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New World History oiArt
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of seeking, has accombook of more than 1100 photographs, with a running text and captions that give all the needed background of history, styles, techniques, schools, and personalities. It will join his major A New World History of Art, first published thirty years ago, and its sequel. The Story of Modern Art, as one of the basic art books for the
esEyz^ies
in this
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.Dresden
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'i^Strasboii^ "^ DiioiL 1 /if,*
Berlin.
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the general reader. Sheldon Cheney, after
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to today, including the Oriental,
at a price
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It has long seemed an impossible dream to produce an adequate one-volume history of sculpture in pictures and words, from the
development,
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WORLD caveman
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layman.
"My
aim," he says, "has been
first
of all to
offer the reader pleasure in sculpture." This art
form can be reproduced
in black-and-
white photographs better than any other,
and the pictures in this volume are an invitation to enjoyment as well as knowledge. In addition to the hundreds that trace the Western tradition from Greece and Rome through medieval and modern Europe to the
jviediterraniIa SES.
present international scene, there are 120
examples from China, Japan, and Korea; 90 from India and Southeast Asia; 80 from preColumbian America and the Eskimos; 140 from Egypt and the Near East— to name some of the separate or tributary streams. Attractively
arranged with informative captions,
,f
such as has never been assembled before in as
important
iiuluclcd to
The aixl
text,
I'.ir-
runnin;: n
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though encv ?opedic 'o
essei.
vv
ative thi
(Co^
in scope
nevertheless a
and
NEAR EAST
they present a gallery of the sculptural art
one place.
EUROPE
to the liisloix ol sculp-
show
rchitivc locations.
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on back
flap)
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RET'JRN TO
CSNTRAL
730.9 Cheney, Sheldon; I886Sculpture of 538p
tlie
world
:
a history.
Viking 1968
illus
Maps on
lining-papers "history of sculpture in pictures and words, from the caveman to today, incUiding the Oriental, African, and Amerindian along with the Near Eastern and tlie more familiar Western development." Publisher's note For further reading: p513-17
A
Quarto volume
Mann 1
Sculpture— History
i
n;d
Lrw-ary
TGi«fc Centsr Adm!nlitr3t»o« '^"'^
LW 1/70 68W69
Couiii;
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730.9
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Tho
II.
W.
Wil.son
Company
Sculpt ure OF THE WORLD: A History
ALSO BY SHELDON CHENEY; A Nf If World History The
Story of
of Art
Modern Art
Expressionism in Art
A
Primer of Modern Art The Theatre
Men Who Hare Walked with God and other books
Sculpture lOF
THE WORLD: A History
by
SHELDON CHENEY
NEW YORK: THE
VIKING PRESS
PHOTOGRAPHS PRECEDING THE TEXT Title page, left to right:
Oar. Wood. Easter Island. Museum of Primitive Art, New York. Text reference on page 25 Bodhisattva. Dried lacquer, gilded. T'ang. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Text reference on page 216 Louise Brogiiiard. Stone. Jean Antoine Houdon. Louvre. (^Bulloz photo'). Text reference on page 463 Yellow Bird. Stone. Constantin Brancusi. 1925. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Louise and Walter Arensherg Collection. Text reference on page 487 Preface heading: Ostrich Hunt, impression from a seal. Persian, Achacmcnid. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Text reference on page 173
Note on Illustrations heading:
Awl with
animals. Bronze. Scythian,
c.
800
Half
b.c. National
Museum, Stockholm
title:
Lion. Aquamanile. Bronze. Flemish. 14th century. Victoria and Albert
Museum
©
First
Copyright 1968 by Sheldon Cheney. All rights reserved. published in 1968 by The Viking Press, Inc., 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022. Published simultaneously in Canada by The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited. Library of Congress catalog card number: 68-11554. Set in Centaur and Fairfield types by Westcott & Thomson, Inc.
Plates
made and
printed in the United States of America by
Design:
M.
The Murray
Printing
Company.
B. Click.
Acknowledgments for Text Quotations The author and the publishers gratefully acknowledge indebtedness for quotations in the text of this book as follows: to Henry Moore for lines from The Sculptor Speaks, first published in
The
Listener,
London,
1937;
to
George
Rickey for lines from a program note in the catalogue of an exhibition at the Kraushaar Gal-
New York, 1961; to Leonard Baskin for from a program note reprinted in New Images of Man, by Peter Selz, published by leries.
lines
the
Museum
to Small,
of
Modem
Art,
New
Maynard & Company
York, 1959;
for three brief
quotations from Art, by Auguste Rodin, Boston, to Raymond B. Blakney for an excerpt 1 91 6; from his Meister Eckhart: A Modern Transla-
tion, published by Harper & Brothers, New York and London, 1941; to Albert Toft for lines from his Modelling and Sculpture, published by Seeley, Service & Company, London, 1921; to Pantheon Books for two brief excerpts from translations of Falconet and Maillol in Artists on Art, compiled and edited by Robert Goldwater and Marco Treves, New York, 1905; and to Douglas Pepler for an excerpt from Scidpture: An Essay by Eric Gill, Ditchling, Sussex, 191 8. (The several quotations from Michelangelo and one from Ghiberti have been rewritten from various translations, so frequently quoted and so variously phrased that acknowledgment to the two sculptors seems sufficient.)
,.-•
.-7
1::^3^fe-/(
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'^(;:'-f'^'i^P%l/V
"i Preface In writing this book to
had one
I
objective:
bring within the covers of a single volume
a history of
the major phases of the art from the weapons and fetishes
all
of sculpture, of the cave
men
products of our latest
to the
generation of carvers, modelers, and welders of metal;
the
and
Oriental
of
story
wanted
I
especially to include as
well
Western
as
There
exist
that carry the
a
score of books
title
A
in
English
History of Sciil-pture,
or a similar comprehensive designation.
But
almost uniformly they exclude the magnificent sculptural art of the Orient or compress into a footnote or an appendix with possi-
My
enjoyment.
aim has been
knowledge of
imparting
of
first
types,
all
What we
have in the
text
a
But
is
to
and and
styles,
dates has been a lesser objective.
want something more than
I
my own
the reader pleasure in sculpture,
offer
mary
master)'.
it
that will pass with conventional educators.
have depended very largely upon
did
I
picture book.
a sketchy
sum-
of the histor)' behind the creation of
each national
be
art,
Egyptian or Greek,
it
may mention
Chinese or Indian.
I
brought up firmly
in
that
I
was
the classical tradition.
At home the Venus de Milo, The Dying Gaul, and the Boy Extracting a Thorn from His Foot, in replica, had places of honor on
My
bly tvvo or three illustrations; and almost uni-
the living-room mantelpiece.
formly they ignore the primitive
un-
was devotedly Greek. But
at art school, con-
are 102 illustrations
currently, the influence of
Rodin and Maillol
civdlized peoples.
