NB UC-NRLF 353 77E 63 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST A Lecture Delivered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, December 3, 1921 BY A. KINGSLEY PORTER PRIVATELY ISSUED FOR THE AUTHOR BY MARSHALL JONES COMPANY BOSTON COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY A. KINGSLEY PORTER IN THE guide written in the XII century for the pil- grims to Compostela we read: "There are four roads which lead to St. James. These unite at Puente la Reina in the land of Spain. The first leads through St. Gilles and Montpellier and Toulouse and the Port d'Aspe ; the second through Notre Dame of Le Puy and Ste. Foy of Conques and St. Pierre of Moissac; the third through Ste. Marie Madeleine of Vezelay and St. Leonard near Limoges and the city of Perigueux; the fourth through St. Martin of Tours and St. Hilaire of Poitiers and St. Jean d'Angely and St. Eutrope of Saintes and the city of Bor- deaux. The roads which pass through Ste. Foy and St. Leonard and St. Martin unite at Ostabat, and passing the Port de Cize join at Puente la Reina, the road which passes by the Port d'Aspe. Thence one road leads to St. James." If time permitted it would amply repay our pains to ex- plore all four of the routes leading to Santiago, for we should find that they, together with the other pilgrimage routes leading to Rome and to Jerusalem, pass by nearly all the creative centres of sculpture of the first half of the XII century. After such a journey, we should come to sus- pect that the pilgrimage played no less a part in the forma- tion of plastic art than M. Bedier has shown that it played in the chansons de geste. We should find that the road formed a river of sculpture, flowing through a region other- wise nearly desert in southern France and Spain. We should find that artistic ideas traveled back and forth along the road with the greatest facility, so that monuments sep- arated by hundreds of miles of distance show the closest stylistic relationship. We should find that the old theory of a school of sculpture at Toulouse, and another in Spain 5 6 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST must be discarded, and that there was instead one school which was neither Toulousan nor Spanish, but international of the pilgrimage, and that this school centred at Santiago rather than at Toulouse. We should find at Santiago the focal point, both of the architecture and of the sculpture of the XII century; we should find the type of church origi- nally created in France but consecrated at Santiago, copied in minor sanctuaries all along the road, echoed at Acerenza in the Basilicata, at Venosa in Apulia, and inspiring whole schools of architecture in Burgundy, Auvergne and Poitou. We should find that the same sculptors who worked upon the Puerta de las Platerias at Santiago were some years later called to Conques where they executed the glorious portal of Ste. Foy. We should remark that the jamb sculptures of Santiago, executed between 1102 and 1124 present analogies with those made by Guglielmo at Cremona between 1107 and 1117, and that both are not without points of contact with the sculptures of Armenia which have recently been made known by Strzygowski. We should remark that the Christ of the Puerta de las Platerias, which dates from before 1124 already possesses the essential characteristics of the Gothic sculpture of north- ern France of a century later, and that this figure, the St. James of the Portico de la Gloria and the Beau Dieu of Amiens form a direct line of evolution. We should find reason to believe that the Portico de la Gloria occupied as important a position in the development of art in the XIII century, as the Puerta de las Platerias did in that of the XII; that the sculptures of Reims owe much to this source, and that the Reims smile is inspired by the Daniel of San- tiago. We should find at Santo Domingo de Silos irre- futably dated sculptures of the last quarter of the XI cen- tury, connecting on the one hand with English manuscripts of Bury St. Edmunds, and on the other with Souillac, Moissac, St. Guilhem le Desert and St. Trophime of Aries. We should find how vitally and undeniably right Professor Morey was in pointing out the influence of manuscripts and THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 7 especially English manuscripts of the school of Winchester upon sculpture of the early XII century, and we should find the school of Burgundy seeking its inspiration almost ex- clusively in this source. All this and much more of the most intense interest lies upon the road of St. James. The short hour at our dis- posal this afternoon is, however, obviously insufficient for the discussion of these major problems, and we must by necessity confine ourselves to a small portion of the ques- tion of St. James. Let us pick out for study the fourth of the roads leading to Compostela, that which passes through St. Martin of Tours and St. Hilaire of Poitiers and St. Jean d'Angely and St. Eutrope of Saintes and the city of Bordeaux. This route is of especial interest as it was the chief one leading from Paris and northern France. It also possesses the advantage of taking us past a series of monu- ments which perhaps even yet have not been appreciated at their full worth. In the West of France, sculpture developed later than in Burgundy, Lombardy or Spain. The school of the XI century which has left us such astonishing creations at Hilde- sheim, at Arles-sur-Tech, at Regensburg, at Santo Domingo de Silos, at Oviedo, at Sahagun, at Charlieu and at Cluny did not flourish on the wind-swept Atlantic sea-board. When, however, we reflect how close this region lies to the He de France, where sculpture worthy of the name did not appear at all until the fourth decade of the XII century, the wonder perhaps is not that the XI century carving of the west was crude, but that figure sculpture existed at all. The church of Airvault, consecrated in uoo, possesses sculptures addossed to the wall flanking the vaulting capi- tals, some of which are sculptured in the same style. We have here admittedly work of the end of the XI century. The striking fact in regard to the sculptures of Airvault, aside from their crudity, is the similarity in the folds of certain draperies to those in the south portal of St. Sernin of Toulouse. Now St. Sernin of Toulouse is later than 8 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST Airvault, but it is difficult to admit that the advanced school of the pilgrimage could have been influenced by the retard- ataire work in the West. The explanation I believe is this: The ateliers of Toulouse and Santiago were closely inter- related, and we find the same sculptors travelling back and forth from one to the other. Now while no work anterior to the XII century has come down to us at Santiago, it is certain that an atelier of sculpture must have existed there much before, and probably from the beginning of the recon- struction of the cathedral in 1078. