell to one of his gen-
erals, Ptolemy, who estab-
lished his own Greek dynasty.
The Hellenistic influence which
blended with the other for-
eign elements can be seen
mainly in architecture (as
in the temple of Phylae),
but it also affected sculpture,
of which the most outstanding
example is the bas-relief of
Antaeus and Isis in the Cairo
Museum. Its only virtue lies

in its hybrid nature. Cultural

traditions remained intact,
however, and even in Ptole-
maic Egypt, funerary statues
continued to be made.
GREECE

The history of Greek sculp- which flourished between

ture starts with the rough- 1,700 and 1,500 B.C. Statues
hewn wooden figurines, the found there reveal consider-
Xoana, dating from several able talent. The Knossos
thousand years B.C., and Museum contains many vases
continues down to the dawn with walls decorated in re-
of our own era. Once it as- lief, rhytons, and terra-cotta
sumed a definite shape, figurines of priestesses in

three styles evolved: the scalloped dresses wearing ti-

Ionian on the coast of Asia aras. From Crete came also
Minor, the Dorian in the the model of a small temple
Peloponnesus, and the Attic in which the goddess takes
on the shore of the Saronic a ritualbath, observed by
Gulf. A world-famous pre- two male figures on the roof.
Hellenic work is the Lion Similar terra-cotta works have
Gate of Mycenae on whose been found in Mycenae. Like
lintel are two rampant lions the rest of Neolithic Europe,
separated by a short tapered Greece sent forth countless mi-
column. Rudimentary in style grations carrying civilizing

but still marked by an at- influences in all directions.

tempt at realism, it is thought
to have been erected in the Early Greece elaborated its

12th century B.C. At this own forms, particularly in

same time, artists in the such island centres as Paros,

Troad and Cyprus were model- Naxos and Chios. One of the
ling primitive figures from very first masterpieces of
clay. Local tombs have given Greek sculpture, the Apollo
up many clay figures which of Thera (Athens Museum) was
show the artist's endeavour produced in Naxos. Cut from
to express his view of con- a single slab of marble, it

crete reality, as well as the appears full face, arms at

influence of a more highly sides and feet parallel in

evolved East: Chaldea, Egypt respect for the laws of fron-

and above all Minoan Crete. tality. This archaic type of
Apollo is not specifically
Around the start of the cur- Dorian in origin. According
rent century, American ar- to Pliny the Elder, the island
chaeologistsat Gournia un- of Chios could claim some
earthed a "Minoan Pompeii" seniority in working marble.

53
the geometric style The statues of the ten Bran-
chidae, or priests of the
The island of Samos concen- Temple Didymean Apollo
of
trated on bronze. Originally in Miletus (British Museum),

the metal was hammered over are seated on stone blocks

a wooden form and the vari- in the same posture assigned

ous parts then assembled them by Chaldean and Egyp-

"by means of nails," ac- tian sculptors— arms down at
cording to Pausanias. By sides, hands (palms up) on
about 700 B.C., however, knees. The Apollo of Piombino
the Samians had learned to (Louvre), however, reveals a
cast bronze in a mould; Pelo- new freedom. An oriental
ponnesian artists soon fol- influence can be seen in the
lowed suit. The Warrior from bizarre figure of the Gorgon
Karditza in northern Greece, holding its offspring— the
whose Dipylon shield seems winged horse Pegasus— under
to form two wings behind, its arm. Also oriental is the

shows to what extent tech- Greek adaptation of the

niques had progressed. Soon Egyptian sphinx into a bird-
the lost-wax method was dis- likefemale monster.
covered for casting large
works. Greece could thank the East
for the rapid development of
Dorian invasions obliterated sculptural From
techniques.
these original forms to re- points and abrasives, sculp-
place them with the "geo- tors soon graduated to
metric" style in drawing. chisels which, working ma-
Flat and barely modelled, terial on an angle, created
the statues of this period, planes over which light could
like the Hera of Olympia, play. Greece also acquired
are closely related to archi- the knack of making statues
tecture. Only toward the end stand independently, without
of the 6th century B.C. did a accessory supports, and tried
reborn Greece produce works to breathe life and movement
which, though still hampered into them. Greek artists de-
by archaicformalism, at veloped a method of using
last completely new
reveal a colours to accentuate relief
way of observing nature. and shadows in their sculp-
tures, highlighting projections
Ritualistic factors obviously with lighter tones and darken-
dictated the way temple ser- ing hollows with a mixture of
vants would be represented. red and black.

54
 Bas-relief from the Treasury of
Attic sculpture
Siphnos in Delphi, archaic period.
Marble. The sculptor has used a
Spared the Dorian invasions, clever combination of curved
Athens continued to use wood- planes to avoid lack of expres-
sion in the opposed masses.
working idioms in its archaic Louvre, Paris. (Photo Boudot-
sculpture. Carved of volcanic Lamotte)
rock, the oldest reliefs in the
Acropolis Museum— Heracles
Fighting the Hydra and The athletes, or Kouroi, in the
Triton—seem to have been Rampin Horseman from the
cut from wood. As for the Acropolis. Names of artists
so-called "Berlin Goddess" now begin to appear: Antenor,
found at Keratea, the thick author of the beautiful Athena
rigid folds of her pep/os Triumphant and a Titan in
appear to be sawn from a the Acropolis Museum, and
tree. She is typical of the Archermos of Chios, sculptor
early 6th century B.C. Soon, of the Flying Victory. There
Athenian sculptors were to was Pythagoras, too, who
drape their young girls in was the first to seek an ex-
thin materials with undulating pression of reality outside the
folds— like the famous Aloof traditional hieraticism. These
One in Athens. The Louvre artists anticipated Myron and
has a fine specimen of young Scopas by a full century.

55
 The series of Persian inva-
sions which devastated Greece
between 499 and 465 B.C.
left behind irreparable ruins;
Greece had to rebuild from
the ground up. However, much
had been learned in the mean-
time. Now temples were built
and decorated with reliefs
using a proven technique. No
longer was sculpture designed
as a simple ornament for the
building but as a coherent
whole linking the structure's
dominant verticals and hori-
zontals. Arranged according
to the theme being treated,
each group of figures drew
the eye while still remaining
subordinate to the whole.

h* The Aloof One. Bust of a woman

from the Athenian Acropolis, about
490 B.C. As the archaic period
drew to a close, sculptors freed
themselves from the bonds of
convention and instead studied
nature. The primitive Core thus
became a living person. Acropolis
Museum, Athens. (Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)

The Rampin Horseman. Head of

an archaic statue. Marble, 6th
century B.C. Careful carving of
hair and beard is typical of early
formalism, as are the bulging
eyes and the smile with its ac-
cents on the lips. It was just
such formalism that the sculp-
tor of "The Aloof One" (above)
avoided. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
Giraudon)
themes and the ideal was rigorously
excluded. To the artist, a
Generally speaking, the themes battle was a combination of
handled were the assemblies forms on a wall, arranged so
of the gods, heroic feats, or that the contrast of high-

mythological battles; the cen- lights and shadows produced

tral figure, placed in the the desired effect. In Greek
axis of the triangular pedi- sculpture the effect is ob-
ment, determined their ar- tained not by juxtaposition
rangement. Thus the pediment of details but by the interplay

of the Temple of Zeus at of volume over which light

Olympia portrays the battle can dance. Figures can over-
between the Lapithae and lap and cover portions of

the Centaurs. Apollo appears one another, and the outline

amidst all the violence and of the masses suffices to

with a single commanding create a form of perspective.

gesture brings peace. Awed
expressions on the faces re- Deidameia, relief from Olympia,
flect his authority. The lovely
about 480 B.C. Marble. The cower
ing figure of Pirithous' wife, arm
Deidamia fending off the lifted in self-protection against
assault of a centaur with her the assault of a centaur, is an
arm has a solemn grace imi- archetype of Greek monumental
sculpture; faces remain inex-
tated throughout 5th century
pressive and body motion is re-
Greece. Anything foreign to duced to essential volumes.
the monumental, the timeless Olympia Museum. (Photo Alinari)

gmtf'
movement the Aloof One, in favour of
the heavier, sleeveless pep/os
At this time sculpture also which stopped at the waist
sought to create the impres- and was extended by a skirt.
sion of movement, once and The drapery of these gar-
for all casting
off the law ments made possible an in-
of Figures are no
frontality. finite variety of treatments
longer static but caught at a either in the form of grooves,
moment when they change as in the tunics of the carya-
from one state to another, tids on the Erechtheum, or
part of the body belonging to emphasize the volume and
to a prior phase and another form of the body beneath, as
part to the present. Move- in the veil of the Lapith be-
ment is not seen as a posture ing carried off by a Centaur
but as a change of posture, on a Parthenon metope. The
and it is this subtle differ- procession of Ergastines in
ence which the masters of the Panathenaean frieze com-
the 5th century brought out. bines both effects.

More care was lavished on Panathenaean Procession, detail,

drapery. During the 5th cen- from the cella of the Parthenon,
female fashion carved by Phidias' studio between
tury, aban-
442 and 438 B.C. Marble. The
doned the thinly pleated vertical rhythm is accentuated
tunic, or chiton, worn by by the regular arm movements.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Giraudon)

58
independent statues

Though sculpture became

beautifully adapted to archi-
tecture during the 5th cen-
tury, independent pieces also
existed which retained all the
monumentality of statues seen
full face. Starting about 480

B.C., the bronze casters were

able to produce such works
as the Charioteer (Delphi) in
his ritual xystis with its grace-
ful full-length pleats.

Myron, who was probably

born about 490 B.C. in Boetia,
turned out a series of master-
works between 450 and 420
B.C. which "put more em-
phasis on body than soul,"
according to Pliny the Elder.
Of Myron's Discobolus, Lucian
so aptly wrote: "He leans
over to throw the discus,
turning his head toward the
hand that holds it, and bend-
ing his knee slightly so as
to rise again once the discus
is on its way." The charming

Charioteer. Bronze, about 473 B.C.

This figure formed part of a
group commemorating the vic-
tory of Gelon and his driver. The
official winner is shown in the
conventional nudity of heroes,
while the charioteer wears his
racing garment, or xystis, which
reveals the strength of his" arms
only through the folds of the
sleeves. Delphi Museum. (Photo
Alinari)

59
 Athena Threatening Marsyas
(Frankfurt Museum) is one
of the first attempts at mak-
ing a face expressive, and the
Wounded Niobid in Rome, an
admirable nude, seems to re-
tain her classical serenity
even as she collapses. Here
again Myron showed his origi-
nality; before his time, all

female figures were clad and

even Aphrodite was veiled.
Previous sculptors had only
considered nudes in the gym-
nasium where the young ath-
letes were trained.

Polyclitus, born in Argos

about 470 B.C., followed in
Myron's footsteps and ap-
parently worked until the very
end of the 5th century. He
was responsible for the
Doryphoros, of which the
original bronze has disap-
peared, though a marble copy
stands in the Naples Museum.
His study of motion is no
less penetrating than that of

Athena, part of a group of which

the other figure, Marsyas, is now
missing. Marble copy of an origi-
nal bronze by Myron of the mid-
5th century B.C. The goddess is
seen forbidding Marsyas to pick
up the lute she has thrown to
the ground. For the first time,
the Boeotian master has given
a face some expression and
emphasized it by a slight twist.
Frankfurt Museum. (Photo J. P.
Vieil)

60
 Athena Lemnia, marble copy of a
bronze original by Phidias of
about 450 B.C. The body of that
statue, in its pep/os tied by a
simple cord, is in Dresden's
Albertinum, wnile the head is in
the Bologna Museum. This mas-
terpiece is the culmination ot
Athenian classicism. (Photo
Alinari)

Wounded Niobid, from Sallust's

gardens. Marble, about 450 B.C.
In trying to pull out Apollo's
arrow, the girl has let her pep/os
fall, revealing her breast and
thigh. The admirable rendering
of motion is enough to express
her pain, as her face remains
immobile. National Museum,
Rome. (Photo Alinari)

his elder contemporary: the

young athlete calmly strides
forward carrying a heavy
combat spear, the weight of
his body shifting to his right
leg as the left leaves the
ground. Polyclitus' contem-
poraries considered his work
so perfect that they sum-
marized it in a phrase— "the
rule." A master theoretician
as wellas craftsman, Poly-
clitus plotted his statues ac-
cording to set proportions in
which the head accounted for
one seventh of the total
height. The Diadumenos
(Athens Museum), again a
marble reproduction of a lost
bronze, copies the movement

61
 of the Doryphoros but with
an extra distinguishing grace.
Polyclitus saw the work of
Phidias on an Athens visit
in 430, learned a great deal
and took the lesson to heart.
But he lacked the poetic
imagination as well as the
fertile inventiveness of Phidias.

Phidias was born in Athens

about 490, being entrusted
in 437 by Pericles with the
works which Polyclitus saw
being completed. Around 438
his studio carved the Pana-
thenaean Procession, at the
same time that the great
chryselephantine statue of
Athena Parthenos was being
dedicated in the newly built
temple. Every Greek author
of the time praised the beauty
of the Parthenon works, be
they of marble or ivory and
gold. Of all the sculpture
that they described, precious
little remains: a few heads
in Athens' Acropolis Museum,
parts of the Panathenaean
frieze in the British Museum,
and the Athena Lemnia. The
head of this statue, executed
by Phidias around 450 B.C.,
is now in Bologna and its
body is in the Dresden Al-
The Doryphoros, marble copy
of a bronze original by Poly- bertinum. Rarely has sculp-
clitus of about 445 B.C. In the ture ever provided such model-
relaxed stride of the confident ling for the interplay of light.
athlete, this male nude ranks as
a superlative example of the
This work represents the
Dorian genius. Naples Museum. acme in the long history of
(Photo Brogi) Greek sculpture.

62
4th century

Sculpture veered off in a new

direction after this golden
age. Four names lent distinc-
tion to the new style, the first
being Leochares, author of
the Apollo Belvedere, Artemis
the Huntress and Ganymede
and the Eagle (Vatican). The
others were Scopas, Praxiteles
and Lysippus.

Aphrodite of Cnidus, marble

copy of a marble original by
Praxiteles of the mid-4th century
B.C. A prime innovator, Praxite-
les was the first Greek sculptor
to show the female body com-
pletely unveiled. Vatican Museum.
(Photo Alinari-Giraudon)

Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of

Melos). Original Parian marble,
4th century B.C. The unknown
creator of this work was the
first to reveal the female torso.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Bulloz)

63
Maenad, copy of an original marble Praxiteles, like Phidias an
by Scopas of the 4th century B.C. Athenian, was born about
The damaged fragment of this
work leaves unanswered the ques- 390 B.C. and reached his
tion of its' facial expression, but peak around 360. He in-
the body's violent motion suggests herited the technical ability
the savage ecstasy of this priestess
of his compatriot,
illustrious
of Dionysus. Albertinum, Dresden.
but where Phidias sought
solemnity and depth, Praxite-
les looked for grace. One of
his favourite subjects was a
young man leaning
against
a tree trunk, as can be veri-
fied by the Apollo Sauroc-
tonus, of which the Louvre has
a marble copy, and the Hermes
Carrying the Infant Dionysus
(Olympia), which is actually
an original. Naturally enough,
a male
sensitive sculptor of
nudes could not completely
ignore the female figure. As
early as the beginning of the
4th century, the unknown
author of the Venus de Milo
(Aphrodite of Melos) had
shown the female goddess
half-draped. Praxiteles let the
last veil and his Aphro-
fall,

dite of Cnidus opened a new

field.

Scopas of Paros, who flour-

ished about 420 B.C., had
preceded Praxiteles in this
development, though no ex-
ample has come down to us.
We have only the testimony
of many contemporary Greek
authors who speak of the
passionate character of his
work. A small marble copy
in the Dresden Albertinum of

64
a maenad orgiastically tear- toward realism
ing apart a kid may
be justi-
fiably attributed to Scopas. Later the great Roman natu-
The violence of the maenad's ralist observed that "After
twisting body and the energy Lysippus, art stopped," though
of the style can be found no- he had plenty of opportunity
where else in Greek sculpture. to view works done after the
It is an expression of pure master of Sicyon had de-
mystical passion. parted. Around 300 B.C. an
unknown sculptor
(probably
Lysippus, born in Sicyon Doidalses) executed the
about 375 B.C., claimed that Crouching Aphrodite, of which
he was not a disciple of Poly- many copies exist, including
clitus but of that master's one in the Louvre and another
Doryphoros. Apparently he was in the Vatican Museum.
self-taught, and after a careful
study nature invented a
of About the same time a statue
new style in which movement was commissioned to celebrate
predominated. An analysis of the victory of the Greek fleet
his extant works confirms over the pharaoh Ptolemy
this, as in the typical Apoxyo- in 306, and its style leads
menos Athlete (Vatican) whose us to believe the author was
outstretched arms displace influenced by Scopas; this
all the muscles of the torso. was the fabled Winged Vic-
tory found at Samothrace in
Lysippus can be credited with 1863 and now one theof
changing the canon of pro- glories of the Louvre. This
portions of the human body Nike is not in flight nor on
since his figures are not seven the point of landing, like
but eight times the length of the badly mutilated version
the head. Nevertheless, he by Paianios in the Olympia
did not seem to apply this Museum. Instead, the Nike of
system too rigorously. His Samothrace is leading the
main aim was to produce the Greek fleet into combat as she
sense of form in motion which stands on the prow of the
the viewer could appreciate lead ship, wings outstretched
from any angle. Lysippus and pep/os crushed against
was also the first to make her body by the wind and
the most of live models, re- salt spray. Both statue and
jecting "the square structures pedestal seem to be mov-
of former times," as Pliny ing relentlessly forward (see
put it. page 4).

65
later masterpieces now in Rome's Capitoline
Museum. Utilizing the same
Pliny was too quick to con- treatment employed for the
demn the new realistic style, Menelaus, the nameless author
for it too could claim its mas- of this work executed it to
terpieces. Typical of the "lit- commemorate the victory of
erary" style is Menelaus Attalus I, King of Pergamum
Recovering Patroclus' Body, (241-197 over the in-
B.C.),
dating from about 300 B.C. vading barbarians. Still sup-
and reconstructed in Dresden's porting the corpse of his
Albertinum. The hero's des- wife, the Gaul is seen stabbing
perate attempt to drag off himself in a frenzy of grief.
his friend's body, away
inert
Both of these are magnificent
from the insults and threats
works which reveal the talent
of the enemy, are conveyed
of the sculptor rather than
with utter naturalism.
any profound emotional in-
Equally accurate rendering spiration. They attract mostly
was employed half a century because of their technical
later by the unknown sculp- virtuosity and strong expres-
tor of the Wounded Gaul, sion: poetry and spiritual
content are lacking despite
the high drama. A typical
example of the trend can
be found in the famous
Laocoon group. Detail is

perfect, muscles and ex-

pressions are treated with
consummate workmanship.
Yet the wild gestures of the
group spoil the composition,
and the overall effect is one
of bombast instead of feel-
ing, theatricality instead of
emotion.

Battle of the Gods and Giants,

from the main altar of the temple
in Pergamum, 2nd century B.C.
Marble. An example of how
monumental sculpture degener-
ated into mannered virtuosity.
Berlin Museum. (Photo Giraudon)

66
 Child with a Goose. Marble copy
of a bronze original by Boethus
of the 2nd century B.C. Here
was the first Greek sculpture to
truthfully portray children. Sculp-
ture Museum, Munich. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)

—«-T

Rare indeed were any works

harking back to the early
concepts. Such a one, how-
ever, was Athena Seizing
Alcyone By the Hair (main
altar, Pergamum). Still rarer
were studies of chil-
realistic
dren, such as the Child with
a Goose now in Munich's
Sculpture Museum. By Boe-
thus of Chalcedon, this was
probably the earliest proto-
type of "genre" statues.

Crouching Aphrodite. Marble,

3rd century B.C. With highly
its
individualized face, this work was
executed in a spirit far from that
of the classic tradition. Vatican
Museum. (Photo Almari-Giraudon)

67
the Hellenistic period of Alexander Great and
the
the Kneeling Venus Doing
Alexander the Great's con- Her Hair, whose form may
quests opened the Hellenistic be a bit lush but whose move-
period and spread Greek ments are certainly graceful.
culture from Egypt to Asia
Simultaneously, an oriental
Minor. Pergamum became influence began to be felt in
one of the capitals theof
Greek sculpture, and the first
Hellenistic world, while Dura-
result was an attempt at
Europos and Antioch founded technical virtuosity. Sculp-
flourishing schools of art.
tors tended to give too much
Throughout this area, art
importance to detail, dis-
was henceforth be based
to
tracting the viewer and
on Greek models, as can be destroying the work's unity.
seen from two Pergamum The Battle Gods and
of the
works, the celebrated Head Giants (from the main altar
at Pergamum), of which
fragments are now in the
Berlin Museum, strikingly

Woman carrying child, Hellenistic

period, from Palmyra. British
Museum, London. (Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)
illustrates this artistic devia- terra-cotta figurines
tion: Carved during the reign
of Eumenius (197-159
II At this time, too, the Greeks
B.C.) and originally 390 feet created a series of works
long by 7 lA feet high, this which, though not of such
gigantic frieze has drill-cut noble materials as marble or
foliage with the same sculp- bronze, nonetheless revealed
tural value as its human major sculptural trends. These
features. were the terra-cottas which
first appeared at Tanagra in
Alexandria,founded by the
Boetia and later were imitated
Macedonian conqueror on the
throughout Greece and Asia
Nile Delta, soon became the
Minor, particularly at Myrina.
scene of important sculptural
Like full-scale sculpture, these
activity. Using a new tech-
figurines had evolved slowly
nique in bronze casting, one
over the centuries. First
of its studios produced the
came the rough figures found
famous Apollo or Colossus of
in Neolithic tombs, followed
Rhodes, a 100-foot statue
by ever finer work from the
considered one of the marvels
Troad, Mycenae and Crete.
of the ancient world and
Originallyclay was modelled
which was only brought down
by hand, but after the tech-
by an earthquake some fifty
nique of moulding clay de-
years later. The Alexandrian
veloped around 600 B.C. a
school was also responsible
whole new art idiom grew up
for popularizing reliefs com-
which, while popular, was at
posed much like paintings,
the same time extremely
and this "pictorial" style
drew
elegant. These figurines
quickly spread to other centres
their from larger
inspiration
of Hellenistic art.
contemporary works but never
Antioch, on the other hand, imitated them. Only the es-
produced a figure of Tyche, sential principle, that of ren-
the patroness of good luck, dering through volume instead
of which a copy still exists. of through the juxtaposition
A formal classicism marks of details, was kept. The fa-
the Hellenistic influence in miliar subjects treated are
this case, and this can also not only of great importance
be said of the carved decora- in revealing the development

tion on Alexander's sarcopha- of customs and clothing but

gus which was discovered at also the development of the
Sidon in Phoenicia. plastic arts.

69
ROME

In prehistoric times, two dis- Tomb in the Louvre assumes

tinct peoples came to occupy the form of a couch on which
Italy: the native Latins who the dead man and his wife
made their home
Rome's in half recline. We know little of
surrounding swamps, and the the Etruscan religion, but the
Etruscans who settled in way the dead were individually
present day Tuscany. represented, as in Egypt,
leads us to believe that they
too felt the necessity for a
the Etruscans physical image that their
spiritual double could inhabit
These latter seem to have after death.
arrived in Italy about the
11th century B.C., bringing Although Etruscan art reached
with them a civilization strong- its apogee in the 6th century
ly marked by oriental in- B.C. with the Lydian tomb, a
fluence. By the 7th century turning point had been reached
B.C., archaic ceramic ware back in the 8th century with
from Greece had been im- the production of fine canopic
ported; soon the Etruscans jars meant to hold the ashes
developed their own tech- of the deceased. The 6th
nique. Though they knew how century saw the Greeks es-
to carve stone, they primarily tablish many trading posts
used wood for their archi- and cities on the Italian
tecture. The Tarquin dynasty mainland (Sybaris, Cumae,
which began to rule in 616 Locris, Paestum), as well as
B.C. built Rome's fabled in Sicily (Agrigentum, Seli-
sewer, the cloaca maxima, nunte) after the arrival of
using the mortarless masonry Pythagoras. Lysippus also
method of the Greeks; it ex- spent much time in Sicily.
ists intact today. That the
Etruscans could cast bronze The only Etruscan sculptor
is amply exemplified by the we know by name, Vulca,
celebrated She Wolf nursing who carved the head of
Romulus and Remus (Capi- Hermes from the temple at
Museum) and the Child
toline Veii, was apparently a disciple

with Bird (Vatican). of theGreeks. Yet he had

two un-Grecian traits in

Another Etruscan talent was his work: individuality of

in terracotta. The Lydian subjects and an intensity of

70
 Etruscan Warrior. Statuette from
Brolio. Bronze, about 600 B.C.
The skill in its casting— by the
lost-wax method— shows vast
technical experience. Only es-
sential characteristics are brought
out in these early forms. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

The bronze ram's head now

in Palermo dates from the
3rd century B.C., it is true,
but it still shows the same
energetic treatment. Originally
from Syracuse, it is a hand-
some creature carved with
immense skill and craft. The
artist has insisted on the
animal's lascivious quality.
Also very unlike the Greek
outlook is the remarkable
carved stone Warrior's Head
expression utterly foreign to of 530-520 B.C. found in

classic Greek works. The Orvieto and now in Florence;

Etruscan bronze Chimera and the bronze warrior from
in Florence's Archaeological Brolio in the same museum,
Museum is still more reveal- presumably about 600
cast
monstrous appearance,
ing. Its B.C. Etruscan sculpture never
accentuated by a goat's head shows the slightest intention
implanted on its back and a of spiritualizing or transcend-
serpent's head terminating ing reality. On the contrary,
its tail, conveys quite a dif- reality seems to be the goal,
ferent feeling from those and moulds were
originally
fantastic creatures that the made dead men's features
of
Greeks invented under their so that bronze death masks
strongest oriental influences. could later be cast.

71
Sacrificial
Marble, 1st
scene,
century
bas-relief.
B.C. The
early Rome
bull isgrand example of ani-
a
mal art, and here the sculptor Through courage, a new zest
has reproduced its supple form for hard work and a genius
with rare economy. Louvre, Paris.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
for organization, Rome pro-
gressivelydominated Latium
and the banks of the Tiber
This intense search for re- before going on to control
ality distinguishes Etruscan its immediate neighbours.
art from that which had pre- It then swallowed Etruria,
ceded it, without much change from which it gleaned much
from prehistoric times, in instruction in the arts; and
Sardinia and Lombardy, and by the 3rd century B.C. had
which was centered around conquered Sicily and the rest
the town of Villanova from of "Greater Greece." In doing
the 8th to the end of the 4th so, Rome encountered a
century B.C. The only remains cultural heritage that could
of this Sardinian culture are not be rivalled. Realizing this
grotesque figures of warriors fact, Rome began collecting
with shapeless heads. In Greek mainly of
originals,
these short-coated figures a bronze, had them copied in
Mycenaean, Cretan or even marble and finally imported
oriental influence can be seen. the artists themselves from

72
Greece. Native Roman sculp- made for themselves. Then
tors seemed unable to develop there were the patrons who
without this inspiration, and ordered works from Roman
even so the spirit was en- artists which more closely
tirely Nevertheless,
different. reflected the native genius.
by the 3rd century B.C. Ro- In any case, it is interesting
mans had developed their own to compare Roman
copies
formula, foremost ex-
the with remaining Greek originals
ample of which is the bust and to observe the different
of Brutus the Elder now in techniques employed.
Rome's Capitoline Museum.
Greek sculptors attacked the
From this time on, two dis- stone obliquely, creating
tinct tendencies grew side planes on which light could
by side. First came the Hel- rest. An examination of a
lenists who had faithful or Greek original by flashing a
free copies of Greek works beam of light on its surface

The Emperor
Augustus.
Marble, century B.C.
1st
The seen wearing
figure is
armour and holding back a
full-length cloak. The frank-
ness of the technique,
and the use of contrasting
planes, reliefs and hollows,
shows strong Greek in-
fluence. Vatican Museum.
(Photo Sea la)

73
reveals a series of narrow realism
facets which hold the light
and over which it slides, de- The realism which gives them
pending on the angle of their expressive power is the
vision. The Roman procedure predominating feature of
was something else. Artists these works. On this point
attacked the material head again it is worth remarking
on, and the result is a flat- on the disparate character
tening which is only accentu- which exists between Greek
ated by polishing and which and Roman art. In Greek
deprives the work of surface sculpture the artist traced
light even though the forms the composition on the block,
and volumes of the original outlining shadows and en-
may be exactly reproduced. closed recesses which made
the relief stand out. Romans
Detail of the frieze from the proces- worked in a quite dissimilar
sion of the Ara Pacis. Marble, 1st fashion— primacy was given
century B.C. The flexible modelling, facial features. Resemblance
which distributes light to bring out
the shapes of the draped bodies, rather than character was
is typically Greek in technique. sought, though the latter
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Giraudon) emerged anyway through

74
Husband and wife. Terracotta
relief,1st century B.C. A typical
product of an art which valued
accuracy above all in portraiture.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)

sheer truthfulness. Romans

did not seek Goethe's "char-
acteristic type" but rather
the reality of the moment,
and the bust of the first
Brutus is in reality a portrait.

Centuries failed to change the

essentially realistic and spiri-
tually empty aspect of Roman
art, which remained purely
descriptive. Some six nun-

Bust of Seneca. Bronze, 1st cen-

tury a.d. A representative Roman
work in that the portrait's strength
stems from the attention to de-
tail. National Museum, Naples.
(Photo Alinari-Giraudon)

75
dred years later, in the 3rd Equestrian statue of Marcus
century a.d., an unknown Aurelius. Bronze, 2nd century
a.d. The simple realism of this
sculptor carved the two busts masterpiece in Rome's Piazza
known as the Roman Couple del Campidoglio is typically
or Cato and Portia (Vatican), Roman, free of any Greek in-
clinations. (Photo Alinari-Giraudon)
and he sought the exact
same rendering, the same
prosaic honesty. There is a pact of the head, its sure
scarcely noticeable relaxa- modelling, and the character
tion in the treatment of of the subject. This fine bust
drapery and hands. The was executed in tne 1st cen-
bronze bust of Seneca now tury a.d. From the same
in the National Museum, period comes the bust of
Naples, falls somewhere be- the Empress Julia, wife of
tween these two periods. The Titus (Capitoline Museum).
viewer's eyes instantly are The face and neck are cut
drawn to the strands of hair into the marble with broad
and beard, and it is only but delicate strokes, their
later that one feels and ap- purity unmarred by insistence
preciates the structural im- on detail.