There
arts of
of Chinese subjects in the pages that follow,
touched us
and more than one hundred devoted to India and the Southeast Asian states. Scythian art
my
is
brought into the world
of
its
history
own, perhaps of
with a chapter
stor)',
for the
first
Primitive
sculpture.
me
is
similarly represented. It
that the omission of the rich
and Oriental materials argued
a disaster occurred, as
and family saw
advisers
with modern
Lehmbruck
art.
instrument of
my
undoing. Study of modernappreciation
the
of
sculpture,
sculpture of the primitives and the Orientals.
seemed
to
primitive
a cultural
ar-
course,
of
Many forties,
years I
led
later,
planned
to
in
this
the
years of assembling
evident that
I
had
and exploration
What we
lishers—wanted
it
became
collected materials for
volumes.
art.
to
assemble notes and photographs. After ten
covering the whole record of the
bring few credentials
mid-nineteen-
book and began
encyclopedia of sculpture in
I
up
took
I
ism,
rogance quite intolerable in books purportedlv In rewriting history
it:
^vas the special
time in a
whether that of the troglodytes or that of Oceania or pre-Columbian America or tribal Africa,
Then
all.
university
three
or
an
four
all— author, advisers, pub-
was
a
simple
one-volume
PRE FACE
VI
We emerge finally with our one volume, and we have in it all the illustrations that might be expected in a three-volume
convenience of having
encyclopedia.
trouble
work.
From
had set a goal of one and I resisted all sugfrom editors and publishers that I the start
thousand gestions
I
illustrations,
be reasonable. In the end, with over iioo productions in the book,
I
feel that the illus-
They
are
am
alone
else
is
in a
Fauvism, futurism, and cubism, painters had
se-
and
responsible
if
was
to
to
me
to
be in the great tradition of sculpture. I assume that my readers will go along
me
in the belief that there
a
is
some-
thing that constitutes the essence of sculpa
ture,
and form inseparable,
spirit
comprehended
over
mine
two Chumash Whales. They seem
with
tween 1940 and 1966 sculpture took on instature as an art, and its leading
creased
took
be blamed for pieces as a Tajin inclusion of such unusual Stag, or Marlik stone ax, a very exaggerated
and no one
ing the period of research and writing. Be-
studios.
an illustration of the A'pollo Belvedere omitted,
history itself changed, almost epochally, dur-
avant-garde
the vast world's store of sacred stones I
the book was planned there was one ahead which we did not foresee:
practitioners
lection, out of his love for sculpture, from
pieces less sacred.
When
con-
they comprise one man's
peculiar way:
the material in one
my
trations represent the better half of
tribution to the volume.
re-
all
volume.
be
to
in terms of mass, three-dimen-
around— and always that by the artist, who relates the world we know.
leadership
Through
and revolutionary
name
the
But, especially under
art.
became the more inventive and more
ally
celebrated group.
It
a sign of the times
is
no English painter approaches in stature the sculptor Henry Moore; that the radicalism of Lehmbruck and Barlach has been more of a world influence than any other that has come out of Germany; that the most interestthat
ing figure in the school of Paris has been, in recent years, the Swiss sculptor Giacometti.
No so
started
up
unforeseen eddies of invention,
in-
American painter has
living
many
ternationally,
the
as
tory,
the creation to
enlargement of the
text.
The
original wordage,
cyclopedia" count.
From
proved
still
back in the "en-
was double
days,
the
present
this I cut a "final" text,
too large
if
we were
to retain all
we— author and
our pictures. Finally
—accomplished the present
text.
which editors
As an
in-
stance of our methods, one-half of the Intro-
duction was cut away at a single stroke, as
was
right because
—aesthetics— to factual in
many
book.
a
I
had elaborated theory
degree
The
unnecessary
chapter
trimmed,
a
forewords were
cases drastically shortened.
ning text was
in
The
sometimes
to
runthe
have noted.
I
Traps are in such
as
final
names. the
The
Rosetta stone provided a key to
meaning
of
I
must ask
my
its
pronunciation.
have adopted here, where consistency possible,
reader
a
system
names
that
will
bring
of gods, pharaohs,
the most familiar forms.
is
to
I
imthe
and men in
Cheops
the un-
is
assailably popular transcription of the
of the pharaoh of the Great Pyramid.
name The
pharaoh of the nearby "second" pyramid (at
Giza— or in
is it
Gizeh?)
the literature of
following
for the sake of the greater
Egyptian hieroglyphic
the
language, but no key to
would be transcribed
it
and
chapter.
especially in the matter of transliteration of
volved a loss of smoothness and some disre-
readers to forgive
part of his-
is
Egyptology and Sinology,
bone. If the process of compression has in-
gard for subtle distinctions,
it
led to rewriting
It
survey writers by scholars
set for
fields
Alexander
sculptor
Calder. This change, since
need pause no more than a moment over my notes and written
of
expressionism, the sculptors eventu-
intangible added
I
the
in story
been the inventors, the providers of a new
sional volume, space
the peregrinations of
the
strictly
Cheops— who
is
art,
as
best as
known,
at least
Khafre; but he
Chephren
if
we were
the discipline that gives us
in turn
would be Khufu
followed the Khafre formula.
The
if
we
third pyra-
mid builder
named here (and
is
Myccrinus,
histories)
form,
museums they own, we the
have put names on the statues
have accepted their spelling
in the captions,
regardless of anomalies.
Inconsistencies
are
common
in
tran-
Greek names into English, but there a more commonly accepted pattern. The
scribing is
Myron his name
sculptor
is
given
in the
here, as almost universally,
Greek form; but
if
in
the following paragraph Plato
is
quoted, few
will object that
is
not Platon,
which
Myro with not
the sanction of
easy
so
the spelling
technically correct.
is
choose
to
Having escaped parties,
all
among
it
is
Polykleitos,
and Polyclitus; the last is the Latin form and most favored in English. But to speak of the famous Doryphoros of Poly-
Polycleitus,
clitus
remains an inconsistency. In
we have
upon annoy
these
all
art,
Pop
artists.
case the assembly of "found objects"
one
In is
a litde too casual; in the other, the under-
lying thcor)'— that a thing
commonplace— seems
is
is
to
good because
me
with every tenable philosophy of
it
at
variance
art.
History,
at present, ends rather with expressionism, in
and includes absolute aband near-abstract works whether in
the broad sense, straction
as
that
other most active school, the
some thorough Egyptologists have insisted upon Menkaura. There are many such choices, and we have chosen Rameses where others speak of Ramses; and Akhena-
When
and
they believe to be sculptural
though
ton instead of Ikhnaton.
VII
most
in
Latin
the
in
PREFACE
built-up boulder-like
masses in stone or in
the meticulous, almost linear compositions of the welders of metals.
A
hundred photographers have contributed to the book. We have put their names into the captions under the illustrations, and the listing there must convey our thanks. I am indebted to as
many
directors of
collectors,
museums, and owners gations to them are listed at the end of the book.
of galleries;
my
obli-
in a special section
It remains for me to add here the acknowledgment of a deeper debt to three individuals. Martha Candler Cheney has been a
through the entire period of
the form
co-conspirator
the edu-
ernment approval, issued a few years ago a list of changes in spellings of Westernized
in search and research, in and adventure. In short, we lived much of the book together. A very different debt is owing to Bryan
Japanese words, beginning with such appar-
Holme
matters
tried to settle
that will be least likely to
cated
Japanese
reader.