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the work at Airvault may have been in- fluenced by the XI century atelier of Santiago. The two reliefs of Ste. Radegonde of Poitiers are of bet- ter quality. One feels distinctly in them, although in strangely weakened form, the inspiration which emanated from Cluny. They are degenerates, but after all of the race of the older portal at Charlieu or of the Virgin at Sahagun. These reliefs obviously are not now in their original position, but were embedded at a comparatively recent epoch in the narthex below the tower. It unfortu- nately seems impossible to determine their provenience. Their style, however, justifies the conjecture that they be- longed to the church built between 1083 and 1099. When we turn from Ste. Radegonde to the sculptures of the lunettes of the cathedral of Angouleme, we recognize between the two a close relationship. There are the same draperies cut in the same rope-like forms, and falling in the same characteristic wave-patterns along the lower edges. Angouleme appears slightly more advanced; the execution is better, and there is more movement. Seven or eight or at most ten years might easily account for this development. It is therefore with considerable astonishment that we find current archaeological opinion ascribes these sculptures to the second half of the XII century. And when we compare their primitive style with that of monuments with which they are supposed to be contemporary, such as, for example, THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 9 the west portal of Chartres or the transept portals of Bourges, our astonishment deepens into amazement. We naturally turn with haste to the reasoning on which this dating is based. We are told, first of all, what alas is only too true, that the cathedral of Angouleme lost all char- acter in the XIX century restoration. To study its arch- aeology we are therefore advised to go not to the building itself, but to the manuscript study of Michon who saw the church before it was reconstructed. Now Michon thought that the western bay was earlier than the rest of the church ; that is a triumphant proof that it and the facade are a half century later! But the heavy artillery of this archaeological demonstra- tion has not yet been brought into play. The lunette sculp- tures of Angouleme, we are told, are by the same hand (sic) as the sculptures of St. Amand de Boixe. These last are thought to be dated 1 170. Now it is true that St. Amand de Boixe was consecrated in 1170; but there was an earlier consecration in 1125. The monument as it stands corresponds perfectly with the documents. Begun at the eastern end, as was the custom (the choir was rebuilt in the XIV century), the transepts with the sculptures and the east bay of the nave were fin- ished in 1125. Then works were interrupted, apparently for a number of years. Subsequently the construction of the nave was resumed and completed in 1170. Nothing could be clearer. Since, however, the fact that the western part of the nave is later entirely escaped the attention of the author of the article in the Congres Archeologique, it will be well to note down some of the proofs that such is the case : 1 i ) The capitals of the nave, broad-leaved and crock- eted, are of a strikingly different, and obviously later type from those of the transepts. They must be separated by an interval of at least twenty-five years. (2) There is an equally striking difference of style be- tween the west portal (that is to say the little of it that is io THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST ancient) and the decoration of the west facade of the north transept. (3) The design of the church was completely changed when work was resumed after it had been interrupted at the east bay of the nave. (4) The groin vaults of the side aisles in the east bay of the nave are replaced by barrel vaults in the western bays. ( 5 ) The ornamental frieze on the north exterior wall, begun in the east bay, is discontinued in the western bays. (6) The side aisle window in the east bay is placed higher than in the western bays. (7) The string-course of the abacus of this window is brusquely interrupted where the two constructions adjoin. (8) In the barrel vault of the nave is visible a break in the masonry between the easternmost and western bays of the nave. (9) This break continues in the masonry of the eastern- most piers of the nave on both sides. 1 io) The arcade arch of the east bay of the nave is nar- rower and higher than those of the western bays. ( 1 1 ) The high dado separating nave and side aisles in the eastern bay is discontinued in the western bays. (12) The abacus string-course of the eastern bays is brusquely interrupted at the point of junction, and a new string-course begun a metre further down. (13) On the south side of the nave the design of the upper string-course is changed at the point of junction. (14) The capitals of the side-aisle responds are placed at a lower level in the eastern bay than in the western bays. (15) Blind arches, decorating the side-aisle wall, non- existent in the eastern bay, are introduced into the western bays. It seems therefore evident that it is a grave error to con- sider the sculptures of St. Amand de Boixe as dated monu- ments of 1170. They are indeed dated, but they belong to the church consecrated in 1125. THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST n There is consequently no reason for assigning the fagade of Angouleme to the second half of the XII century. The documents inform us categorically that the cathedral was begun by the bishop Girard, who was elected in noi ; built by him (he died in 1136) and consecrated in 1128. There is no room for doubt that the fagade sculptures were exe- cuted between noo and 1128. The erroneous dating to 1170 has had serious conse- quences. Because of analogies with the school of the West, the work at Rochester has been dated on the basis of the chronology determined at Angouleme, and Rochester has been made a corner-stone for determining the chronology of English sculpture. Is it possible to determine when between noi and 1128 the sculptures of Angouleme were executed? We know that in general Romanesque sculptures were executed before the pose, and we know that they were often prepared at the very beginning of the works that they might be ready when the masons had need of them. Mediaeval buildings were constructed sometimes in vertical, sometimes in horizontal sections. At least the facade of Angouleme was constructed horizontally. The sculptures are of three distinct styles: the lunettes are the oldest, then the sculp- tures in the arches above, and finally those of the topmost story. If we compare the latter, the angel of St. Matthew, for example, with the tympanum of St. Michel d 'En- traigues, dated 1137, we shall perceive that the cathedral sculptures are distinctly earlier. The faqade of Angouleme must therefore have been completed by 1128 or at least very shortly after. Everything would therefore indicate the lunette sculp- tures were executed about mo. They have much such movement as is characteristic of the tympanum of the south portal of St. Sernin. Closer analogies are, however, to be found with the sculpture of Lombardy. The draperies are those characteristic of Guglielmo. The same folds with the same wave pattern at the bottom are found, for example, in 12 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST the angel of the Cremona Expulsion, a work executed be- tween 1107 and 1117. These draperies are originally de- rived from manuscripts. They are found in miniatures of the German school of the X century 1 , in bibles of Angers, 2 and Amiens 3 of the same period, and in an English manu- script of the XII century. 