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 SCULPTURE

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SCULPTURE

second flower of German medieval sculpture. Sculp- tures in bronze and wood rather than in stone, consti- tute the finest products of this period. While in the first period North Germany took the lead, in this sec- ond period the hegemony passed to Southern Ger- many, where the Frankish School culminated in the works of the three Nuremburg masters, Veit Stoss, Adam Kraft, and Peter Vischer, the Wiirtzburg School in Dill Riemenschneider, the Swabian, in Hans Multscher and Jorg Syrlin, and the Tyrolese, in Michael Pacher. The causes of this change and its chief characteristics can be briefly stated. In con- trast with the early Gothic idealism a powerful real- ism now began to permeate art. People were repre- sented exactly as in reality, with all the accidents of nature and costume; even the ugly and repulsive fea- tures were represented. The change in the character of the patrons of art played no small part in promot- ing this difference. Whereas formerly wealthy prel- ates and haughty nobles almost exclusively gave occu- pation to the artists, now, under the development of the third estate, the wealthy merchants or peasants caused monuments of devotion to be erected in the churches. This also caused a change in material. Although the common people gladly contributed to the decoration of the churches, they avoided the great expense of stone sculptures and confined themselves to presenting sculptures in wood. Indeed, for many of these works, stone was hardly feasible as a material. We have only to recall the choir-stalls, pulpits, and almost innumerable altars. This frequent use of wood had also its effect on stone sculpture. There are in existence stone "sacrament hou.ses" (tabernacles for the Blessed Sacrament) of this period which are as twisted and spiral as if they had been carved from wood. The treatment of the draperies is another characteristic of late medieval sculpture. While in the fourteenth century the draperies fell smoothly and simply, now they were puffed and bagged, bunched, and broken in such a manner as never again occurred. The subjects of sculj)ture were almost ex- clusively of a religious character. In statuary the most popular subjects were the Pietii, Our Lady of Sorrows, and St. Anne with the Madonna and the Christ Child (for the cult of St. Anne was more popu- lar at the end of the Middle Ages than ever before or after).

The conditions for sculpture were especially favour- able in Italy, where the chief attention was centred, not as in Germany or in France in the decoration of the portals and fagade, but in pulpits, altars, and sepulchral monuments. Since it also had the finest of materials, marble, at its disposal, Italian art ulti- mately took the palm in sculpture. In the beginning relief was principally attempted; statuary was not used till later. The development of Italian sculp- ture begins in the thirteenth century in Tuscany, which for about three centuries plays the leading part. It was the time of the proto-Renaissance, which is identified with the names of Niccolo, Giovanni, An- drea Pi.sano (from Pisa), and Andrea Orcagna. The movement radiated from Pisa, but with Andrea Pi- sano, who was under the influence of Giotto, Florence became the centre and remained so throughout the entire early Renaissance. Siena, which rivalled Florence in painting, indeed produced a few able mas- ters of sculpture, like Tino da Comaino (d. 1339), but it gradually lagged behind its rival. This cir- cumstance, that the early Renaissance prospered above all in Florence, is of importance for the judg- ment of the Renaissance itself, which is still consid- ered by many as a revival of antique art and there- fore is designated anti-clerical, whereas in reality it is only an art which arose in the soul of the Italian peo- I)le on the basis of ancient tradition. It was not Rome, therefore, where at that time the antique monuments were being brought to light and studied,

but Florence which became the cradle of the early Renaissance.

The most important works of this period are to be found in the churches, or in conne.xion with them, and they owed their origin to princes of the Church and to Church organizations. They are so pure and chaste in sentiment, so sublime in conception, that they are not inferior to the best works of the Middle Ages — which is also a proof that the early Renais- sance may not be designated as anti-religious. True, it cannot be denied that the late Renaissance, by a too close imitation of the antique, lost many of these noble qualities, and therefore in most of its works leaves the spectator cold and unaffected. Among the nu- merous masters of the early Renaissance in Florence in the first half of the fifteenth century, the follow- ing three are especially prominent: Ghiberti, who has become celebrated as the sculptor of the Paradise Portals of the Baptistery of Florence; Donatello, the uncompromising realist and the sculptor of many statues, and Luca della Robbia, who in his terra- cottas attained an almost classical harmony and charm. With them were associated a large number of masters of the second rank, of whom at least a few should be mentioned. Among the sculptors in bronze Andrea Verrochio is known through his world-fa- mous group of Christ and St. Thomas in the church of Or San Michele, Florence; among the sculptors in marble Desiderio da Settignano, Rosselino, Mino da Fiesole, and Benedetto da Majano are famous. It is not necessary to consider these artists more fully here, because they are all treated in separate articles in The Catholic Encyclopedia.

They exercised a wide-spread influence, and only Siena succeeded in maintaining an independent ten- dency in the art of Jacopo della Quercia (d. 1438). Lombardy and Venice also had important sculptors at their disposal, as may be seen in the sculptures of the Basilica of St. Anthony at Padua and many sepul- chral monuments in the churches of City of Venice.

In the age of Leo X, which is generally called the Golden Age of Italian art, sculpture also attained its apogee, judged from the purely formal point of view. Of imposing effect are the works of the Florentine Andrea Contucci, called Sansovino, as, for example, his Baptism of Christ. But all are surpassed in gi- gantic power and original composition by Michelan- gelo, who was unreservedly followed by the younger generation, not indeed to their advantage; for through this imitation they fell into mannerism, since the spirit of the great master was lacking in them, although they might imitate his external forms. Through Jacopo Sansovino (Tatti) Michelangelo's ten- dencies were transplanted to Venice. A few of the younger sculptors, who were able to preserve their in- dependence, still created very able works, as did Gio- vanni da Bologna; but their works do not to a great extent belong to ecclesiastical art. As the entire art of the seventeenth century turned its back upon the dreary mannerism of the later sixteenth, so did also sculpture. It returned to naturali.sm, but not to the naive naturalism of the fifteenth century, but at- tempted a presentation which would show reality in its most effective form. Everything was calculated for elTect and emotion. Thus the movements of the limbs are violent and exaggerated, the muscles stand out prominently, the draperies flutter and fly as if blown by a storm. Another characteristic of this style is the frequent and affected use of allegory and personification; thus a nude man with books under his arm in the Annunziata, Florence, personifies thought. This style is the well-known Baroque sculpture, which, in so far as it represents religious subjects, has been condemned and outlawed by many. While among Baroque scultpures there are many works which do not appeal to our Christian sentiment, nevertheless this judgment cannot be appUed to all sculptures of