76
Similar in spirit and execu- decorative sculpture
tion arethe busts of Cara-
calla in Naples, Nero in This fundamental discrepancy
Florence, Nerva in the Vati- carries over just as strikingly
can and the fine statues of in decorative sculpture, par-
Agrippina in Naples and ticularly in the triumphal
Augusta in the Louvre. Dur- arches which one of
were
ing the 2nd century a.d., Roman architecture'swon-
bronze casters produced the derful inventions. These were
only Roman equestrian statue erected to celebrate the glori-
in existence, the magnificent ous events that they depicted,
Marcus Aurelius now in Rome's as for example the Arch of
Piazza del Campidoglio. The Titus built in 81 a.d. to com-
horse prances in perfectly memorate capture
the of
paced motion, his rider firmly Jerusalem eleven years previ-
seated in the saddle. Here ously. The bas-reliefs which
again, Roman realism master- cover it show the action of
fully rendered the subject but the siege and the soldiers
was unable to transcend the returning afterwards with
mundane: it produced a wax- their booty. Highlights con-
like effigy of a ruler on horse- trast sharply with deep shad-
back. The Greeks would have ows in the confused reliefs,
made him the epitome of an and the story told must be
emperor. deciphered word by word.
There is no dominant figure
on which the eye can thank-
Bas-relief from the Arch of Titus,
Rome, 81 a.d. The soldiers carting fully concentrate.
off loot are treated simply enough
to create a monumental effect.
The same is true of the
(Photo Sea la) Temple of Minerva built dur-
 of Trajan erected in 176 a.d.
in memory the Roman
of
victory over the Dacians. Its
extraordinary bas-relief spi-
ralling up to a height of a
hundred feet includes over
2,500 figures, and describes
the battle which drove the
barbarians away from the
Empire's eastern confines.
Legionnaires clamber about
to operate siege machines;
galloping horsemen bear
down on groups of the terri-
fied enemy; and foot soldiers
from Trajan's Column,
Bas-relief fight hand-to hand with their
Rome. Marble, 176 a.d. In con-
trast to the higher portions of
valiant adversaries. No detail

the column, the lower parts are is spared— and this in the
more carefully executed since long run becomes its main
they can be seen close up. (Photo attraction. Yet it is precisely
Boudot-Lamotte)
because of such evenness of
interest that the column is

ing Nerva's reign, of which looked upon more as a docu-

a portion of the entablature ment than a monument. It
and two columns still stand. tells of an important histori-

Its decorative scheme re- cal event but the light shim-
mains visible despite the mering on this infinitely de-
badly mutilated frieze; ex- tailed relief makes the eye
cept for one or two bare dart about without satisfying
parallel bands, everything its need for a focal point.
is carved. Though the overall

effect is opulent, monumen- Ornamental sculpture follows

tality is completely lacking. the same formal path. Dis-
There is no decisiveness, satisfied with the Greek acan-
and it appears as a blown- thus, Romans invented a
up version of some goldsmith's composite capital with three
work. rows of clustered leaves, and
for simple rosette they
the
Perhaps the most outstand- substituted the ornate ceil-
ing example of this undis- ing roses which decorate the
criminating realism can be caissons of the Tabularium
seen on the marble column Museum.

78
decadence Romans were still able to
achieve elegance in casting
Even the colossal statues of the bronze Doe (Naples Mu-
decadent Rome lacked a seum), a beautiful and rare
sense of monumentality: the "animal portrait."
enormous figure of Con-
stantine, erected on the
Capitol in the 4th century
a.d., was conceived as an
oversized figurine. The sculp-
tor had no understanding of
scale and failed to grasp
that, seen from a distance,
a huge form must be sum-
marized in a few vital planes.
In any case, this was perhaps
the nadir of Roman sculpture.

Another horrid example may

be seen in the red porphyry
Tetrarchs now set into the
facade of Saint Mark's in

Venice. It shows four em-

bracing figures representing
the emperors who assumed
joint responsibility over the
Empire in 293 a.d. Diocletian
kept Asia Minor for himself,
allocating Italy to Maximian,
the two Gauls to Constantine
Chlorus, and Thrace to Ga-
lerius. These four figures,
with identical features, dress,
arms and movement, reveal
the complete decadence of
an art of which the bronze
statue of Saint Peter, cast Head of the colossal statue of
in the 5th century and pre- Constantine. Marble, 4th century
served in Rome, is the cul- a.d. During the decline, sculp-
tors accentuated the features of
minating work. This figure
their subjects without any sacri-
is lifeless and without char- fice to style. Capitoline Museum,
acter. Yet in the 3rd century Rome. (Photo Anderson)

79
 asia, pre-columbian
america, Oceania, africa

INDIA

The origins of Hindu art are explanation is that primitive

obscure. This art first ap- artists worked only in a
peared some 250 years be- material — wood — unfortu-
fore Christ without having nately susceptible to the
undergone the laborious evo- ravages of time. Primitive
lution and the usual trials Indians had neither archi-
and errors found in the ar- tects nor sculptors, since
tistic past of other civiliza- the Vedic religion that they
tions. To date, archaeology followed required no temples
has been unable to solve or clergy, and called rather
this mystery, although one for daily sacrifices to ab-
stract deities. Equally un-
demanding was Brahmanism,
Dancing Siva. Brahman art.
which expanded rapidly about
Bronze, 8th century. The god
of destruction, who
also lord
is eight centuries before Christ.
of dance, is seen stamping a Its doctrine concerned mainly
dwarf demon underfoot. Balanced
the sanctity of life and its
forms are the result of sym-
metry. Musee Guimet, Paris. continuity through the trans-
(Photo J. A. Lavaud) migration of souls.

81
 A

|< i« p W L' W p k j2~i W fc F

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*- J^ * ia i* ,'ii 1 % -if-

'/#i*ii. mmrnlt

Prince leaving the Kapilavastou

palace, relief from the Sanchi
stupa, 2nd century B.C. Typically
Sanchi in style, this fragment
presents a profusion of carved
motifs without detracting from
their legibility. (Photo Rapho)

Headless statue of the Serpent

King, from Nagaraja. Hindu art.
Red sandstone, 2nd century
B.C. The powerful rendering of
the face and the curve of the
drapery accentuate the cleverly
executed twist of the body. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)

Brahmanism
During the 4th century B.C.,
however, a new Brahman
theology made the distinc-
tion between two life prin-
ciples: Brahma the male ele-
ment, and Maya the female.
Under Hinduism, this later
evolved into the trinity of Mystically inspired, Hindu
Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, art rejected individuality,
the conserver, and Siva, the and the stock figures repre-
destroyer. sented are generally all young
adults. When sculptors tried
Such gods required temples to give their work expression,
and symbolic images. Con- they did so through mime
sequently, India's sculptural and movement, openly and
creations between the 3rd frankly: faces remained im-
century and the 6th
B.C. personal and impassive.
century a.d. were inspired Themes treated were solely
by Brahman ideas and gov- religious.
erned by structural considera-
tions. Stone pillars and ar-
chitraves were assembled like
wooden risers and cross-
Buddha
beams, carefully tenoned and
Buddha, who was to found a
mortised. Decoration also
dynamic new religious phi-
followed the traditions of
losophy, was born a prince
carved woodwork, as can
of the powerful house of
be seen from the balustrade
Sa-kya in the Benares region
medallion from Bharhut, one
towards the end of the 7th
of the oldest Hindu monu-
century B.C. He proclaimed
ments (Calcutta Museum).
the equality of all living
creatures and called for the
Dating back to the 2nd
century B.C., this piece typi- abolition of caste. By 250
fiesIndian sculpture in that B.C. his disciples had con-
no surface is left uncarved verted southern India and the
and that, while decorative coast before carrying the
elements proliferate, they word to Indonesia.
all remain perfectly visible. Nevertheless, by the start
It also amply demonstrates of the Christian era, Bud-
still another facet of Hindu dhism had changed and
art— the stylization resulting adopted some of the tenets of
from the figures' anonymity. Brahman theology. The re-
Concerned solely with il-
sulting schism, or mahayana,
lustrating an episode, sculp- soon led to tantrism, which
tors superimposed different pushed to extremes the doc-
elements without any regard trine of the respect for life
for perspective, trompe I'oeil which forbade the killing
effects, or even proportion. of any living creature.

83
The formalism resulting from human form, a cultural revo-
this compromise can be seen lution probably due to Greek
in Hindu art. Only at a rela- influence. Greek-inspired Bud-
tively late date and as an dhist sculpture first appeared
exception did Indian sculp- about 320 a.d. when Hel-
tors descend from their mys- lenized Scythian princes in-

terious heights to interpret troduced Greek art and

human The decora-
actions. civilization to the northern
tions of Krishna caves
the part of the subcontinent,
show unusual realism in without, however, any per-
their representation of such manent results. Characteristic
mundane subjects as mother- of this sculpture are the
hood, musicians, cows at Europeanized head, drapery
milking or the extraordinary similar to but heavier than
Descent of the Ganges, in their Hellenistic counterpart,
which enormous elephants and Buddha's pose. He is

tower over human figures. seated in adamantine

the
posture, his hands clasped
Religion gave the stamp of idly together and his crossed
mysticism to sculpture, which legs hidden by the folds of
eventually resorted to violence his tunic, as seen in the
and the colossal in an at- statue in the British Museum.
tempt to express the divine.
Originally, a material repre- By contrast, colossal Buddha
sentation of Buddha would statues of completely Hindu
have been considered a sac- inspiration embellished many
rilege, and therefore his temple sanctuaries. Here
godliness was shown sym- four symbolic motions were
bolically:by the triratna, repre- shown: hands crossed over
senting Buddha, his law and each other to show medita-
disciples, as on the Sanchi tion, the left hand touching
gate (1st century a.d.); by the fingers of the right to
the chiskra, or wheel of the indicate teaching, the right
law, representing his teach- hand raised in the "no fear"
ing, or by the fig tree under gesture, or left hand
the
which he received illumination. open and releasing the right
hand to signify supreme il-
lumination. Invariably Buddha
human representation is seated, his right leg folded

over the left, showing the

Still later, Buddha was al- sole of the foot in the so-
lowed to be portrayed in called "subactive" pose.

84
 The Sarnath Buddha. Stone,
6th century. Buddha is seen
here in the teaching posture
Both the figure and the sur
rounding decorative ele
ments bespeak an un
orthodox Khmer influence
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

realism decorated halo. The Gupta

style, deriving its name from
The Gupta style. Later under the dynasty which ruled India
Brahman influence, the god during the 4th and 5th cen-
was more often shown stand- turies a.d., did much to

ing, carved in semi-relief popularize Buddhism. Buddha

against a background, as in statues were erected every-
the still primitive 2nd century where and, along with them,
red granite statue carved figures of those who had
by the sculptors of Mathura, received illumination, or Bod-
now in the Musee Guimet, hisattvas.
Paris. Under the Gupta dy-
nasty in the 5th century, this Brahman art. Humanizing the
same school of sculpture symbol of serenity brought
showed Buddha clad in a Buddhist art closer to the
thin, finely pleated tunic, his Brahman, which concentrated
head more freely treated and on the weird, the bizarre
backed by an elaborately and the exalted. Thus in the

85
sculptured cave at Ellora, rative stylization. However,
containing a striking relief this distortion is a fairly real-
in which the fantastic is mixed istic sculptural portrayal of
with violence, Vishnu in the the contortions involved in
form of a lion-headed man ritual dances whose object
is seen fighting devils. The was transcendental trans-
same group contains a danc- figuration.
ing Siva, whose twisting body
movements verge on deco- At the same time that sculp-
tors of central India, with
incredible carved
patience,
the mountain of granite at
Ellora to decorate temples
dedicated to Indra and Kai-
lasa, other sculptors were at
work in the southern part of
the country. Here they pro-
duced equally elaborate works
such as the marble horses
and humans on the pillars
of the Srirangam temple.
Always, sculpture was a mat-
ter of virtuosity, though the
traditional canons were ad-
hered to lest a transgression
should irritate the gods.

themes

As in its literature, Hindu

visual arts leaned heavily on
the erotic. Even Buddha him-
self never condemned carnal
desire, barring it only when it
troubled inner serenity and
Headless statue of Buddha, from
Mathura, Gupta style. Red sand-
not in itself as forming part
stone, 2nd century. Western of the cosmic whole. Brah-
inspiration is evident in the manism, on the other hand,
transparency of the thin garment.
Its undulating hem recalls Byzan-
made sex an essential ar-

tine traditions. Musee Guimet, tistic theme symbolized

by
Paris. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte) the phallus or linga. The act

86
of love is depicted in many
art forms, and with consider-
able discretion at least until
the. 13th century, when a
trend toward contortions be-
came evident.The cult of
Siva also became popular at
this time. The god of evil
is frequently shown, either
dancing and waving his four
arms or seated among his
demons. The Musee Guimet
in Paris has a remarkable
bronze of the god dancing
within a flame-fringed circle
and stamping a dwarf demon
under foot (see page 81).

decadence

The extinction of the Gupta

dynasty had immediatelittle

effect on the development

of Hindu art, nor did Harsha's
reconstitution of the old em-
pire in the 7th century. After
Harsha's death in 647, how-
Sacred dancer, relief from the
ever, the country was divided temple of Kajuraho, 11th century.
into many principalities, each Returning to its old traditions,
developing its own aesthetic medieval India was nevertheless
depending upon the influ-
unable to rid itself of all Greek
influence. (Photo Bergonneau)
ences at Meanwhile,
play.
the Moslem tide had swept
over the vast Indus plain. tion on the early Vedic re-
The primitive traditions were ligion. But in the visual arts,
kept in southern India, and and sculpture in particular,
Hinduism seemed to withdraw academic formalism became
into its own rich past. The the rule. The violent motion
literature of the period pro- of ancient works was care-
duced the Puranas, or An- fully reproduced but the un-
tiquities, a mine of informa- derlying inspiration had fled.

87
KHMER SCULPTURE

Civilization reached the peo- Polynesian origins. Only rare

ples of southeast Asia— the examples of their art survive,
Chams of modern Annam, one being the Po Klaung
the Khmers of Cambodia and Garai tower dating from the
the Thais of Thailand— only 13th and 14th centuries.
at a relatively late date, about Another, in Paris's Musee
the century a.d. Living
6th Guimet, is 10th cen-
a fine
on the seashore, they influ- tury bas-relief of exceptional
enced each other and were style from Mison, near
open to the lessons of more Tourane in central Vietnam.
advanced civilizations. Khmer While the anatomical ac-
art, though it developed inde- curacy of the dancer repre-
pendently, owed much to In- sented is only approximate,
dian influence. this piece approaches great
sculpture, thanks to the
Successive empires that the
dancer's impassive features
Khmers created under the
and the almost geometric
authority of their god-kings
form outlined by his moving
were centered at Sambor,
limbs. Contrast between the
Angkor Thorn and Angkor
two opposing styles of Cham
Vat. Each ruler erected his
culture can best be seen by
own temple, or Meru, usually
comparing the above dancer
a step pyramid surmounted
with the 9th century seated
by a sanctuary dedicated to
statue of Siva in Zurich's
the god Siva, whose vital
Rietburg Museum. Here Siva
energy was symbolized by
wears the demoniacal grimace
the linga. Heroes too were
of an evil spirit.
deified, and temples or statues
celebrating their apotheosis
abounded. The outcome of
this religious outburst was a the Khmers
sculptural tradition alter-
nating between There is a quite different
Buddhist se-
renity and Brahman situation in the case of Khmer.
exaltation.
Its seesaw history, in which
times of greatness alternate
the Chams with periods of decadence,
can be traced from the way
The Chams of Southeast Asia old motifs suddenly revive
were an aboriginal people of and flourish.

88
Several distinct periods may scribed by two counter-curving
be discerned, though they do arches on the pediment.
not necessarily correspond Siva's foliage throne stands
with any political changes. above horizontal bands on
During the first, which lasted which differently scaled devil-
from the 6th to 9th centuries ish figures dance in fiendish
a.d.,the tendency in sculp- abandon.
ture was toward realistic
The Musee Guimet in Paris
naturalism similar to that
houses another relief from
found during the Old Kingdom
this same temple. It shows
in Egypt. In the first half of
the brothers Cunda and Upa-
the 10th century, realism
cunda, swords drawn, in a
gave way conventional
to
fight over an Apsaras (water
hieraticism. was not a
This
nymph) whom they grasp by
deviation but simply the
one arm. The figures' mea-
sculptor's choice of what
sured action, balanced com-
seemed the most important
position, delicate modelling
features.
and naturalism foretell a
Altogether dissimilar is a new feeling in sculpture,
third period (second half of represented bysamethe
the 10th century), signalled museum's Buddha, which
by carvings on the Banteay came from Angkor Vat and
Srei temple atop Mount Kur- must therefore be two cen-
lasa. A relief of Siva is in- turies later.

Demons relief from the

fighting,
temple Banteay Srei, 10th
of
century. Chinese influence shows
in the stylization of the demons,
particularly those that are part
of the main subject. (Photo
Rapho)

89
Angkor

Here Buddha sits on the coils

of the sacred cobra Naga,
who spreads his great hood
as if to shield the god with
a canopy. Calm, impassive and
serene, Buddha's features
epitomize elegance. The feel-
ing differs radically from
that found in Hindu sculp-
ture, for the subtle nature
of Khmer art is entirely op-
posed in concept to Hindu
hieraticism. The so-called
Tara statue (Musee Guimet)
provides a sterling example
of this approach: the figure
is no longer seated in any
traditional pose but is kneel-
ing, and his face wears the
enigmatic "Angkor smile."

Above: The so-called Tara statue.

Gilded bronze, 10th century.
The facial expression is charac-
teristic of this art.Musee Guimet,
Paris. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

Left: Apsarases, bas-relief from

the temple of Angkor, early 12th
century. The hieratic figures of
the dancers are less a natural
presentation than a stylized deco-
ration, accentuated by the limbs'
angularity. (Photo Butler-Rapho)
Bayon Khmer realism

A like sensitivity appears Until the empire's collapse

toward the end of the 12th in the 13th century, Khmer
century in the sculpture of art continued its sincere
the Bayon, a temple in the treatment of everyday reality.
Khmers' second capital of The most prosaic themes
Angkor Thorn, founded by were used to decorate temples
King Jayavarman VII (r. 1181- and shrines, though this
1219). The giant mask of the banality in no way detracted
Bodhisattva Lokecvara is from the delicacy of their
probably a faithful portrait of large compositions.
this ruler. Under this monu-
A temple of Ang-
frieze in the
mental yet extremely human
kor Vat shows three sacred
face lies a sumptuous bed
tiara-wearing and egret-
of foliage, on which writhes
plumed Apsarases in the con-
the sacred cobra Naga, whose
tortions of their extraordinary
multiple heads rear at both
acrobatic dances. They are
ends. This too was a char-
framed in elaborate foliage.
acteristic motif of Khmer art.
By contrast, the reliefs of
Another Khmer mythical beast the Bayon temple in Angkor
is the lion Song, whose gap- Thorn depict the more popu-
ing, gap-toothed jaws betray lar theme of fishermen brav-

Chinese influence, reflecting ing waves on a sea teeming

a lack of inventiveness in with all forms of aquatic life,
Khmer art in the realm of a subject undreamed of by
imaginary animals. the more hieratic Hindus.

King in triumph,
bas-relief from the
Bayon temple in
Angkor Thorn,
late 12th century.
A file of captives
escorts the prince.
The combination
of realistic detail
with decorative
intent is revealed
in the parallelism
of the moving
forms. (Photo
J. M. Fontaine)

91
CHINA

Art appeared in Central Asia the land until the beginning

as far back as 2500 B.C., of the 2nd century B.C. In
and it shows tremendous 202 B.C. the Han dynasty
skill of execution even though rose to power and managed
the only artifacts which have to reconstruct the dismem-
come down to us consist of bered empire.
hand-shaped, wheel-finished
pottery.
The Han period, which lasted
until 220 a.d., was responsible
This art flourished during for some admirable ceramic
the Shang dynasty (c. 1523- and bronze urns.
1027 B.C.), whose capital
later became a bronze casting
centre;and indeed, through- the Han dynasty
out history China remained
a leader in bronze. The Of modest origin the first

various-shaped vases made Han leader, Liu Pang, became

by Chinese smiths were an a brilliant general and re-

important part of ancestor former of the imperial ad-

worship. Symbols of ritual ministration. He favoured

and supposedly en-
sacrifice,
Confucianism, which allowed
dowed with a mystical power deities to be represented only

of their own, they became

in symbolic form: a scaly,
fire-breathing dragon became
the object of a strange form
the imperial seal; a phoenix
of veneration. Some marble
sculpture dating back to
with a dragon body and
the 14th century B.C. has pheasant head symbolizing
immortality became the em-
been unearthed, but its
press' emblem; the unicorn
quality of carving falls con-
siderably short of the mas- meant perfection, and the
tership achieved in bronze wide-mouthed wolverine pro-

and ceramics. tected man against evil spir-

its.A philosophy which thus
In the 11th century B.C., the opened up a universe con-
Shang was over-
dynasty ceivable to mankind naturally
thrown by the Chou people, excluded any primitive ab-
but this palace revolution stractions. which had
Art,
had little influence on artistic been limited to combinations
activity. From 771 B.C. on, of linear forms, now turned
feudal squabbles dominated to the study of nature.

92
Figurine of a horse. Painted detail is its chief merit. Some
terracotta, Han dynasty (202 funeral chambers were deco-
B.C. -220 a.d.) This statuette
with
rated bas-reliefs in
belongs to the earliest period
of Chinese ceramics. Despite which the area around the
primitive modelling the sub- subject was hollowed out,
ject's character is well reflected. a technique reminiscent of
(Photo Manshichi Sakamoto)
pharaonic Egypt.

A number of Han dynasty For a long time the quality of

graves have yielded not only Chinese stone sculpture re-
beautiful bronze and ceramic mained far below that of
vases but clay objects of all other art forms. Thus the
kinds from ordinary daily life: stone horse trampling an
chicken coops and barns, pig enemy underfoot, dating from
sties and even the model of 117 B.C., is but a roughly
a residential pagoda now in executed sketch, while con-
the Royal Ontario Museum, temporary glazed earthen-
Toronto. The ornamental style ware figures of animals, such
of Han art is characterized by as squat Mongolian horses,
a lushness and interlacing have all the simplicity and
of forms whose exquisite strength of great sculpture.

93
the Six Dynasties a.d.). They turned out many
isolated figures which, though
The Hans in their turn disap- primitive in execution, are
peared under a maelstrom of outstanding for their move-
feudal dissension at the very ment and natural expressions.
time that the Huns and Proto- Much of the Chinese aristoc-
mongols invaded northern racy fled south from the in-
China. Protomongols were vasion and between 221 and
zealous Buddhists who carved 589 the so-calied Six Dynas-
religiousimages in bedrock, tiesruled from the imperial
as can be seen from the cliff throne in the newly estab-
statues of Shansi (460-480 lished capital of Nankin.

Soon contacts were estab-

lished with northern China
Head of Buddha. Stone, 4th cen- through Persia, which was then
tury, Wei dynasty. National Muse- under Graeco-Buddhist in-
um, Tokyo. fluence. A new formalism
consequently came into be-
ing, a sort of classicism ex-
emplified by several inter-
esting little pieces. The flavour
of these terra-cotta statuettes
is so Hellenistic that it seems
hard to believe they are actu-
ally of Chinese origin. The
stylized naturalism of the great
gilded bronze Buddha of 477
(Metropolitan Museum, New
York), and the way the tunic
clings to the body, shows how
beautifully these two artistic
traditions can be combined.

The period's realistic ap-

proach may also be seen
from the strong volumes and
moulded drapery of a stone
deified hero from the rock-
cut temples of Shansi in
northern China (Boston
Museum of Fine Arts).

94
the Tang dynasty as a foreign import, they
again turned Confucian
to

In 618 a new Chinese dynasty, Taoism and the philosophy of

the Tang, succeeded in re- Lao Tse (born 604 B.C.). There
uniting the empire of the are many figures in China's
south, but though its leaders sculpture heritage of this

remained in power until 907 great thinker, who is depicted

they were unable to drive as an old man sitting astride
out all foreign influence. a water buffalo.
From this period come the
charming clay figurines meant
to accompany the dead into
Bodhisattva from Nara. Painted
their next life. The Seattle wood, 7th century. Chinese sculp-
Art Museum has a wonderful ture moved toward realism,
collection these figurines,
of maintaining a monumental sim-
plicity by sacrificing superfluous
including actresses, horsemen, detail. Metropolitan Museum,
camels with drivers and New York. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
fully equipped ox-carts.

Contemporary sculptors exe-

cuted statues in the round
following the example of Hin-
du and Sassanid masters in
neighbouring countries. The
old-time style with heavy
drapery was abandoned in
favour of sinuous, bare-
torsoed figures wearing only
light, pleated fabrics. But
if the sculptor wished to
treat a heroic theme, and
depict a warrior or temple
guard, the treatment altered
drastically as he sought to
impress the viewer.
In 755, the Tangs were shak-
en by a rebellion, and the
weakened oligarchy tried to
re-establish a tradition which
could consolidate their
strength. Rejecting Buddhism

95
the Sung dynasty and China was now fated to
suffer a still more terrible
its successors
onslaught, for in 1279 Gen-
ghis Khan's grandson, Ku-
In 960 the Sungs seized power
blai Khan (1215-1294), over-
and managed to hold onto
ran the country with his
it until 1279. The founder of
Mongol hordes, established
this dynasty was such an able
the Yuan dynasty, and crushed
administator that a long pe-
the peasantry with intolerable
riod of peace followed.
burdens. Not until 1368 did
From this period, the Boston a Chinese leader arise to
Museum of Fine Arts has a expel the invaders. He was
fine wooden statue of a Chu Yuan-chang, who aroused
Bodhisattva, transformed by the people against their
now into the female deity oppressors and founded the
Kuan Yin. She is shown seated Ming dynasty, which lasted
in the classical posture of until 1644. This period pro-
"royal disdain," with one duced the marvellous "China
foot on a footstool. white" porcelain statuettes
in which the art of sculpture
so beautifully joined that of
the ceramics.

With the fall of the Mings, it

was the Manchus, called in

by a provincial governor, who
succeeded in subjugating the
entire country. However, it
was only with the emperor
Kang-hsi (1662-1722) that
they became completely
dominant. Once again, por-
celain and bronze cast by
the lost-wax method pre-
dominated, with monumental
sculpture limited to a banal
imitation of past glories.

Statuette of Kuan Yin, guardian

of motherhood, gilded bronze,
Sung dynasty. Museum of Eastern
Art, Oxford, England. (Photo
Giraudon)

96
JAPAN

Repeatedly invaded first by Head Buddha, Nara. Bronze,

of

Mongols and then by Malays, 7th Japanese artists

century.
adopted a chaste style in their
the Japanese archipelago re- treatment of Buddhist themes
mained sunk in barbarism imported from India. (Photo
for centuries. The barren Kozo Ogawa)
temples of the animist Shinto
religion forbade any repro-
duction of its principal deity,
the life-giving sun.

Korean origins

The first figurative art to

reach Japan came in the form
of Buddha figurines, im-
ported by Korean monks
during the first years of the
6th century a.d. These re-
ligious foreigners erected
monasteries in the capital of
Nara, where local artists
tried to copy the imported
models.

Korea time was divided

at that
into threekingdoms, none
copy of a Korean original,
strong enough to ward off
like the copy in the British
foreign invasions such as
Museum.
the Mongol onslaught of
1231. Only a few Korean Nevertheless, we do know the
works from these early times creator of Nara Triad,
the
have survived. It is thought which shows Buddha in the
that the polychrome wood "no fear" pose flanked by
Bodhisattva, known as the two acolytes. This gilt bronze
Kudura Kwannon and now statue was cast in 623 by
in Japan, may have been Tori, a member of a Korean
executed in Korea, though family which had emigrated
it could equally be a Japanese to Japan in 532. The Seoul

97
 materials

To escape the domination

of the Buddhist clergy, the
Japanese transferred their
capital from Nara to Kyoto
in 793. In the 8th century,
they began to cast glorious
bronzes such as the colossal
Buddhas which may still be
seen at Nara and Kamakura.
Earlier bronzes were given a
greenish-brown finish, but
in the 7th century a beautiful
black patina was developed.

Rarely did the Japanese use

stone in their sculpture,
preferring bronze, polychrome
wood and terracotta. Between
Temple guardian, Nara. Wood. the 6th and 9th centuries,
Japanese artists loved the gro-
the two traits which were to
tesque. The temple guardian's
expression is carefully calculated mark Japanese sculpture
to inspire terror. (Photo Kozo until modern times— Buddhist
Ogawa) simplicity and exaggeration
to the point of caricature-
had become well entrenched.
Museum has a fine 7th cen-
tury bronze statue of the
gilt Luckily, many works from
Buddha in which he assumes this period still survive. They
a position quite foreign to include, from the 7th century,
the Hindu Seated
canon. the bronze Bodhisattva in

with his legs folded, he re- Nara, done in the Tang style,
flectively touches a finger to and the painted terracotta
his chin. A wooden bust of Gakko Bodhisattva. Also of
Buddha in Kyoto seems to be terra-cotta are the fearsome
a local copy of this work. Lukapala, or guardians of
From all appearances, it would the faith whose images ac-
seem that, at least during companied the dead to their
the early empire, Japanese tombs and of which many
sculptors faithfully imitated fine examples may be found
Korean prototypes. in Nara's Todaiji temple.