4 It is not entirely clear whether these manuscript draperies were first translated into stone by Guglielmo and copied from him by the master of Angouleme, or whether the reverse was the case. I incline, however, to think the latter and to suppose that Guglielmo, especially in his later works, was influenced by Angouleme. The draperies in question are found more consistently and persistently at Angouleme than at Cremona; at Modena they hardly occur. The conjecture may indeed be risked that Guglielmo and the master of Augouleme came into personal contact with each other. At any rate, it is certain that the Angouleme work was strongly influenced by Italian models. Like Guglielmo, the Angouleme master keeps both feet of his figures firmly planted on the ground, even when the figures are in motion; like Guglielmo, he uses two parallel lines to indicate the modelling of his draperies. The ornamental decoration at Angouleme is strongly Lombardic. The rinceau beneath the lunette might have been sculptured for a church of the Parmigiano c. mo; the interlaces of ani- mals and foliage over the lunettes are equally north Italian. Most striking of all is the frieze to the right of the central portal beneath the lunette. This is quite unlike anything I know in France, but is similar to the Porta della Pescheria at Modena and other monuments in Italy, such as the relief walled into the campanile of S. Stef ano of Pavia. The com- position of two knights jousting to the left of the Angou- (*) See for example the Perikopenbuch Kaiser Heinrich II, Reichenau school, before 1014, illustrated by Leidinger, V, 18 or the Bamberger Apocalypse, ed. Woellflin. ( 2 ) Bible of St. Aubin of Angers, Angers, Hotel de Ville, #4, ed. Boinet, Plate CLII. ( 3 ) Illustrated by Haseloff in Andre Michel, I, 2, 748. ( 4 ) British Museum MS. 37472, no. 1. THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 13 leme frieze is exactly that of the Pavia relief, and was in- deed a stock Italian motive, but the execution and other de- tails recall the Modena portal. The work at Modena is, however, much better; the horses, for example, are more skillfully drawn. One suspects that the Angouleme sculptor imitated, a bit weakly, this original. Now the Modena por- tal belongs to the early years of the XII century. Sufficient proof of this is to be found in its close relationship to the work of Guglielmo, but there is additional confirmation, if any be needed. The archivolt was imitated in the Porta dei Leoni at S. Nicholo of Bari and this church was consecrated in 1105. The motive of two knights jousting reappears in a minia- ture of a nearly contemporary manuscript of St. Albans, preserved at Hildesheim. 1 Here an explanation indicates the symbolic meaning of the representation. What is seen corporaliter must be understood spiritualiter; these warriors who fight should recall to us the spiritual combats we must wage against evil. The crouching attitude of the lunette figures at Angou- leme is probably derived from manuscripts. We find paral- lel drawing in the elders of the Codex Aureus of St. Em- meran of Ratisbonne, 2 a manuscript which dates from 870, and in the sacramentary of Marmoutiers 3 of c. 850. The master of Angouleme shows another interesting and surprising relationship. It is with the sculptor who executed at St. Gilles the apostle with crossed legs, the second to the left of the central portal, and the podium reliefs of the cen- tral doorway. In fact, the St. Gilles sculptures are charac- terized by the same movement, the same draperies, the same technical peculiarities. Yet the work at St. Gilles does not seem to be by the same hand as the work at Angouleme. At St. Gilles style is notably more advanced and more exaggerated. C 1 ) Haseloff in Andre Michel, Historic de 1'Art, II, i, p. 311. ( 2 ) Munich, Kgl. Bibl. lat. 140000, illustrated by Boinet, Plate CXVI. ( 3 ) Preserved at Autun, Bibl. de la Ville, #ipbis, ed. Boinet, Plate XLIII. 14 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST It is evident that the St. Gilles sculptor was influenced by a manuscript similar to that from which the Angouleme master derived his style. The relief of Cain and Abel, for example, is closely analogous to several German miniatures of the X century. 1 The resemblance between Angouleme and St. Gilles is, however, much closer than can be accounted for by a common manuscript source. If we compare the apostle to the right of the lunette to the right of the portal at Angouleme with the Cain in the St. Gilles Sacrifice, we shall be convinced that the St. Gilles artist knew the work at Angouleme. Archaeologists have much repeated that this master of St. Gilles belonged to the school of Languedoc, and this apparently for no better reason than that the legs of his apostle are crossed. It is hardly necessary to insist, after what has been said, that he comes from the West, and that his style was formed at Angouleme. I have no desire to re-open a happily closed controversy, but I must say a word upon the dating of the St. Gilles facade, lest the analogies with Angouleme be made a text for re-establishing the late chronology for the school of the West. Amid all the confusion produced by the polemic, certain facts seem to me clear : 1 i ) The cloister of St. Trophime at Aries was begun in 1152. (2) St. Gilles was finished before the cloister of St. Trophime was commenced. (3) The reconstruction of St. Gilles was begun in 1116. Therefore the facade of St. Gilles falls between 1 1 16 and 1152. Is it possible to determine more accurately the date between these uncomfortably broad limits? It is natural to suppose that the reconstruction of the church was begun at the east end. I seem to find an indi- cation that such was indeed the case at St. Gilles. The O See, for example, St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 902, illustrated by Merton, Plate IL and L, no. 2; Perikopenbuch von St. Erentrud of Munich, Kgl. Hof- und Statsbibliothek, Clm. 15903, c.p. 52, illustrated by Swarzenski, #200. THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 