Mount Huzi
ent barbarisms as Fuji,
and the Sinto
have known at
Nara
religion
as Shinto.
with
scholars,
gov-
Mount what we
for
for
The famous
temple
that contains so great a treasure of
ancient Japanese
sculpture,
the
Horiuji or
became the Horyuzi. Even at risk by the Japanese government, have stuck by the familiar old-fashioned
Hori-uji,
of being cut off I
spellings.
In a time such as the present, ture has surged forward,
of invention
when
and experiment
when
sculp-
twenty
years,
travel
art
at
my
recall the materials for
the book after the project
as impossible of realization
(The Viking
shall
are all about,
reader
who
finds
pleasure
for
well have been no book.
torian to judge
where written
history should
end, where mere experiment begins.
excluded from craftsmen
who
my
I
history of sculpture
devise
assemhlages,
have the
which
marketable
Press
always be grateful to him, as will any
the operations
particularly difficult for the his-
at a
was repeating only what a dozen of the other most eminent publishers in America, and two or three abroad, had told me— that I had dreamed up a wholly impractical book.) Bryan Holme found a way to overcome the difficulties. I price.
Seatde,
is
had been dropped
—before he became associated with Viking—
whether in Philadelphia or Turin, London or it
His expertise in
publishers'.
books led him to
in
the
volume,
without his constructive aid there might
The Click,
of
my
collaborators,
Milton
not only great resource-
and ability in designing a format would contain the great number of il-
fulness that
third
has shown
PREFACE
VIII
is
many
masses speaks to us today as essential sculp-
juxtapositions of related or contrasting
ture, stirs us aesthetically. I think that ever
with the book-length
text,
but a rare appreciation of the sculptural values
the
in
photographic
responsible for
happy
materials.
what seem
me
to
He
the
Space does not permit more than a gen"thank you"
to
Marshall Best, a helpful
and
friend for thirty years
my
earlier books,
and
editor of
two of
to the other collabora-
the sculptor felt over his artistic
dium,
since
pictures.
eral
ment
meand perhaps over his subject, we cannot know. But the little knot of shaped
lustrations, along
the experience
of
contemplating that
incredibly old bit of carving,
my
sciouslv oriented
ginnings in the cave men's story,
have subcon-
I
appreciation to the beart.
from there through the
It
ages,
is
one
to
the
tors—editors, copy-editors, production experts
products that grace this book's final chapter:
—who
have become
carvings, castings, forged
Press.
Several have helped
what
it
is,
and
I
In Paris there
my
am is
friends at to
The Viking
make
the book
museum wherein one
can stand before an ivory figure of a woman, of the sort It
is
a
known
sculpture
as "Prehistoric Venuses."
that
has existed at least
30,000 years. Through this
emotion of an
artist
of the
little
image the
Old Stone Age
projected across 300 centuries.
What
have
I
to
convey the
feeling, even something of the excitement of
sincerely grateful. a
constructions.
and welded metals,
tried
is
excite-
it,
whole progres-
in narrative, through the
sion;
are
and again
particularly kind
tuting the
unique.
may
in illustrations— photographs
I
find
art,
as
it
to
sculpture,
were, in a
end with the hope enjoyment in
review of the
art.
reconsti-
manner quite
that the reader
this
well-meaning
6 7
Contents
PREFACE Introduction:
1
:
2
:
3
:
4
:
5
:
6
:
7
:
8
:
9
:
lo
:
I
I
:
I
2
:
I
3
:
14
:
15
:
1
:
1
:
V
The Art
of Sculpture
Primitive Sculpture:
The
Eg)'pt:
From
The Animal
Men
to
Our Stone Age Contemporaries
Etruscan and
The Opulent
Roman
78
Korea and Japan
:
The Spread
The Maturing
The Flowering
87
13 2
Sculpture
The World's Supreme
of the
The Legacy
:
to
Islam
Scidptural Achievement of Buddhist Sculpture
Opident Oriental Style
in Southeast Asia:
Early Christian Sculpture
Camhodia, Siam, ]ava
Coptic, Byzantine
European Christian Sculpture: Barbarian, Romanesque, Gothic Renaissance:
The South
61
Classicism, Realism
Sculpture of Persia;
From
5
33
Art of the Eurasian Steppes
:
The
1
Pageant: Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria
The Greeks Archaism,
China:
Cave
Eternal in Scul-pture
The Mesopotamian
India:
the
1
the Pisanos to Michelangelo
Seas and Negro Africa: "Exotic" Sculpture
16 18 4
22 6 24
5
27 3
294 310 3
64
402
Amerindian Sculpture and the Mexican-Mayan Masters
424
Western Sculpture from the Baroque
4
to
Rodin
18: Modern Sculpture: Formalism, Expressionism, Abstraction
5 3
477
FOR FURTHER READING
513
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
518
INDEX
5
2 3
Note on Because a
serial list
the
list
would be
and
artists are listed in
preceded by the
to distinguish
useless for reference
where
so
many
of illustrations sometimes placed at this point
Instead, the titles Italic figures,
Illustrations
them from
letters ill, are
text entries,
is
titles
are included,
omitted.
the Index at the end of the book.
employed
which are
in
for illustrations (e.g.,
Roman
figures (e.g.,
///.,
497)
497).
Sculpt ure OF THE
WORLD
Introduction
The Art of you take a block of stone, in IF condition, and hack and chisel
its
it
down
to a
order, that
is
shape conforming
formless
scene, nor can you effectively commentary on life. The dramatic a happening that may stir the painter to creation affords no safe starting-point for a sculp-
the
natural
make
and rub
to a vision of
endowing it with a and vision, you will
sculpture. In
form out of your feeling
Sculpture
tor's
imagination.
The
characters
are
too
naturally stick close to the block, respecting
many, the background, whether landscape or
the stone.
building,
You cannot go very
far
toward reproducing
Womati. Stone. Cycladic, 3rd millennium
B.C.
ment About
is
5 in.
is
unsculptural,
the
narrative
impossible to sustain. There
high. ^Courtesy Spink
&
is
ele-
some-
Sou, Lotidon^
THE ART OF SCULPTURE thing about this art that
is
and
single, silent,
remote.
the
of
Bodhisattvas,
John Ruskin
human mind
said
there
that in
the disciplined
no more intense
is
or ex-
He
alted desire than for evidence of re-pose.
work of art can be noble element, and he added that "all
ment
in the art that
A
few
without
artisans
art is great in proportion to the
When
appearance of
he searched his memory
amples, he could recall but three his
them were
sculptors.
the
of
rest
to
artists
who
meaning supremely. Two Dante alone, among
illustrated
seemed
for ex-
the
Ruskin
of
amplitude,
peak of achieve-
addressed to the
spirit,
vases
Hindu and
sculptors, especially the
Indonesian
it."
is
a
not just to the senses and intellect of man.
believed that no this
breathing
and power, mark
quietness,
masters
who
and
the
relief,
Chinese
designed and cast the Shang
jars,
stone-carvers,
of
and the Mayan decorative
have pushed the
art
toward the
and the luxurious There are, moreover,
elaborated, the complicated,
with wonderful
results.
all
intimate and graceful manifestations, mostly
artists
history,
to
for the
miniature, in which the original massiveness, and the projected feeling of bulkiness and
known to be— when tested
exalted qualities inseparable from repose— the
impersonality,
peer of the creator of the Parthenon marbles
and more harmonious expression. In this category are amulets, seals, and coins. Few of us, moreover, would willingly forgo enjoyment of the Assyrian hunting scenes in relief, which are like masterly drawings traced on stone, or Ghiberti's panels on
and the carver of the
Medici
figures in the
Chapel.