98
original characteristics

Subsequently Japanese sculp-

ture freed itself of the aridity
resulting from its graphic
outlook, and precise outline
was abandoned in favour of

a study of volumes. In the

7th century lacquered wood
statue of the Bodhisattva
Maitreya in Kyoto, clearly
cut planes give the impres-
sion of closely fitting sheets
of metal. About 640, however,
forms became both more
flexible and richer, as can
be seen from the seated figure
of Kwannon, whose posture
with the right leg crossed
over the left seems to stem
from a Korean prototype.

The original characteristics

of Japanese sculpture— Bud-
dhist idealism and an at-
tempt at dramatic intensity
—returned in the 8th century.

Starting in the 10th century,

the Japanese pantheon was
enriched by new arrivals.
Besides the Buddha, the Meditating Bodhisattva, statuette,
faithful worshipped Kwannon, 9th century. Sure of his mastery,
goddess of charity, Yeso, the the sculptor here has abandoned
canonical convention to demon-
guide and protector of travel- strate his talent. (Photo Giraudon)
lers, and then the gods of
pleasure, beauty, and wealth.
Naturally enough, Japanese spirit Fudo or to the god of
artists portrayed such benevo- war. A monastery in Nara has

lent superbeings as friendly. a magnificent statue of the

Quite opposite was the fero- latter featuring facial snarls
cious aspect given to the evil and furious gestures.

99
the apogee King-guardian of Todaiji in
Nara retains a flexibility
From the 12th century on- lacked by artists of the earlier
ward, the samurai sought to period. It was Unkei who
rebuild on the ruins of war, fathered the highest expres-
and two major artists emerged: sion of Japanese realism,
Unkei (1142-1212) and his a wood statue of the priest
pupil Kaikei, both of whom Monchakou now in Nara.
aimed to reproduce the origi-
This period represents the
nal masterpieces of the 8th
acme ofJapanese sculpture.
century. Yet the polychrome
During the 15th and 16th
statue of Vasubandhu shows
centuries two styles vied for
an ease and naturalism of a
honours: the school of Kano
new kind, and despite Un-
which concentrated on realism
kei's efforts to carve wood
and that of Toso which
into clean planes, his won-
revered academic elegance.
derful savage effigy of the
Toso won out during the
17th century while Kano
No mask, one of several tradi- disciples held sway in the 18th.
tional types. Polychromewood,
18th century. Mus6e Guimet,
Paris. (Photo J. A. Lavaud)
masks
The masks used in Japanese
theatre form of that
part
country's sculptural tradition.
As early as the 8th century,
actors used masks in per-
forming mystery plays, and
when the secular No theater
emerged in 1370, the old
papier-mache and lacquer
masks were given up in favour
of painted wood ones.
Characters in this type of
drama included Mambi, a
naive young girl; Doji, a
young man; Akoujo, a wicked
old man, and the withered
Yace Onna, a pathetic sunken-
eyed crone with hollow cheeks.
 Brazier, volcanic
stone, Olmec, 2nd
century B.C. This
stylized version
of a kneeling man
is true to its
intent and not
simply an
unsuccessful
attempt at realism.
Teotihuacan
Museum. (Photo
Giraudon)

PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA

Fifteen to twenty thousand of the ancient Shang dynasty

years ago, the first Asiatic in China and those of the
colonists crossed the Bering Olmecs raised ritual mounds
Strait into Alaska and, fol- in the same manner and used
lowing the Pacific coast, mirrors similarly in their
slowly made their way south- ceremonies. Like the Chinese,
ward to Mexico and then the Olmecs made animal
Peru. The oldest stone tools figures, and these may also
found in the New World date be found among the Peruvian
back only 12,000 years but Incas. However, since the
they already exhibit a well- Olmecs appeared as a defi-
developed tradition. nite people about 1000 B.C.
and the Shang dynasty had
Striking analogies have been attained dominance in China
found between certain ar- by 1523 B.C., it is therefore
chitectonic and decorative quite likely that the latter
elements common to Asia and could have originated the
those used by the earliest im- customs which the first
migrants to America. Priests colonists carried with them.

101
 -

the Olmecs structure testifies to an im-

pressive knowledge of the
laws governing decorative
The Olmecs made their earli- effects, which render the
est American home on the plastic forms increasingly
tropical coast of Mexico be- simple the farther away they
tween modern Veracruz and are from the viewer.
Tabasco. Excavations of the
city of- La Venta, which they The transfiguration of the
built, have produced a num- human face into the orna-
ber of very strange statues, mental emblem of Tlaloc is
among them a female figure no less revealing. A checker-
whose face is divided into board of cubes forms the
two juxtaposed halves, the god's formidable mouth and
right eye of one serving as teeth, while the narrow fore-

the left eye of the other. In head and cheeks, framing the
Mexico's National Museum, a tangent circles representing
remarkable ivory example of eyes, are treated similarly.
this theme is displayed be-
That the Olmecs could also
side a no less singular statue
produce realistic works can
of a woman whose flattened
be seen from the bearded
head sits directly on her
Wrestler and Fat Child. Both
shoulders. Distortion like this
realism and abstraction were
does not imply inexperience
employed in the jade-encrusted
or lack of skill, however, for
wooden mask of Guerrero
the same craftsmen who pro-
and, above all, the odd, clay
duced these odd forms were mask of Tlatiles, whose left
also able to conquer such a
half sticks out its tongue and
rebellious and tough material
whose right half is but a
as jade, as can be seen from
barren skull.
the mask of the jaguar-god
now in Boston's Peabody For well over a millennium
Museum. During the first the Olmec formula was fol-
century a.d., the Olmecs fash- lowed, and this continuity
ioned the impressive deity is one of the outstanding char-

on the wall of the Teotihuacan acteristics pre-Columbian

of
Pyramid, where the mouths of civilization. As the Olmec
the feathered serpent Quetzal political system was a theoc-
coatl alternate with the totem- racy, the priests who derived
ic image of the rain god their omnipotence from this
Tlaloc. The ability to reduce source obviously imposed
these fanged jaws to a simple their own style on its sculpture.

102
the Toltecs

About 600 a.d. Teotihuacan

was destroyed, either by
wandering nomads or by the
Toltecs, a rival tribe who
had invaded the Valley of
Mexico and established a
capital at Tula. Their written
history began in 968 when
this composite community,
with no culture of its own,
adopted that of the defeated
country. The Toltecs appeared
to have accentuated the
more grisly aspects of the
fetishist cult. They were a
caste of warriors, and the
giant 15-foot statues still

left in Tula show them to have

been well armed. The style in
this case is both dry and
brutal. The single remain-
ing facade of the Tula pyra-
mid bears superimposed hori-
zontal bands of wild beasts
and fantastic creatures carved
in This is essen-
bas-relief.
tially graphic art, however,
a
and far removed from the ma-
jestic sculpture of the Olmecs.

Some of the Toltecs sub-

sequently emigrated eastward,
and examples of their later
style are found at Chichen-
Itza.

Giant statue of a warrior (height,

14'8"), Toltec. Basalt, 10th
century a.d. This is the finest
of a group of similar works found
at Tula, Mexico. (Photo H. Pierre)

103
the Aztecs Yet Aztec sculpture could
compete with that of the
Olmecs, as can be seen from
About 1160 Tula in turn
A.D., the gigantic statue of Coatli-
succumbed to the onslaught cue whose 11-ton mass was
of the savage and warlike moved to the National Muse-
Chichimecs who had come um in Mexico. The dark
down from the north. The fanatical genius of pre-
country was subsequently Columbian art appears here
chopped up into rival king- in all its terrifying freedom.
doms of which one, the Aztec, The earth goddess, also
was to impose its hegemony goddess of death, sits on
on Central America until the two enormous griffons, her
arrival of the Spanish in 1521. legs two twisted serpents
The Aztecs appear to have joining to form a human face,
been an ethnical offshoot of which surmounts a carved
the Chichimec mainstream, block flanked by two ap-
and they most certainly shared pendages that serve as arms.
the Chichimec ferocity. The monsters head consists
of two serpents' mouths
They worshipped the god facing one another.
Huitzilopochtli, who was re-

born each morning thirsty This effort to inspire awe is

for the human blood he re- also visible the decoration

in

quired to defend himself of the alley flanking the

against his sister the moon pyramid of Tenayuca, and
and his brothers the stars, consisting of reptiles laid
night gods borne of his side by side. A happy opposite
mother Coatlicue, the earth is the statue in Mexico's Na-
goddess. The Aztecs provided tional Museum of Xochipilli,
Huitzilopochtli amply with prince of flowers, also god
victims. They established their of joy, music and dancing.
capital on an impregnable Xochipilli is seated, and the
island, carefully developing stylized way of lifting his
its approaches, and then crossed legs and arms cre-
raided neighbouring tribes to ates a very human feeling.
obtain captives. For the con-
secration of their mighty Aztec masks cut from such
temple in 1468, according hard materials as jade and
to a reliable account, Aztec obsidian owe their fierce
priests tore out the living expressions mainly to a
hearts of 20,000 prisoners. hideous grin.

104
the Zapotecs part to accurately portray
the sitter. Particular care was
given to the face while the
The conquest of Central
less personal body is treated
America by Huitzilopochtli's
summarily.
bloodthirsty worshippers met
with some resistance. The Masterfully decorated funer-
Mixtecs, who lived on the ary urns may
be found in
western side of the moun- private collections as well
tains forming the spine of as in the Mexican National
the Mexican peninsula, held Museum. Generally, they
out. So did the neighbouring assume the shape of a seated
Zapotecs, to whose brilliant human being, legs crossed,
imagination we owe a col- surrounded by ornaments
lection of richly decorated and crowned with a trophy
clay funerary urns. The seated of miscellaneous objects.
Scribe of Cuilapan now in Rare are the figures whose
the National Museum was by mask-like faces stand out
the Zapotecs. Its sincerity from the background of mas-
and freedom from conven- sive forms, but they are not
tional artificiality is an ob- the least as can be
lovely,
vious effort on the sculptor's seen from the urn discovered

Funerary urn showing

the moon god. Zapotec.
Terra-cotta, 4th to
8th century. The
Zapotecs had a lively
imagination for
decoration, particularly
that involving the
human figure. National
Anthropological Museum,
Mexico. (Photo
Giraudon)

105
at the Zapotec capital of the Mayas
Monte now in
Alban, the
National Museum. The fan- The Mayas developed a high
tastic played an important degree of civilization on the
part in Zapotec art and came Yucatan promontory which
out mainly in their decora- separates the Gulf of Cam-
tion of funerary urns. The peche from the Caribbean.
urn from Teotitlan del Ca- Though their religion also
mino in Oaxaca has a body required human sacrifice,
whose thick legs end in claws they could boast of advanced
and which is surmounted by forms of ideographic writing,
a bat's head crowned with a mathematics and astronomy.
fluted diadem— all in all a The Mayas also built step
masterpiece of imagination. pyramids topped by temples.

Their history can conveniently

The Zapotecs could certainly
be considered the most art- be divided into two distinct
periods, one running from
conscious of all the Indians.
Their highly developed taste
317 to 987 a.d. and the other
for decorative effects can from 948 to 1697. The first
perhaps best be appreciated Mayan civilization developed
in the chiapas, or lowlands,
in the geometric frieze in
the priestly palace at Mitla.
of present-day Guatemala, and
Here the effect is obtained this was also the source of
by obsessively repeating a
the fine mask now in Mexi-

motif of sharply angled saw- co's National Museum.

toothed chevrons the length
The beautiful stele dedicated
of the entire wall.
to a leader or god in Quinigua,
Guatemala, was apparently
From appearances, a dis-
all
erected in about 768. Almost
tinctionshould be made be-
35 feet tall, its centre is oc-
tween the arts of the Zapotecs
cupied by an image the of
and the Toltecs. Perhaps
personage in question, while
their high degree of civiliza-
the remainder is covered by
tion explains the merger be-
a complex series of inter-
tween the Zapotecs and
locking forms which neverthe-
Mixtecs, which took place
less remain distinct and
about 900 a.d., and the fact
understandable.
that the Mixtecs established
their headquarters at Mitla, Toward the end of the 6th
which had been originally century, the central subject
built by the Zapotecs. began to disappear to the

106
 nose and receding forehead,
it is a physically accurate
portrayal of a Mayan.

The diorite axe carved with a

warrior wearing a dolphin-
crested helmet, on the other
hand, comes from the Vera-
cruz region in the northern
part of the Mayan Empire.
The Archeological Museum in
Cambridge, Mass., has a
terra-cotta female head, the
famous "laughing head,"
1

which beautifully illustrates

this same stylized naturalism.
In short, Mayan art sought
truth. The statue of a kneel-
ing man whose head and
shoulders are covered with
a serape now in the Tuxtla-
Gutierrez Museum is another

example of simple realism.

Vase for offerings, representing In extending their empire,

the sun god. First Mayan period, the Mayans tended to lose
8th to 10th century. National the originality which set them
Anthropological Museum, Mexico.
apart from other Central
(Photo Giraudon)
American Indians. Invaded by
the Toltecs during the 11th
benefit of the surrounding century, they regained their
decoration andby 810 had independence two hundred
been virtually eliminated. But years later but seem to have
that the Mayans also had a lost their artistic impetus.
taste for naturalism can be The capital of the reconsti-
readily seen from the Head tuted empire, when excavated,
of a Young Man in a Plumed yielded nothing more than
Headdress, a masterpiece shoddy undecorated buildings.
of Mayan classicism now When the Conquistadors fi-
owned by Mexico's Anthropo- nally landed, they encountered
logical Museum. With its chis- only the Aztec civilization,
elled features, long, hooked which they soon devastated.

107
Vase in the form of a human
head. Mochican. Painted terra-
cotta, about 500 B.C. The
first immigrants to Peru
modelled vases with human
faces of great strength and
scant details. (Photo Giraudon)

PERU

The Pacific coast of South the Chavins

America and what is now
Peru were first peopled around In the 9th
century B.C., a
11,000 B.C. by immigrants tribe the Chavins oc-
called
who had slowly filtered down cupied the northern plateaus,
from Central America and and constructed a temple at
Mexico. They were hunters, Chavin de Huantar with huge
food gatherers and makers blocks of stone. This temple
of primitive pottery, a few housed their "great idol,"
remains of which have been a white granite monolith
unearthed. Not until about over fifteen feet high whose
2500 B.C. did they succeed surface is carved in relief
in domesticating such local with interlocking curves—
animals as the llama and from all appearances, it is a
the alpaca. Since they found representation of a human
the land inhospitable, they being with jaguar teeth. Carved
scattered into independent on the lintel of the temple
colonies between steep moun- gate is a relief of birds with
tains and forbidding deserts; outstretched wings, clearly
and this isolation accounts discernible despite an almost
for their separate evolution. geometric stylization.

108
The Chavins' formal approach the Incas
to sculpture continued over
the next five hundred years.
The Chimus continued the
Their favourite subjects were
Mochican civilization, decorat-
jaguars and condors. All the
ing the walls of their temples
reliefs wereexecuted by
with alternating ornamental
carving out the background.
figures, stylized animals and,
That the Chavins also made
above all, birds. About 600
sculpture in the round can
a.d. the Chimus
fell before
be seen from the few isolated
the invasion of a people who
heads that have been found.
came from the south. These
The fact that their necks
people had their main temple
were fitted with pegs shows
at Tiahuanaco, at an altitude
that they were meant to be
of 12,645 feet, in the present
attached to separate bodies.
area of western Bolivia, and
About 500 B.C. the Chavins are regarded as precursors
gave way to the Mochicas, of the Incas.
and a mighty civilization de-
veloped later in this area.
Under their leader Pachacutec,
the Incas finally unified the
the Mochicas Andean region into a single
dominion toward the middle
The Mochicas toweringbuilt of the 15th century. An able
pyramids topped by temples diplomat as well as a con-
dedicated to the sun and queror, Pachacutec estab-
moon. Large sculpture was lished a South American em-
unknown to them, but they pire similar in scope to Alex-
engaged in the minor arts, ander's. The Incas' artistic
especially ceramics, with con- talents flourished mainly in
summate skill. Many por- architecture the minor
and
trait urns of acute realism arts, particularly ceramics.
and incomparable breadth of They did, however, carve small
style have come down to us. objects from hard stone, such
Equally talented as gold- as alpacas with depressions in
smiths, the Mochicas sculpted their backs to receive offer-
a beautiful puma of gold ings.From all the evidence,
whose belly forms a bag. Its monumental sculpture was
entire bodydecorated with
is unknown to the Incas, whose
raised geometric representa- civilization foundered under
tions of a double-headed the Spanish invasion of the
serpent. early 16th century.

109
OCEANIA

The Pacific contains thou- quently, it became necessary

sands of islands and atolls, to propitiate mana with ap-
the largest of which— except propriate gifts and according
for the continent of Australia to a carefully planned ritual.
—are New Guinea and New Also worshipped were in-

Zealand. The former is the numerable tribal deities, or

centre of the Melanesian atua, and a whole roster of
culture, while the latter lies household gods, Xneoromatua.
far to the south. These islands To these the Melanesians
received their population from and Polynesians dedicated
the west, probably China, fetishes and masks, in which
and the process appears to animal and distorted human
have taken many centuries. forms probably had some re-
Bone and chipped stone tools ligious significance.
and implements dating back
to the seventh millennium Oceanic artists chose to mis-
B.C. have been found in New represent nature. Invariably
Guinea, but the more distant they distorted the human
islands seem not to have face, the eyes being slanted,
been populated until the the nose hooked into a beak
first few millennia before or stretched to trunk-like
Christ. Evidently the last proportions, the mouth made
wave of immigrants to this frighteningly hideous with
vast territory sailed in from wild boar tusks. Caricature
Asia via the Philippines, the was not the aim of such
Moluccas and Celebes. These monstrosities; they all had
peoples intermingled, and a mystical or magical mean-
some of them attained a ing. Viewing such works,
high degree of civilization, many of which are superbly
as their art shows. executed, it would appear
that the greater the travesty
Melanesian art was magical
of the greater the
nature,
in intent. Representations of
protective power. Imagina-
the human figure were sup-
tion was a law unto itself in
posed to provide the dead this field.
with a repository for their
mana, spirits who governed Oceanic art may be con-
after-life and could be either veniently divided into three
benevolent or evil. Conse- major areas: Polynesia, Mela-

110
nesia and most
(the largest addition to totem masks,
varied) and Micronesia (which carving was applied mainly
includes the Caroline and to the prows of canoes, cere-
Mariana islands). In the monial pillars, the ridgepoles
latter, true sculpture did not of huts and the reliefs inside
exist, art being characterized each village's "house of spir-
by an extreme simplicity in its," which was reserved ex-
which the human head be- clusively for magical incanta-
came an egg-shaped mass. tions. Often fantastic inter-
pretations of the human head
New Guinea and the New
minglewith interlocking motifs
Hebrides ranked as the two
of incredible intricacy and
major centres of Oceanic
considerable beauty.
art. Stone was sometimes
employed, but more often Polynesia, which covers the
the roots of giant ferns. In Marquesas, Tuamotu and
Hawaii, also extends as far
south as Easter Island. In
the British Museum there is
a fine Hawaiian statue of a
temple guardian whose mask-
like features are tortured into
an expression of fantastic
ferocity.

The famed colossal heads of

Easter Island, crudely carved
from volcanic stone, apparent-
ly marked the site of a re-
ligious as they, too,
centre,
represented ancestral spirits.
These great statues were
sculpted by the most primitive
means, as metals were un-
known in Oceania before
the advent of the Europeans.

Ancestral mask, New Guinea.

Painted wood. The Asiatic im-
migrants to the Pacific Islands
made startling masks which
completely transformed facial
features. (Photo A. Held)

111
Human mask, West Africa. Wood. Human head, If6 culture, Central
Naturalistic portraitsare rare in Africa. Terracotta. Traditions
African art. Most sculpture tends lasted for centuries in Africa,
toward stylized symbols. (Photo making art works hard to date
A. Held) precisely. (Photo A. Held)

AFRICA
Few man-made objects pro- African artisans worked to
duced prior to the 16th cen- order, practising a craft which
tury have come down to us they had learned from a
from Africa, where the climate recognized master. African
plays havoc with such perish- art is not the expression of
able materials as wood. individual talent, for sculp-
Nevertheless, what has been tors referred only to a reper-
recovered sheds considerable tory offorms which had been
light on the aesthetics of previously established and
native black societies. approved by the local cult.

112
They were not even permitted not only masks and statues
the choice of which wood to but even the tools and im-
use, but had to employ that plements they were asked to
chosen by the priests, since produce— for example, the
the figure to be carved, as pestle whose handle was
well as the tree from which carved by a Baluba sculp-
it came, participated in the tor into the shape of a young
vital force emanating from woman's head (Rietberg Mu-
the tribe's titular deity. seum, Zurich).

African sculptors did not at- African sculpture flourished

tempt individualized portraits in two major the
regions,
of their sitters. If they wished Bambara Sudan the and
to portray a certain illustrious Baoule Benin, with centres
leader, they did so by accen- at Esie, Ife and Nok. The
tuating some personal and first is noted for its deco-
distinguishing characteristic. rative imagination, as shown
The sculptor's essential aim in its stylized long-horn ante-
was capture the vital in-
to lopes; the second for its

herited essence that gave his realism, best illustrated by a

subject life. However, it was beautiful 16th century ivory
not the statue itself which female mask now in the Brit-
possessed this magic virtue; ish Museum. Stone was sel-
the statue could only receive dom used in Africa, but fine
it from a medicine man, or bronzes were cast. Forged
nyanga, invested with the iron proved very effective.
divine spirit. Consequently,
a worn-out or damaged mask The whole concept of com-
could be discarded without position remained foreign
inconvenience. It could be to African sculptors. On the
easily replaced by another, bronze door in the Abidjan
which a religious ceremony Museum, Ivory Coast, the
would endow with the same components of its commemo-
magical properties. rative decoration are all ar-
ranged on the same vertical
This explains the uniform plane. Only after the arrival
similarity these
of works. of the Europeans did African
The mask itself is but a sym- sculptors produce the mar-
bol expressing an idea. Never- vellous plates showing the
theless, African sculptors chief Oba accompanied by
loved their craft and took two vassals, now in the
keen satisfaction in decorating British Museum.

113
. 1
 from the middle ages
to the renaissance

After the break-up of the the human figure so dear to

Roman Empire upon the death the Graeco-Roman tradition.
of Theodosius the Great in There was also a drift toward
395 a.d., only the eastern or realism, from the earliest
Byzantine part managed to primitive Romanesque sculp-
keep any semblance of im- ture to the refined master-
perial power, and Rome it- pieces of high Gothic.
self foundered under repeated
attacks from invading bar- From the Carolingian Renais-
barians. In the midst of sance to the humanistic
Europe's dark and confused Renaissance of 16th century
anarchy, only the Church Italy, God was all-important—
stood fast as a bulwark of both the ultra-powerful Je-
unity and culture, and at hovah of the Last Judgement,
the end of the 8th century, as depicted by Romanesque
Charlemagne reestablished sculptors, and the compas-
the western imperial tradi- sionate deity of the Gothic
tion in creating a civilization masters. It was to honour God
which leaned heavily on it. and show Him to the people
that the great medieval ca-
Two basic trends began to
thedrals, the "sermons in
appear: a return to natural
stone," were built. "Stone
forms, and more emphasis on
was the material of the high
Middle Ages, even when
The Handsome God. Stone, about camouflaged in polychrome,
1230. Pier of the main door,
and constituted the frame-
Amiens Cathedral. Its noble
drapery and majestic pose are work as well as the building's
outstanding. (Photo A. Allemand) decoration." (H. Focillon)

115
BYZANTIUM

In the course of the 4th sculpture the realistic, three-

century, the Roman Empire dimensional treatment of vol-
gradually disintegrated. In ume lost out to an abstract
323 Constantine the Great decorative art in which themes
(274-337) chose the colony were developed on a single
of Byzantium for his future flat plane.
capital of Constantinople,
Major sculpture woefully de-
and when, in 476, the impe-
clined from the 4th to the
rial regalia moved there, it
6th century, the only sig-
marked the eclipse of the
nificant examples being the
Western Empire by the Eastern.
sarcophagi found at Aries
Oriental leanings which had in southern France, and in
prevailed in Rome for many Spain, Rome and Asia Minor.
centuries became further Realistic themes, too, felt
entrenched by the move to the impact of the East, the
the new capital and by ever beardless Christ of the Hel-
more contacts with the peo- lenistic tradition being re-
ple of the Middle East. In placed by luxuriantly bearded
Syrian versions. Little by lit-
tle, purely decorative scrolls
and ornamental tracery vir-
tually wiped out any pictorial
representation, and this move-
ment continued until the
reign of Justinian.

Reminders of the ancient

world's naturalist tradition
appeared in the minor
still

arts,though even here the

themes had been transposed
and adapted to the new
religion.

Capital from the church of San

Vitale, Ravenna. 6th century.
Abstract patterns predominate
in spite of the rampant animal
figures at the top. (Photo Scala)

116
 Christ crowning
Romanus and Eudoxius.
Ivory, 10th century.
The borrowings from
the goldsmith's art are
obvious. Medal Collec-
tion, Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris. (Photo
Segalat)

In 726, Emperor Leo III the Rome, and

tradition of ancient
Isaurian published an edict a monastic art catering to
against images, setting off the purely Byzantine taste for
the iconoclast controversy austere abstraction. Neverthe-
which was to spark untold less, the iconoclastic schism
riots and a sacrilegious de- definitively established the
struction, and which was not victory of colour over form, so
really to come to an end until that sculpture had to seek
the 9th century with the ad- refuge among the minor arts.
vent of the Macedonian dy- Thus, thanks to the Crusades,
nasty. Byzantine themes and deco-
rative language influenced the
By this time, two conflicting West for many years and ended
schools could be seen in only with the fall of Byzanti-
Byzantine sculpture: the im- um to the Ottoman Turks in

perial art which hewed to the 1453.

117
 NFLUENCE OF THE BARBARIANS

From the 2nd century a.d.

onward, hordes of barbarians,
attracted by Italy's wealth, in-
vaded southern Europe. In in-
dependent tribes and groups,
they swarmed over the whole
continent: Alemans, Burgun-
dians and Franks in Gaul;
the Vandals in Spain; first
the Visigoths (who occupied
Rome in 410), then the Ostro-
goths and finally the Lom- Prow of a ship. Wood, 9th cen-
bards in Italy. tury. Its decoration tends toward
complete abstraction. Antiquities
Living an essentially nomadic Museum, University of Oslo.

existence and thus concen-

trating on
the minor arts,
the barbarians possessed
age-old links with Mesopo-
tamian civilization. These gave
them a profound taste for
abstract curvilinear styliza-
tion and interlocking forms.

In Italy, the barbarians' ab-

stract decorative sculpture
merged into and even accel-
erated the natural development
of Byzantine art.

Figurative elements in their

work mainly of
consisted
fantastic stylized animals
like dragons and chimeras.
Portrayals of the human
figure, though copied from
Roman originals, were sche-
matically carved, mainly in
low and only occasional-
relief
ly in the round.

118
INFLUENCE OF ISLAM

The Arab conquest of the and a new and meaningful

Mediterranean basin began decorative motif is added—
shortly after Mohammed's the Arabs' beautiful cursive
death in 632 and was only script.
stopped in France by Charles
Martel's unexpected victory
at Poitiers in 732. In Spain,
however, the struggle against
Arab occupation continued
until 1492.

Art in the newly conquered Ivory casket. Spanish, 10th cen-

tury. The line of Kufic script
territories was strongly influ-
around the bottom of the cover
enced by Byzantium and typifies contemporary Islamic
Sassanid Persia. Furthermore, influence. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)
Moslem religious doctrines ac-
centuated the long-standing
Semitic prejudice against rep-
resenting the human figure.
Realistic sculpture cropped up
here and there, but found
small favour because of the
Middle East's inherent fond-
ness for abstraction. Sculpture
on the whole was relegated to
the minor arts, where much
fine work was done in ceram-
ics, ivory,wood, and metals.
Real or imaginary beasts
carved on brass censers and
ewers reflect the persistence
of ancient Persian traditions.

Decorative sculpture as an
integral part of architecture,
on the other hand, flourished.
Interlocking designs and or-
namental scrolls similar to
those of the Byzantine and
barbarian canon reappear,

119
 BEGINNINGS OF ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE

Charlemagne (768-814) es-

tablished a vast empire which
far outstripped the territory
actually held by the Franks,
and defence of the papacy
his
against the Lombards earned
him the honour of being
crowned emperor in Rome
on Christmas Day, 800 a.d.
His reign saw the birth of a
real European civilization,
which aimed at renewing its
ties with the past in every
cultural form.

Monumental sculpture hardly

existed in the Carolingian
era, since the period's basic
architectural decoration con-
sisted of Byzantine-inspired
mosaics or mural paintings.
Sculpture in ivory or metals,
on the other hand, won high
popularity and these so-called
minor arts enjoyed a true
renaissance in sculpture and
carving in the round.

As early as the 10th century,

several factors contributed
to the birth and dissemina-
tion of true Romanesque art.
They included the growth
and increasing power of the
great monastic orders, who
spread the same culture
throughout Europe; pilgrim-
ages to Jerusalem, Rome
and Santiago de Compostela;
the conquest of England

120
and by the Normans,
Sicily
who superimposed western
European traditions onto
existing native arts; the
Great Schism of 1050 between
the Catholic and Orthodox
churches, marking the ulti-
mate split of the two civiliza-
tions founded by Rome; and
finally, at the end of the 11th
century, the Crusades.

Eleventh century monumental

sculpture in stone was strong-

ly affected by the minor arts,

drawing its main inspiration

from relief techniques em-
ployed in metalwork, ivory
carving and painting. A wealth
of decorative elements har-
moniously combined animal
and vegetable themes with
purely geometric motifs.
Sculpture was freely adapted
and bent to fit essentially
religious architectural frames
without the slightest concern
for the realism of volumes
or lines. However, this form
of decoration was applied to
only a few vital parts of these
buildings: pediments, lintels
and column capitals.