15 description in the pilgrims' guide, written probably in the H2o's does not mention the church, as it does in the case of nearly all the other important centres of pilgrimage Perigueux, Saintes, St. Sernin of Toulouse, Santiago. The explanation, doubtless, is that at that period there was not much church to mention. Otherwise the guide would surely have praised it, for the desire and intention to "puff" every- thing at St. Gilles is unmistakable. It is not inferring too much to conclude that at this period the facade had not yet been constructed. On the other hand, the choir may have been finished. The style of the existing remains accords perfectly with the date 1116-1129. Moreover, the guide describes at length the golden altar; this, therefore, was already in place. It is probable, that as at Santiago, the altar was made upon completion of the new choir. The sculptures of the facade might therefore have been begun any time after 1130, even though they were not set up until much later. The earliest in style of the sculptures of the St. Gilles facade are the works we have just been examining. Indeed, as wide a gulf separates them from the work of Brunus as separates the earlier sculpture of Reims or Paris from the work of the later ateliers in which it is incorporated. I sus- pect that the same thing happened at St. Gilles; the master of Angouleme prepared the sculptures, perhaps c. 1130, which were subsequently incorporated in the later work of Brunus and his school. The St. Gilles master was, as we have seen, of a later generation than the master of Angou- leme; if the latter worked c. 1115, the former might have been active fifteen or even twenty years later. The existing facade of St. Gilles can hardly be earlier than the 40*8. This becomes clear upon a comparison with Lombard monuments from which it is derived. For it is clear that the source of this art lies beyond the Alps. The architectural motive is a glorification of the Lombard porch. This is especially clear at Aries, which perhaps preserves 1 6 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST the original design for St. Gilles. The columns have been multiplied; this is the only essential difference between this facade and Guglielmo's porch at Modena (in its original state) . Yet St. Gilles is evidently more developed and later than any of the Lombard work. It is distinctly more ad- vanced than Nicolo's facade at Piacenza (1132). A comparison of the other features of St. Gilles bor- rowed from Lombardy leads to the same dating in the 4o's. The jamb figures of the portal are, for example, de- rived from Guglielmo's work at Cremona (1107-1117); the figures are similarly placed in the inner jambs; the resemblance of type, even of the faces, is striking; Brunus in his Peter has even taken over the accentuated cords of the hands so characteristic of Guglielmo. Yet Brunus' fig- ures with their conscious and elaborate draperies, their developed style, are obviously of a later generation. Twenty years is the least we can place between the two. Similarly the lions, monsters and caryatids under the columns and statues of St. Gilles are evident derivatives from Lombard prototypes, but more elaborate and advanced than any we find in the work of either Guglielmo or Nicolo. They can not be earlier than the 4o's. Again the idea of a frieze is Lombard, and was first introduced by Guglielmo at Modena. Brunus has taken it over, but how advanced his frieze is, compared with that of the Lombard! The idea of seeking inspiration in ancient Roman remains may also very prob- ably have come to Brunus from Italy. Guglielmo had copied antique models at Modena, and the rinceaux at St. Gilles are almost precisely like those of the Pisa fagade. Here again one feels however that Brunus carried much farther the principles of his predecessors. Another chain of reasoning leads to the same result. Brunus worked not only at St. Gilles. We recognize with- out any doubt his hand also at Romans. Now Romans, we know from documentary sources, was begun in 1133. Brunus might well have been active there very shortly afterwards. At Romans there worked also another master THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 17 from the North who executed certain capitals in the church. Now this master who worked upon the interior capitals of Romans shows close stylistic relationship with the masters of Montmorillon and La Charite-sur-Loire. His activity would consequently fall precisely about the year 1140. All these considerations lead us to place the facade of St. Gilles in the fifth decade of the XII century. Returning to the sculpture of Angouleme, we notice that in the local museum is preserved a relief by the same hand that executed the lunette sculptures of the cathedral. This, too, seems to have come from a lunette. I am tempted to conjecture that it may have formed part of the central tym- panum, destroyed in the XVIII century, and now replaced by a modern pastiche. The museum fragment is of impor- tance because unrestored. It therefore affords an oppor- tunity for obtaining a more exact conception of the style and quality of our master. The motive of placing three figures crouched or in motion in a tympanum or lunette enjoyed a certain popu- larity in the first third of the XII century, before the more elaborate compositions inaugurated at Cluny came into vogue. This is the type of the tympanum at San Pablo del Campo of Barcelona, a church consecrated in 1125. It appears also to have been the type of the ancient tym- panum of Maguelonne, of which the St. Peter and St. Paul are preserved in the portal of 1178. The St. Peter and St. Paul, as results from a comparison with the ambulatory sculptures of St. Sernin, must date from c. 1120. The draperies, especially their lower edges, show analogies with Angouleme. If we had the entire tympanum, we might per- haps feel more strongly the influence of the Angouleme master. When we pass from the sculptures of the lunettes at Angouleme to the reliefs of the upper stories, we are at once conscious of a change of style. All of the sculptures included under the great arcades and in the arches flanking the central window seem to form an homogeneous group, 1 8 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST which is distinguishable from the lunettes. Yet the two are only very slightly separated. Whether this difference is to be explained by supposing that the upper sculptures are later, or the work of a different master, it is difficult to determine in the present restored condition of the edifice. The photographs made before the restoration are unfortu- nately not sufficiently clear to be of much assistance. As nearly as it is possible to judge the differences of manner are sufficient to justify the inference that the upper sculp- tures are both later and by another hand. There can in any case be no doubt that the sculptures of the upper story are by a different master, although still closely related. The figures are often elongated; the draperies are finer and more clinging; the execution finer. The subject of this remarkable composition is not, as has been said, the Last Judgment. The angel blowing a trumpet indicates that as little here as does the similar figure in the Puerta de las Platerias at Santiago from which it is perhaps copied. The subject is the apocalyptical vision, precisely as in the sculptures in the gable of the cathedral at Modena. We have indeed here another proof of the relationship be- tween Angouleme and the Emelian cathedral. The master of the upper sculptures remains under the influence of miniatures at least I take it that the busts in medallions are derived from manuscripts rather than ivories, although it is impossible to be certain in the case of a motive so widely diffused, and which, as we have already remarked, is found in Byzantine stone sculpture of the X century. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that German miniatures of the X century continued to be the source of inspiration for the Angoumois sculptors. Especially notable are the angels sculptured on the vous- sure of the central arch over Christ. The motive, charac- teristic of the school of the West, is here found in its fully developed form. Turning now to the sculptures of St. Amand de Boixe, we perceive that the work is indeed strikingly analogous to THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 19 Angouleme. There are the same lunettes with three figures, with the same friezes and ornamental patterns. But is current archaeology correct in calling them the work of the same master? Notwithstanding the bad preservation of the reliefs of St. Amand, and the restoration at Angouleme, I have little hesitation in replying in the negative. St. Amand is the work of an inferior copyist. He has taken his conception from Angouleme, but his execution is entirely different. His lunette figures are weak and timid compared with their originals. They have not the movement, the vigor, the daring, nor the decorative quality of the Angou- leme lunettes. The technical details are different. The St. Amand artist introduces a beaded ornament in his halos and on the robes of his ecclesiastics, which is not found at Angouleme. His draperies are of another type. They seem indeed inspired by the master of the upper row of reliefs at Angouleme. This point is important. Since St. Amand was consecrated in 1125, we are confirmed in our dating of even the latest work of the Angouleme fagade within the third decade of the XII century. St. Jouin de Marne was begun in 1095; in 1130 the church was consecrated. The western bays of the nave seem to be the latest part of the construction; we may as- sume that the facade dates from the years immediately pre- ceding 1130. The style of the sculptures seems in fact a little more advanced than that of the latest work at Angouleme. The draperies are more clinging, less schema- tized, more naturalistic. The heads of the St. Peter and of the apostle above him are finer than any of the heads at Angouleme. In the upper figure to the left of the window and the Delilah appear those trailing sleeves which were to become characteristic of the school of the West in the fourth decade of the century. These are barely foreshadowed in the angel of St. Matthew at Angouleme. The heads of the two apostles below the Annunciation have already a Char- train quality. St. Jouin de Marne was a pilgrimage church. Although 20 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST apparently not directly on the road, the rich relics it con- tained must have induced many to detour on their way to Santiago or Rome. On the upper gable is sculptured a pro- cession of pilgrims the same subject that was later re- peated in the pilgrimage church of Borgo S. Donnino in Lombardy. The fagade of St. Jouin de Marne shows the characteristics of pilgrimage art in the many foreign influ- ences it reflects. The strongest of these is that of Lom- bardy. The division into three parts by shafts; the ending of these shafts inconsequentially; the setting-in of random bits of sculpture in high relief; the arched corbel-tables; the grotesques of the capitals; the cross in the gable; many of the anthemia and rinceaux, all are evidently inspired by models in Italy, and more especially in the neighborhood of Pavia. The sculpture, on the other hand, shows rather French and Spanish influences. The Visitation recalls the master of the Creation of Adam at Santiago; the two statues below seen to be reminiscent of the Puerta de las Platerias, of Cluny and of Charlieu; the Luxury possibly recalls Moissac. It is worthy of remark that the school of the West is by no means so exclusively under the influence of Toulouse as has generally been assumed. That wind, however, did un- questionably blow. The peculiar stomach folds in the draperies, so characteristic of later work in the West, are found in the cloister of Moissac. This particular re- semblance, however, may possibly be due to derivation from a common original. Precisely such stomach folds are found in a manuscript life of Ste. Radegonde, illuminated about 1050 and now preserved in the Bibliotheque Municipale of Poitiers 1 and also in Spanish ivories. When we have added to the monuments we have already examined the tympanum of St. Michael d'Entraigues of 1137, and Moreaux and Chadenac, both of 1140, we shall have completed, at least so far as is known to me, the list of dated sculpture in the West. It is meagre, especially in O MS. 250 fol. 40, illustrated in the Bulletin de la S. F. R. M. P., 1914. THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 21 view of the large number of undocumented monuments ex- tant; yet by rare good fortune the dates are distributed over the first forty years of the XII century with sufficient fre- quency to determine the development of the style in this critical period. After the formation of the Gothic style at St. Denis in 1140, the course of true art runs smooth. The documents, therefore, help us out precisely at the point where we have most need of them. Several undated monuments are still of importance for comprehending the evolution of this significant school. Among these, one of the best known is certainly Notre Dame la Grande of Poitiers. Because of its analogy with Angouleme, which as we have seen has been much post- dated, archaeologists have generally considered this facade as of c. 1 1 80. That would make it about contemporary with Senlis and the Portico de la Gloria at Santiago. It is only necessary to compare Notre Dame la Grande with these two monuments to be convinced of the extravagance of the theory. The facade of Notre Dame la Grande is certainly more unified than that of Angouleme; it is, however, possible to trace in the sculptures the work of three different hands. To the first belong all the reliefs to the left of the