Supremely, sculpture
is
the art of funda-
mental things, of the stone core of the earth, of the eternal It
lithic,
is
among
mountains and the
the arts does
man's occasional
it
make
all
concession to
relish for the gay, the trivial,
the fantastic.
or
silent hills.
massive— and serene. Least of
Without
loss
of decorum,
music may descend from the realm of the
symphony to the precinct of the gay song and the merry dance and painting may become lightly decorative or prettily affected. But
for the sculptor the path
toward fancy,
toward the buoyant and the jocund,
a
is
way
of peril.
As sculpture
known
has
turies,
is
the soberest of the
arts,
it
a lesser popularity in recent cen-
during the decline of religions and the
spread of materialism and agile intellectual-
But as religion remains the dependable companion of mankind, so the art that is most ism.
and nearest to direct revelation, the observer an incomparably pro-
stable, noble,
offers
to
are
surrendered in
favor
of
lighter, crisper,
the
Florentine
Baptistry
doors,
which
are
bronze approximations of paintings— though
we may temper
our enthusiasm because both
displays are unsculptural in conception.
There are other acceptable compromises and exceptions. The Chinese sculptured landscapes please us in a special way, whether on the hill jars of ancient times or cut into the
comparatively recent stone
seals.
The
grace-
fully attenuated bronze animals of Luristan
and the similarly slenderized early worshipers and warriors of the Etruscans are appealing and delightful. But these are exceptions; and the basic sculptural "fullness" remains an ideal in the mainstream of Chinese, Etrus-
can—and even Lur— invention. In
1930
contemporary
the
mid-1960s),
to the
expanded
in
period
when
(say,
from
sculpture has
accordance with the scientific
found experience. The Pieta of Michelangelo, or any one of a hundred known Heads of the
advances of the space age, departures from
Buddha by anonymous Cambodian sculptors, may remind us, by a mysterious and inex-
amazing. So unsculptural in the traditional sense are some of the results that thev scarcelv
The
Buddha and
hibited under the label "sculpture." But these
other equipment, requires a clairvoyance,
toward the stone, toward his subject. majestic Chinese statues of the
norm have been innumerable and
come within the basic definition of the art. Such are the mobiles, constructivist skeletons, and many of the assemblages so widclv ex-
plicable evocation, that the sculptor, all
beyond
the historic
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
A
many
works must of course be considered in our
zenith in the Victorian era.
history.
the illustrations in school textbooks are
Sculpture in bronze less
naturalistic, tame,
Belvedere
is
basically
Bronze casting of
is
modeling
massive and masculine. dependent upon a prior
wax
clay or
in
or plaster.
clay form and bronzes have been created by man since the late Neolithic Age and the dawn of the Bronze Age. Their importance as purveyors
animals,
emotion, their success in har-
libraries
sculptures
Historically,
of sculptural
nessing plastic
vitalit)', is
in
their
not to be lightly
counted, whether in Athens, Ordos, or
Yet carving in stone (or bone or
ivor)'
wood) was antecedent and has remained core of the
When
appreciation
grandeur
tomb one
figures, or in a
to
in
The
casts
and
the
A
deep
schooling,
whether
for
the
the la^Tnan, emphasized a photo-
graphic realism and naturalistic perfection as criteria
by which
to
statue.
The
Greeks and the
late
judge the excellence of a less
robust
but more prettily natural of the Renaissance modelers were
who
violated
exalted,
while
all
sculptors
any aspect of natural appearance
for the sake of aliveness or intensification of
emotion were cried down. amateur, was led
The
observer, the
to believe that transcription
body model representing Flora or the Goddess of Libert\- was the acme of sculp-
into stone or bronze of a naturally lovely
or a posed
glance that the most glorious cycles of
sculptural creation have occurred in times
places not
Since 1930 there has been a revolt against easy virtues of realism,
embraced in the
and
especially
against the facile naturalism that reached a
and
of fac-
historv'
must be
simile realism. Indeed a truth that
learned (in the West), for the fullest enjoy-
ment
of the great pageant of sculpture illusin
trated
the
following pages,
that
is
the
representation of the surface aspects of nature is
a
minor virtue in sculptural
art.
A
person
looking at a perfect transcription of a or
characterful
head
marble
in
or
bronze, vet not experience one iota of sculptural or aesthetic pleasure.
On
the other hand,
Chinese monster or a Lur approximated animal may be wholly unlike any beast in the a
and an African car\'ed figmask may appear as a near-abstract ar-
zoological manuals,
ure or
rangement of the elements of the human body or face; and yet any of these may evoke an immediate aesthetic response. When we have escaped the habit of looking
first
for the representational element,
have gone about as
far as
we
knowledge can take
us. No commentator can then help us unless, by suggestion rather than instruction, he can quicken our perceptive senses. No one can
know ledgeably say what
tural art.
the
be encountered in some
the Orient as well as the Occident, reveals at a
pretts'
car\'er.
1930, through a period of at least
two centuries,
to
lent further authority to the
perspecti\'e upon the histor)' of the art, upon ancient periods as well as modern, upon
named Negro
artist or for
still
end-all of sculpture.
may be
to
adorning schoolrooms and public
(and
museums)
works of a Donatello, a Houdon, or an un-
Up
taste
effort.
idea of representational realism as the aim
Michelangelo's
to the less
mistakes adroit duplication for creative
or
Nepalese Buddha, equips
respond spontaneously
common
Ife.
grounded in the basic attributes of sculpture, one can better enjoy the lesser paths and b\nvays. To have lived with the noblest monuments, whether of the Egy^ptians or the Chinese or the medieval Christian masters, to have absorbed the feeling of silent power and supernatural
coppng
the toitrs-de-force of exact
art
thoroughly
is
all
have been paraded, until the
dis-
art.
one's
of
still
and unsculptural. From the and the Dying Gaul to Ayollo David and the sweet Saint Donatello's Cecilia, and on down to Carpeaux's photographic nymphs and Bar)'e's photographic
considered a
substantial counterpart of stone sculpture,
which art
may be
great
it
is
that the artist
creatively puts into the statue,
form-element,
and
how
it
what
speaks
aesthetic faculty of the obser\'er.
is
to
But
if
the the
he
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
4
Reclining Figure. Bronze. Henry Moore. C. 1938. Collection of Billy Wilder, Hollywood
can get
down
words some intimation of if you will— which
in
ment now seen
in perspective as twentieth-
A
the values— of the beauty,
century modernism.
more accustomed eyes have experienced, if he can communicate some hint of the serene pleasure, even the glow of the spirit,
man, a true
had already
engendered
lized the theory, that "the subject of
his
works, he
contemplation
in
may
stir
certain
of
us to live in the presence
of great works of sculpture
and
to
enjoy them
It is
latter part of his life in
of art
generally agreed today that the creative
sculptor or painter aims at producing a
endowed with
an
work
precious,
indescribable,
four-dimensional quality that most people
call
is
who
Nadel-
spent the
the United States,
written, before Clive Bell crystal-
for
me
any work
nothing but a pretext for
creating significant form, relations of forms
which
to the full.
sculptor, Elie
internationalist
the
create a
German
new
life.