Statue-reliquary of Saint Foy. Angel. Marble bas-relief, late

Wood covered with gold leaf, in- 11th century, from the choir
set with gems and cameos, late screen of Saint Sernin cathedral
9th century. From the treasury in Toulouse. The figure is brought
of the church of Sainte-Foy-de- out by means of shallow under-
Conques, Aveyron department. cutting. Its curly hair and toga-
The statue's pose is rigorously like garment are Gallo-Roman
frontal and many of its com- in inspiration, though its com-
ponents were later additions. position reflects contemporary
(Photo Giraudon) metalwork. (Photo J. P. Vieil)

121
ROMANESQUE FRANCE

Romanesque-style sculpture
reached its apogee in the 12th
century when the establish-
ment of strong centralized
monarchies and a period of
relative peace encouraged the
development of local work-
shops and schools. The finest
examples of Romanesque
sculpture were produced in
France, where several dis-
tinct schools developed.

Languedoc

In this main centre

region the
of Romanesque was Tou-
art
louse, where Pope Urban II

consecrated the altar in the

choir of Saint Sernin in 1096.
Only four years later, work
began on the magnificent
abbey of Saint-Pierre de
Moissac. Sculptural talent
flowered in this region during
the first half of the 12th
century, producing a plethora
of masterpieces at Carennac,
Cahors, Beaulieu, Souillac

The Prophet Isaiah. Stone, about

1130-1140, from the portal of
the church in Souillac, Lot depart-
ment. This elongated figure with
its flowing hair and beard is
typical of Romanesque sculpture
in southwestern France. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)

122
and elsewhere. Figures (saints, The Last Judgement. Stone,
about 1130-1140. West pediment
prophets and other Old Testa-
of Saint Lazarus cathedral in
ment characters) are invariably Autun. The lintel bears the art-
elongated no matter what ist's signature: Gislebertus hoc
fecit. (Photo Verroust)
the pose. Flowing hair and
beards fall into long tresses.

Burgundy Auvergne

The most productive sites Auvergne was one of the first

in this were at Saint
area French provinces to redis-
Lazarus in Autun and the cover the technique of carving
Church of La Madeleine in in the round— probably be-
Vezelay, where a series of cause, being far from major
superb story-telling capitals highways, it clung to Gallo-
and vast sculptured pedi- Roman principles. Though the
ments were executed between style is frequently squat and
1120 and 1140. Clothing, heavy, everyday scenes are
moulded almost skin-tight realistically portrayed, with
to the body in fine pleats and capital carvings often high-
folds, appears wind-swept. lighted by paintings. Reliquary
Again the general lines are statues, many of them of the
exaggeratedly elongated, the Virgin and inspired by the
poses excessively twisted, to magnificent Saint Foy of
give the whole a feeling of Conques, multiplied during
life and movement. the 12th century.

123
north of the Loire The Massacre the Innocents.
of
Mid- 12th Coving of the
century.
western portal of Sainte Marie-
Little or no Romanesque des-Dames cathedral in Saintes,
sculpture appeared north of France. Lack of pediments led
sculptors to carve the covings.
the Loire River, for the Gothic
(Photo Verroust)
influence made its first entry
at Saint-Denis as early as
1140. In Normandy, on the
other hand, where Roman-
esque architecture reached
a peak about this time, deco- Provence
rative elements remained
basically geometric.
The Provencal school of sculp-
ture also started late, about
Poitou 1140, and lingered into the
early years of the 13th cen-
In western France, in Poitou, tury. Deeply inspired by the
it was only natural that Is- many fragments of antique
lamic influence held strong, sculpture found locally, it
because continuous con-
of is in many ways comparable
tact Here sculp-
with Spain. to contemporary works in
ture appeared later than in northern Italy. This may be
Languedoc or Burgundy, and clearly seen at Saint-Gilles-
the vast pediments were ig- du-Gard (1178-1180) and at
nored in favour of arches and Saint-Trophime in Aries
capitals. (1190-1200).

124
ROMANESQUE SPAIN

Romanesque art also gained postela and the door of the

a foothold in Catalonia and south transept in Leon Ca-
the kingdoms of northwestern thedral. Also worth noting
Spain during the 11th cen- is the deep imprint of Arabic
tury. Here local rulers ap- art,whose elements decorate
pealed to the monks for help much chased silver and gold-
in their endless wars against work. Undoubtedly the most
the Moors, and Santiago de famous of these is the Area
Compostela, the pilgrims' goal, Santa presented to Oviedo
became one of Christendom's Cathedral by Alfonso VI in
most important shrines. 1075. Mozarab craftsmen also
left their stamp on southern
In spite of some quite origi-
French sculpture— testimony
nal local traits, the influence
exchanges between
to cultural
of French Romanesque sculp-
France and Spain.
ture, particularly of the Lan-
guedoc school, can be clearly
recognized at Santiago and Capital at San Pedro, Roda, Cata
Leon. Two masterpieces of Ionia. Stone, 11th century. Still
Spanish Romanesque sculp- elementary, the decoration in-
cludes geometrical and floral
ture are the goldsmiths' elements typical of Romanesque
portal at Santiago de Com- art. (Photo Mas)

125
ROMANESQUE ITALY

The techniques of Roman- gelmo had executed a series

esque architecture were readily of bas-reliefs set into its

adopted in Italy. walls. Their exquisite lines,

sobriety of representation and

Lombardy sense of plastic values un-

mistakeably show his penchant
Wiligelmo, who worked in Lom- for the antique. Wiligelmo

bardy during the first half of cast a long shadow in north-

the 12th century, was largely ern and central Italy and
his works may also be found
responsible for renewed local
interest in this art. Until in the cathedrals of Nonan-
then, deeply imbued by the
tola, Cremona and Verona.
strictures of Byzantine art Benedetto Antelami dominated
and the barbarian art of the the second half of the 12th
Lombards, Italian sculptors century. Born in Genoa about

had neglected the human 1150, he worked mainly in

figure to concentrate almost Parma, where in 1178 he
exclusively on linear decora- executed a masterful Deposi-
tion or stylized animals. An tion for the city's cathedral.
inscription on the facade of A hint of the Byzantine may
Modena's cathedral reveals be seen in the hieratic poses
that as early as 1099 Wili- of the figures standing out

The Creation of
Adam and Eve, by
Wiligelmo. Bas-relief,
early 12th century.
Modena Cathedral.
Wiligelmo treated
traditional subjects
firmly and
realistically. (Photo
Scala)

126
from a background of ab- Tuscany
stract arabesques, as well
as in the composition's rigid Tuscan sculptors gleaned
symmetry. Yet the rendering much from the Lombard
of the volumes gives this school, but without losing
work monumental
a quality, their originality; and in the
while anecdotal and realistic latter half of the 12th century
details breathe life into it. Bonanno introduced bronze
Antelami also worked on techniques inspired by Ger-
three porches of the Parma man works. As Bonanno's
baptistery where construction entire Pisan output has disap-
began in 1196. Here his muse peared, we have only his
changed and he showed a fabulous bronze doors, done
style far more flexible and in 1186 for the cathedral of
free than in his Deposition. Monreale in Sicily, to show
his happy blend— both in
Antelami's influence was great design and execution— of an-
and can be seen in the calen- tique and Byzantine traditions.
dar of the months at Fer-
rara's cathedral as well as
in the prophets of the church
Deposition from the Cross, by
at Fidenza. This influence, Benedetto Antelami, 1178.
or at least the spirit which Parma Cathedral. The rigorously
geometrical composition of this
infused the works of Antelami,
bas-relief is accentuated by the
also manifests itself in con- hieratic poses of its figures.
temporary Venetian works (Photo Scala)

'%3B3*1gS&

127
ROMANESQUE ART
IN THE GERMANIC COUNTRIES

On the other side of the Altar decorationfrom Basle Ca-

Rhine, the Ottonian dynasty thedral. Gold, between 1014 and
1022. A gift of Emperor Henry
put an end to the troubles II, it is now in the Cluny Muse-
which followed the demise of um, Paris. (Normandy Photo)
the Carolingian Empire. Otto
I (912-973) restored imperial
at Hildesheim under the
dignity and encouraged the
auspices of Bishop Bernward.
classically inspired culture.
Indeed, the Christ Column
Germanic civilization flourish- of Hildesheim is an obvious
ed as a result, and it was this transposition of Trajan's
artistic renaissance, with famed column in Rome.
sculpture in the lead, which
Although magnificent exam-
produced the burnished gold
ples of Romanesque archi-
altar ornaments which Henry
tecture abound the German-
in
II donated to the Basle ca-
speaking nations, the same
thedral in 1020, a great work,
cannot be said, unfortunately,
simple in composition yet
of sculpture in stone. Such
refined in execution.
sculpture remained relatively
The antique influence shows unpopular as a form of ex-
itself again in bronzes cast pression, even for decoration.

128
FLEMISH ROMANESQUE

Flemish sculpture also found brated of whose metal and

glorious fulfillment in the art enamel are now
altarpieces
of working metals. Copper- displayed at Klosterneubourg
smiths had shops in several near Vienna, Austria. His ad-
towns along the valleys of vanced style could almost be
the Scheldt and the Meuse. considered Gothic.

Between 1111 and 1118, the Metalwork obviously had a

master artisan Renier de Huy tremendous influence on
executed the celebrated bronze Flemish stone sculpture,
baptismal fonts of the church yet the artistic trends coming
of Saint Bartholomew in north from Burgundy, Langue-
Liege. Godefroid, another doc and even Byzantium were
Huy artisan, became equally also felt, as can be seen from
celebrated for metalwork, the 12th century Dom Rupert
his fame spreading as far Virgin now in Liege.
afield as France, Britain and
the Germanic countries.
Toward the end of the 12th The Baptism of Christ, by Renier
century, the Meuse school de Huy. Cast copper, about
1107-1118. Detail from the bap-
of sculpture produced Nicho- tismal fonts in Saint Bartholo-
las de Verdun, the most cele- mew, Liege. (Photo J. P. Vieil)

* ^ -- — -
 12th AND 13th CENTURIES IN FRANCE

Around the middle of the disappeared in favour of a

12th century there appeared more realistic treatment of
at Saint-Denis, near Paris, nature. In addition, sculp-
a new architectural style ture was almost wholly rele-
based on vaults built over gated to the outside of church-
crossed ogives. It was called es. The placing of subjects
Gothic or ogival. gained importance and
in

followed a system of strict rules

As this style developed, sculp-
and customs. Christ had the
ture gradually lost its purely
primary place on the central
decorative role and was in-
pier, flanked by Apostles on
creasingly subjected to a
both jambs of the portals,
rigid architectural frame.
while the Last Judgement
Even the iconography itself
occupied the pediment above.
changed, so that the Roman-
esque standard repertory of One of the lateral doors was
monsters and stylized leaves always reserved for the Vir-
gin holding the Child in her

The Labours of the Months. Stone, arms and the prophets who
about 1200-1215. Western portal had forecast the Messiah's
of Senlis Cathedral. Though the coming, as well as characters
artist's technique is still clumsy,
who had figured in scenes
his sense of observation is ex-
ceptionally keen. (Photo S.
preceding the Saviour's birth.
Vaucher) The portal of the other tran-

^>j^%w* §5&J$i
130
sept was usually dedicated
to the patron saint of the
church or locality. Outer walls
between the portals pictured
charming scenes of day-to-
day life, those in calendars
showing the labours of the
months. During the 13th ffi
century the main pediment
was frequently allocated to
the Virgin.

Symbolism taught the faith-

meanings and values
ful vital
of the holy texts. Certain
famous figures are always
represented in the same fash-
ion. Forinstance, a partly
bald Saint Peter, with a short
curly beard, inevitably toys
with keys. Furthermore, by a
subtle system of parallels,
Old Testament figures evoke
those in the New: Melchizedek
offering bread to Abraham sug-
gests Jesus giving communion
to the Apostles.

The meanings of these sculp-

tures had to be accessible to
all, and this, combined with
accomplished techniques
their
and profound faith, enabled
Gothic sculptors to attain the
highest summits of artistic
expression.

The Gilded Virgin. Stone, about

1270. Main portal of Amiens
Cathedral. This broc- l!y carved
statue is notable mainly for its
fine pose and gently tempered
realism. (Photo Giraudon)

131
 the royal portals

The typical Gothic portal with

its three doors, pediments
and columnar statues on the
jambs first appeared in Saint-
Denis. In 1145, upon com-
pletion of the work there
commissioned by Abbot Suger,
the same sculptors moved to
Chartres, where they exe-
cuted the royal portal of that
city's cathedral. There, the
right hand pediment is devoted
to the Nativity, the left to
the Ascension and the centre
tothe Last Judgement. Column
statues represent Old Testa-
ment patriarchs and prophets.
The style of these rather
resembles contemporary Ro-
manesque works in Langue-
doc and Burgundy, with ex-
cessive elongation, chiselled
drapery treatment and stiff-
ness of pose; but naturalism
softens the facial expressions
and gives each statue an in-
dividual personality.

The royal portals of Chartres

and Saint-Denis had many
imitators elsewhere in France:
at Etampes, Le Mans, Paris
and Saint-Loup-de-Naud.

The Queen of Sheba. Stone, late

12th century. Column statue from
Notre Dame in Corbeil. In spite
of its elongation, the treatment
of the face and drapery shows
an obvious attempt at realism.
(Photo Giraudon)

132
the great cathedrals

The period between 1190

and the end of the 13th cen-
tury saw construction of the
greatest French cathedrals.

At Chartres, the strict icono-

graphic programme laid out
originally continued through-
out the 13th century, although
a more flexible and freely
expressed style evolved. The
north and south facades were
worked on alternately be-
tween 1200 and 1260. The
north portal deals with the
Virgin and the Old Testament,
the south portal being devoted
to the Last Judgement and
the New Testament. On the
south transept (Portal of
the Martyrs), Saint Theodore
appears as a typical knight
of Saint Louis' time. His
noble expression, the ac-
curate treatment of his cloth-
ing, and the way the statue
stands out from the column-
all show the progress achieved

in the hundred years since

the first columnar statues of
Saint-Denis.

Saint Theodore. Stone, about

1240. Portal of the Martyrs,
Chartres Cathedral. The pro-
portions of this figure and its
broadly carved drapery testify
to the skill and artistry of Chartres'
sculptors. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

133
 The Angel of
Saint Nicaise. Stone,
late 12th century.
Facade of
Reims Cathedral.
It is typical of
the works produced
by the cathedral's
most original school
of sculptors.
(Photo Boudot-
Lamotte)

Notre Dame de Paris possesses be found only in the statues

a north transept (1250) with of Christ teaching, of which
a serenity and grandeur the finest example is the Beau
equal to that of Chartres. Dieu of Amiens (1225).
The Virgin with Child on the
pier distributes her weight Amiens Cathedral has a
slightly more on one leg, facade, completed in a short
and the rich, heavy folds time (1225-1236), showing
of the enveloping drapery perfect homogeneity of de-
give the whole a remarkably sign and execution, in ac-
refined elegance. Compar- cordance with an ideal icono-
able purity and beauty can graphic pattern.

134
Reims. An original proposal funerary sculpture
for the facade at Reims was
conceived in 1210-1215. but Religious sculpture was far
these projects came to naught, and away the most impor-
and work continued through tant form; its themes were
the 13th century. This was frequently repeated in the
perhaps culmination of
the minor arts of gold and ivory.
Gothic sculpture, with carving Next in popularity came
no longer limited to portals funerary sculpture. Sar-
but spreading over the entire cophagi bearing recumbent
facade. Various scenes from figures reposed in gloomy
the Virgin's life, executed in splendour in niches or in
different styles by several isolated parts
of cathedrals.
schools of sculptors, were Some were bronze, as can
in
imitated all across Europe. be seen from the tombs of
Reims was the very last of Evrard de Fouilloy (d. 1222)
the magnificent Gothic ca- in the Louvre and Geoff roy
thedrals,and later monu- d'Eu (d. 1236) in Amiens
ments such as Bourges and Cathedral. In 1263, Saint
Strasbourg modestly took Louis decided to move the
their cue from their great remains of former French
predecessors. kings to Saint-Denis, and for
thispurpose he commissioned
Tomb of Louis de France, son of 16 horizontal figures to hon-
Saint Louis (Louis IX). About
our the Carolingian and
1260. Now in Saint-Denis basilica
but originally at Royaumont ab- Merovingian dynasties as well
bey. (Photo Segelat) as the early Capetians.

m
The Margrave Uta. Stone, late The Synagogue. Red granite,
13th century. Naumburg Ca- about 1230. From Strasbourg
thedral. One of a group of lay Cathedral and clearly inspired
figures whose presence in a by works on the north portal
cathedral was exceptional at of Chartres, it is now in the
that time. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte) Musee de I'Oeuvre, Strasbourg.

136
13th CENTURY GERMANY

Master sculptors of foreign works have absolutely no

origin appeared in Ger-
first architectural function. Al-
many around the start of though they are retrospective
the 13th century. Their use portraits, their individuality
of stone caused a fantastic and realism do not exclude
development in this medium a certain majesty.
at a time when traditional
Strasbourg. While Bamberg's
work in bronze continued.
second group of sculptors
Bamberg. The
stone relief turned to Reims for their
choir screen in the Bamberg inspiration, Strasbourg's early
cathedral, executed about carvers borrowed from Char-
1230, shows no foreign in- tres— introducing in the pro-
fluence. Set in pairs, figures cess a new partnership of
are well separated from their strength and elegance. Beau-
background and the material tiful examples in this cathedral
is treated with tremendous are the masterful carvings
expression and energy. The of the Church and the Syna-
rather aggressive character gogue. Later Strasbourg sculp-
of these works is softened tors (1280-1290) worked on
by the purely decorative treat- the western facade in a far
ment of drapery. Contrasting livelier style. Drapery folds
with this entirely original are deeper, stances of the
work is that of a master, un- figures more exaggerated and
doubtedly trained at Reims, their faces are rapt and in-
who subsequently went to tense. The famous group of
Bamberg. The moving yet the Wise and Foolish Virgins
sober style of the Visitation typify a tendency toward ex-
he executed for the cathedral pressionism which was to be-
bears the stamp of Reims. come increasingly apparent in
German art of the 14th and
Another series of sculptures
15th centuries.
in the Bamberg cathedral
reveals the presence of a The tradition of bronze
truly unique artist. Inside sculpture at Hildesheim con-
the building, statues of its tinued throughout the 13th
twelve founders— eight men century, producing such ex-
and four women— grace the quisite examples as the bap-
choir area. Probably executed tismal fonts cast for the
between 1250 and 1260, these cathedral about 1230.

137
13th CENTURY SPAIN

Like its Romanesque sculp- while, in the splays, column

ture, Spain's Gothic sculp- statues represent prophets and
ture originated at Santiago apostles. The portals of both
de Compostela; it did so in the Avila cathedral and the
1183 when Master Mathieu Camara Santa in Oviedo drew
added the Porch ot Glory to their inspiration from the
the Romanesque basilica. Porch of Glory.
Only the central pediment is
For the Spanish, the 13th
carved, showing Christ the
century was a period of
Judge surrounded by the
dazzling brilliance. Their
symbols of the evangelists,
1212 victory over the Arabs
at Las Navas de Tolosa ush-
ered in the merger of the
The White Virgin. Stone, 13th kingdoms of Leon and Cas-
century. Facade of Leon Cathe-
tile in 1230. The era's two
dral. The squat appearance and
accentuated realism are typically great products were the cathe-
Spanish. (Photo J. Roubier) drals of Burgos and Leon.
Burgos. Bishop Maurice laid
the cornerstone of Burgos
cathedral in 1221 but not
until 1240 did Master Henri,
a mason of the French school
of Champagne, take over. The
door of the Apostles on the
north transept, whose pedi
ment shows the Last Judge-
ment, closely resembles the
style of the north portal of
Reims except that the treat-
ment is more massive; the
same could be said of its
southern counterpart, the
"Sarmental" door.

Burgos' influence, uniquely

regional, seen in the little
is

cathedral of El Burgo de Osma

and at Leon, indeed, for the
portals of the transepts at
Leon, Master Henri simply
duplicated those that he had
done at Burgos. The portals
on the western facade, on
the other hand, are pale imi-
tations of Chartres and other
cathedrals of northern and cen-
tral France (Reims, Amiens,
Bourges) without, unfortunate-
ly, achieving similar grandeur.

On the left-hand pier, the

White Virgin statue recalls the
Gilded Virgin of Amiens.

A Prophet. Stone, late 12th cen-

tury. From the Porch of Glory,
Santiago de Compostela. The in-
fluence of sculptors from Burgun-
dy and Aquitaine is obvious.
(Photo Segalat)

139
13th CENTURY ITALY

In the 13th century, Italian pendence. His Pisan products

art, and particularly sculp- were obviously inspired by
ture, remained aloof from classical examples, the bap-
Gothicism, with a return to tistery pulpit being decorated
the antique which heralded with bas-reliefs separated by
the magnificent Renaissance small columns topped with
of the Quattrocento (15th Corinthian capitals, while the
century). font is supported by caryatids.
In his bas-reliefs of the Na-
Nicolas Pisano, (c. 1220-
tivity, the Virgin's reclining
1287). The sculptural works
Tuscany
pose, costume and drapery
of Nicolas Pisano of
are all from ancient
taken
clearly reflect this inde-
statues of Roman matrons.

The Adoration of the Magi, by Giovanni Pisano (1250-1314).

Nicolas Pisano. Marble, about Son of Nicolas Pisano, this
1260. Detail from the pulpit of sculptor used even more an-
the baptistery, Pisa. This work
is clearly inspired by classical tique motifs in the magnificent
sculpture. (Photo Scala) pulpits he executed for San

140
Andrea de Pistoia (1299- sculptor and architect simul-
1301) and Pisa's cathedral taneously. The geometrical
(1302-1310). At the same rigidity of both the frame and
time, however, he added a volume of his compositions
new dramatic flair and a sometimes results in con-
realism and movement lack- siderable aridity, mainly in

ing in his father's work. the way the folds in his

draperies regularly break into
Arnolfo Cambio
di (c. 1240-
a V-shape.
1302). The same vigour, in-

tensity of expression and the By harking back to the ancient

same predilection for sharply tradition, Nicolas and Gio-
defined volumes enlivened vanni Pisano, as well as
the art of Arnolfo di Cambio, Arnolfo di Cambio, opened
a pupil of Nicolas Pisano who the way to a new conception
was both architect and sculp- of sculpture which combined
tor. He worked for Charles of intensity of expression with
Anjou for a time in Rome and a human scale.
then continued his career in
Siena, Perugia and Bologna.
Kneeling figure, by Arnolfo di
Commissions for fountains,
Cambio. About 1278. Detail from
tombs and ciboria enabled him a fountain in Perugia. (Photo
to exercise his talents as both Scala)

141
14th CENTURY FRANCE

The serious financial crisis

which began France after
in

Saint Louis' death in 1270,

and which worsened after
Philip the Good's succession
in 1285. led to a temporary
halt in cathedral building,
so that sculpture thus lost
its monumental purpose. Re-
curring wars and the schism
which led to the papal exile
in Avignon did. however, in-
duce artists to travel more,
and this created a pan-
European international style.

The religious idealism of the

13th century gave way to a
new spiritual trend reflected
by an ambivalent attitude
toward death as well as a
sentimental, mystical devo-
tion to the Virgin and a host
of patron saints. Hence three
types of sculpture grew popu-
lar: statues of the Virgin
and Child, statues of the
saints, and funerary monu-
ments.

During the 14th century,

the king of France and his
vassals, the great feudal
lords, frequently imported
artists from Flanders. Count-

Virginand Child, known as the

Jeanne d'Evreux Virgin. Vermeil,
14th century. Louvre, Paris.
(Photo Giraudon)

142
ess Mahaut of Artois, for
instance, called in Jean
Pepin de Huy; and the great
patron Charles V employed
two of the foremost con-
temporary sculptors: Andre
Beauneveu de Valenciennes
and Jean de Liege. The latter
executed several notable
tombs and had a hand in

decorating the Louvre's spiral

staircase with statues.

In 1364, Charles V commis-

sioned Andre Beauneveu
(born c. 1330) to carve his
tomb as well as one for his
wife, his father, John the Good,
and grandfather, Philippe de
Valois. After a spell with the
Count of Flanders, Beauneveu
went to work for the king's
brother, the Duke de Berry,
starting in 1386 and col-
laborating with other Flemish
artists like Jean de Huy to
produce statues and illumina-
tions. The miniatures Beau-
neveu painted for the Duke
de Berry's psalter rank among
the art masterpieces of all
ages.

Among the most celebrated

works of sculpture executed
during Charles V's reign is
the Great Pillar in Amiens
Cathedral which Cardinal Bureau de la Riviere. Stone, 14th
Lagrange had embellished Century. Amiens Cathedral. The
flexible drapery and treatment of
with statues of the king, his
the face exemplify the discreet
heir, the dauphin, and his realism typical of the 14th century.
councilor, Bureau de la Riviere. (Photo J. Vieil)

143
14th CENTURY BURGUNDY AND FLANDERS

After the death of Charles V Art flourished in Burgundy

in 1380, artists tended to during the 14th century. The
forsake the court of his mad fact that the dukes of Bur-
successor, Charles VI, and gundy had managed to as-
to seek work with the latter's semble a vast jigsaw of
luxury-loving uncles, the dukes holdings (including Artois,
of Berry, Burgundy and Hainaut and Flanders) through
Orleans. marriage or inheritance meant
that Flemish artists could
The Wellof Moses, by Claus work in Dijon under the
About 1400-1406. From the
Sluter. patronage of the same lord.
former Charterhouse of Champ- In addition, the diplomatic
mol, Dijon. (Photo Verroust)
talent of four successive
dukes spared Burgundy from
the horrors of war for many
years.

When Philip the Bold com-

missioned the now near-
destroyed Charterhouse of
Champmol near Dijon in

1383, it was only natural for

him to call in Flemish artists.

Claus Sluter (c. 1345-1406)

was one of these. In 1391,
he decorated the pediment
of this building's portal with
a Virgin and Child flanked on
one side by a statue of the
duchess being presented by
Saint Catherine and on the
other by the duke with Saint
John. Over the fountain of
the monastery's main cloister,
Sluter erected a great cruci-
fixion of which only the hex-
agonal pediment with its six
figures of prophets remains.
Viewers are immediately

144
struck by the monumentally, Tomb of Philippe Pot, Seneschal
tragic grandeur and power of Burgundy, attributed to An-
toine Le Moiturier. Polychrome
of Sluter's few surviving
stone, between 1477 and 1483.
works. Their poignancy and Louvre, Paris. (Photo Giraudon)
strength make them spiritu-
ally akin to those done by
Michelangelo a century later.
and tombs with pallbearers
became increasingly popular.
Claus de Werve, Sluter's
disciple, continued
in the The trend culminated in

master's footsteps after his Burgundy itself in the tomb

death in 1406, completing of Philip the Good's first
Philip the Bold's tomb and chamberlain, Philippe Pot
starting one for John the (about 1480). The corpse in
Fearless. Under a Gothic full armour rests on a slab
canopy, forty draped figures borne by figures of grieving
march around the bier. knights, their features almost
hidden by their capes.
Succeeding John the Fearless
in 1420, Philip the Good pre- The type of Virgin originated
ferred Flanders to Burgundy by Sluter suffered a less happy
and abandoned the work on fate. Their general lines be-
Champmol. Nevertheless, the came increasingly squat and
influence of Sluter and de the figures seem lost in a
Werve spread across Europe, swirl of over-heavy drapery.

145
Self-portrait, by
Nicolas Gerhaert of
Leyden. Stone, about
1460. Musee de
I'Oeuvre. Strasbourg.

15th CENTURY GERMANY

German burghers benefitted lines but, ample and swing-

most from the declining ing, broke arbitrarily into
power of the Holy Roman crisp, dry folds reminiscent
Empire. Ways of thinking of engraving. At the same
began to change, and the time, polychrome decoration
progress that sculpture had added to the picturesque
made in the 13th and 14th effect.Claus Sluter's Flemish-
centuries culminated in a Burgundian style swept the
veritable minor renaissance Empire, influencing such
during the 15th. sculptors as Nicolas Ger-
haert of Leyden (d. 1473),
Strongly affected by the whose over-reaiistic busts
graphic arts, carved drapery failed to achieve the grandeur
no longer followed body of the Master of Dijon. Other

146
exponents of the Flemish- Nuremberg
Burgundian style were Hans
Multscher (1400-1467) and Weit Stoss (c. 1440-1553),
Jorg Syrlin (c. 1430-1491), of Nuremberg, the sovereign
who carved the wooden choir of woodcarvers, emigrated to
stalls of the Ulm cathedral Poland, where he sculpted a
in 1470. magnificent polychrome altar-
piece for the church of Our
Artists seemed to prefer
wood over all other materials, Lady in Cracow. Its folding
panels bear bas-reliefs show-
and thus produced a rash of
ing scenes from the life of
highly intricate altar-pieces.
Some famous examples of Christ, while its main sub-

these were the one at Blau- ject, the Assumption and

beuren, partly carved by
Coronation of the Virgin, is

Gregor Erhart; another

at
Sankt Wolfgang in Austria,
the work of Michael Pacher;
Station of the Cross, by Adam
and the Issenheim altar-piece
Krafft. Late 15th century. Ger-
sculpted by Nicolas de Hague- manic Museum, Nuremburg.
nau about 1510. (Photo Bruckmann)

147
carved in the round. Return- Adam Krafft (c. 1460-1508),
ing to Nuremberg, Stoss a contemporary of Stoss,
then executed for the church abandoned wood in favour
of Saint Lawrence an Angelic of stone, which he treated
Salutation which was almost with the same ease and in-

mannerist in its grace. tricacy shown by the wood-

carvers of his time. This
This unrivalled woodcarver
can be readily seen from his
cut deeply into his material
tabernacle for Saint Law-
and showed marked taste
a
rence in Nuremberg. Krafft's
for sharply broken lines and
first known work, the Schreyer
angular poses. Simultaneously
Epitaph on the outside of
violent and lyrical, his works
Saint Sebald in Nuremburg,
nevertheless retain a sense
appears to be an attempt to
of the monumental.
transmute a painting into
sculptural terms. His Stations
of the Cross for Nuremberg's
Saint John
cemetery (Ger-
manic Museum) are calmer
and better balanced, showing
fewer picture-like traits.

Peter Vischer (c. 1460-c.