central portal, also the Joseph and the wrestlers to the right. By the second are the Visitation and the Nativity; and by the third the apostles above. It is evident that the first two masters worked contemporaneously; if the third came after them, it must have been by a comparatively short interval of time, since his style hardly seems essentially more ad- vanced. Comparison with Angouleme gives the impression that the fagade of Notre Dame was begun later. At Poitiers the design is more coherent; the pointed arches introduced in the side lunettes have no counterpart at Angouleme. The lunette sculptures of Angouleme are obviously more primi- tive than any of the work at Notre Dame la Grande. But if the Pictave facade was begun later, it may well have been 22 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST finished about the same time. In fact the sculptures seem contemporary with the later work at Angouleme (1128) and St. Amand de Boixe (1125). We may therefore assign Notre Dame la Grande to c. 1130. The trailing sleeves of the figure to the right of the Visitation need not disquiet us in this dating. We have seen that such sleeves are also found at St. Jouin de Marne which was completed in 1130. I can detect no stylistic points of contact between Notre Dame la Grande and St. Denis. But it appears that sculp- tor number one fell under the influence of Lombardy, and sculptor number two possibly under that of Santiago. This divergence of influences need not surprise us in a pilgrimage church. The relationship of the first master to Lombardy indeed appears to be more striking than it really is. The inscrip- tions on the scrolls of the prophets are the same as those on the scrolls of the prophets of Guglielmo and Nicolo. The quotations come originally from a pseudo-Augustine sermon, from which Guglielmo doubtless took them. From this sermon, which must have enjoyed great popularity, they passed into a miracle play of the prophets composed at Limoges towards the end of the XI century, and from the miracle play to the sculptures of Notre Dame la Grande. The presence at Poitiers of Nebuchadnezzar proves that the inscriptions of Notre Dame are taken from the play rather than from the work of Guglielmo, for Guglielmo does not introduce this character. It is worthy of remark that the Isaiah of Moissac also appears with a scroll bearing the same text. It is impossible to trace any direct connection between Moissac and Poitiers or Cremona. What is confusing is the fact that the sculptor of Poitiers shows points of stylistic contact with the work of Guglielmo. One has only to compare his Joseph with the Elijah of Modena to be convinced of the fact. The Poitiers Tempta- tion is not without resemblances to Guglielmo's rendering of the same theme at Modena and Cremona. Moreover, the arched corbel-tables of the facade and much of the dec- THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 23 oration are strongly reminiscent of Lombardic models. Our artist seems to have known Souillac also; his wrestlers are a weak echo of those on the sculptured column, and recall the similar motive sculptured on the portal of the cathedral of Trani in Apulia. The Visitation of the second sculptor is close to the Temptation of Christ in the Puerta de las Platerias. The embroidered borders of the draperies are indicated by per- forations the earliest completely developed example I know of a feature later so popular, and which is only fore- shadowed at St. Jouin de Marne. The portal at La Lande de Fronsac is crude and bar- barous. Perhaps it is not as early as it appears. The sleeves of the principal figure already tend to trail, a char- acteristic which we have seen appear at Angouleme only in the 2o's. However our doorway can hardly be as late as that; we are here far to the south where this detail of cos- tume may have come into use somewhat earlier. The orna- ment of the doorway suggests a date not later than mo. Now the striking features of La Lande de Fronzac, aside from its obviously Lombardic character, are the proto- voussure sculptures, forming an evident link between the Burgundian type, such as we have it at Calvenzano and the developed motive as we have seen it at Angouleme in 1128. La Lande de Fronzac evidently falls at an early stage of this evolution. Moreover, the iconography, taken from the first chapter of the Apocalypse, is unusual. We should hardly find this particular subject after the stock theme of Christs and the evangelists had been elaborated. I am therefore inclined to believe that this portal dates from the first decade of the XII century. Ste. Marie des Dames of Saintes is certainly more ad- vanced than La Lande de Fronzac. Here fully developed voussure figures appear, as well as rows of figures parallel to the radii of the portal. The latter seem to have inspired many monuments of Spain, a fact which is easily explained, since Saintes is on the road. In the luxuriant barbarity of 24 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST its decoration as well as in many individual motives, this portal is closely related to S. Michele of Pavia. Its wild- ness suggests a date within the first quarter of the XII cen- tury; it will be recalled that at Angouleme refinement and delicacy had begun to supplant the earlier more savage manner before 1128. The voussures of Angouleme are dis- tinctly more developed than these. It is therefore probable that the portal of Ste. Marie dates from 1 120. The church of Aulnay is situated some distance from the village and on the pilgrimage route. We may indeed recog- nize in the architecture and sculpture a pilgrimage char- acter, not only in the extraordinary sumptuousness of the decoration, but also in the foreign influences. Thus we may conjecture that the elephants sculptured on one of the capi- tals were inspired by the tale of some returning pilgrim; the arched corbel-tables and much of the ornament is Lombard; and the sculpture, especially of the fagade, shows Burgun- dian influences. It is evident that the portal of the transept is earlier than the facade. The transept doorway is indeed the nee plus ultra of the line of development we have been following out. More exquisite drollery than that of the outer vous- sures has rarely been attained. Grotesque art can go no further. A comparison of the transept portal of Aulnay with that of Ste. Marie des Dames shows how greatly superior was the Aulnay sculptor. He has suppressed the numerous small members, the confusion of detail which make the work of his predecessor restless and confusing. He has made his orders all rectangular, his voussure sculptures all of the radiating type. In short, there is in his work a sense of order, a subordination of the details to the whole, which is characteristic of the second rather than the first quarter of the XII century. In detail his figures are better exe- cuted and more advanced in character than those of Saintes. Although