.
.
,"
Even
earlier
sculptor Adolf Hildebrand
written a book in
the
1890s entitled
Prohlem of Form in Painting and which foreshadowed the events and
had
The
Scul-pture directions
when
of twentieth-century art-progress. Hildebrand
a
Greek
pointed out that the true
archaic kouros, or a reclining figure by
Henry
create a
form.
we
It is
form that speaks
to
contemplate a Stone Age
us
first
idol,
work "with
artist's
aim
is
to
a self-sufficiency apart
plain the pleasure afforded us
word that can exby the abstract
from nature." The thing created resides, he said, in a unity of form, or an architectonic
sculptures of, say, the ancient Tajin culture
form, "lacking in objects as they appear in
Moore. Form
is
the only
of Mexico, or the Amerindians of the middle
nature." In addition he spoke out for direct
modern Jean Arp. The art of sculpture had its own perceptive pioneers in the vast and determining move-
cutting as against modeling.
Eastern
states,
or the
One Has
of the tests
the piece a
now most
often applied
of
own, or does
life
its
is: it
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
Twilight. Stone. Michelangelo. 1520-34. Medici Chapel, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. (Brogi photo')
merely
The
reflect
something in objective nature?
Hfe in a Michelangelo piece or in a
Bodhisattva of the T'ang era leaves no doubt that the intense vitality
is
pendently living creation:
that of
an indeis an
the statue
organism conceived and brought into being bv the artist, owing only an impulse and a surface likeness to the model.
Though
the
intensity diminishes as one comes down the scale toward facsimile realism, the works on
the great middle ground of sculptural achieve-
ment, of the Assyrians and the
late Greeks and the Romans, of Ghiberti and Donatello and the della Robbias, of the baroque and
neo-classic
modelers, of the impressionists—
and these
are major
names and periods
sculptural activity— survive
when
the
some
slight
individual
sculptor
has
infused
measure of creative formal
into the statue.
of
importantly only
life
THE ART OF SCULPT LI RE you should ask what schools and names would appear on a guide-map to that part of sculptural achievement wherein form-creation If
or form-expression
is
dominant,
swer: the primitives of the early Greeks, the
all
would
I
an-
times and places,
Romanesque
masters,
the sculptors of the Orient— Scythia, Persia, India, Indonesia, and China— and Jacopo Quercia and Michelangelo. These della schools and masters have left us the works that are most highly charged with in
life;
and
general— except for the Greeks— they are
the ones
who have been more
careless of their
perception of the marvels of nature. "Above
and before
all,
I
repeat, study Nature.
None
of her works are
mean, low, ugly, or vulgar to those who, with the patience born of reverent love, seek out her marvelous and minute
The
beauties." ever,
other half of training, how-
recommended
is
be study of the
to
Greek and Italian masters, for "inspiration." There is Tio mention of anything created by the sculptor in
the nature of a formal or-
ganization or sculptural typical
life.
The
during
instruction
of
instance
is
century
the
before the post-Rodin revolt into expressionism.
models.
Romanesque expressionism gave way
realism in Italy, the art of sculpture in Europe
Rodin himself lent his name to several That is, companions and interviewers transcribed his conversations and pieced out
entered into a slow but lengthy course of
his occasional
After to
Gothic realism in France, to Renaissance
by the talent Houdon, and by the
deterioration, interrupted only
of a
Donatello or a
startlingly
independent
genius
Michel-
of
angelo. Except for Michelangelo, the aesthetic
downward
trend in sculpture ran steadily
to
an intellectual academism and a weak natu-
When
ralism.
the tide finally turned, at the
end of the nineteenth century, there was little in the product of five centuries of European sculpture to afford either precedent or instruction
young
the
to
radicals.
Since they saw
naturalism as a dead end, since tions of realism
from Ghiberti
all
the varia-
to the
impres-
were being suddenly discredited, they
sionists
books.
ture.
The
remarks into theories of sculp-
reported comments, or monologues,
illuminating and provocative; but the modern reader concludes in the end that Rodin was the last giant figure of the realistic schools and only marginally a modern. He was the great, the incomparable impressionist, are
not properly a post-impressionist.
Rodin speaks for his school when again and again he notes the importance of "the palpitating flesh"; or when he declares that "the principal care of the artist should be to
form living muscles. The
Of
rest matters little."
that specialty of the impressionist sculp-
tors,
minute modeling of boss and hollow shimmering effect, he said: "Color
to
turned to the primitives— which indeed gained
afford a
for the early
moderns a massive strength— and to the Orient, where a rhythmic vitality had always been considered more important than
These two qualities always accompany each other, and it is these qualities which give to every master-
surface representation.
piece of the sculptor the radiant appearance
is
the flower of fine modeling.
of living flesh."
Back
in the days
that the
work
of art
when is
it
was axiomatic
an imitation of nature,
These interesting observations sharpen
the
reader's
are likely to
perception
of
certain
innumerable books were written by sculptors
surface beauties in sculpture, but those
as introductions to the practice or appreciation
believe that a
of the
art.
Many
of these are instructive, for
the lover of sculpture, both for
what they
say
what they leave unsaid. We may read with respect a book by Albert Toft, a British sculptor eminent in the 1920s, and agree with him that one-half of the artist's preparation is and
for
to
sculptural
new dimension creation
his naturalistic early
who
has been added
since Rodin modeled works may well prefer
his statement about the sculptor's obligation
in
modeling
a
which he ought that
alone
portrait:
"The resemblance
to obtain
is
matters."
The
that of the soul;
saying
seems
to
sionate—that
is
what the
in stone or marble,"
sculptor
must express
he wrote. "The grandest,
the noblest, the most striking product of the sculptor's genius should express only relation-
ships possible in nature— its effects,
fan-
its
tasies, its singularities."
At the beginning of the twentieth century Aristide
Maillol
weakness in the
an
pointed
out
realist's
case:
inevitable
having only
nature's effects as his material, he exaggerates
movements and
nature's tello's art it
belongs to the studio.
make
it
locutions:
"Dona-
does not really come out of nature;
lifelike.
He
exaggerates to
His weeping children grim-
ace frightfully. One can express sorrow by calm features, not by a twisted face and distended mouth."
addiction
If
enough
to
naturalism
was
cause
for the decline of sculpture in
the
nineteenth centur)^, there was a companion evil in the failure to
The
Kiss.
Marble. Auguste Rodin. C. 1890.
Rodin Museum, Paris
Michelangelo wrote
ment about the bring
him
into the territory of the moderns,
where indeed he lingered long enough to design the famous Balzac. (See page 472.) Better known, unfortunately, and frequently quoted by the devotees of realism,
an early saying of Rodin's: ever)'thing, her.
and
I
sayings
is
to
is
obey Nature in
never pretend to
Aly only ambition
ful to her."
"I
command
be servilely
faith-
This well caps a progression of
explanatory of the naturalism that
had gained
steadily in
Europe over a period
of five centuries.
