Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/93

* GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Brick and Marile Architecture of Sorth Italy (London, 1874) ; Fleury, La Toscanc iiii tnoijcH dge (Paris, 1874). GOTHIC ART. The term was originally ap- plied by the Italians to the pointed architecture which preceded the Renaissance in derision of its supposed barbaric cliaraetcr. The general adop- tion of this term was promoted by the erroneous idea that there was something essentially Ger- manic in the style, and the term, though un- scientific, has been too long in general use to be given up. The Gothic ]x^riod extends, roughly s])eaking, from the twelfth to the fifteenth cen- tury. It was a period of French ascendency, during wiiicli artistic inUucnces radiated from France over the rest of Europe. The control of art passeil from the hands of the clergy into that of lay guilds. Gothic art had its root in the life of the cities. Nevertheless, it bore the im- press of chivalric character, being marked by a gentleness and charm which sometimes degenerat- ed into sentimentality. With all this it contains a feeling for fun and mockery, as is especially shown in its grotesque sculptures, and at the end of the period there was a decided tendency toward realism. During this time sculpture and painting, though highly developed, were deco- rative in character, and strictly subordinated to architecture, to which, therefore, a separate arti- cle has been given. (See Gothic Akchitectube.) .SCULPTI.'EE. Fkance. The School of the Ile-de-France, which originated Gothic architecture, also began the use in the lower portals of statues, at first severely stiflf. About 1210-20 statues of this character became freer and more artistic, though remaining part of the architecture. Among the best early c'am|iles are the portals of the Cathe- dral of Laon and the western portal of Notre Dame (q.v.) at Paris (1225). During the thir- teenth century the use of statuary grew to an extent never before' nor since practiced. It was concentrated upon the exterior of the buildings, centred about the portals, both of those of the facade, which usually terminated in three great ])ointed arches, and those of the side, which were often double. In order to accommodate the multitude of statues the portals were extended into porches. They were lined by rows of statues, and the tympanums W'cre filled with reliefs. Great cathedrals of the thirteenth centuiy were decorated with several thousands of statues ; like Notre Dame. Chartres, and Rheims. called the Parthenon of the Jliddle Ages because of the beauty and delicacy of the statuary; Amiens — where the majestic statue of Christ, " Le bon Dieu." is eminent among many of high excellence — is particularly celebrated. The subjects repre- sented were usuallv biblical and allegorical cv- cles. like the "Creation" and "Fall of Man:" Old and New Testament history, usually terminating in the "Last Judgment," a favorite .subject; allegorical figures of the trades and industries, of virtues and vices. They were, in fact, the translation into stone of the religious and philo- sophical ideas of the day — Bibles and sermons in stone. Occasionally the figures were executed after nature, but more usually in accordance with geometrical <'anons. so comprehensive that even mediocre artists could do good work. The treatment of the nude was crude, but high suc- cess was attained in draperies, which will even 1 GOTHIC ART. bear comparison with the products of Greek art. 'J'hough realistic, the figures arc always of a deep religious feeling and lull of dignity. This, how- ever, is lost in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when Kieiich .sculpture aims inerea.sing- ly at realism, becoming naive and humorous. The centre of artistic activity shifts to Flander,? and Northern Burgundy, where liiere was great ac- tivity at Dijon, under patronage of the Bur- gundian dukes. Since 13S4 C'laux .Sluter de Orlandes was at the head of the works. His fresh, realistic manner is evident in the figures of the Fountain of Moses. The English Gothic, with few exceptions, was not adaiitcd to sculjitu- ral decorations. The most important manifes- tation of sculpture here is in sepulchi-al monu- ments, funeral slabs and brasses, in which much realism is manifest. Gekmaxy. The thirteenth century was the golden age of German niedia>val sculpture, which was doubtless influenced by contemporary French art. As the Ciermans still liuilt in the Romanesque style, their ehurche?- did not afi'ord opportunity for great cycles of plastic art as did those of France. Their activity was confined to the interior of the church between the arclics, the walls of the choir, the altar, and the pulpit; ex- terior decoration was rare and only practiced at the end of the epoch. The figures were full of life and dignity, less realistic than the French, and representing a calmer, higher ideal. As in the Romanesque epoch, the Saxon and Franconian schools lead. The early work of the Saxon School is best represented in the apostles and angels in the choir of the Church of Saint Michael, Hildes- heinis. and its highest develo])nient in the Church of Halberstadt. Heavier and more impassioned are the figures of the South Saxon School, as exemplified in the reliefs of the pulpit and the "Crucifixion" at Wechselberg: the famous "Gold- en Portal" at Freiburg, the sculptures of which represent, in a grandiose manner, the "Revelation of the Kingdom of God to Man by Christ;" and that most beautiful of German sepulchral monuments, the tomb of Henry the Lion and his wife Matilda in the Cathedral of Brunswick. The school reached its culmination in the latter part of the thirteenth century in the statues of the benefactors of the Church in the Cathedral of Nuremberg — simple, realistic, and dignified, and superb in treatment of drapery. Of equal excel- lence are the contemporary statues by the Fran- conian School in the Cathedral of Bamberg, of which the "Ancient Sibyl" is the best known. The Rhenish School followed the French more closely, as is evident in the Church of the Virgin at Treves and in the minsters of Freiliurg and Strassburg. More characteristically German are the sculp- tures of the Nuremberg churches, chiefly reliefs with small figures. In the fifteenth century sculptures in wood took the place of stone, with a change of style, though not of ideals, corre- sponding to the new materia!. The figures were treated with sharper lines, and the draperies in wrinkles instead of folds; both figures and dra- peries were colored. From this period date the finest Gothic altars and other ecclesiastical fur- niture of wood. The two chief schools were the I'>anconian. with Nuremberg as a centre, and thef Swabian at TTlm. The chief artist of the latter was .Toerg Syrlin the elder, whose chief work is the choir-stalls in the minster of ITlm (14fin-74). The Germanic IMusenm and the chvuches of