far from being as fine as the later work at Angou- leme, they may none the less be contemporary; the master THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 25 of Aulnay was essentially a decorator rather than a figure- carver. His portal may therefore be assigned to c. 1130. The pointed window above, with the superb psycho- machia on the voussure, seems to be contemporary. A different and later art, on the other hand, appears in the western facade. Burgundian influence is evident in the flat folds of the draperies, in the elongated proportions, in the sweeping contours. Calligraphic line is indeed here, as frequently in the Burgundy-izing work in the West, carried to a sugary extreme which the wiser artists in the land of its origin were clever enough to avoid. In Burgundy I know of nothing quite so obviously graceful as the foolish virgins of Aulnay. The spirit of this work has evidently much in common with St. Michel d'Entraigues (1137) with which it must be about contemporary. The influence from Burgundy is one of the most striking features of Western sculpture in the second quarter of the XII century. A pure and beautiful example of this quasi- Burgundian art is to be found in the Cluniac priory of Blazi- .mont. There are details of this portal at which criticism must cavil; but in its entirety it is a master-work. Here, indeed, is the perfection of manner. Charm of line and grace of contour unite with delicacy of execution. The derivation of this art from Autun (1132) is obvious. In St. Michel d'Entraigues we perceive the same tenden- cies. If Blazimont is purer, more Burgundian, that may well be because it was in more direct relationship with the fountain-head. The architecture is more advanced than that of the west fagade of Aulnay. We must be about the year 1140. A confirmation of this dating may be derived from an English manuscript of IU9-H46. 1 The angels here have the same elongated and crossed legs as in our sculptures. The two works must be nearly contemporary; but one has the impression that in this case the miniature is not the 0) Reproduced by Haseloff in Andre Michel, Historic de 1'Art, II, 1, p. 312. 26 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST original but the copy. If this feeling be correct, we must place Blazimont well before 1146. The sculptures of Notre-Dame-de-la-Couldre at Parthe- nay are evidently closely related to those of Blazimont. There are the same draperies, the same attenuated crossed legs. If the portal of Parthenay still in situ is of inferior quality, the six reliefs now divided between the Louvre and the collection of Mrs. Gardner in Boston are perhaps the finest achievement of the school of the West. The fact that these fragments have been subjected to a de- plorable restoration, which leaves us in uncertainty as to what is old and what is new, does not affect the value of the undoubtedly authentic portions, shown in the drawings of Sadoux. Even Burgundy never created draperies more ad- mirable in their simplicity. The movement is as emphatically stimulating as that of the Isaiah of Souillac, but they are simpler and nobler; their line for all its sweetness never cloys. Both the dra- peries and the hair-conventions betray the imitation of models of the XI century. The facial types are analogous to Chartres, but more primitive ; certainly prototypes rather than derivatives. Since Chartres is believed to have been begun in 1145, we m ust place the Parthenay work some- what earlier, c. 1140. This would make it contemporary with Blazimont, which may very well be. The little church of Chadennac preserves for the lover of XII century art an unexpected delight. The quality of these sculptures is even finer than that of Chartres. They lack, it is true, the repose and monumental grandeur of the work at Parthenay; their qualities are rather delicacy and finesse. This sculptor was the Pisanello of Romanesque art. Like the Italian he delights in the world the pomp of extravagant costume, the beauty of lithe and graceful limbs. Like Pisanello, too, he takes particular joy in animals. In- deed, I suspect that the slender hounds, so characteristic of the Veronese artist's work, and which came to him from THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 27 French miniatures, may be the lineal descendants of the no less lovely ones sculptured on the portal of Chadennac. The date of this important monument 1140 is hap- pily determined by an inscription, which if not of great an- tiquity doubtless still preserves an authentic tradition. Sev- eral heads are absolutely Chartrain in style, as, for example, the restored male portrait in the cornice over the central portal. One of the heads in the voussures is very close to those of Gilalbertus at Toulouse. The angel on the column is the sister of the angels in the inner voussures at Blazi- mont. This firm date is therefore of great importance in establishing the chronology of several important monu- ments. The work at Foussais is interesting, not only because of its own intrinsic qualities, but because signed by a certain RAVDVS AVDEBERTVS (= Giraud Aude- bert) of St.-Jean-d'Angely. This sculptor seems to have been called in to supply the plastic decoration for the two lunettes, representing the Magdalen anointing Christ's feet, the Noli me Tangere and the Deposition. The central por- tal with radiating voussures is by a coarser hand. The analogies of Giraud Audebert's work with Chartres are striking. The aedicule separating the two reliefs in the south lunette is precisely similar to the aedicules over the capitals and above the statues at Chartres. The folds of the tablecloth and of the draperies below it are like those of the figures in the central tympanum at Char- tres, although somewhat coarser. The horizontal decora- tion on the dresses, on the other hand, seems derived from the tympanum of Autun. Something in the disjointedness of the anatomy, the wattling of the sleeves and certain dra- peries seems to foreshadow the obviously much later work at La Daurade of Toulouse. The date we assign to these sculptures will depend upon whether we consider them prototypes or derivatives of Chartres. I am inclined to think them the former. It is difficult to suppose that this minor artist could have known 28 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST the work at Chartres, and picked up from it only details. It is much easier to believe that a great genius, like the mas- ter of Chartres, should have taken a few trivial ideas which served his purpose from Giraud Audebert. In this case the Foussais work must be of about 1140. There is much evidence that the head-master of Chartres was formed in the West. Numerous anticipations of his style have already been remarked. Moreover, the mixture of Burgundian and Spanish-Aquitanian mannerisms, so noticeable in his style, is characteristic of the sculpture of this region. The spirit of Chartres is already alive