Lorenzo Ghiberti had written concerning
which he completed
the baptistry doors
in
Florence in 1452: "I tried to imitate nature as closely as possible,
portions, to
with
all
the correct pro-
and by using perspective
I
was able
produce excellent compositions graced with
many
figures.
eloquent of
all
.
.
."
comprehend the
differ-
ences between stone-cutting and modeling.
But perhaps the most
the exponents of the natural
the
most-quoted
state-
between true sculptural art and clay modeling: "By sculpture I mean the thing that is executed by cutting away from the block; the sort executed by differences
building up tends toward painting."
Three hundred years later practically no Europe was capable of cutting a stone block, and no school taught the process. The most honored sculptors were claymodelers. They, the "artists," made clay sketches, and sometimes plaster models. Then, if the final statue was to be in stone, "workmen," or praticiens, made the replica, using a pointing machine to assure perfect copying. As the so-called sculptor never sculptor in
touched the block, the sense of the stone, of
grandeur and heavy monumentality,
lithic
totally disappeared.
One came
The
of the results
light,
was
that sculptures be-
complicated, spiky, and sketchy.
easy thumbing of wet clay often brought
had been Etienne Falconet of the eighteenth century, whose nude nymphs are still coldly
strained sort of painting. Subjects not suitable
charming. "Nature
to the stone
alive, breathing,
and
pas-
sculpture into the estate of a second-rate and
abounded; goddesses holding
aloft
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
^'•'
Museum
Goat. Stone. John B. Flannagan. 1930-31. Baltimore
torches of learning, soldiers bearing guns
winged
bayonets,
portrayed in
creatures
flight.
and
naturalistically
This was the heyday of
Eric Gill, Gaudier, Mestrovic, and Lachaise
were leaders among post-impressionist revolu-
who
tionaries
upon a return to the and upon the importance
insisted
sculptural process,
and the Greek-born Polygnotos Vagis, have said that their approach was to wait until the stone or wooden block in hand created its
own
pictorial sculpture-
of Art
to
up an image
memory somehow belonged
subconscious
until
subject;
yielded
that
the shape and texture and "feel" of the
rock mass.
Flannagan wrote that an image
within every rock and that "the creative
exists
merely frees
of the "stone feeling" in the finished statue.
act of realization
Eric Gill wrote a famous essay entitled "Sculp-
looking at a field stone or boulder,
and the opening
ture,"
of
Michelangelo:
"I
an echo
are
lines
assume that the
shall
word sculpture is the name given to and art by which things are cut out whether in
material,
...
I
And
again:
'cut'
"The
to
den subject took over
round.
the
word
sculptor's job
is
This idea 1300,
and
statue in
of stone things seen in the mind."
that
The law
that applies to basic sculpture, to
away
the statue cut in stone, applies to
all
art.
the finished
work
in
wood
more That is,
the
or ivory or clay
will
be true to the character of the material
and
will bear the
Two
American
when
let
his
it
until the hid-
mind.
Then he was
not new. Shortly after the year
wood
or stone,
an
it is
great artist
preacher shapes a
not his subject
he puts into the wood; rather he cuts the covering material that has been
hiding an image. is
the
"When
what he imparts; it away of an obscuring what was hidden in the
It is less
rather the stripping
envelope so that
rough
may
shine
out."
Johannes
Tauler,
sculptor's skill.
another leader in that crowning century of
John Flannagan
mystical perception, reported the incident of
stamp of the sculptors,
is
Meister Eckhart,
mystic, wrote:
making out
refined or lesser varieties of the
his
Vagis,
ready to begin cutting.
of a solid
relief or in the
oppose the word
'model.'"
that craft
sculptural "feeling" play over
it."
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
9
Banner stones. Amerindian, Mound Builders culture, 100-500 a.d. Left: Ohio. Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York. Right: Illinois. Museum of the American Indian, New York a
sculptor
who
regarded a huge block of
marble and exclaimed, "What Godlike beauty is
Lending
stone). abrasion,
here hidden away!"
ficult sculptural
Regarding the materials used in sculpture,
did
though granite
is
the favorite hard stone, that
insisting
this
lends
itself
some best
artists
in
the
creation of "sculptural feeling." Basalt dictates a
severe
Both of these inwere used from the very start
of recorded history: the Egyptians,
aimed to create images for used them for their tomb statues. sciously
who
con-
eternity,
is
not very hard; neither
which are its Greek and Roman sculptors favored marble, and even today marble reis
it
soft
like
the limestones
closest relations.
it
non-crystalline limestones have been
but they
cannot be polished and are not durable weather.
alabaster have
material tection.
is
a
The
Another
if
small sculptures in
translucent glow, but the
one of the soft
softest
medium
and needs is
a
is
and
materials artistic ex-
typical
Stone
shaped stones uncovered
at pre-
Flint
oldest
basalt are
and caves are weapons, and moot question whether these can be
stage of
pro-
steatite (soap-
weapon
when
day
and there came a and axes
design,
ceremonial
hatchets
evolved out of the purely functional kinds, often with an animal form approximated in the general design or as an added feature.
But
to
of
considered sculpture. Certainly the desire to
ette
exposed
intractability
materials.
The
and monumental compositions.
The
said that primitive peoples
historic campsites
mains the chosen material for portrait busts
freely used throughout the centuries,
dif-
render the shapes pleasing entered at some
Marble, the favorite stone for the middle
ground of sculpture,
the
let
pression.
Age
carving or
scarcely attempted;
check the native impulse toward
simplification.
tractable stones
work was
may be
it
not
facile
to
itself
sometimes appears where more
it
it
may be
was monest
that the first independent statubone or horn. One of the comfrom materials was ivory, early
of
mammoth ivory
is
tusks.
the
Of
only
three
these
one
materials,
extensively
used
throughout history, from the age of the Cro-
own
Magnons
until our
era of
greatest glory
its
"Dark Ages."
time. Curiously, the
began
in the so-called
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
10
Apart from stone and stonelike materials, only one other material lends
wood. Impermanent
true sculptural process:
by nature, subject
wooden
breakage and
to
the
to
itself
the
rot,
statue has seldom survived the oldest
as
mind
agreeable material,
texture
impossible
wood has become
century, as a
of fluent cutting
itself to effects
it
and of
any other
to
in the twentieth
has been so often in history,
prime vehicle of creative sculptural ex-
pression.
The
rest of the stor)' of materials is in clay,
it we The word
but with ture.
turn
away from
"sculpture"
the Latin
word meaning
with clay
we
composition
is
basic sculp-
descended from
to cut or car\'e,
and
enter the field of modeling.
imprisoned
in
block
a
is
A
up
by pressing onto a central mass or core innumerable lumps of wet clay, thumbing and streaking them into final place. The piece as it appears "sculptor" builds
in
the
museum
the image,
case
may be
mud,
clay, or terra cotta,
much
the same. It has been
by hand while the fired,
mud
labeled burnt
but the process
is
daubed together clay was wet, then
or
possibly in hot sunshine or in ashes,
most often in an oven.
The
hostilit)'
of
the
copying the effects in marble or bronze.
They
thus lost the characteristic virtues that inhere in clay or stone or metal expression as such.