1529), another Nuremberger,
belonged to the famous
Vischer family of bronze
casters and foundrymen who
supplied baptismal fonts
and tombstones for churches
throughout Germany. Es-
sentially Gothic in outlook
at the start of his career,
Vischer, unlike Stoss and
Krafft, fell increasingly under
Italian influence and his last
works clearly show this.

Saint Sebald Reliquary, Nurem-

burg. Bronze, 1508-1519. A
work of Peter Vischer the Elder
and his sons in which the Gothic
spirit is still evident. (Photo J. P.
Vieil)

148
Eve, by Tilmann Riemenschneider.
Stone. Nudes like this one play
an important part in Riemen-
schneider's art. Despite the flexi-
bility of the modelling, the pose
remains rather stiff. Luitpold
Museum, Wurtzburg. (Photo
Gundermann)

Wurzburg

Although 15th century Nurem-

berg could claim precedence
because of its three great
artists, Wurzburg too could
boast a sculptor of major im-
portance, whose style differed
intrinsically from that of his
neighbours.

Tilmann Riemenschneider (c.

1460-1531). Set beside Stoss'
flair and violence, Riemen-
schneider's works epitomize
calm serenity. For his altar-
pieces, he rejected polychrome
decoration in order to give full
value to the carving and, like
Vischer, let himself be swayed
by the Italians. However, de-
spite the very fine modelling of
some of his nude studies,
their remains stiff
attitude
and reveals a sad lack of
the anatomical knowledge
that contemporary Italian
artists had at their fingertips.

149
14th CENTURY ITALY

Pisa made a strong impact from both expression and

throughout Italyduring the movement. On the many tombs
late 13th and early 14th he was commissioned to
centuries, and Giovanni Pi- carve, the defunct, enveloped
sano's pupils came
him to in a weighty shroud, generally
from the entire length and adopts a passive, static
breadth of the peninsula. position.

Tino di Camaino (c. 1285- Like Naples and Milan, Flor-

1337) was one of these. He ence too called in Pisan
took his charming talent suc- sculptors toward the beginning
cessively to Siena, Florence of the 14th century.
and finally Naples and the
court of the kings of Anjou. Andrea da Pontedera, better
His heavy, solid volumes can known as Andrea Pisano
be traced back to his early (1270-1349), cast the first
training, but he added a note bronze doors for Florence's
of Gothic elegance as well, baptistery between 1330 and
banishing any hint of violence 1336. His reliefs resemble

Humility, by Andrea
Pisano. Bronze,
1330. The baptistery
in Florence. To the
seven theological
and cardinal
virtues decorating
the door, Pisano
added an eighth,
Humility. (Photo
Giraudon)

150
Giotto's paintings in their to 1368) was simultaneously
open composition and bal- a painter, sculptor, architect
anced distribution of masses, and goldsmith, thus fore-
and show how far Andrea had shadowing the humanist
strayed from the teachings geniuses of the Quattrocento.
of Giovanni Pisano. Yet the The supreme example of his
elegance of line and pose in art is the monumental gold
these works is also akin to tabernacle for Saint Michele
the French-based international in Florence (1349-1359), deco-

Gothic style which spread over rated with bas-relief scenes

Europe in the wake of minia- from the Virgin's life.
turists, ivory carvers and itin-
Thus by the end of the 14th
erant artists.
century, the two trends which
were to flourish in Quattro-
Andrea's grace and elegance
cento Florence had already
came to flower in the works
appeared: the tragic sense
of his son, Nino, who special-
ized in serenely smiling Ma-
of human destiny prevalent
in the works of Giovanni
donnas.
Pisano, and the delight in
Andrea di Cione, known as pure formal beauty reflected
Orcagna (active from 1344 in Andrea Pisano's sculpture.

Madonna and Child,

by Nino Pisano. Late
14th century. Santa
Maria delta Spina,
Pisa. The vigorous
organization of the
drapery and general
sobriety of the whole
are notable. (Photo
Giraudon)
14th and 15th CENTURIES IN SPAIN

Spanish Gothic sculpture of Saint Thecla altar-piece, detail, by

the 14th century was initially Johann de Vallfogona. About
1426-1450. Tarragona Cathedral.
strongly marked by the French (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
style before gradually falling
under the sway of Flemish
and then Italian influences. Flemish and German artists
In Pamplona, for instance, encouraged local woodcarving
the French Bishop, Arnaud so that large polychrome
de Barbezan, called in a altar-pieces covered with pic-
Frenchman, Jacques Perrut, torial scenes soon became
to decorate his cloister. the rage, particularly in Cata-
lonia. The famous Saint
Flemish influence reigned Thecla altar-piece in Tarra-
throughout the 15th century gona's cathedral, the work of
and Janin Lomme of Tournai Johann de Vallfogona (1426-
was commissioned to sculpt 1450), is typically Flemish.
the tomb Charles III the
of
Noble and his queen, Eleanor The plateresque style in archi-
in Pamplona (1416). tecture with its rich orna-

152
 m
lUi-juiiAfill

]
mm
III i

>*

r.f •».-< lib-

..<
'

^
Tomb of Juan de Padilla, by Gil so that not a pinpoint of
de Siloe. Stone. The simplicity of space remains barren. A
the pose and flexible modelling
similar insistence on cluttered
reflect Italian influence. Burgos
Museum. (Photo Segalat) opulence can be seen in the
niche and frame of the In-
fanta Alfonso's tomb at Mira-
mentation also had serious re-
flores, as well as in the
percussions on altar-pieces
clothing of Juan de Padilla's
carved during the last half of
funerary statue now in the
the 15th century. This can
Burgos Museum. But the
be seen from the works of
simplicity of attitude and
the period's finest sculptor,
suppleness of modelling in
Gil de Siloe (a native of
this work clearly reveal the
Antwerp who lived in Burgos
influence of the Italian Quat-
from 1486 onward). The
trocento in Spain.
details incorporated into his
altar-piece for the Charter- By the end of the 15th cen-
house of Miraflores (1496- tury,Spanish sculpture finally
1499) are overwhelmingly managed to relax a bit and
rich. The wood is twisted and free itself from the graph-
undercut, with decorative de- ic realism imported from
tailsenmeshed in the reliefs Flanders.

153
12th to 15th CENTURIES IN PORTUGAL

From the 12th to the 15th tombs in the French style.

century, Portugal, like Spain, Carved for Pedro and Ines I

remained under the sway of de Castro, the "Dead Queen,"

French art, thanks partly to they rank high among 14th
help from the great monastic century recumbent figures.
orders of Templars and Cis-
Flemish influence also in-
tercians wresting the king-
in
filtrated Portugal as wood-
dom back from the Moors.
carvers came from Flanders
The Cistercian abbey of Al- to decorate many Portuguese
cobaga, founded in 1153, churches with altar screens
contains two magnificent and choir stalls.

In the Manueline style that

developed during the reign
of Manuel the Great (1495-
1521), Gothic structures were
covered with exuberant, deeply
carved motifs in which marine
flora and fauna and naviga-
tional instruments recalled
Portugal's momentous over-
seas discoveries. The style's
overall pattern and interlock-
ing designs, as well as an
almost absence of human
total
figures, shows its close kin-
ship to Arabic art. Portuguese
sculpture was prevented from
becoming entirely ornamental
by the arrival of French and
Spanish sculptors at the start
of the 16th century.

Window from the Templars'

church in Tomar, attributed to
Diogo de Arruda. Stone, late 15th
century. Its over-elaborate decora-
tion with maritime overtones is
typical ofManueline art. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)

154
12th TO 15th CENTURIES IN ENGLAND

At a time when Gothic Eu- Alabaster sculpture also be-

rope's churches and ca- came popular at this time,
thedrals seemed positively to Nottingham
particularly in the
burgeon with statuary, sculp- area, and small alabaster
ture played only a minor role carvings from England flowed
in England, appearing only in onto foreign markets, either
the form of the charming, of- in the form of panels to be
ten luxuriant foliage used to inlaid or as portable altar-
point up an architectural line. pieces. Gilding and polychrome
paint were used to relieve
British sculpture during the the monotony of the carving.
13th and 14th centuries in
many ways resembled its
French counterpart, though
a note of originality appeared
in the elaborately carved
tombs placed in or near
sanctuaries. In contrast to
French practice, subjects were
usually portrayed alive in
action.

British sculpture would have

no part of the realism preva-
lent on the continent during
the 15th century, and the
result was a rather forbidding,
extreme sobriety, not to say
stiffness and aridity. Funerary
art was limited to bronze re-
cumbent figures or simple,
engraved brass plates set in
church floors.

The Black Prince, bronze re-

cumbent figure, about 1377-
1380. Canterbury Cathedral. This
figurewas strongly influenced by
contemporary French works.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

155
 from the renaissance
to contemporary
times

The humanistic Renaissance Henceforth, artists suddenly

which began to spread over aware of their own originality
Italy at the start of the 14th broke away from the humble
century was not simply the anonymity imposed during
offshoot of a vogue for an- the construction of the great
tiquity but represented an cathedrals. Art for art's sake
entirely different conception developed as a cult. Besides
of the universe. Whereas the this new-found individuality,
medieval world was essentially aesthetic and intellectual
God-inspired, the Renaissance factors, as well as contempo-
concentrated on man. "First rary scientific discoveries,
nature displaced God as the all had profound impact
a
goal of art, then God was on development. As
artistic
unseated by the human in- sculpture freed itself from
telligence as art's source." its architectural framework,
(L Venturi). portrait busts appeared and
gardens bloomed with statues,
many celebrating the beauties
of the nude human body.
Although remaining true to
Chained Slave, by Michelangelo. nature and inspired by the
Marble, 1513-1514. One of two great Greco-Roman sculp-
captives carved for the sculptor's
tural traditions, artists yet
original design for Pope Julius
ll's tomb. Louvre, Paris. (Photo managed to express them-
Giraudon) selves.

157
15th AND 16th CENTURIES IN ITALY

15th century Florence berti (1378-1455) and Ja-

copo della Querela (c. 1374-
The 15th century, an un- 1438) all were in the running,
rivalled period of economic, but finally the jury favoured
culturaland artistic glory in Ghiberti's balanced composi-
Florence,opened with one of tion and elegantly refined,
the most momentous events yet slightly Gothic style over
in the entire history of sculp- Brunelleschi's violence and
ture—a competition for the daring use of perspective.
second door of the baptistery
(1401). Several artists pre- Ghiberti spent over twenty
sented versions of the
their years, from 1403 to 1424,
chosen subject— the sacrifice executing twenty-eight quadri-
of Isaac. Filippo Brunelleschi lobed bronze panels depicting
(1377-1446), Lorenzo Ghi- scenes from the life of Christ
to match the design of older

The Sacrifice of Isaac, competi

doors sculpted by Andrea
tion pieces for the second door Pisano. Later Ghiberti received
of Florence's baptistery. Gilded the commission for still a
bronze, 1401. Left, Filippo Brunel-
third set of baptistery doors
leschi's version; right, that of
Lorenzo Ghiberti. (Photo Alinari- and between 1425 and 1452
Giraudon) executed sixteen large bronze

158
panels showing Old Testa- Tomb of lllaria del Carretto, by
ment Admiring the
scenes. Jacopo della Quercia. Marble,
1407. Lucca Cathedral. (Photo
flawless technique, rich com-
Giraudon)
position and plastic effects
of these pictorial bas-reliefs,
Michelangelo dubbed them
"The Gates of Paradise." Siena
Whereas Ghiberti's refined
Jacopo della Quercia (c. 1374-
art paid homage Gothic
to
1438), a native of Siena,
traditions, his contemporaries,
carved a magnificent tomb
Nanni di Banco and Jacopo
for lllaria del Carretto in the
della Quercia, looked further
cathedral of Lucca. Here, a
back to antique models and
recumbent figure half hidden
laid more stress on the human
in its shroud is essentially
figure.
medieval, while the sar-
Nanni di Banco (c. 1380- cophagus simple
with its

1421) carved the Four Crowned garlands, flowers and cupids

Saints (about 1410) whose almost duplicates an antique
flowing togas and stern faces model. The same power of
clearly derive from Roman execution and simplicity of
senators. However, the niches line may be found in the
in which they are displayed vigorously styled bas-reliefs,
on the walls of the church of reminiscent of Donatello, that
Orsanmichele are unmistak- he executed for Siena's Fonte
ably Gothic. Gala (1409-1419).

159
 Equestrian statue of the
Condottiere Gattamelata,
by Donatello. Bronze,
1447. Padua. (Photo
Anderson-Giraudon)

Donatello One of his earlier works, the

Saint George carved for the

Donatello (1386-1466), who

church of Orsanmichele in

studied with Ghiberti and 1416 (Bargello Museum,

Florence), represents a fully
worked with Brunelleschi,
unquestionably ranks as the armed young who,knight,

master sculptor of Florence's still slightly balance ac-

off

Quattrocento. Whether work- cording to the Gothic canon,

bristles with energy. Dona-
ing in rough stone, marble or
tello used the same inherent
bronze, he had dazzling tech-
nique, and his daring sculp-
drama and realistic treat-

tural innovations in relief

ment in the two prophets
work as well as free-standing carved for Florence's Duomo
figures made him a truly revo-
between 1423 and 1436:
lutionary artist. Concentrating Jeremiah and Habakkuk—
or Zuccone as he is known
on the human figure and
locally because of his gourd-
scorning conventions of pose,
drapery and expression, Dona- like head.
tello produced powerfully Donatello renewed his ac-
realistic figures. quaintance with antique

160
statuary during a trip to days. Donatello's presence
Rome about 1432-33, but on in Padua inspired a whole

returning to Florence persisted new school of sculptors in

in introducing a dramatic that city, best represented by
and violent note into other- Niccolo Pizzolo.
wise classical works. Typical The essential tragedy of life
are his cantorie, or frieze
so often glimpsed in Dona-
of singers, for the cathedral, works became even
tello's
whose lightlydraped cherubs
more visible after his return
lead a mad, bacchanalian to Florence be seen
as can
dance.
in the baptistery's dramatic,

In 1443 Donatello moved to almost fleshless Mary Mag-

Padua where he remained dalene. Her skeleton-like body
for nearly ten years. Several vividly contrasts with the lithe

of his major works were exe- adolescence of his early

cuted there, including the
altar of the Basilica del Santo
Young musicians, detail from a
and the celebrated Gat-
cantoria in the Duomo, Florence,
tamelata, the first equestrian by Donatello. Marble, 1433.
bronze to be cast since Roman (Photo Alinari-Giraudon)

161
bronze David. Donatello's last Donatello's influence
works were an unfinished
series of bas-reliefs deco- Though Donatello's influence
rating the pulpits of Florence's continued throughout the
church of San Lorenzo. Every Quattrocento, it was under-
kind of geometric and optical standably most strongly felt
perspective can be seen in by his contemporaries.
these remarkable reliefs,
for Donatello made free use
Lucca della Robbia (1400-
1482), a goldsmith by train-
of architectural forms, ar-
ing, spent the years between
ranged his figures in the
most unconventional manner 1431 and 1438 carving a
and even employed the schiac- companion piece for Dona-
tello's cantorie but in an
ciato technique, in which
entirely different idiom. In
solid forms are suggested by
contrast to the frenetic vio-
the shallowest relief.
lence of the latter's singers,
della Robbia's discreetly
realistic choirboys epitomize
well-behaved serenity. The
technique that Lucca della
Robbia invented allowed him
to make the most of his pen-
chant for gracefully flowing
curves, and many of his
works are executed in a highly
glazed terra-cotta in which
light blues, whites and yel-
lows predominate. Rapidly
popular because of its in-
herent elegance and delicacy,
this technique was also em-
ployed by the artists's numer-
ous descendants. The medal-
lions of infants wrapped in
swaddling clothes, with which

Young singers, detail from a

cantoria in the Duomo, Florence,
by Lucca della Robbia. Marble,
1431-1438. (Photo Anderson-
Giraudon).

162
Diana on Her Chariot, detail from
the decoration of the Malatesta
Temple, Rimini, by Agostino di
Duccio. Marble, about 1450.
(Photo Scala)

della Robbia decorated Bru-

nelleschi's home for found-
lings (Innocenti) in Florence,
were also of this material.

Many sculptors were inspired

by Donatello's great works.

Agostino di Duccio (1418-

1481), one of these, com-
posed for Rimini's Malatesta
Tempietto a vast allegory
crowded with entwined putti
(cherubs) clad in swirling
drapery.

Desiderioda Settignano(1428-
1464) was far more realistic
in hisapproach and had a
rigorous sense of structure
which made him Donatello's
star pupil and apostle.

In the first half of the 15th

century, portrait busts and local schools
funerary monuments became
popular in Italy, the finest By 1460-1470, the seeds
example of the being
latter sown by the Florentine mas-
the tomb of Leonardo Bruni ters had reached every corner
in Florence's Santa Croce of and Florence could
Italy,

church executed by Bernardo not maintain unrivalled leader-

Rossellino in 1444. A student ship. Gradually local schools
of the architect Alberti, he of sculpture arose here and
applied classical motifs to there. One of Donatello's
the staggered forms of Gothic students, Bartolomeo Bel-
tombs, thus creating a type lano (c. 1434-1492) set
of funerary monument which up shop in Padua, while in
was to be long imitated. Venice Antonio Rizzo (c. 1430-

163
1499) exhibited a sure sense matian Francesco Laurana
of volume and a talent for (c. 1420-1503) also worked
delicate modelling, and Pietro for the local dukes before
Lombardo (1435-1515) re- moving on to France and
vealed a detail and exces- then Naples. The rigorous
sively fine execution which simplicity and stylization of
anticipated mannerism. In his female portrait busts
Urbino, the ducal palace of prove the vast influence ex-
the Montefeltro family was ercised by the painter Piero
decorated in the Florentine della Francesca at the Monte-
manner of sculpture by the feltro court.
Tuscan Domenico Rosselli
The works of the Bolognese
(c. 1439-1497). The Dal-
master Niccolo Dell'Arca
(1440-1494) diametrically op-
posed Florentine precepts
Bust of Eleanor of Aragon, by
in their dramatic expression-
Francesco Laurana. Marble, about
1467-1471. Its simplicity and ism, and the same can be
purity are typical of Laurana's said of statues by Guido
works. Louvre, Paris. (Photo (1450-1518)
Mazzoni of
Scala)
Modena. A similar defiance
of Florentine domination can
be seen in the art of Lom-
bardy, where an offshoot of
the international Gothic style
held sway throughout the
15th century. Here materials
are roughly chiselled to create
dramatic effects, folds break
sharply and decorative ele-
ments tend to be heavy and
close-set.

16th century Florence

Idealistic humanism seemed

to govern Florence after Dona-
tello's death. Sculptors were in
great demand and flourished,
basking in the protection
of such wealthy patrons as

164
the Medicis. Florentine art Its strikingly original com-
had reached a dazzling peak position—a simple elevated
of perfection and luxury slab adorned with leaves and
beyond which it seemed im- allegorical figures— plus the
possible to rise, and the fore- vigorous, full style employed,
most artists of the day were gives it unaffected nobility.
Pollaiuolo and Verrocchio.
Andrea di Cione, known as
Antonio del Pollaiolo (1432- Verrocchio (1435-1488), a
1498) was simultaneously painter, goldsmith, and sculp-
painter and sculptor, and tor, patronized by the Medicis,
his statue of Hercules Crush- often followed Donatello in
ing Anteus (Bargello Museum) his choice of subjects (David,
beautifully renders muscular equestrian statues, putti).
tension and powerful realism,
despite the angular aridity Tomb of Sixtus IV, by Antonio
of its contours. Pollaiuolo's The sculptor's mastery
Pollaiolo.
of bronze shows in the casting
way with bronze can best be
of this magnificent tomb. Saint
seen in his tomb for Sixtus Peter's, Rome. (Photo Alinari-
IV, in Saint Peter's in Rome. Giraudon)

LM
k? f T
-+ ~mk 3 A 4 $ , & § J ,„„

165
He treatedthem, however, MICHELANGELO
with an exaggerated sensi-
tivity and psychological in- Michelangelo Buonarroti
sight that somewhat dimin- (1475-1564), western civiliza-
ished the strength and sig- tion's artist supreme since
nificance of the theme. But the decline of the ancient
the fact that Verrocchio could world, was born in Florence
also banish all superfluous just nine years after Dona-
artifice is fully attested to tello's death, and
as the
in his monument to the Medi- living symbol of the Renais-
cis (1472, church of San sance, this profoundly hu-
Lorenzo, Florence). This work manistic genius anticipated
consists of a simple sar- our contemporary concern
cophagus with heavy bronze with art's spiritual values.
legs etched with acanthus "He was so concerned with
leaves. the tragedy of human destiny

Tomb of Giacomo
and Pietro de
Medici, by
Verrocchio. Marble
and bronze, 1472.
Church of San
Lorenzo, Florence.
(Photo Alinari-
Giraudon)

166
that he saw no other purpose Ghirlandaio's Florentine stu-
in art than to use the human dio, he carefully studied the
figure to show
the variety works of Donatello and the
of mankind'spassions and few antique remains to be
their sublimation in faith. found in his native Florence.
To him, sculpture was the Forced into exile by political
highest form of art, enabling, upheavals, he took refuge in
as it did, latent forms in ma- Rome, where he executed the
terials to be freed by the famous Pieta now in Saint
artist's intuition" (A. Chastel). Peter's. The drapery and
flexible poses of his figures
Michelangelo showed his
sovereign talent in turn as
poet, architect, painter, sculp- Pieta, by Michelangelo, executed

and as a young man during his first

tor goldsmith, and he
visit to Rome. Marble, 1498-
excelled in all of these fields. 1501. Saint Peter's, Rome. (Photo
After his studies in the painter J. Roubier)

IB

J*
David, detail. Marble,
1501-1503.
Michelangelo here
expresses his
dream of heroic
humanity.
Accademia, Florence.
(Photo Anderson-
Giraudon)

testify to his fine early tech- San Pietro in Vincoli (Rome)

nique as well as his thorough bears no resemblance what-
knowledge of anatomy. The ever to Michelangelo's original
incomparable marble David project, which called for a
which he carved with such four-stage pyramid of which
bold strokes on his return the last was to be the Pope's
to Florence in 1501 further sarcophagus. As it now stands,
demonstrated his heroic vision only the facades of two
of humanity. stages are complete, with
the statues of Faith, Charity,
In Michelangelo was
1505,
and Moses; the triumphal
summoned to Rome by Pope
spirit of Michelangelo's origi-
Julius II to carve his tomb
nal concept is entirely lost.
and paint the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel. Although he Back in Florence between
provided several designs for 1520 and 1534, the prodigious
the tomb and worked on it artist worked on the facing
throughout most of his life tombs of Dukes Giuliano and
(1505-1545), it was never Lorenzo Medici in a chapel
completed. The part that can of the church of San Lorenzo.
now be seen in the church of The two dukes sit enthroned

168
above their sarcophagi, on act as architect for Saint
which are two reclining figures, Peter's, thus leaving him
Night and Day for the tomb scant time for sculpture.
of Giuliano and Dawn and His last works were three
Dusk for Lorenzo. In these Pietas (cathedral of Florence,
figures, Michelangelo estab- the Accademia, Florence, and
lished a contrast between Milan Museum), including the
smoothly polished and care- unfinished Rondanini Pieta. In
fully modelled areas and the all of his sculpture, muscular

remaining merely sketched-in and psychological tension con-

parts. In addition to this vey a desperate anxiety and
blithe freedom of execution, pain which movingly express
he intentionally distorted and the human condition.
elongated natural forms for
purely aesthetic purposes.
Twilight, detail from Lorenzo de
Returning to Rome (1534- Medici's tomb, by Michelangelo.
1564), Michelangelo was Marble, 1524-1533. Church of
commissioned by Pope Paul San Lorenzo, Florence. (Photo
Anderson-Giraudon)
II to paint the fabulous fresco
of the Last Judgement for
the Sistine Chapel and to

169
 the disciples

Except for Andrea Contucci,

better known as Sansovino
(1460-1529), who attempted
to transpose Leonardo's deli-
cate style into sculpture,
most Michelangelo's fol-
of
lowers were dwarfed by their
mentor's towering stature.
Among these Cinquecento
(16th century) artists we
might mention Baccio Ban-
dinelli (1493-1560), Giovanni
Francesco Rusticci (1474-
1554), Giovanni Angelo Da
Montorsoli (d. 1563), and
Tribolo (1500-1550). Sadly,
these proselytes ignored the
tragic and heroic meaning
of their preceptor's works. In-

stead, concentrated on
they
decorative values and elegance
of line.

In Venice, however, Ales-

sandro Vittoria (1525-1608)
and Jacopo Tatti (1486-
1570), who was also called
Sansovino, established a new
sculptural tradition. In this
they combined Michelangelo's
strength and vigorous style
with an elegant, symmetrical,
classical approach which
avoided mannerism's exces-
sive refinements.

The Rondanini Pieta. Started in

Michelangelo's last year of life,
it was never finished. Milan Muse-

um. (Photo Giraudon)

170
mannerism
Just after Michelangelo's
death, an artistic trend de-
veloped in Florence whose
basic elements had already
been supplied by the master.
This movement consisted of a
search for an elegant, idealized
style and a refined and subtle
"manner." Mannerist sculp-
tors went in for pure, free-
flowing lines and poses,
flaunting their virtuosity in
composition and frequently
abandoning the monumental
in favour of smaller, more
intimate works. This trend
explains how Florence and
Padua soon became producers
of statuettes and bronze
medallions. This type of sculp-
ture, popular with collectors,
was practiced by many ex-
cellent artists, of whom the
most celebrated was Andrea
Riccio (1470-1552).

Benvenuto Cellini (1500-

1571), goldsmith and sculptor
in bronze, looms as one of
Florence's fabulous 16th
century artists, and in the
course of his romantic life
spent some time in France

Perseus, by Benvenuto Cellini.

Bronze, 1553. The goldsmith's
exquisite virtuosity is amply dis-
played in his treatment of ana-
tomical details and decorative
elements. Loggia dei Lanzi, Flor-
ence. (Photo Segalat)
 Mercury Flying, by
Giambologna. Bronze,
1564. National Museum,
Florence. (Photo
Alinari-Giraudon)

working for Francis I. His

incredible inventiveness and
sometimes preposterously pre-
cious elegance at times re-
sulted in such oddities as
the famous gold salt-cellar
made for Francis now in
I,

the Vienna Museum. His

virtuosity occasionally even
hampered expressive
his
strength, as in the case of
Perseus Holding the Head
of Medusa, now in the Loggia
dei Lanzi, Florence.

Giambologna, or Jean de
Bologne (1529-1608), who
trained under Jacques De-
broecq in Antwerp, modified
and refined a taste for opu-
lence acquired during his
Flemish apprenticeship when,
exposed to classicism, he
fell under the spell of the
Italian Renaissance. Settling
in Florence, he soon adopted
the elegant forms and poses
of Cellini's elongated figures.
In some cases, the rhythmical
body movements and care-
fully studied balance of his
figures appear as cleverness
and nothing more. Giam-
bologna's workshop did much
to spread mannerist doctrines
throughout Europe.

172
16th CENTURY FRANCE

The links between Italy and the brothers Giusti. During

France which had been forged this first renaissance, which

back in the Middle Ages be- covered the reigns of Charles

came even stronger toward VIII (1483-1498) and Louis
the end of the 15th century, XII (1498-1515), Italian tra-

due to the wars arising from ditions slowly insinuated them-

France's claim to the kingdom selves into French art, mainly
of Naples and the duchy of as decorative motifs.
Milan.
That supreme patron of "Ital-
ian style" art, the archbishop
of Rouen, Georges d'Amboise,
Italian influence
employed Italian artists to
decorate his residence at
The French who accompanied
Charles VIM on his first ex- Gaillon, as well as the French

pedition over the Alps were

immediately dazzled by Italian Saint George and the Dragon,
art, and so brought back altar-piece executed by Michel
several artists with them. Colombe for the chapel of Cardinal
d'Amboise's Chateau de Gaillon.
These included Girolamo da Marble, early 16th century. (Photo
Fiesole, Guido Mazzoni and Segalat)

173
 sculptor Michel Colombe
(1430-1515), who rather late
in life had adopted the trans-
alpine style. Colombe's col-
leagues quickly followed his
lead and a school centred in
Touraine soon started turning
out serious, elegant and float-
ingly draped statues.

A similar phenomenon oc-

curred in Champagne, where
the "Saint Martha" school
of Troyes produced works
which combined Gothic modes-
ty with the ease and grace of
contemporary Italian statues.
Sculpture in the Italian man-
ner by French artists flowed
to vast castles being built
by the feudal lords of France.

Returning from captivity after

the battle of Pavia (1526),
Francis I summoned many
Italian artists to his court.
They included Rosso, who
came to France in 1530,
Primaticcio (1532), Rusticci
(1527), and even Cellini.
Rosso and then Primaticcio
exercised almost dictatorial
power over French artists and
quickly spread the brilliant
bloom of the mannerist school
over all France.

Saint Martha, French school of 16th

century. Painted stone. Italian
grace joins Gothic sobriety in
this piece from the workshops of
Troyes. Church of la Madeleine,
Troyes. (Photo J. P. Vieil)

174
Bas-relief from the Fountain of inspired by Rosso and Prima-
the Innocents, Paris, by Jean ticcio, Goujon managed to
Goujon. Stone, 1549. (Photo
DCO) combine whirling forms in
body and drapery with a
purity more akin to classical
the classical renaissance Greece. His reverence for
antiquity is even more trans-
During the reign of Henry II parent in the caryatids he
(1519-1559), French sculp- carved for the Louvre, which
tors participated in the cur- are close cousins to those of
rent wave of humanism and, the Erechtheum on the Atheni-
following their Italian masters, an Acropolis. He ended his
sought inspiration in antiquity. days an exile in Bologna.

Jean Goujon (c. 1510-1566) Pierre Bontemps (1507-

spent a large part of his 1570), who was stylistically
life collaborating with the more vigorous than his con-
architect Pierre Lescot. In temporary Jean Goujon, con-
1549 he executed the ex- centrated on anecdotal quali-
quisite bas-reliefsthe on ties. His works are all dis-
Fountain of the Innocents in creetly realistic and undeniably
Paris. Despite the stretched- influenced by the Italian
out forms of these figures, mannerists.