in the portal of Blazimont. We are, therefore, not altogether surprised when we turn to Montmorillon to find sculptures which resemble the work at Chartres far more closely than any we have here- tofore studied. The subject treated is the same as in the right lintel of Chartres. Now if we compare these two reliefs, we shall note the most extraordinary similari- ties. The scene of the Nativity, for example, is represented in both in the same peculiar way; the Virgin lies in bed; above her in a sort of shelf, on which the Christ child, the ox and the ass are, or were, placed. St. Joseph stands in both cases at the head of this arrangement; his garment falls over his left arm. The angel of the Chartres Annun- ciation reappears in the angel who warns the shepherds at Montmorillon; even the feathers of his wings are executed in the same way. Now this peculiar arrangement of the wings is a characteristic motive of the Western school; we find it, for example, in the tomb of St. Hilaire at Poitiers. The altar on which the Christ child is presented is in both reliefs of the same unprecedented form; in both he stands upright on a pedestal like a little pagan god. But enough has been said of the similarities, which no one will doubt. The differences are more significant for our purpose. We notice, therefore, that the Montmorillon sculptor is fond of movement, which the sculptor of Chartres avoids. Compare, for example, the two angels annunciate. That at THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 29 Montmorillon rushes, while that at Chartres hardly moves. The shepherds at Chartres are more rigid than those at Montmorillon, the virgin in bed kicks up her knees and raises her elbows; at Chartres she lies corpse-like. The work at Chartres is more monumental and architectural; that at Mortmorillon more lively and naturalistic. The figures at Montmorillon have not the attenuated propor- tions of those of Chartres. The draperies, moreover, have not the same character. At Montmorillon the folds are broader and more theatrical. In all these peculiarities Montmorillon recalls La Charite- sur-Loire. The two tympana of this Cluniac priory show a mixture of Burgundian and Western elements. They are obviously pre-Chartrain and must date from not later than 1140 La Charite-sur-Loire forms a logical intermediate step between Montmorillon and Chartres. A confirmation of the origin of the sculptor of Chartres in the West is afforded by the arched corbel-tables which he introduces so unexpectedly in the right hand tympanum. The arched corbel-table is notoriously a Lombard motive, and nothing could be more surprising than to find it here. Are we to suppose that the master of Chartres had studied Guglielmo's frieze at Modena? It is not probable. In fact, we have seen that the school of the West fell strongly under Lombard influence, and among the motives taken over was precisely the arched corbel-table. Now the arched corbel-tables of Chartres are not of purely Lombardic, but of Western type (compare the portal of Montbron). It seems to be a curious fact that the influence of Char- tres, which spread so rapidly over the Ile-de-France, and reached remote regions of Spain, never deeply affected the art of the West. I do not know a single instance of jamb sculptures of the XII century in that region, nor a tympanum with the Apocalyptic vision. It is true that at first glance the western portal of Roch- ester in England seems to be the work of a Western sculp- tor, and in this portal we find both these features. More 30 THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST attentive study shows, however, that we have here the work not of a Western artist, but of an eclectic who did, indeed, fall deeply under the influence of the West, but also under that of Burgundy and the Ile-de-France. When the influence of Chartres does appear in the West, as at Civray, the style was already in full decadence. The history of the school of the West may, therefore, be reduced to an exceedingly simple outline. It appears to have originated at the end of the XI century, when it pro- duced rough works, far superior doubtless to anything done at this time in the Ile-de-France, but much inferior to con- temporary work in Burgundy or Spain. During the first third of the XII century succeeded a period of vigorous and interesting, if somewhat barbaric, development. The chief influence is Lombardic. About 1130, under the influence of Burgundy, the style began to undergo a swift transforma- tion; attenuated proportions, graceful lines, elegant compo- sition replaced the earlier exuberance. The formal ele- ments continued to gain ground, until the school culminated, c. 1145, in the master of Chartres. 1 O Limits of time make it impossible to study, one by one, the numerous monuments of the West. It may, however, be not without interest to set down the probable dates of certain ones. The terminus ante quern for this group of Romanesque monuments is the year 1166, when the cathedral of Poitiers was begun. This monument introduced the Plantagenet Gothic style into the region. The dating of the sculptures can be confirmed by a study of the architecture. This, unfortunately, has never been systematically undertaken, but I note with satisfaction that the few dates assigned by the Congres Archeologlique (passim) on the basis of the architecture in general correspond with those at which I have arrived solely through the study of the sculpture. Here then is a partial list of monuments : c. 1100. Villogen. c. 1100. Poitiers, St.-Hilaire, sculptured capitals. (These remarkable pro- ductions, showing the influence of the Velay, may really be considered as documentated.) c. 1115. St.-Symphorien, portal; upper sculptures, c. 1135. c. 1120. Parthenay-le-Vieux. c. 1120. Ste.-Croix of Bordeaux. c. 1125. Chateauneuf-sur-Charente, portal; upper sculptures c. 1135. c. 1130. Fontaine d'Ozillac. c. 1130. Castelvieil. c. 1130. St.-Pompain (signed by Guillaume 'GILGLELM' the Humil- ity and Pride of the psychomachia designated by an inscription). c. 1135. Varaize. c. 1135. Melle, St.-Hilaire. c. 1135. Corme Royal. THE SCULPTURE OF THE WEST 31 c. 1140. Ruffec. c. 1140. Perignac. c. 1140. Pont-1'Abbe-d'Arnoult. c. 1140. Fenioux. c. 1140. Melle, St.-Pierre. c. 1140. Thouars, St.-Medard (restored). c. 1140. Trois-Palies. c. 1145. Chalais. c. 1145. Aubeterre. c. 1150. Surgeres. c. 1150. Cognac. c. 1150. Poitiers, St.-Hilaire-de-la-Celle, tombeau de St. Hilaire. c. 1150. La Villedieu. c. 1150. St.-Saturnin. c. 1160. Gensac-la-Pallue. c. 1165. Civray. c. 1170. Vouvant. c. 1175? Poitiers, Musee des Antiquaires de 1'Ouest, sculptures from St. Benoit. HOME USE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT MAIN LIBRARY is due on the last date stamped below. Renewals and made 4 d ays j, rior OCTTirngOt 1 _ UNIV. OF CALIF.. BERK, tv < ro 2?, ! ' cc LD21 A-40i-5 '74 (R8191L) . 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