Since there are legitimate uses for model-
and indeed some kind of original is inevitable for statues to be cast in metal, the modems laid down a rule which seems likely
ing,
to
govern creative sculptural
siderable time to come:
manipulated
by the
efltort
The
artist
is,
the sculptor
if
upon the
capitalizing
characteristic of metal.
he has in
If
and refined product such
a painted
as
colored porcelain (in the tradition of Sevres
Meissen ware), his clay original will have
or
and composiWhereas if the clay statuette is the whole aim of his endeavor, he may proceed yet another sort of smoothness
tion.
in a self-proclaiming technique of chunkupon-chunk, thumb-marked modeling; or he
may pursue
naturalism with a detailing and
a finesse of approach impossible to reproduce
any
in
beyond the clay
transfer
or plaster or
wax.
There
mud)
are mar\'elous examples of clay (or
among the Chinese tomb among the Mexican
statuettes
and
figurines,
Stone Age
again
These are apt
relics.
sionist in
the best sense:
be expres-
to
sculpturally alive,
true to the inner character of the subject, tj'pically
claylike.
Swiss to
Among
and
the moderns, sev-
have specialized in capitalizing
eral sculptors
upon the
capabilities inherent in clay;
Herman
and the
Haller especially has served
prove that the terra-cotta figure can have
distinctive
moderns toward modeling arose when it was recognized that whole generations of modelers had been falsifying monumental work by creating in clay, in typical softened modeling technique, then mechanically enlarging and apparent
and otherwise
effects
no
longer released by cutting away. Instead the
That
is constrained to think metallically while producing the clay model, smoothing the sur-
Superbly right for car\ang, lend-
sculpture.
-piece.
he
faces
ing
the final
envisages a bronze statue as the end-product,
though its presence can be surmised from the time when sculpture first became
cultures,
ap'pear to the beholder in the mate-
it ^vill
rial of
and engaging
Lehmbruck
Some of among
the
sculpture, partly
by
virtues.
terra-cotta pieces are
masterpieces of
reason of the
modem
artist's
the
scrupulous loyalty to the
clay as such.
On rary
the other hand, a study of contempo-
bronzes should convince
the
observer
(where they have not insisted upon working exclusively in stone and wood, by direct cutting) have that the great recent sculptors
followed the rule of \asualizing the effect
final
metal
during the period of producing the
model. Archipenko, Lachaise, Arp, and Moore
provided excellent examples of the cast bronze
for a con-
clay shall be
always
in ac-
cordance with a vision of the completed work
Museum
of
Mail Drawing a Sivord. Wood. Ernst Barlach. 1911. the Craiibrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, ^lichigan
12
THE ART OF SCULPTURE endowed with sheer and gHstcning
figure
effects natural to It
metal but not to
must be added piece
terra-cotta
clay.
that very often,
has
won an
when
audience, the sculptor's desire to perpetuate
more durable form has led
in
it
to castina in
(Or
bronze, without modification.
a
appreciative
after
his
death eager executors duplicate clay sketches
happened with Degas, Rodin, and Renoir.) Thus in museum halls there are many so-called modern statues that seem to belie the modern passion for truth to matein metals, as has
rials.
Worse
still,
one of the greatest of the
twentieth-century progressives, Jacob Epstein, in later years
went back
to
the practice of
reproducing in cast bronze his sketchy, lumpy clay portraits. Without wanting to detract in any way from Epstein's genius and his early service
to
the
modern movement, one may
attention to the illogical duplication in
call
bronze of his streaky and muddy-surfaced
modelings as the most instructive example extant of a denial of the values of material.
No values
one can see what formal sculptural
may be hidden
in the materials
now
entering into the manufacturing field of in-
There are new materials such chromium and magnesium to challenge the
dustrial design. as
sculptor.
have
Archipenko, Brancusi, and Gonzalez
experimented with
direct
metals (as against casting), and
produced many of
an
artificial
agglomerate,
stone.
cutting
in
Lehmbruck
his outstanding statues in
As
stone and cement
a
the material
led
the
artist
to
express himself in a fairly smooth, stonelike
idiom, yet with a variation of surface not far
from that possible
new
to
clay.
Most recendy
a
generation (after Gonzalez) has devel-
oped every phase of sculpture assembled by welding, and the names of Armitage, Jacobsen,
and David Smith have become familiar
at the great international
There
are scores of
showplaces.
"new"
theories about
the art of sculpture. These range from a frank neo-primitivism, as in the few sculptures of
Growth. Bronze. Jean Arp. 1938. Philadelphia Museutn of Art, Arensherg Collection
Modigliani and an early phase of Epstein's work, through various profound and weighty
works, to the most complicated "light" constructions, as in the airy "mobiles" of Alexan-
der Calder— who was originally a sculptor but is
now
hardly to be contained
may be
It
that
it
any
in
histor-
word.
ical definition of the
is
only because
we
are
so close to the triumphant days of realism
still
that a large group of innovators and settled moderns remain near the neo-primitive, heavy or simplified types of sculpture. In any case,
there
is
contemporary
sufficient reason for the
concern
sculptor's
spherical forms,
if
with
ovoid,
cubic,
and
their reiteration helps stir
in the collective public
mind
a long-dormant
love of reposeful, elemental things, of hard,
simple,
solemn things.
immediate
It
may be
that
the
appreciating sculpture hinges
art of
upon some deep-down clairvoyance in regard, upon subconscious perception of
this ele-
mental form.
Henry Moore, speaking
of shape-conscious-
and of his own early devotion to bones, shells, and pebbles, observes that "there are universal shapes to which everybody is subconsciously conditioned and to which they ness,
can respond
their conscious control
if
not shut them
Subject-values
from the ognition
of course,
are,
inseparable
but the proper order of
others; is
does
off."
an intuitive response
to
rec-
elemental
sculptural beauty, then intellectual pleasure
the
in
descriptive
associations.
Any
truth
alert
and
mind
is
the
Jiterary
pleasantly en-
gaged by a cleverly exact transcription or by a
show
of unusual virtuosity in
smooth tech-
nique. But the mental delight thus is
awakened moving
a poor substitute for the profoundly
and
felicitous
response
to
innate
massive
rhythms, whether encountered in the form-
symphonies of Michelangelo or in the "universal shapes" of
Henry Moore.
Montserrat. Sheet iron. Julio Gonzalez. 1936-37. Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam
I
I
:
Primitive Sculpture: From
Our
to
the
Cave Men
Age Contemporaries
Stone
I
WE to
cannot
know
exactly
shape tools or weapons
when man began with
artistically,
regard to the pleasure afforded by contrived looks or "feel."
event
of
his
statuette. It art
is
Even more obscured cutting
first
an
the
independent
probable that sculpture as an
preceded drawing or painting.
to the very
is
It
goes back
beginnings— as does dance, which
durable, ism,
it
sudden
survives earthquakes injuries
and vandal-
from wars, and the grad-
ual silting over of ancient living-sites. Primitive sculpture,
recently
though long obscured and only in art museums, is properly
known
the foundation for
The tors,
all
study of the
art.
primitives are the world's basic sculp-
and from them each
line of civilized de-
precedes music and poetry. Incomparably old
velopment has branched. Their creations are
among
figurative
arts,
also
in-
fundamentally vigorous, innocent of reasoned
relics
of
purpose, studied detail, and elaborate orna-
nature heavy and
ment. Whether a rough prehistoric "Venus"
sculpture
is
comparably represented among the prehistoric cultures.