175
Germain Pilon (1537-1590). Saint Francis in Ecstasy, by Ger-
Upon Henry ll's death in main Pilon, 1580. A fine example
of this artist's tendency to
1559, Primaticcio was named realism. Church of Saint Jean
superintendent of buildings. and Saint Francis, Paris. (Photo
To execute a funeral monu- Giraudon)
ment for the Valois kings,
commissioned for the basilica
anticipate the baroque ten-
of Denis by Catherine
Saint
dencies that Bernini displayed
de Medici, he chose a young
some fifty years later.
sculptor called Germain Pilon,
noted for the incomparable Pilon's sculpture, like that
technique of his portraits. of Goujon and Bontemps, was
The gripping realism of Pilon's quite innocent of the Italian
works never overshadowed influence, which had served
their elegance and expres- only as a catalyst in French
siveness. Nevertheless, his art. Pilon thus appears more

later works, such as the Vir- as a link between a relaxed

gin of Pity and Saint Francis, form of Gothic realism and
show how his style evolved. the moderate baroque which
Their sensitivity and the ex- appeared toward the end of
pression of violent emotions Henry IV's reign.

176
16th CENTURY SPAIN

Spain's power reached its (1472-1528), a colleague of

peak during the 16th cen- Michelangelo, had to flee
tury, when Florentine sculp- Florence and after a spell in
tors were mainly responsible England, moved on to Charles
for introducing Renaissance V's court in Spain. His works,
art into that Queen
country. many them in painted
of
Isabella Domenico
imported terra-cotta,show a careful
Fancelli (1469-1519) to carve execution and stark realism.
the tomb of the Infanta Don
Juan in the church of San
Santo Domingo de la Caizada
Tomas in Avila (completed in altar-piece, by Damian Forment.
1512). Pietro Torrigianni Wood, 1538. (Photo J. P. Vieil)

:
JSIlN
JI 1

•«to*V * :'#"

t5 ^TT-T 'i
Italian influence ians in order to work in
wood, in which he sculpted
Two contemporary
Spanish contorted figures and on
artists strongly influencedby which he often painted. It was
these Italians were Vasco de in wood that he executed one
la Zarza (d. 1524), who of his masterpieces— the
skillfully applied the lessons choir for
stallsToledo's
learned from his Florentine cathedral (1539-1548).
masters, and Bartolomeo
About this time several French
Ordonez (d. 1520), who
and Flemish sculptors also
trained for many years in
came to Spain, among them
Italy, returned to Barcelona
Philippe Biguerny and Jean
and then went back to work
de Juny. In the violence of
in his adopted country. To
theirmovement, de Juny's
him we owe chiefly the tombs
works seem more typical
of King Philip I the Handsome
of Spanish art than those
and Queen Juana the Mad
produced by native artists.
at Granada.
Among his many statues are
the Entombed Christ (Valla-
Aragon's leading sculptor
dolid Museum) and the Dead
was Damian Forment (d.
Christ (Segovia Cathedral).
1543), a specialist in large
altar-pieces. Lombard and The reign of Phillip (1556- II

classical tendencies can be 1598) was marked by the

seen in his work, particu- preponderance of Italian
larly in the wooden alabaster- over Spanish artists. In aus-
based altar-piece carved for tere style, Leone Leoni and
the church of Santo Domingo his son Pompeo (c. 1533-
de la Calzada in 1538. 1608) cast the monumental
bronzes which decorate the
Alonso Berruguete (1490- altar screen and tombs of
1561), the greatest Spanish the church of the Escorial,
sculptor to appear during the and the impressive royal
opulent reign of Charles V, tombs of Charles V and
trained under Michelangelo. Phillip II.

But the extreme realism of

his funerary monuments and
An Apostle, by Philippe Oudart.
the mass of decorative ele- Terracotta, 16th century. Oudart
ments he favoured make his was the most individualistic and
works a far cry from those of realistic of the French artists
working in Portugal. Beaux Arts
themaster. Healsoabandoned Museum, Coimbra. (Photo Boudot-
the marble so dear to Ital- Lamotte)

178
16th CENTURY PORTUGAL

French artists were mainly work on the main door of the

responsible for bringing the Belem monastery in Lisbon.
Renaissance to Portugal, and
the fantasies of Portuguese
Jean deRouen established
sculptors were consequently
himself Coimbra in 1530
in

progressively replaced by the

and produced numerous altar
screens and bas-reliefs in
newest fashions that devel-
the Italian style. Arriving
oped in Italian art.
in the same year, Philippe
Nicolas Chantereine (first Oudart showed a trenchant
mentioned in 1517) spent individuality in monumental
many years decorating the sculpture. Nevertheless, his
churches of Santa Croce and realistic art did not seem to
Se Velha in Coimbra in the exert the same
influence as
Italian style, before directing that of his compatriots.

179
16th CENTURY IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

By the 16th century, the Franc chimney. Stone, 1538. The

work of several sculptors, it com-
Netherlands also were touched
bines Italian with Flemish-Gothic
by the Italian contagion sweep- influences. Bruges. (Photo J. P.
ing Europe. Oddly enough, Vieil)

one vital centre of this Flem-

ish Renaissance was in France
great Flemish altar-pieces.
at Brou, where Marguerite
Antique-style pilasters re-
of Austria (1480-1530), who
placed Gothic pillars, and
had become regent of the
garlands superseded tufts of
Netherlands in 1506, de-
foliage. Such Italian elements
cided to build tombs for her
are particularly noticeable
family. In 1516 she called
in the bas-relief of Susannah
upon the Flemish sculptor
and the Elders over the monu-
Jean de Bruxelles, who in
mental chimney cf the court
turnwas replaced by a Ger-
clerk's office in Bruges, exe-
man, Conrad Meyt (or Con-
cuted by Guyot de Beau-
rad de Malines) in 1526.
grand and his co-workers
Structurally these tombs are
between 1528 and 1532.
in the Gothic manner; Italian
influence shows in the decora- Still another example of
tion and recumbent figures. Italiana is the handsome ala-
baster altar-piece which Jean
Similar new decorative ele- Monne (d. c. 1548) made for
ments also appeared in the Saint Martin de Hal in 1533.

180
Jacques Dubroecq (c. 1500- transalpine elements into
1584), a native of Mons, the Gothic tradition.
went to Italy where he im-
Mannerist influence predomi-
mediately fell under the spell
nated in Flanders from 1560-
of Michelangelo. His Virtue
1570 onward. Many sculp-
tor Sainte Wandru in Mons
tors, including Alexander
illustrates his flexible ap-
Colin, Hubert Gerhardt and
proach to monumental pieces.
Adrien de Vries moved east-
For the decade from 1544 to
ward to the Hapsburg court
1554 Giambologna trained in
where they proved to be the
Dubroecq's studio.
most fervent disciples of
Corneille de Vriendt, known the new Italian school.

as Floris(1514-1575), 'a
tremendously prolific artist,
enthusiastically adopted in Decoration of Antwerp City Hall,
Flanders the Italian fad for by Corneille Floris, 1561-1565.
On his return from Italy, Floris
grotesques. His extraordinary
popularized Italian decorative
tabernacle in Leau (1550- techniques in Flanders. (Photo
1552) shows how he blended J. P. Vieil)

181
16th CENTURY
IN THE GERMANIC COUNTRIES

Germany's artistic flowering of Augustus, while Adrien

during the 15th century was de Vries executed both the
followed in the 16th century Fountain of Mercury and the
by a simmering down of Fountain of Hercules.
activity due to religious and
political Nevertheless,
strife. Italian Renaissance styles
the second half of that cen- traveled also to the court in
tury was strongly marked Vienna, Emperor Maxi-
as
by the imprint of Italian milian (1527-1576) sum-
II

mannerism. moned artists from far and

wide. All seem to have adopted
While Peter Vischer's bronze the tenets of mannerism as
reliquary for Saint Sebald in elaborated in Giambologna's
Nuremberg remained funda- Florentine studio. Among
mentally Gothic in outlook, these were Wenzel Jamnitzer
certain details of its base (1508-1585), Gerhardt and
and the lower part of the Alexander Colin (1527-1612)
pillars show a definite Italian —later to be known as "the
influence. This trend showed Flemish Ghiberti."
itself even more strongly in
the two magnificent statues On the death of Emperor
Vischer executed for the Maximilian, his son Rudolph
tomb of Emperor Maximilian II(1552-1612) continued to
in Innsbruck's Franciscan encourage in Prague the re-
church; their elegant poses fined worldly art of the in-
are a far cry from the "Gothic ternational mannerist school
S" of former times. led by Adrien de Vries, a
Flemish sculptor who had
The Vischer studio, which himself studied under Giam-
also worked for the Fugger bologna.
family, Augsburg's leading
bankers and patrons of the In Munich the elector of
arts, provided that city with Bavaria, Maximilian (1573-
some of its outstanding 1651), also used the talent
monuments. Hubert Ger- of sculptors, such as Ger-
hardt (c. 1540-1630) was hardt, skilled in Italian-style
responsible for the Fountain ornamentation.

182
Spring, by Wenzel Jamnitzer.
Gilded copper, about 1557. The
mannerist influence clearly seen
here was also evident in the other
three statues once supporting a
fountain of the seasons. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)

Fountain of Mercury, Augsburg, by

Adrien de Vries. Bronze, late 16th
century. Italian mannerism was
strongly felt in this sculptor's
works. (Photo J. P. Vieil)

183
 Tomb of Cardinal de Berulle,
by Jacques Sarrazin. Marble, 1657.
Sarrazin's measured style
is already quite classical.
Louvre, Paris. (Photo Verrouts)

17th CENTURY FRANCE

From 1590, there developed all baroque influence and was

in France a new concept of instrumental in establishing
classical beauty, with the re- the classical cannon. His
sult that the country gradu- works show a calm and bal-
ally detached itself from anced execution in which
Italian influences. emotion reveals itself only
through a tempered realism.

classicism Sarrazin's numerous gifted

pupils included Gilles Guerin,
Jacques Sarrazin(1588-1660), Gerard Van Obstal, Lerambert,
who had spent the eighteen the brothers Marsy, and
years between 1610 and Pierre Legros. All these worked
1628 in Italy, led the new together at Versailles, along
school of French sculpture with many bronze workers
on his return to Paris. Al- and medallists such as Jean
though exposed in Rome to Varin, Guillaume Dupre, Nico-
contemporary Italian baroque las Guillain and his son
as well as the splendours of Simon. By the austerity of
ancient masterpieces, Sar- its execution, young Guillain's
razin subsequently abandoned Pont du Change Monument

184
(1647, now in the Louvre) The Rhone, by J. B. Tuby. Bronze,
modified traditional French 1687-1690. Eight statues repre-
senting the rivers of France deco-
realism once and for all.
rate the basins in front of Ver-
sailles. (Photo Giraudon)
The brothers Anguier, Fran-
cois (1604-1669) and Michel
(1612-1686) skilfully used to liberate artists from the
the lessons of antiquity and rigid controls of the estab-
the polished techniques they lishment and the cut-and-dried
had learned from Algardi in laws of their crafts. Spon-
Rome. Both worked under sored by Louis XIV, the Royal
the master designers of Ver- Academy of Painting and
sailles: Le Vau, Le Brun and Sculpture received its first
Le Notre. Michel was re- charter in 1665. Its foundation
is especially important as, hav-
sponsible for the exquisite
Amphitrite (Louvre), which ing become the docile instru-
once graced the Ladies' Grove ment of the superintendent of
in the park of Versailles. fine arts, it eventually led
to a general standardization
On Sarrazin's initiative, and in artistic thought and re-

probably with Le Brun's en- sulted, especially in the 17th

couragement, a new academy century, in the establishment
was formed in 1648 destined of anofficialschoolof sculpture.

185
official art because the king himself
developed a deep antipathy
to this violent form of art.
Securely ensconced on the
throne and diligently sup- Louis XIV did, however, pro-
ported by a coterie of servile vide his artists with a wonder
ministers, Louis XIV felt the project— the construction of
need for an official art form— Versailles with its magnificent
a style to be based on an- park and gardens. Work be-
tiquity, and whose sole pur- gan in 1663 and continued
pose was to glorify the Sun in spite of financial difficulties

King and his works. Ber- until the end of his reign in

nini's trip to France to cham-

pion Italian baroque proved Bust of Louis XIV, by Jean Varin.
Marble, 1665. The medallist's fine
a failure, partly because of art is displayed in this statue. Ver-
ministerial plots but also sailles Museum. (Photo Giraudon)

186
1715. The vast possibilities
thus offered by the king were
gratefully accepted by a group
of working under
sculptors
the of Charles Le
direction
Brun (until his death in 1690
and thereafter under Jules
Hardouin-Mansart). Le Brun
provided the original designs,
which the sculptors executed
more or less faithfully. The
symbolism behind some of
these works was extremely
abstruse and complicated;
their subjects were derived
mainly from antiquity.

Girardon and Coysevox proved

outstanding among this group.

Francois Girardon (1628-

1715), as an artist, was both
pliant and subtle. An ad-
mirer of antiquity and a superb Winter, by Frangois Girardon.
technician, he maintained Marble, 1680. The most celebrated
of the four seasons commissioned
the tradition of elegance, by the statesman Colbert for the
and grace initiated
flexibility gardens at Versailles. (Photo
by Jean Goujon. In the bas- Giraudon)
relief Nymphs Bathing at
Versailles, as well as in Win-
ter in the palace's gardens,
away from the model to create

friendly
an original work ofBusts
art.
a yet refined art
executed by this are
artist
shines through the outwardly
also significant. His master-
stiff mask of classicism.
piece is undoubtedly the
Antoine Coysevox (1640- bronze bust of the Great
1720) was the first and fore- Conde (Prince Louis II), now
most sculptor Louis XIV.
of in the Louvre. Here, with
In executing antique copies spare economy and no dra-
for the gardens of Versailles matics, he brought out the
(the Louvre's Kneeling Venus sharp intelligence and some-
is typical), he was nonethe- what irascible character of
less able to get far enough his subject.

187
 Puget and baroque art

Quite apart from the official

art, which was classical, a
baroque tendency began to
appear in France during the
17th and 18th centuries.

Pierre Puget (1620-1694) of

Marseilles headed this wave.
Back in his native country
after aprolonged stay in
Italy, Puget sought royal
commissions and executed
both his colossal bas-relief,
Alexander and Diogenes, and
his famed Milo of Crotone for
Versailles. Yet barely had
these works been installed
in the royal residence than
they were rejected— another
setback for baroque. The fact
is that the sense of tragedy
Puget had tried to express,
and even the sense of painful
Milo of Crotone, by Pierre Puget.
struggle, ran counter to the
Marble, 1673-1682. The dra- academic doctrines of the day.
matic power of this group for Toward the end of Louis'
the Versailles gardens contrasts
reign, and especially after Le
with the calm classicism of other
contemporary pieces. Louvre, Brun, this academic outlook
Paris. (Photo Giraudon) softened somewhat. Sculp-
tors were allowed more free-
dom to express motion (though
not of course violence), and
a certain grace and elegance
began to be seen in some
statues. Typical of this transi-
tional interim was Coysevox's
ravishing portrait of Duchess
Adelaide of Burgundy as
Diana (1708, Louvre).

188
 18th CENTURY FRANCE
During the first half of the Tomb of Curate Languet de
century, baroque, previously Gergy, by Michel Ange Slodtz.
Marble and bronze, 1753. Church
suppressed, now fought openly of Saint Sulpice, Paris. (Photo
with classicism for supremacy. Verroust)

baroque theatrical style led the lead-

ing classicist, Francois Bou-
The three Adam brothers cher, to exclaim: "Go ahead
were staunch exponents of and take a look— you'll have a
baroque. The eldest, Lambert- good laugh."
Sigisbert (1700-1759), made
the theatrical style triumphant The Lemoynes, and
father
at Versailles by installing son (Jean and Jean
Louis
his Neptune and Amphitrite Baptiste), won renown mainly
group in the Neptune orna- for their portrait busts. They
mental pool (1735-1740). had a rather exaggerated
taste for sculptural realism
Michel Ange (1705-
Slodtz and preferred to work with
1764) executed in 1753 the softer-than-marble materials
Tomb of Curate Languet de (such as terra-cotta, plaster,
Gergy in Paris' Saint Sulpice etc.), which enabled them to
church in the same spirit. capture the most fleeting
Its rather pompous and expressions.

189
classicism Jean Baptiste Pigalle (1714-
1785) looked for strength—
Edme Bouchardon (1698- in contrast to Falconet's
1762) remained a loyal de- over-obvious elegance. Both
fender of classicism against sculptors combined a real
French rococo and Italian respect for antiquity with
baroque. He continued the a desire to give statues life

traditions of elegance, realism and movement. Nevertheless,

and antiquity. A balance be- their realism is moderated by
tween the two conflicting a concern for elegance and
schools in the early 18th cen- worldliness, and a striving
tury was struck by two sculp- after purity of volumes in-
tors who in their early years scribed by arabesques.
had worked for Madame de
Etienne Falconet (1716-
Pompadour: Pigalle and
1791) was famous for his
Falconet.
charming statues of bathing

190
women and children, as well busts, as well as a few huge
as for his handsome Saint pieces like the bronze Diana
Petersburg (Leningrad) eques- purchased by Catherine II
trian Peter the Great, com- of Russia in 1790. Easily
missioned by Empress Cath- the foremost 18th century
erine II of Russia and executed portrait sculptor, Houdon was
between 1766 and 1778. so successful that in 1785
he was called to the United
Of the many pupils of these
States to prepare a model
two masters, the most im- for his famous statue of
portant was Augustin Pajou
George Washington now in
(1730-1809), Louis XVI's
the Capitol at Richmond, Va.
official sculptor. Ignoring the
(along with one of his busts of
almost overwhelming affecta- Lafayette). While in America
tion of his contemporaries,
he did busts of several other
he executed many fine por-
notable Americans, including
trait busts of women and
Thomas Jefferson.
was responsible for deco-
rating the Opera House at
Versailles.

Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-

1828), after a period in Rome
where he executed the cele-
brated Flayed Man, returned
to Paris in 1769 to find all
the official positions already
filled.Consequently he was
obliged to depend on foreign
and private clients for his
commissions. The result was
a wonderful series of portrait

Voltaire, by J. B. Pigalle. Marble,

1776. Heroic nudity was the
sculptor's aim here. Institute
Library, Paris. (Photo Giraudon)

Alexandre Brongniart, by Jean

Antoine Houdon. Marble, 1777.
Houdon's goal in this child's bust
was to "keep the truth of the
forms." Louvre, Paris. (Photo
Giraudon)

191
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN ITALY

At the start of the 17th cen- Italian pre-baroque art of

tury Italian art was still strong- the early17th century is
ly marked by Giambologna's best represented by Fran-
mannerism, but thanks to cesco Mocchi (1580-1654)
Bernini it soon developed and Stefano Maderna (1576-
into baroque. 1636). The latter's reclining
statue of Saint Cecilia in

Rome's church of the same

baroque art name (executed about 1600),
with simple sentimentality,
its
Baroque art, essentially a served for many years as a
reflection of the Counter- model for all other statues
Reformation, concentrated of martyrs. According to a
mainly on opulent effects, famous chronicler of the
optical illusions and a the- times, it was a "marble record
atricality in which realism of the rediscovery of the
merged with the loftiest saint's bones."
spiritual values. Like classic
art, drew inspiration from
it
Saint Cecilia, by Stefano Maderna.
poetry and mysticism, but
Marble, 1680. Church of Santa
its aim was more to stir up Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome.
feelings than to calm them. (Photo Boudot-Lamotte)
Bernini

True baroque art burst onto

the world with Bernini.

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini

(1598-1680) was the son of
a Florentine sculptor who in
1605 had settled in Rome.
So towering and multi-faceted
were his talents that, like
Michelangelo before him, he
dwarfed all his contemporaries
and excelled simultaneously in
architecture, painting and
sculpture. As a young man
he executed for his favourite
patron, Cardinal Scipio
Borghese, four statues, one
of which was the famous
Aeneas and Anchises (1618-
1624). In this group, the two
reclining figures are carved
in the mannerist tradition
but curl around a vertical
axis in what the Italians were
fond of calling a "figura
serpentina." Bernini thus
created a type of statue which
took its cue from antiquity,
contemporary mysticism and
the doctrines of the Bolog-
nese school. Usually he chose
to portray action at white
heat, and this dramatic ef-

Aeneas and Anchises, by Giovan

ni Lorenzo Bernini. Marble, 1618-
1624. The twisting bodies are a
carry-over from the mannerists.
Borghese Gallery, Rome. (Photo
Alinari-Giraudon)

193
feet was heightened by the epitomize 17th century re-

use ofextreme realism in ligious fervour, whose mysti-

details and by a variety of cism very nearly approached
finishes in the same statue. sensuality.
His famous David (1623,
Borghese Gallery) seems to A true sparks all
originality
hurtle through space because Bernini's works. His Con-
of the violence of its move- stantine for the Vatican rep-
ment. resented a new departure
in equestrian statues, while
Bernini's religious works, in-
his tombs for Popes Urban
cluding his Saint Theresa in
VIM and Alexander VII in
Ecstasy (1645-1652) in
Saint Peter's were passionate
Rome's Carmaro chapel of
baroque versions of the
Santa Maria della Vittoria,
Florentine tombs originated
by Michelangelo. The deliber-
Cardinal Scipio Borghese, by ate showiness of these works
Bernini. Marble, 1632. Borghese
Gallery, Rome. (Photo Alinari- stems from the daring of
Giraudon) their architectural design,

194
the use of polychrome marble bears witness to this daring
and bronze and the sense technique and realistic ar-
of violence given the whole. tistic concept.

Similarly, Bernini's free treat- Adulated in Rome, where he

ment of hair, facial features usually carried on several
and draperies in his portrait projects at once, Bernini's
busts gives to these the stop- only failure was a diplomatic
motion quality of high-speed one— his trip to France in
photographs. A bust of the 1665. Yet even this resulted
artist's mistress, Costanza in the equestrian statue of
Bonarelli (1625, Bargello Louis XIV, later remodeled by
Museum, Florence), gloriously Girardon, and the marvelous
portrait bust of the Sun
King now gracing Versailles.
Saint Theresa in Ecstasy, by Ber
nini. Marble, 1645-1652. One of A horde of pupils came and
the summits of baroque sculp-
went through Bernini's studio,
ture. Church of Santa Maria
della Vittoria, Rome. (Photo but none seemed able to
Anderson-Giraudon) escape the shadow of his

195
overwhelming personality. In-
deed, Bernini* had but one
rival worthy of the name,
Alessandro Algardi.

Alessandro Algardi (1595-

1664) first settled in Rome
in 1625. Though fascinated
by Bernini's style he remained
faithful to antiquity and the
mannerism of the Bologna
school. His portrait busts
reflect permanent facets of
his sitters' personalities—
unlike Bernini's fleeting ex-
pressions of mood. Typically
Algardi is the bust of Pam-

philio Pamphili executed

around 1644 and now in
Rome's Palazzo Doria. The
same sobriety and simplicity
may be found in Algardi's
tombs, such as that of Leo
XI in Saint Peter's, Rome.
Pope Leo Meeting Attila, by
I

The Italian also invented a Alessandro Algardi. Marble, 1646-

new type of sculpture in his 1653. This motion-packed work
huge bas-relief of Pope Leo reveals many similarities with
Renaissance bas-relief. Saint
I Meeting Attila (1646-1653), Peter's, Rome. (Photo Scala)
also in Saint Peter's. Though
classic in composition and
exceedingly simple, it con- artists, the most popular
tains many baroque elements. of whom were two Italians,
Antonio Raggi (1624-1686)
and Ercole Ferrata (1610-
1686), and the Flemish Fran-
Bernini's successors cois Duquesnoy (1594-1643).

Seventeenth century Italian Gradually, with the Roman

sculptural activity centered studios reigning supreme,
in Rome, with Bernini and Italian baroque sculpture be-
Algardi naturally the leading came evermore elegant and
lights. They exerted a for- refined, reflecting a kind of
midable influence over other preciousness and an extreme

196
sensitivity. At times the vir- mentor's noticeable exaggera-
tuosity used in the treatment tions to a deplorable extreme.
of drapery far outweighed This particularly applied to
any anatomical consideration; Camillo Rusconi (1658-1728),
both inspiration and execu- (1700-1773) and
Pietro Bracci
tion dwindled into mannered Philippo Valle (1696-
della
frivolity, which was ideally 1770). These Roman artists'
suited to decorating the immoderation resulted in la-
rather theatrical architecture boriously complicated works
of the time. which, despite their technical
skill, often border on the
Toward the end of the 17th ridiculous. Francesco Queirolo
century and at the beginning
of Genoa (1704-1762), re-
of the 18th, some of Ber-
sponsible for Illusion Unveiled
nini's successors carried their
(see page 199), was among
the more ludicrous perpe-
trators of such outrages.

Around mid-18th century, a

renewed interest in antiquity
brought a sobering note which
produced more simplicity in
sculpture. The tendency, start-
ing with Innocenzo Spinazzi, a
Roman who worked in Flor-
ence, culminated in Antonio
Canova's late 18th century neo-
classicism.

In the last half of the 18th

century Rome lost her leader-
ship. Sculptors were handi-
capped by patrons' preference
for Greek or Roman originals
or over newly com-
copies
missioned works. Orders be-
came few and far between.

The Annunciation, by Philippo

della Valle. Marble, 1750. This
baroque artist was also influenced
by his French contemporaries.
San Ignazio, Rome. (Photo Scala)

197
toward rococo Illusion Unveiled, by Francesco
Queirolo. Marble, about 1750.
Technical virtuosity is here pushed
Piedmont had been
never to an extreme. San Severo chapel,
Naples. (PhotoAnderson-Giraudon)
noted for sculpture, and the
great architect Juvara had to Faith, by Innocenzo Spinazzi.
call on a Tuscan, Cametti, Marble, about 1784. The elegant
to decorate his magnificent sobriety of Spinazzi's style fore-
shadowed neo-classicism. Santa
Superga basilica near Turin.
Maria Madalena dei Pazzi, Flor-
Genoa was, however, pro- ence. (Photo Giraudon)
ductive, perhaps because of
the proximity of the Carrara
marble quarries, and the
Frenchman Puget spent sever-
al seasons there studying
under Algardi. Other promi-
nent Genoa sculptors were
the Schiaffino family, of
whom Francesco was re-

sponsible for the highly

picturesque Rape of Proserp-
ine in Turin's royal palace.

In Florence, where mannerism

reigned and baroque counted
for little, the leading sculptor
of the day was Innocenzo
Spinazzi (1720-1795). While
he showed a mild tendency
to classicism, as exemplified
by the simple altar and urn
of his tomb for Machiavelli,
Spinazzi could also give full
vent to his extraordinary
technical brilliance in such
works as Faith in Florence's
Pazzi chapel. Representing a
woman whose face and body
are entirely veiled, the figure's
outline may be barely dis-
cerned beneath the cleverly
executed folds of drapery.

198
Rococo predominated in trated in Palermoon chubby-
southern where Spanish
Italy cheeked cupids in a dimin-
influence outshone French. In ished baroque style which
Naples, Francesco Queirolo contained the seeds of neo-
(1704-1762) carved an ex- classicism.
traordinary Man Escaping
the Web of Error for the San Between 1750 and 1770
Severo chapel. Here tech- Italian baroque slowly de-
nical extravagance blends scended into the depths of
with allegorical absurdity. rococo, and it took the neo-
Giacomo Serpotta (1656- classicist Canova to revive
1732), working mostly as a Italian sculpture and inspire
decorator in stucco, concen- it with new forms and energy.

199
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN THE LOW COUNTRIE!

Flanders

Flemish sculpture of the 17th

century was much influenced
by Italian baroque and by
Rubens, whose opulent paint-
ings overflowed with lush
forms and vigour. Brussels,
Antwerp, Malines and Liege
were the main sculpture hubs,
and wood the favourite ma-
terial,being lavishly used in
the decoration of confession-
als and church pulpits.

Francois Duquesnoy (1594-

1642) was the star Flemish
sculptor, though he spent a
large part of his life in Italy
and left much of his work
there. An intimate of the
French classical painter Pous-
sin, another expatriate in
Rome, Duquesnoy carefully
studied antique statues. His
specialty, children's portraits,
earned him the sobriquet
"fattore di putti." He also
spent some time working
with Bernini in Saint Peter's;
his own genius gave him
the independence to resist
the master's passion for
baroque. Duquesnoy's master-

Saint Suzanne, by Francois Du-

quesnoy. Marble, 1629. Santa
Maria de Loreto, Rome. (Photo
Anderson-Giraudon)

200
piece remains his Saint Detail from the Pulpit of Saint
Suzanne, carved for Rome's Rombaut, Malines, by Michel
Verwoort the Elder. Wood. (Photo
church of Santa Maria de Boudot-Lamotte)
Loreto— the epitome of tran-
quil restraint.
considering this art form,
Artus Quellin the Elder (1609- the comment of a critic,

1668), who studied under P. Fierens, may be worth re-

Duquesnoy in Rome, later peating: "The lacy nature of
returned to his native Ant- Flemish baroque, the freedom,
werp to decorate churches. fantasy and generosity of
A classicist like his teacher, its decoration, are in a way

he too was to found a long an extension of the flam-

line of brilliant sculptors. boyant style, and regardless
of its transalpine origins
Two other sculpting families,
Flemish baroque should be
the Verwoorts and the Ver-
considered a native product."
bruggens, also worked in
Antwerp, where they were Luc Faidherbe (1617-1697),
famed for their Flemish a native of Malines and both
baroque confessionals. In architect and sculptor, studied
*

201
under Rubens in Antwerp Tomb of Archbishop Antoine
for three years. Often his Cruesen, by Luc Faidherbe. Marble,
17th century. Church of Saint
carved works are three-
Rombaut, Malines. (Photo J. P.
dimensional transpositions Vieil)

of the master's paintings.

The Rubens influence also
can be seen in Faidherbe's Jean Delcour (1627-1707),
many tombs, which follow another scion of a sculptural
the general lines popular at dynasty, studied in Rome
that time throughout Flan- and on his return to his
ders—a cenotaph, encased native Liege made good use
in a chapel flanked by columns of what he had learned from
or pilasters, in which the Bernini, though at the same
figure lies recumbent in time remaining true to Flem-
the medieval tradition. ish traditions of realism.

202
Holland the 18th century

The Dutch school of sculp- During the 18th century

ture was relatively minor Flanders, like the rest of
since, contrast to Catho-
in Europe, fell completely under
lic the Protestant
Flanders, the sway of contemporary
Batavian Republic frowned on French schools.
what it considered "graven
Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778),
images." The only exceptions
trained as a baroque artist,
were funerary monuments.
quickly switched to classicism,
Rombaut Verhulst (1624- while his compatriot, Pierre
1698), a native of Malines who Verschaffelt (1710-1793), who
had settled in Holland, was emigrated to Mannheim, re-
the only local sculptor of versed this process. The flam-
any importance. His tomb boyant theatricality of Flemish
of Admiral Tromp in Delft baroque is quite evident in Ver-
shows that his cultural con- schaffelt's work despite hjs
cepts remained essentially earlier classical French train-
decorative and austere. ing under Bouchardon.

Tomb of Admiral
Tromp, by Rombaut
Verhulst. Marble,
17th century. Delft.
(Photo V. D. Reyken)
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN CENTRAL EUROPE

During the latter half of the

17th century, France overtook
Italy as a source of artistic
inspiration, and in central
Europe at least, architecture
easily displaced sculpture.

Prussia

A shining light among 17th

century German sculptors,
Andreas Schluter was born
in Danzig in 1660 and died
at Saint Petersburg in 1714.
He worked almost exclusively
in Prussia, his work com-
bining the forms of French
classicism with the moderate
baroque spirit exemplified by
the French sculptor Puget.
Among Schluter's major works Dying Warrior, by Andreas
Schluter. Mask from the Berlin
is the fine series of Masks Arsenal. Stone. (Photo Boudot-
for the Berlin Arsenal; here Lamotte)
the moving, agonized faces of
wounded and dying soldiers
French being pre-
influence
contrast sharply with the
dominant during the reign
gaudy trophies and symbols
of Frederick the Great (1712-
of victory surrounding them.
1786), the king had his palace
Between 1698 and 1703, An- decorations made in Paris by
dreas Schluter executed for French artists. In addition,
Berlin a magnificent eques- he invited many French
trian bronze of the Grand sculptors to Berlin, with the
Elector Frederick William which result that Francois-Gaspard
can be compared only to the Adam, Clodion, and Tassaert
similar piece of Louis XIV (Flemish by birth but French
that Girardon had made for by training) worked for some
Paris' Place Vendome. time in the Prussian capital.

204
 -.•"--

-
- -

s^K

So ardent was Frederick Love About to Shoot a Dart, by

the Great's love for all things Nicolas Gillet. The Frenchman
Gillet had a great influence in
French that he started a Russia. Louvre, Paris. (Photo
whole collection of French Giraudon)
art, buying sculpted works
by Pigalle and Falconet.
1850). At first strongly in-
Prussian sculpture developed fluenced by French rococo,
in contact with these French his exuberance was
initial

contributions, and before the later tempered by the clas-

advent of neo-classicism, sical severity which swept
culminated in the works of Europe in the wake of Na-
Gottfried Schadow (1764- poleon's legions.

205
Austria Trained in Pietro de Cortone's
Florentine studio, he plied
While French classicism con- his trade mainly in Dresden.
quered Prussia, thanks to A well-known work of his,
Schluter and Frederick the now in Vienna's Belvedere
Great, Italian baroque reigned Museum, is the extremely
supreme in southern Germany theatrical Apotheosis of
and Austria. Prince Eugene of Savoy
(1721), celebrated Austrian
Balthazar Permoser (1650- general. Balthazar Permoser
1732) was the leading ex- was also responsible for
ponent of this mixed Italian- most of the sculpture on
German form of baroque. the amazing Zwinger Pa-
vilion in Dresden, whose
cornice is held up by wildly
gesticulating Amazons.

Georg Raphael Donner (1693-

1741), working in Vienna,
set out to counterbalance
the overdone baroque per-
petrated by Permoser, and
one of his most delightful
and characteristic works is the
fountain executed in 1739 for
Vienna's New Market. The
proportions of this group of
lead figures are extremely
fine, and the smooth, flowing
lines of the women recall
the elegant female nudes pro-
duced by the School of Fon-
tainebleau and the Italian
mannerists. Donner was also
responsible for the excellent
statues now adorning the
Mirabell castle in Salzburg.

Apotheosis of Prince Eugene of

Savoy, by Balthazar Permoser.
Marble, 1721. Belvedere, Vienna.
(Photo Segalat)

206
 Nymph for the New Market
Fountain, Vienna, by Georg
Raphael Donner. Bronze, 1739.
(Photo Boudot-Lamotte)

southern Germany which are more akin to ana-

tomical studies than artistic
Sculptors in the Bavarian endeavour, demonstrate not
capital of remained
Munich only the artist's consummate
subservient to Viennese mas- technical skill but his sincere
ters throughout the 18th cen- striving for lifelike portraiture.
tury. Straub, Munich's lead-
ing sculptor from 1734 to garden sculpture
1784, was famous mainly for
training three outstanding It was the heydey of garden
pupils: Ignaz Gunther, who sculpture, and German pa-
magnificently exemplified the trons often called in French-
charm and mannered grace trained sculptors for this
of German rococo; Boos, who embellishment. Pierre Ver-
carved highly expressive me- schaffelt (1710-1793), born
dallions, and above all Franz in Ghent but trained in Paris,
Xavier Messerschmidt who, Wilhelm Bayer (1729-1797)
after his apprenticeship in and Johann Peter Wagner
Munich with Straub, worked (1739-1809) beautified the
in Vienna before his final gardens of German royal
move Pressburg. It was
to palaces and princely resi-
during this latter period that dences with statues similar
Messerschmidt executed the to those found in the gardens
delicate series of masks which of Versailles but with a limpid
best illustrate his tormented grace and tormented elegance
spirit. These works, some of sometimes close to rococo.

207
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN NORTHERN EUROPE

The Scandinavian countries Orthodox Church, remained

also took to importing French unknown the 18th cen-
until
sculptors. Jacques Saly(1717- tury. Then Peter the Great
1776) traveled to Denmark to (1672-1725), followed by
execute equestrian statues Catherine the Great (1729-
and busts very similar to those 1796), imported foreign
done by his colleagues at artists, including sculptors,
home. Edme Bouchardon's from France, Germany and
brother, Jean-Philippe (171 1 — Italy. Peter the Great had
1753), like his compatriot summoned to St. Petersburg
and colleague Larcheveque, first Andreas Schluter, then
became official court sculp-
tor to the king of Sweden.
Equestrian Statue of Frederick V,
In Russia, sculpture, pro- by Jacques Saly. Bronze, 1759.
hibited in churches by the Copenhagen. (Photo Sven Thoby)

208
the Italian Carlo B. Rastrelli. Equestrian Statue of Peter the
Catherine IIcalled to the Great, by Etienne Falconet. Bronze,
1766-1778. Leningrad. (Photo
Russian capital Nicolas Gil- Boudot-Lamotte)
let and Etienne Falconet; the

latter in 1766-1778 executed

the magnificent equestrian
bronze of Peter the Great. French sculptors also trained
Seemingly poised over a cliff, the majority of late 18th
horse and rider beautifully century Russian sculptors.
illustrate the fragile balance Gillet's pupil, Choubine (1740-
achieved by contemporary 1805), an acutely observant
French sculpture between portraitist, turned out a re-
the movement and drive of markable series of large
Italian baroque and the re- busts faithfully depicting most
strained austerity of tradi- of the notables at the Russian
tional French classicism. court.

209
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN SPAIN

Though some components of added the Spanish taste for

Spanish baroque were derived colour and for painful realism,
from Italian baroque, the dif- as well as the use not only of
ferences between the two polychrome but of even dif-
art forms are even more ferent textures and materials.
striking. Firmly based on Doll-like moving statues
native traditions and expres- dressed in real clothing were
sing a religious austerity far no rarity during this period.
more severe than its Italian
counterpart, Spanish baroque Gregorio Hernandez (1570-
invariably depicted suffering 1636), a Galician who worked
in itsmost harrowing aspects, mainly in Valladolid, was
and there was an ever-present Spain's first truly baroque
mysticism. To this should be sculptor. Typical of highly
works is
naturalistic religious
the Virgin of Anguish in Val-
ladolid's Santa Cruz chapel.
Enveloped in heavy, brightly
hued draperies and weeping
glass tears encrusted into the
wood of the statue, she im-
molates herself on a sword:
the perfect expression of
full-blown Spanish mysticism.

Juan Martinez Montanes

(1560-1647), who had defi-
nitively established his studio
in Seville by the end of the
16th century, closely followed
in Gregorio Hernandez' foot-
steps. Like his mentor, he

The Virgin of Anguish, detail, by

The Immaculate Conception, de Gregorio Hernandez. Polychrome
tail, by J. M. Montanes. Poly- wood, about 1630. Santa Cruz
chrome wood, about 1630. Seville chapel, Valladolid. (Photo J. P.
Cathedral. (Photo Segalat) Vieil)

210
 '

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devoted himself almost en-
tirely to religious statues
representing the Virgin and
saints, escaping this form
only long enough to model
the equestrian statue of
Philip IV now in Madrid's
Plaza Mayor. The casting of
this piece was actually en-
trusted to an Italian, Pietro
Tacca. Montanes also made
many fine statues designed
to wear rich clothing, and
quite a few with articulated
limbs. He is also credited
with inventing the "Concep-
tion," a type of Virgin which
won instant popularity and
San Juan de Dios, detail, by
has changed very little since. Alonso Cano. Polychrome wood.
In this, the Virgin is shown Archaeological Museum, Granada
standing on a crescent moon (Photo Segalat)

and surrounded by angels.

The earliest of these, it ap-
efforts, the head of San
pears, one dating back to
is
Juan de Dios (now in Gra-
about 1630 which may still
nada's Archaeological Muse-
be seen in the Seville cathedral.
um) perfectly illustrates his
style, which balances gran-
Alonso Cano (1601-1667)
deur with tempered realism.
studied sculpture in Seville
under Montanes, and then Pedro de Mena (1628-1693)
painting under Pacheco, who worked for many years under
was mainly responsible for Alonso Cano, and his output
polychroming Montanes' reveals a Cano-like balanced
works. Cano himself excelled inner strength and the same
in both fields and, during a refusal to make concessions
long and adventure-packed to outward shows of emotion.
life worthy of fiction, man- His Saint Francis of Assist in
aged to travel the length the Toledo cathedral is re-

and breadth of his native markably simple and pure in

Spain and dot the country line, despite the ultra-realistic
with his prodigious output. treatment of the well-patched
One of his finest sculptural homespun monk's robe.

212
 Jose de Mora (1642-1724),
the son of one of Cano's
students, continued along the
same lines, trying to express
mystical emotions through
tortured facial expression.
His contemporary Luiza
Roldan (known as Roldona),
Saint Francis of Assisi, by Pedro daughter of the sculptor
de Mena. Polychrome wood, Pedro Roldan, succeeded in
about 1663. Expressive intensity introducing a fresh note of
compensates for an over-realistic
the drapery. Toledo
grace and elegance into this
treatment of
Cathedral. (Photo Giraudon) otherwise crushing realism.

213
 Fountain in the Gardens of La
foreign influences
Granja, near Segovia. 18th cen-
tury. Phillip V called on French
When, toward the start of sculptors to execute statues and
the 18th century, Louis XIV's fountains similar to those he had
grandson acceded to the admired at Versailles. (Photo
Boudot-Lamotte)
Spanish throne under the
name of Phillip V, Spain was
suddenly thrown wide open
popular arts.
In any case,
to foreign influences, first
from 1752 onward, the
French and later Italian. The
French-inspired San Fernando
new palace of La Granja,
Academy directed and con-
besides being designed by
trolled the country's entire
French architects, was deco-
artistic output.
rated by Versailles-trained
French sculptors, including After 1780, the neo-classical
Rene Fremin and Jacques tradition which had swept
Bousseau. Spanish sculp- Europe penetrated Spain,
ture lost its original, intrinsic without, however, leaving be-
traits and the truly native hind anything that might be
tradition survived only in the considered a masterpiece.

214
17th AND 18th CENTURIES IN PORTUGAL

Portugal's brilliant artistic bent in this direction. They

outpourings of the 16th cen- were highly successful in
tury seemed to dwindle after both Spain and Portugal
her success in throwing out and represent the acme of
the Spaniards and gaining Iberian sculptural tradition.
her independence in 1640.
The neo-classical influence
Perhaps the only exception
which firstappeared in Por-
was in the field of elaborately
tugal toward 1780 brought
carved and gilded altar-
no new life to that country's
pieces, where the exuberant
artistic activitiesand resulted
products of the baroque age
in no important works.
almost matched the hand-
some richness of Manueline
masterpieces.

During the 18th century, Por-

tugal, like the rest of Europe, Saint Benedict altar-piece, by
Machado de Castro, detail, poly-
was held in by French
thrall
chrome wood. (Photo A. Held)
art with the added influence
of a few Italian artists.

Machado de Castro (1732-

1822) carved many monu-
mental pieces with heavy
swirling drapery, such as
those on the Estrella church
in Lisbon. His works rather
resemble those of his con-
temporary, Aleijadinho, who
after a stint in Brazil pro-
duced the rugged prophets
adorning the church of Con-
gonhas do Campo.

A special form of sculpture,

terra -cotta nativity scenes,
suddenly became the vogue
toward the end of the 18th
century, and some of Por-
tugal's finest talents were
NEO-CLASSICISM

Classical art in all its rigour the exact reproduction of the

triumphed in Europe toward originals since "the ancients
the end of the 18th century have said everything."
and beginning of the 19th.
Antonio Canova (1757-1822),
Of course this phenomenon
the foremost Italian sculptor
was most visible in Italy, al-
of this school, had to restrain
ways storehouse of classical
a
his natural realistic bent in
remains, but the trend had
order to achieve the desired
become intensified with the
purity of expression and form.
discovery of Herculaneum
In a typical work, Canova
in 1711 and the unearthing
posed Pauline Borghese as
of Pompeii which began in
a triumphant Venus (Borghese
1748. The prompters of this
Gallery, Rome).
new artistic trend, known
as neo-classicism, demanded Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-
1844), a Dane, competed
directly with Canova though
Pauline Borghese as Venus Vic- his personality was far less
torious, by Antonio Canova.
Marble, 1804. Borghese Gallery,
forceful. His purity of line won
Rome. (Photo Alinari-Giraudon) him much praise, and he had

216
 Love and the Three Graces, by
B. Thorvaldsen. An elegant work
but also coldly academic. Thor-
valdsen Museum, Copenhagen.

famous statue of a Pilgrim

father now standing in New
York City's Central Park,
as well as in his equestrian
and other statues, and many
portrait busts. The finest
example of Saint-Gaudens'
realistic, energetic style is
the impressive Lincoln in

Chicago's Lincoln Park (1887).

His other notable works in-
clude The Puritan (Spring-
field, Mass.), Farragut and
General Sherman (Madison
Square and Central Park,
New York City), and the Shaw
Monument (Boston Common).
wide influence all over Europe
and even in America.
In the United States, the
Civil War and subsequent
change in mores led to
the abandonment of neo-
classicism in favour of more
rugged and realistic tenden-
cies. These are exemplified
by John Ward (1830-1910)
and Augustus Saint-Gaudens
(1848-1907). The former's
familiar yet monumental idi-

om is well illustrated in the

Monument to Lincoln, by Augustus

Saint-Gaudens. Stone. In the 19th
century, American sculptors pre-
ferred powerful realism. Lincoin
Park, Chicago. (Photo Chicago
Park District)

217
 the contemporary period

Just as new ideas and values ture. In addition, Rodin's

enriched 19th century paint- dominating personality, tech-
ing with Delacroix and Cour- nical virtuosity and indiffer-
bet, so sculpture too under- ence to official art brought
went a change at this time, sculpture out of its cocoon
though the effect was less once and for all.
forthright and systematic.
Since the beginning of the
Reviving an artistic tradition 20th century, the art world
which had been dormant has burgeoned with new
since the Renaissance, many ideas, concepts and trends,
late 19th and early 20th cen- all helped immeasurably by
tury painters— Degas, Gaugin, strongly individualistic per-
Renoir, Braque, Picasso, sonalities. It would be im-
Matisse and Derain— also ex- possible for us to mention
ercised their talents in sculp- every sculptor of worth who
is working today, and there-
fore we have had to limit
The Cock, by Constantin Bran- our comments to a few art-
cusi.Gilded bronze. The artist ists who have pushed sculp-
sought simple volume, the pure
ture across new thresholds
aspect of the original form. Na-
tional Museum of Modern Art, or set out on as yet untrodden
Paris. (Photo Segalat) territories.

219
ROMANTICISM

The romantic movement welled almost a caricature, is Jehan

up as a protest against neo- du Seigneur's Orlando Furioso
classicism. Firmly rejecting (now in the Louvre), based on
antique influences, roman- Ariosto's famous early Renais-
ticism tried to convey move- sance romance. At the Salon
ment, violent emotion and of 1831, the original plaster
the picturesque; it drew in- was instantly acclaimed by the
spiration from some previ- sentimentally inclined audi-
ously obscure artists of the ence of the day. Such sculpture
Middle Ages and High Renais- won immediate popularity all

sance. Following closely on over Europe but then sadly

the heels of contemporary lit- petered out into pointless, not
erary trends, sculpture again very interesting genre works.
became expressive, finally Yet exception should be
an
freeing itself from the stifling made the case of two men
in

tenets of neo-classicism, which who, though part of the ro-

had degenerated into a dull mantic movement, still man-
academicism.
official aged to adhere to the tenets
of their early classical training.
A marvellously typical roman-
tic work of this period, indeed PierreJean David(1788-1856),
a native ofAngers, underwent

Orlando Furioso, by Jehan du

Seigneur. Bronze. All the violent
tendencies of the romantic school
appear in this work. Louvre,
Paris. (Photo Giraudon)
The Departure of the Volunteers, Francois Rude (1784-1855)
1792, better known as La Mar- also shed his neo-classical
seillaise, byFrangois Rude.
training to combine a direct
Stone, 1833-1836. Arc de Tri-
omphe, Paris. (Photo Verroust) realism with a talent for move-
ment and graceful poses (as
exemplified by such works as
the usual classical study, in- his Little Fisherman now in the
cluding a long stint in Rome. Louvre). His most celebrated
Soon rebelling against Ca- opus, however, remains his
nova's all-pervasive sway, he majestic relief for the Arc de
was warmly welcomed by the Triomphe in Paris. It shows
Paris romantic pundits. This the departure of the 1792
extremely prolific young artist Revolutionary volunteers. De-
specialized in naturalistic, al- spite the frenzied activity and
most scientifically exact por- exaggerated facial contortions
traits,and carved what of La Marseillaise (1833-
amounted to an honour roll 1836), as this work is now
of France's eminent dashing known, its basic composition
figures— his public no longer remains quite simple and the
being content with heroes execution of both bodies and
from antiquity. drapery fairly restrained.

221
FORERUNNERS OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT
Honore Daumier (1808-1879),
best known for his engravings
and lithographs, did not take
chisel in hand until the age
of 26, yet his first busts
caused Balzac to declare that
he saw something of Michel-
angelo in them. Wanting no
part of contemporary roman-
tic aesthetics, Daumier in-
stead sought a form of precise
realism that would reveal his
subject's underlying psy-
chology. Hisexpressionism
was further heightened by
the violence and speed of
his modelling, which was not
to be equalled until Rodin.

Daumier must be considered

one of the standard-bearers
of modern art— the man who
freed Western sculpture from
stale and hackneyed custom.
His deeply dedicated political
views caused him to be perse-
cuted under the Second Em-
pire. But he still continued to
concentrate on truthful ren-
derings of simple subjects. In-
variably his art reflected the
inherent tragic facets of hu-
man existence.

Jean Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-

1875) had a career diametri-
cally opposed to Daumier's.
Showered with honours by Ratapoil, by Honor6 Daumier.
Bronze, 1849. Daumier's sense
the Second Empire, Carpeaux
of caricature and love of move-
was saved only by personal ment make him a romantic.
integrity from falling into Louvre, Paris (Photo Borel)

222
the trap of facile academicism.
The energetic young artist
made most of his time
the
in Italy studying Michelangelo,
and his Ugolin of 1859 vividly
illustrates the pulsating life
that he could breathe into a
statue. Carpeaux also car-
ried on the portrait tradi-
tions of the 18th century,
with his busts reflecting his
sitter's character and secret
thoughts. Pushing his research
still further, Carpeaux com-
bined a portrayal action
of
with a penetrating observa-
tion of nature. Such pieces
as Flora, The Dance and
the Four Corners of the World
fountain scandalized his The Dance, by J. B. Carpeaux.
Stone. The explosive motion of
contemporaries. The out- this relief almost frees it from
raged bourgeois of Paris its base. Facade of the Op6ra,
singled out The Dance for Paris. (Photo Giraudon)

special vituperation, calling it

an "ignoble saturnalia" and

"an offense to public morality." Jules Dalou (1838-1902)
studied under Carpeaux. His
The very quality in the works sketches show a keen sense
of Daumier and Carpeaux of observation and the ability
that shocked their fellow to create interesting forms
citizens is precisely what without getting bogged down
modern critics appreciate and in detail. Unfortunately, he
find most promising for the went too far in spurning
future. There are direct spiritu- bourgeois academicism, so
al links between Daumier that his works suffered in
and Giacometti or Germaine the end from the equally
Richier. The output of today's obvious evil of trite socialist
kinetic sculptors
but the is conformity. The same thing
culmination of the trend set befell the Belgian sculptor
by Carpeaux, who was still Constantin Meunier (1831-
limited by representational 1905), who also dedicated
necessities. himself to glorifying labour.

223
RODIN Gifted with dazzling tech-
nical virtuosity, he was even
accused by some contempo-
Like Michelangelo and Ber- raries of using direct casts
nini, Auguste Rodin (1840- of his model to make The
1917) was one of the "bea- Age Brass (1877). Yet
of
cons" of Western sculpture. Rodin never let his instinctive
His huge and richly varied realism prevent him from
body of work has been widely exaggerating or twisting a
imitated, though the true pose or gesture to give it
extent of his influence on greater meaning. As he said,
different schools of sculp- he always tried to show inner
ture from the end of the 19th feeling through muscular
century to the present time tension.
remains yet to be fully ap-
praised.
Essentially a humanist who
disdained all literary sub-
Whereas in painting impres- jects, Rodin portrayed men
sionism was the key period, and women in movement,
representing the culmination brimming with life. In his
of figurative painting and Walking Man
1907, "theof
the point of departure for opposed position of the legs
modern art, so Rodin's works symbolizes a time differ-
represent the end product of ential, a contrast between
the classical and
romantic the future and the past based
traditions, and a prelude to on a theory of motion which
the endeavours of contem- he frequently used in his
porary sculptors. sculpture" (Jean Setz). Among
Rodin's most famous works
From his early studies with
Barye, Rodin held a profound
we might mention the Bour-
geois of Calais (see page 15),
respect for anatomical detail.
He also admired both the The Kiss (cover), and the
balance of Grecian works masterpiece, The Gate of Hell.

and the inherent strength

of Michelangelo's sculpture.
Like Michelangelo, Rodin com-
pletedly devoted himself to
the goal of translating into Balzac, by Auguste Rodin. Bronze,
stone the tragic grandeur of 1893-1897. This statue provoked
a scandal and was rejected by
the human spirit with its al-
the literary society that had
ways underlying psychological commissioned it. Paris. (Photo
tension. S. Vaucher)

224
Rodin's contemporaries

Though Rodin had no direct

pupils, many artists visited
his studio. Among them were:

Charles Despiau (1874-1946),

a highly popular portraitist.

Frangois Pompon (1855-

1933), who spent fifteen
years carving stone for Rodin
before becoming a master of
animal sculpture in his own
right (The Polar Bear, 1922).

Antoine Bourdelle (1861-

1929), despite a solid ad-
miration for Rodin, gave his
works a romantic twist and
monumental dimension quite
unlike the master's products
(Miner'sMonument, Montceau-
es-Mines; Monument to Gen-
eral Alvear, Buenos Aires).
He also treated classic sub-
jects (Dying Centaur, Pene-
lope).

Rodin's influence outside

France can be seen in the
works of the Belgian sculp-
tor Rik Wouters (1882-1916),
whose Mad Virgin (1912,
now in Antwerp's Beaux
Arts Museum) reveals that
its author— like Degas a few
years before— sought to cap-
ture the fleeting instant.
Max Klinger (1857-1920) in
Germany and Charles Mal-
fray (1887-1940) in France
show the impact of Rodin.

225
Hercules the Archer, by Antoine age of forty, without a shred
Bourdelle. Gilded bronze, 1909. of formal training. Early on
A work recalling ancient Greek
sculpture. National Museum of
he developed his own style
Modern Art, Paris. (Photo Brogi- which hardly changed through-
Giraudon) out his life. His speciality was
the female nude, which he
rendered as solid, full vol-
Rodin's successors umes composed with archi-
tectural exactitude (Flora,
Aristide Maillol (1861-1944),
1911; Pomona, 1912).
whose works are a far cry
from Rodin's expressionism, The soothing solidity of
nevertheless resembled the Maillot's works and their
master in respecting classical utter lack of literary content
forms. A Catalan of hermit- link them directly to ancient
like habits, he worked first as Greek statues. Maillol had
a painter and weaver before enormous influence on the
taking up sculpture at the sculptors of his time.

226
Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881- stemmed from his pictorial
1919) started out as an ad- and antispatial concepts.
miring imitator of Rodin. Dazzled by the impression-
After a stay in Paris between ists' research into the nature
1910 and 1914, however, he of light, he attempted works
gradually adopted the pure which could, only be seen
and static classicism of Mail- completely from a single
lol, while at the same time point. "You needn't walk
leaning toward abstraction. around a statue any more
The despair and anxiety than you need to walk around
visible in his slender, elon- a form to receive an im-
gated figures reflect a darken- pression of it," was his dic-
ing mental state, and he tum. Rosso executed por-
eventually killed himself. traits and intimate vignettes
German between
sculpture of barely sketched-in forms,
the wars learned much from using broad strokes.
him.

Medardo Rosso (1858-1928),

of Italy, started painting at
The Mediterranean, by Aristide
Maillol. Bronze, 1902-1905.
a tender age, then turned to Tuileries Gardens, Paris. (Photo
sculpture. His originality S. Vaucher)
 ing influence of Etruscan,
pre-Hellenic and
Negro art
could be seen in the works of
many men who, though es-
sentially painters, also did
some sculpture: Derain,
Matisse, La Fresnaye, and
especially Amedeo Modiglia-
ni (1884-1920). The elon-
gated female heads carved
by Modigliani are in almost
every respect like those he
painted. As for Picasso, he
started carving masks in-

spired by Negro art as early

as 1905. He later turned to
sculpture round to
in the
produce his huge Heads of
1932 and subsequently in-
K r%!J *} " '
'

'
-
* S • - '• * * '
* *
corporated a host of ma-
terials in his statues (Man
with a Sheep, 1944).
Young Man Seated, by Wilhelm
Lehmbruck. Bronze, 1918. Devoid
of realism although figurative,
A lot of painters paved the
this simple, almost barren work way to abstraction in sculp-
exudes an aura of despair and ture. Two Russians, Vladimir
solitude. Kunstmuseum, Duis-
Tatline (1885-1956) and
burg. (Photo Bemd Kirtz)
Ivan Pougny (1894-1956) ex-
hibited purely abstract sculp-
ture at the 1915 Saint Peters-
painter-sculptors
burg show held by the
"suprematist" artists.
Other early 20th century
sculptors drew both inspira-
The Belgian sculptor Georges
tion and enthusiasm from
Vantongerloo (born 1886),
the exciting discoveries made
previously a painter and ar-
in the field of painting.
chitect, joined the De Stijl
Gauguin, always attracted (The Style) group and as
to sculpture, revealed a new early as 1917 created "struc-
source of inspiration for con- tures ina sphere" which
temporary artists— the primi- completely broke with all

tive. Henceforth, the deepen- realistic forms.

228
CUBISM AND FUTURISM

Cubism was essentially a Woman Walking, by Archipenko.

painters' movement. Cubists Bronze, 1912. Forms and ab-
stract spaces create the illusion
loved objects for the sake of ofmovement. Saarbrucken Muse-
the object and its underlying um. (Photo Archipenko)
structure, and they tried to
bring out on a canvas's two-
dimensional surface what the
eye normally could not find
in a classical work. Through
his imagination the viewer
was thus enabled to perceive
the essential whole of the
subject treated. Naturally,
sculptors were attracted by
cubist concepts.

Alexander Archipenko (1887-

1964), a native of Kiev, be-
came a cubist shortly after
his arrival in Paris in 1908.
His first cubist sculpture, in
which empty space was ac-
corded a major role, went
much further than the simple
reconstruction of a figure by
means of prisms, cubes or
broad, flat surfaces.

Three sculptors from Eastern

Europe and two Frenchmen,
all working in Paris, led the

vanguard of the cubist school

of sculpture. Joseph Csaky
was born in Hungary in 1888,
Jacques Lipchitz was Lithua-
nian and Ossip Zadkine a
Russian. The Frenchmen were
Raymond Duchamp-Villon and
Henri Laurens.

229
Jacques Lipchitz (b. 1891) re- Brzeska (1891-1915), Pablo
jected figures and objects, Gargallo(1881-1934), Picasso
concentrating on plastic values and La Fresnaye, as the latter
and tending toward com- two felt no compunction in
pletely abstract sculpture. abandoning brush and can-
vas for modelling clay.
Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967),
on the other hand, left a body The cubist creed soon spread
of work marked by the art- to every corner of Europe
ist's personal lyricism. His and resulted in the establish-

passion for figurative ex- ment of many fine local

pressionism diverted him schools of The
sculpture.
from the temptations of cubist banner was flown in
purely abstract art. Germany by Rudolph Bellin
(b. 1888), in England by
Raymond Duchamp-Villon American-born Sir Jacob Ep-
(1876-1918) executed works stein (1880-1959) and in
which were cubist in inspira- Czechoslovakia by Gutfreund,
tion and in the rigidity of Filla and Capek.
their structure, but whose
dynamism made them akin
to those of the Italian painter-
sculptor Umberto Boccioni. Horse's Head, by Raymond
Duchamp-Villon. Bronze, 1914.
National Museum of Modern
Henri Laurens (1885-1954) Art, Paris. (Photo Segalat)
produced a richly varied dis-
play of work, whose austerely
formal straight lines slowly
gave way to an interplay of
sinuous curves. Like Archi-
penko, Laurens favoured poly-
chrome to dampen the con-
trast of light and shadow and
to endow each piece of sculp-
ture with the complete autono-
my of a painting. "My pur-
pose in polychroming," he
said, "is togive each sculp-
ture its own light."

In the list of cubist sculptors,

room must also be made for
such artists as Gaudier-

230
FIGURATIVE SCULPTURE

Throughout the 20th century Julio Gonzalez(1876-1942)

figurative sculpture main- arrived in from Spain
Paris
tained a healthy vigour, in 1900, there again meeting
despite an ever-increasing in- Picasso. First a painter, he
filtration by the abstract. abandoned this art form
after the death of his brother,
Constantin Brancusi (1876-
and took up sculpture only
1957), a Rumanian who set-
at Brancusi's insistence in
tled in Paris in 1904, was a
1927. Gonzalez' favourite ma-
leading light in this field. An
terial was metal, which he
admirer of Rodin's and the
attacked with the driving
close friend of many cubists,
energy of a blacksmith. Al-
Brancusi nevertheless re-

mained staunchly figurative

and kept his artistic inde-
La Montserrat, by Julio Gonzalez.
pendence during his long Iron, 1937. Stedelijk Museum,
life. Whatever his subject— Amsterdam.
a face, a person, an animal,
an object— Brancusi sought
always to find its original
form, eliminating all super-
fluous details and accessories
and maintaining a precise
balance between realism and
imagination. To support this
aesthetic quest he employed
a painstaking and refined
technique, polishing and re-
polishing his fine-grained ma-
terials until they shone.

The key to his works can be

found in his own words: "Re-
ality is not in the apparent
form of things but in their
essence. Assuming this, it is
impossible for anyone to
express reality by imitating
the outward surface of ob-
jects."

231
ternating figurative pieces Drawing, painting and mod-
like his Montserrat of 1937 elling with equal vigour, from
with abstractions like the 1946 on Giacometti created
Cactus Man of 1940, he main- haggard emaciated
a world of
tained the same expressive figures, some tiny, some
verve throughout. outsized, whose agonized ex-
pressions reflect the exis-
Marino Marini (b. 1901) saw tentionalist ethos of his time.
things quite differently, stating
in 1935 that "the only truly
artistic is one which
work Unique Form of Continuity in
finds source in nature
its Space, by Umberto Boccioni,
1913, bronze. One of the rare
and is then able to abstract
examples of this artist's work
and transcend it." Marini still extant, it ideally illustrates
concentrated on a limited the manifesto on futurist sculp-
number of themes: nudes, ture published by Boccioni in
1912. Gallery of Modern Art,
portraits,and above all his Milan. (Photo Scala)
Horse and Rider, a subject
to which he often returned.

Umberto Boccioni (1882-

1916), one of the leaders of
Italian futurist painting,
tried in his few rare sculp-
tures to give this movement
a new means expression in
of
fixing, according to his own
words, "the unique form
which expresses its con-
tinuity in space."

Alberto Giacometti (1901-

1966), whose early works are
filled with imaginary fanciful
creatures derived from sur-
realism, remarked that "art
is perfect hallucination." A
native of Switzerland, he
sought to re-establish the
relationship the figure in
of
space and
thus enable his
viewers to grasp the subject
as a whole.

232
Silhouette at Rest, by Henry Henry Moore (b. 1898) of
Moore. Travertine marble, 1957. England has remained faith-
Simultaneously figurative and
ful to the humanist view of
abstract, Moore harmonizes the
proportions of his volumes with art, but alternates between a
surrounding space. Unesco Gar- figurative and abstract idiom
dens, Paris. (Photo Massin) in treating his favourite sub-
ject—the reclining human
Germaine Richier (1904-
figure. monumental ef-
His
1959) was one of the few
figies reveal their true mean-
animal sculptors working in
ing only when seen in the
a modern idiom. Giving monu-
open air, where their rhythm
mental proportions to the
can harmonize with a rural
smallest insect, she com-
or architectural setting.
bined this deliberate distor-
tion with a warm love of Fritz Wotruba, born in Aus
nature. She
succeeded in tria 1907, has emulated
in
mixing the animal and vege- Henry Moore in using ab-
table kingdoms to make an straction to produce works in
imaginary world whose weird which the human body "is
atmosphere and menace is present at the beginning of
accentuated by her nervous, the work, and is still there at
piecemeal modelling. the end."

233
 ABSTRACT SCULPTURE

Most artists arrived at ab-

stract sculpture through the
natural development of their
thinking or work. In order to
realize both the scope of
this art form and the variety
of its potentialities, we will
consider five artists, all with
radically different ideas.

The Pevsner Brothers, Anton

(1886-1962) and Naum (b.
1890), better known as Naum
Dynamic Projection at 30° by ,

Gabo, achieved similar re-

Anton Pevsner. Bronze, 1950.
National Museum of Modern sults although pursuing their
Art, Paris. (Photo Segalat) researches quite independent-

234
ly. In 1920 they jointly pub- these intertwining round
lished the famous Moscow volumes, yet Arp's art seems
Manifesto proclaiming that natural in its innocent poetry
art should bebased on space and in his insistence on pure
and time, and that space formal beauty. He called some
should become an integral of his works "concretions."
part of any work. Hence the
principle of the active void Alexander Calder, born in

and the elimination of volume Philadelphia in 1898, the

in favour of depth, transpar- son and grandson of sculp-
ency and the interplay of engineering and
tors, studied

light and shadow. In Anton pursued a variety of trades

Pevsner's work, based on before joining the Abstraction
interlocking lines and planes, Creation group in Paris in
empty space was as essential 1931. His first mobiles, which
as solid volumes. It carries to he called "moving Mondri-
a logical conclusion the revo- ans," were essentially painted
lutionary ideas launched in metal plates hanging from
1920. The same may be said wires. The American poured
of Naum Gabo's constructiv- all talent into producing
his
ist sculptures, which are none- these mobiles which, moved by
theless quite different from air currents, abolish precise

his brother's. It was Gabo notions of space and time,

who made the first kinetic and require for their crea-
sculpture: amechanized knife tion the melding of all the
which carved out an imaginary qualities of technician and
volume in empty space (1920). poet that are Calder's.

Jean Arp (1887-1966), after Nicolas Schbffer (born in

his initial training as a painter, 1912) translated Mondrian's
participated in many artistic structural principles into
crusades. They included the three-dimensional forms. In
Blaue Reiter movement in 1848 he created "spatio-
Munich, where he met the dynamism," a concept which
Russian painter Kandinsky, involves motor-driven struc-
and the dada movement that tures put into pre-planned
he helped start in 1916 in motion. Carrying his kinetic
Zurich. It was at that time researches a step further,
that he made his first poly- Schoffer then created
chrome abstract reliefs. "lumino-dynamism," in which
There is no direct connection light was added to the inter-
between real-life forms and play of form and motion.

235
CONCLUSION

While was the birth-

Paris the Frenchman Jean Dubuffet
place modern art and
of (b. 1901) and the American
still remains one of its cen- Robert Rauschenberg (b.
tres,other equally important 1925), for example.
schools have arisen since
World War I in different Furthermore, at the same time
lands, mainly in London and that they utilize traditional
New York. The American materials and techniques,
school been particularly
has 20th century sculptors have
active and
inventive. John tended to take up strange
Storrs (1885-1956), a student materials— aluminium, plas-

of Rodin who first exhibited tics, polyester resins, in-

in 1920, pioneered abstract dustrial waste and manufac-

sculpture in the United States. tured articles. Fascinated by
A later group of artists like recent discoveries, they have
David Smith, David von invented original techniques
Schlegell and George Segal whose possibilities seem al-
translated into traditional most endless— for instance,
forms the anguish and grow- the use of electronic lighting
ing pains of a new society. circuits. Though the form
Last in this line is Claes Olden- in space remains the basis of

burg (b. 1929), the pop all sculpture, the new idea of

sculptor whose works reveal "environment" has gained

a continual quest for still ground, and sculpture has
more technical and aesthetic now started to move, with
freedom. sonic and luminous effects
added to give it deeper
Modern sculptors may also meaning.
be painters, engravers, deco-
rators, ceramicists, gold- Modern sculpture has marvel-
smiths or architects. Ex- lously reclaimed a field which
amples of this versatility are in the 19th century was rele-

Braque, Picasso and Le Cor- gated mostly to mediocre prac-

busier. And whatever aesthetic titioners of obsolete academi-
theories artists may adhere to cism. Today the sculptor's art
in this stage of artistic up- is considered an integral part

heaval, they tend to com- of architecture and of city

bine painting and sculpture— planning.

236
dS
INDEX Belem (monastery of) Charlemagne 115. 120. Easter Island 18. Ill
Boldface numerals 179 121 Egypt 7. 28 38-53
indicate illustrations Bellin (Rudolph) 230 Charles Martel 119 Elam,tes28. 31
Belvedere (palace) 20 Charles V (France) 142. Eleanor of Aragon 164
Abstract sculpture 234 Benard 10 143 Ellora (caves) 86
Abydos 38 Bernini 19. 177 186, Charles VIM (France) England, 12th-15th
Acropolis (Athens) 18 193, 194. 195 173 cent. 155
Adam (the three Bernwald (Bishop) W8 Charles V (Emperor) Epstein (Jacob) 230
brothers) 189. 205 Berruguete (Alonso) 177, 178 Erechtheum 58
Africa 112-113 178 Charles of Aniou 141 Erhart (Gregor) 147
Agamemnon (mask of) Berulle (Cardinal) 184 Charles I (England) 21 Esconal (tombs) 178
8 Biguerny (Philippe) 178 Chartres 132, 133, 139 Etruscans 70-72
Akkad 29 Black Prince 155 Chastel (A) 167
Albert.163 Boccioni (Umberto) 232 Chavins 108 Faidherbe (Luc) 202
Alexander the Great 37. Bodhisattva 85, 91 94, Cheops (pyramid) 39 Falconet (Etienne) 10.
52. 68 96. 99 Chephren 40 191. 205. 209
Alexandria 69 Boethos 67 Chicago (Lincoln Fancelli (Domenico)
Algardi (Alessandro) Bonanno 127 monumentj.217 177
196 Bontemps (Pierre) 175 Chichimecs 104 Ferrara 127
Amateo (Giovanni Borghese (Cardinal Chimu (empire) 109 Fiesole (Jerome of) 173
Antonio) 164 Scipio) 193. 194 China 92-96 Filla 230
Amenophis IV 47. 50 Bouchardon 10, 190. Choubine 209 Flanders 144
Amenhotep III 45 203. 208 Cistercians 154 Flanders. Romanesque
Amiens 115. 131, 134, Bourdelle (Antoine) Claus de Werve 145 129
135 143 225 226 Clodion 205 Flora (china) 9
Anatolia 28 Bourges 135 Colin (Alexander) 181 Florence 150. 151.
Angers 181 Brahmanism 82. 83 Colombe (Michel) 173 158-159. 164
Angkor 90 Bramante 20 Constantine (Emperor) Floris (Corneille) 181
Angkor Thorn 88. 91 Bracci (Pietro) 197 79, 116 Forment (Damian) 177.
Angkor Vat 20, 88. 89 Brancusi 218, 231 Corbeil 132 178
Anguier (brothers) 185 Braque 219 Cortone (Pietro de) 206 Fouquet (Nicolas) 20
Anpu (duke of) 214 Bnosco (Bernedetto) Courbet 219 France. Romanesque
Antelami 126-127 164 Coysevox 187. 188 122-124
Antenor 55 Bruges 180 Crete 53 France, 14th cent 142
Antioch 37 Brunelleschi 158 Cro Magnon 23 France, 16th cent 173
Aphrodite (kneeling) 67 Buddha 18. 83-84, 85. Crusades 117 France. 17th cent
Aphrodite (of Cnidus) 86, 97 Cubism 229 184-188
63 Burgos 139 Cyclades (idols) 23 France. 18th cent
Apollo (Bernini) 16 Burgundy Cyrus 36 189-191
Apollo (of Miletus) 54 (Romanesque) 8. Francis I 20, 172, 174
Apollo (of Piombmo) 26. 123 Frederick 1121
Dalou 223
11. 54 14th cent 144 Frederick the Great
Darius 36
Apollo (of Rhodes) 69 Byzantium 115, 116- 204. 205. 206
Daumier (Honore) 222
Apollo (of Thera) 53 117 Frederick V 208
David (Pierre Jean) 220
Apoxyomenos Athlete
Degas 219 Fremin (Rene) 214
65 Caesar 26 Deidamaia 57 Futurism 229 .

Apsaras 90 Delacroix 219

Cakyamuni 84. 97. 99
Arabs 119 Delcour (Jean) 202 Gattamelata (statue
Calder (Alexander) of)
Arameans 31
203
235 236 Deltt 160
Ara Pacis 74
Cambio (Arnolfo di) Delphi 55 Gaugin 219. 228
Area Santa 125 Delvaux (Laurent) 203 Genghis Khan 96
141
Arch of Titus 77 Derain 219. 228 Gerhaert of Leyden
Cametti 198
Archermos 55 Despiau (Charles) 225
Cano (Alonso) 212 146
Archipenko 229 Diadumenos 61 Gerhardt (Hubert) 181,
Canova 197, 199. 216
Arp (Jean) 235 Canterbury (cathedral) Diego de Arruda 154 182
Artaxerxes 36 Diion 144 Germanic countries,
155
Assurbanipal 33, 34, Diocletian 79 Romanesque. 128
Capek 230
35 Carpeaux (J B ) 223 Discobolos 16. 17. 59 Germanic countries.
Assyria 10. 31 Diebel Arak 5 16th cent 182
Carthage 37
Athena Lemma 61 Casky (Joseph) 239 Donatello 13. 160-164. Germany. 13th cent
Attalus 66 I

Cassites 31 161 136

Augsburg 183 Donner (G R 206. Germany, 15th cent
Catalonia 125 )

Augustus (Emperor) 73 Catherine de Medici 207 146

Austria. 17th 18th Doryphoros (by Ghiberti 158. 159
176
cent 206 (the Great) Polyclitus) 16 60. Ghirlandaio 167
Catherine II

Avignon 142 208 62,65 Giacometti 273

21, 191.
Aztecs 104 Cellini (Benvenuto) Drakkar 118 Giambologna 172, 181.
5.

171, 174 Dubroecq (Jacques 192

Babylonia 28, 31 Central Europe. 17th 172. 181 Gilde Siloe 153
Basle 128 18th cent. 204 Duccio (Agostino di) Gilgamesh (hero) 32,
Bamberg 137 Chaldea 28. 33 163 35
Bandeay Srei 89 Champmol Duchamps Villon 229. Gillet (Nicholas) 205.
Bandine'li 170 (charterhouse) 144 230 231 209
Barbarians 118. 119 Champollion 46 Duke de Berry 143 Giotto 151
Barye 224 Chams 88 Dupre (Guillaume) 184 Girardon 187
Bayer (W) 207 Chancelade (man) 23 Duquesnoy (Francois) Gislebertus 123
Bayon (the) 91 Chantereine (Nicolas) 196. 200 Giusti (brothers) 173
Beauneveu (Andre) 143 179 Dura Europos 37 Godefroid 129

238
Gonzales (Julio) 231 Kailasa (temple) 86 Luksor (temple) 47. 49 Moore (Henry) 19. 233
Gouion (Jean) 175, 187 Kaiuraho (temple) 87 Lysippus 63. 65. 70 Mora (Jose de) 213
Greece 10, 53-69 Kamakura 98 Multscher (Hans) 147
Guatemala 106 Kamamura (period) 16 Munich (school of) 207
Machado de Castro 215 Mycenae (Lion Gate)
Gudea (king) 29. 30 Kandinsky 235
Madeleine (church,
Guenn (Gilles) 184 Handler (Weissen) 10 27. 53
Vezelay) 123
Guillam (Nicholas and Kang hi (Emperor) 96 Myron 16, 17. 55. 59
Maderna (Stefano) 192 Museums:
Simon) 184 Kano (school) 100
Magdalenian art 25-26
Gunther (Ignaz) 207 Kapilavastu 82 Abidian 113
Mohammed 119
Gupta (style) 85. 87 Karnak (temple) 47. 49 Acropolis 55. 56,
Maillol (Anstide) 227
Gutfreund 230 Karomama (queen) 50 Athens 8. 61. Bargello
Malatesta (temple) 163
Guyot de Beaugrand Keratea 55 160, 165. 195. Berlin
Maltray (Charles) 225
180 Khmers 88-91 13. 27. 48. 66 68.
Malmes 202
Khorsabad (palace) Boston 94. British
Mantegazza (brothers)
33. 34 Museum 21. 34. 51.
Hallstadt (culture) 26. 164
Klinger (Max) 225 54. 62 90. 111. 113;
27 Manuel the Great 154
Klosterneubourg Burgos 153. Cairo 8.
Hammurabi 31 Marguerite, of Austria
(screen) 129 39. 40. 47. 49. 50:
Han dynasty 92 93 180
Korea 97 Capitoltne (Rome)
Hapsburg (court) 181 Marcus Aruelius 76
Hardouin Mansart
Koryuii (Kyoto) 16 66 73. 75. 76: Cluny
Marino Marini 232
Krafft (Adam) 148 (Paris) 128: Coimbra
(Jules) 187 Master Henri 139
Krishna (cave) 84 178. Delphi 59.
Hathor (sacred cow) Master Mathieu 138
Kuan ym 96 Dresden 64, 66.
43. 49 Mathura (school) 85.
68- Kublai Khan 96 Frankfurt 60. Gournah
Hellenistic period 86
Kudura 97 (Thebes) 47; 49:
69 Masaccio 13
Kuyund|ik (palace) Guimet (Pans) 81.
Henry II (France) 128. Matisse 219. 228
175 33. 34 85-90, 94 100.
Maurice (bishop) 139
Heracles 55. 65 226
Kwannon 97. 99 Liege 129. Louvre 5.
Maximilhan II (tomb)
7 10. 12, 13. 15. 20.
Hernandez (Gregono) 182
23. 29. 30. 32.
210 La Fresnaye 228 Mazarin (cardinal) 20
Hildesherm 137 35-38. 41-43.
Lagash 28. 30. 31 Mazzoni (Guido) 173
49
Hittites 37.
48-52. 54-56. 58
Languedoc 122 Mayans 106, 107
Horus (god) 39. 51 63-65 71. 72 74.
Languet de Gergy Medes 36
Houdon (Jean Antome) 75 119 142. 145.
(tomb) 189 Medici (Lorenzo di) 169
164 184 185, 187,
191 Lao Tse 95 Medicis 20. 165
Huitzilopochtli (god) 188. 191. 205 220.
Laocoon 20. 66 Meissen (Saxony) 10
222, Metropolitan
104 Laurana (Francesca) Memnon (colossus) 14
Huns 94 (New York) 94. 95.
164 Memphis 40-43
Hyksos 46 Mexico 102. 104-107;
Laurens (Henri) 229. Mena (Pedro de) 212,
Modern Art (New
230 213
York) 19. Modern
Ibsambul (colossus) Le Brun 185. 187 Menelaus 66
Art (Pans) 230. 234.
46. 47 Le Ndtre 185 Meru (temple) 88
237. Naples 60. 76.
Incas 109 Le Vau 185 Messerschmidt (F.X.)
79. Olympia 57. 64.
India 80-87 Legros 185 207
65, Oslo 118. Oxford
Indra (temple) 86 Lehmbruck (W ) 227. Meunier (Constantin)
96: Palermo 71. Riet
Ireland 27 228 223 burg (Zurich) 88. 113.
Isabella (queen) 177 Lemoyne (father and Meyt (Conrad) 180
Rodez 24. Rodin 15;
Isaiah 122 son) 189 Michelangelo 20 156.
Rome 61, Rouen 9.
Isis 52 Leochares 63 159 166-170.
Saarbrucken 229;
Islam 119. 125 Leon (cathedral) 125. 224
Seattle 95: Seoul 98
Italy 10 138 Middle Ages 13
Saint-Germain-en
Italy. Romanesque 120 Leo I (monument) 196 Milo of Crotone 16. 188
Laye 26 27; Stras
Italy, 13th cent 140 Leo (emperor) 116
III Minamoto Yokitomo 16
bourg 146: Teotihua
Italy. 14th cent 150- Leoni (father and son) Ming dynasty 96
can 161. Thorvaldsen
151 178 Mirabell (castle) 206
(Copenhagen) 217
Italy 15th and 16th Lescot (Pierre) 175 Miratlores
Tuxtla Gutierrez 107
cent 158 Lespugne (Venus of) 24 (charterhouse of) 153
Vatican 17. 20. 63.
Italy. 17th and 18th Lincoln (Abraham 217 Miroku Bosati 16
67 73. Vienna 25.
cent 192-199 Lipchitz (Jacques) 229. Mitla (palace) 106
113: Villa Borghese
230 Mocchi (Francesco) 192
216
Loggia dei Lanzi Mochicans 108. 109
Jamnitzer. Wenzel 183 (Florence) 171 Modena (cathedral) 126 Nanni di Banco 159
Japan 97-100 Lombardy 126 Modigliani (Amedeo) Nara 16. 18. 97
Jayavarman VII 91 Lombardo (Pietro) 164 228 Nefertiti (queen) 48
Jean de Bruxelles 180 Louis XII (France) 173 Moituner (Antome Le) Neo classicism 216
Jean de Liege 143 Louis de France (tomb) 145 New Guinea 110. Ill
Jean de Rouen 179 135 Mondnan (Piet) 235 Nicolas de Hageunau
Jefferson. Thomas. 191 Louis XIV (France) 19. Mone (Jan) 180 147
Jerusalem 120 20 21 186 Monreale (cathedral) Nicolas de Verdun 129
Johann de Vallfogona LouisXV (France) 10 127 Nicolo deMArca 164
152 Low Countries. 16th Montanes (Juan Nike of Samothrace 4
Jbrg Syrlin 147 cent 180 Martinez) 210. 212 Nimrod (bas reliefs) 34
Juan de PadiMa 153 Low Countries. 17th- Monte Alban 105 Niniveh 31. 34
Julius II (pope) 20. 18th cent 200 Montmorency No mask 100
156. 168 Lower Mesopotamia 28 (Anne de) 20 Northern Europe 17th
Juny (Jean de) 178 Lucca (cathedral) 159 Montorsoh (Da) 170 18th cent 208
Justinian 116 Lucca della Robbia 162 Montreuil (Pierre de) Notre Dame de Pans
Juvata 198 Lucian 59 19 134

239
Nuremburg 147 Quercia (Jacopo della) Seigneur (Jehan du) Tuscany 127
158 159 220 Tutankhamen 47
Quierolo (Francesco) Seneca (bust) 75. 76
Oceania 110 Senlis (cathedral) 130
197 199
Olmecs 101. 102 Serpotta (Giacomo) 199 United States 217
Orcagna (Andrea) 151 Settignano 163 Unkei 100
Orddfiez (Bartolomeo) Ramses 49
II
Seville (cathedral) 210 Ur 28. 30. 31
178 Ramses III 37
Shang dynasty 92 Urban VIII (pope) 19
Oudart (Philippe) 179 Ramessids 49 Sheik El Beled 40 Uruk 28
Oviedo (cathedral) 125 Ras Shamra 37 Shosoin (Nara) 18
Reims 18. 134. 135. Siphnos (treasury of) Valladohd 211
139 55 Valle (Philippe della) 197
Pachacutec (emperor) Renier de Huy 129 Sistme Chapel 168. 169 Vantongerloo (Georges)
109 Renoir 219 Sixtus IV (tomb) 165 228
Pacher (Michael) 147 Richier (Germaine) Slodtz (M A ) 189 Varin (Jean) 5, 184.
Padua 160. 163
223. 233 Sluter. Claus 144. 145. 186
Paianios 65
Riemenschneider. 146 Vasco de la Zara 1 78
Papu (Augustin) 191 Tilmann 149 Sou. Mac 122 Vaux le Vicomte 21
Panathenaean proces
Rizzo (Antonio) 163 Spain. Romanesque Ven (temple) 70
sion 13. 58. 62
Rodin 15. 222. 224 125 Venice 163
Parma (cathedral) 127 Roldan (Luiza) 213 Spam. 13th cent Venus de Milo 63, 64
Paros (marble) 7, 53
Roldan (Pedro) 213 138-39 Verbruggens 201
Parthenon 13. 58 Romanticism 220 Spain. 14th 15th cent Verhulst (Rombaut)
Paul II 169
Rome 70-79. 192-195. 152-153 203
Pavia
197 Spain. 16th cent. 177 Verrocchio 19. 165. 166
(charterhouse) 165
Rondanini Pieta 170 Spain, 17th 18th cent. Versailles 19. 21. 185.
Pepin de Huy (Jean)
Rosselli (Domenico) 210. 211 186. 187. 195
142 164 Spinazzi 197 198 Verschaffelt (Pierre)
Pergamum 37. 66. 68
Rossellmo (Bernardo) Sriningam (temple of) 203. 207
Permoser (Balthazar)
163 86 Verwoort (Michel) 201
206 Rosso 174. 227 Stoss. Weit 147. 148 Vienna 206. 207
Peru 108-109
Rubens 202 '.trasbourg 136, 135. Vishnu 86
Persia 10
Rude (Francois) 221 137 Virgin (coronation of) 7
Persepolis 36 Rusconi (Camille) 197 Straub 207 Virgin, the 18, 129.
Peter the Great 209 Rusticci (F ) 170 Sumer 28-30 130. 131. 133.
Pevsner (Anton) 234
Sung dynasty 96 142. 211
Phidias 58. 61. 62. 64
Susa (palace) 5. 28 Virgin. White 138
Philippe Pot 145
Saint Cecilia 192 Vischer (Peter) 148. 182
Phoenicians 37
Saint Denis 18. 19. Vittona (A 170
)
Picasso 219. 228. 231 124. 130. 132 135 Tanagra 14. 15. 69
Voltaire 190
Pieta 167 Saint Francis ot Assisi Tang dynasty 95
Vnes (Adnen de) 181.
Pieta. Rondanini 170 Tanis (Upper Egypt) 40
176. 213 183
Pigalle 190. 205 Tara (statue) 90
Saint Gaudens Vulca 70
Pilon (Germain) 176 Tarquins 70
(Augustus) 217
Pisa 140, 141 151 Tarragona (cathedral)
Saint Germain en Laye
Pisano (Amadeo) 158 24 152 Wagner (J. P) 207
Pisano (Andrea) 150 Saint Louis. 19. 133 Tassaert 205 Ward (John) 217
Pisano (Giovanni) 140. Saint Martha 174 Tatlme (Vladimir) 228 Washington. George
150 Saint Peter's. Rome Tatti (Jacopo) 170 (Houdon statue)
Pisano (Nicolas) 140 Templars (knights) 154 191
165. 167, 196
Pisano (Nino) 151 Saint Sernin (cathedral) Tenayuca (pyramid) Wiligelmo 126
Pliny the Elder 53. 59. 121. 122 104 Willendorf Venus 24.
65. 66 Saint Suzanne 200 Tene La (culture) 27 25
Poitou 124 Saint Thecla 152 Teotihuacan (pyramid) Wotruba (Fritz) 233
Pollaiolo (Antonio Saint Theodore 133 102 Wouters (Rik) 225
del) 165 Saint Theresa 195 Tetrarchs (sculpture) Wurzburg 149
Polychtus 15. 60. 61 Sainte Foy de Conques 79
Polynesia 110-111 121 Thailand 88
Pompon (Francois) Saitic period50 Theodosius the Great
225 Saly (Jacques) 208 115
Portugal. 12th 15th Samothrace. Nike ot 4 Thorvaldsen (Bertel) Yuan (dynasty) 96
cent- 154 San Vitale (church) 116 217
Portugal. 16th cent Sansovino (Contucci) Tmo dt Camaino 150 Zadkme (Oslip) 229.
179 170 Tlaloc (god) 102 230
Portugal. 17th 18th Santiago de Compo Todai|i (temple) 16 Zapotecs 105
cent 215 stela 120. 125. Toledo (cathedral) 178.
Pougny (Ivan) 228 138 139 213
Poussm (Nicolas) 20. Sarrazin (Jacques) 184 Toltecs 103
200 Schadow (Gotttned) Torngianni (Pietro) 177
Praxiteles 63. 64 205 Toso (school) 100
Pre Columbian America Schiaffino (Francesco) Toulouse 122
101 198 Towneley (Sir Charles)
PrimatiCCiO 174. 176 Schluter (Andreas) 21
Ptolemy 52. 65 204. 206 Train's column 78 Copyright c by
Puget (Pierre) 16. 21. Schoffer (Nicolas) 235. TribOlO 170 SPADEM and ADAGP
188. 198 237 Tromp (admiral) 203 Pans 1970 for illustra
Pythagoras 55. 70 Scopas 13. 55. 63 64. Troyes 174 tionson pages 15.

65 Tula (Mexico) 103 218. 225. 226. 227.

Quellm the Elder 201 Seated Scribe 41 Turks 117 230. 231 and 236

240 A BCD E F
Sculpture from its originsto con-
temporary times is described
and depicted in this compact
yet comprehensive Golden Art
Guide. The authors, two lead-
ing French authorities, review
their subject in its global set-
ting—from the sculpture of
ancient and classical lands to
that of the great European
centers, from the works of Asia
and Africa to those of pre-
Columbian America and the
modern world. Sculptural
movements covered range
from primitive trends to the
breakthroughs of the Renais-
sance, from neo-classicism and
romanticism to cubism, futur-
ism and abstraction. Giants
such as Michelangelo, Dona-
tello and Rodin head the caval-
cade of sculptors. More than
200 illustrations, many in full
color, accompany the text.