By
its
Baton or symbol of authority. Reindeer horn. Aurignacian, Isturitz, Basses-Pyrenees. St.
c. 30,000 B.C. Germain Museum. (_Photo Charles Hurault, St. Germain^
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
16
of the Aurignacians from the
Old Stone Age
(of perhaps 30,000 B.C.) or a rhythmically
designed stone horse of the
New
Stone Age
(of possibly 2000 B.C.) in Europe, or an idol of a South Sea island tribe living today
under
Stone Age conditions, the sculpture of the
mind not
primitive mind, a
yet developed to
the point of possessing a written language,
is
and true to the spirit rather the external and detailed reality of
but there seems sentations
little
doubt that many repre-
grew from
devotional or ritualistic needs. Instinc-
tively
men wanted their God
please
to placate the spirits or to
or
gods;
certain
had "magic." Other manifestations
To
of
this
merely
than to
did only what was necessary.
while he polished
Primitive art cannot be delimited within dates. In
some
our
own
into
utilitarian.
areas the Stone
Age has
lasted
The American Indian Mexico were all at the level
time.
cultures north of
object he
They
art
were
man
begin with, early
down
the
first
But it
after
a
or
other
more
pleas-
tool
had made and found
ing visually than the
objects it.
either contained a spirit or evoked
simple, strong,
the model.
and
religious impulses
filled
crude product. At
some point he playfully added ornament.
The
instinct for ornamentation
has been
way before white man. Some Mela-
claimed by some students as the true origin
nesian and Polynesian cultures and others in
instead of originating independently, might
of the Stone
Age
until they gave
the pressures of the
Africa, Australia,
and the Arctic lands remain and their arts are tech-
of
all
visual arts.
To them
it
seems that
have evolved from such practices
as
art,
body-
at the primitive level,
painting and tattooing and the later tribal
nically prehistoric.
fashion of wearing ornamental headdresses,
we are at someknow how early man felt
In the twentieth century thing of a loss to
about
life
or art
and
to
fathom
his reasons
for fashioning a javelin-thrower into
proximation of a stag or a
why,
in
much
or an otter or a
Archaeologists
lion, or to
later times,
hawk upon have
an apexplain
he carved a duck his tobacco pipe.
evolved
theories to explain the earliest
Horse. Stone. Neolithic, 3rd or
a
number
works of
of art,
fiir
and the
like.
But
to interpret
man's
seems unnecessarily limiting.
we see the prehistoric man who was extraordinarily limited mentally, who understood some things and met many others in the natural world In the simplest terms
artist as a
that
to explain. Swayed by and emotions, he did not think about
he was unable
instincts
B.C. Woldenberg, Germany. State Museum, Berlin. Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin}
2nd millennium
QCourtesy Archiv
necklaces,
invention of art according to any one theory
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE DATE
PERIOD Eolithic
c.
TYPE OF
2,000,000 years
Homo
habilis
MAN
17
SCULPTURAL ART Eoliths: crude
(?)
weapons only
slightly
shaped
ago Paleolithic
(Old Stone Age): Pre-Chellean
C.
100,000
Java
B.C.
man man
Rudely chipped weapons,
Tools improved. Bone implements.
Acheulean Neanderthal
from c. 75,000 B.C.
Mousterian Aurignacian
Solutrean
c.
25,000
C.
20,000 B.C.
QHomo
man
Wildenmannlisloch Venus (?)
sapiens^
Cro-Magnon man
B.C.
Wider range
of shaped tools. sculpture in the round.
Cro-Magnon man
Culmination murals.)
C.
of
from possibly 15,000 B.C. in
Age)
(New
Age
:
Age)
8000
Asia,
in
Confused terns.
racial
Man
c.
4000
in Orient,
2000
Man
B.C. in
bracelets,
tools,
whence
brooches,
etc.,
and
finally
statuettes.
Man
Possibly c. 1800 B.C. in Asia, c. 1000 B.C. in
Age
tools,
name
Continuing Stone Age arts; but from c. 2500 B.C., widespread use of bronze for weapons,
invents a metal harder than copper.
B.C.
c.
Europe Iron
sculp-
"Polished Stone Age." Dolmens, menhirs and other megalithic monuments. Extensive development of pottery; then clay statuettes. Slow resumption of figurative sculpture in stone. Rare design in copper. alternate
primitive agriculture, housing, animal culture, weav-
B.C.
Europe
Begins
relief.
Peak of shapely stone weapons and
pat-
initiates
ing.
Bronze Age
(Painted
fishers
Begins possibly I 5,000 B.C. in
Stone
art.
of sculpture in the
Weapons and tools crude. No figurative ture. Rude beginnings of pottery.
Uncertain tribal elements hunters and
Europe, earlier elsewhere
cave-dwellers'
Wide range
round and in Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone
Some engraving;
Flint points greatly improved; other sculpture almost lacking.
from l6,OOQ B.C.
Magdalenian
Neolithic
axes, scrapers, etc.
Peking
Chellean
a
worker in
No
iron.
epochal change in the sculptural arts, which vastly expanded in the preceding period.
had
Europe
the desirability of art as such.
the
impulse
little
to
create.
The
He
merely had
process
differs
from that which takes place among
tuitive artists today: first contemplation,
in-
then
the manipulation of materials until the image takes life in a
come
new embodiment. Afterward
and uses. In the case of primitive man, if he created a piece that really pleased him he might dedicate it to his gods or God. A likeness in all
sculpture,
the associative values
something
brought
mysteriously
out of the other world, had an element of
magic in fine;
use or wear
If I
it.
am
I
set apart
it,
grander or more powerful, or tractive to the opposite sex.
piece
only
is
am
others,
it
makes me
from other men, I
Or
I
am more again,
if
am at-
the
an ax head or javelin-thrower, not I
but
a greater natural hunter than the I
am
set apart
by
this display of
hunter symbols.
But there
is
nothing that transcends the
truth that art at
its
genesis exists to please
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE an
lasted
until
attraction
an agreeable
Some
authorities believe
as basic as
our impulse
some deep-rooted faculty
The
aesthetic hunger.
shape holds for us
dance or music.
rhythmic forms in
to create
The immediate is
is
in us, to satisfy
response to a formal creation
elementary and profound;
may come
later
the realization and the delight of seeing some-
thing familiar reproduced.
What is at present known about man and his sculptural art is shown chart on page 17.
Age
The Old Stone
earliest
in the
or Paleolithic
covers roughly the vast period from the rise
man
in the Pleistocene epoch to the culture Cro-Magnons, an undetermined time from about 1,000,000 to 30,000 years ago. Dur-
of
of the
ing the
four of the seven periods of the
first
Old Stone Age
a slow development implement to handaxes and symmetrically shaped scrapers and
The
points.
sort of
fifth
witnessed the
was
there
from the crudest
of the
Aurignacian,
the
period,
rise
Cro-Magnon race improved weapons
and the appearance of such as harpoons and javelin-throwers, numerous sculptures in the round, and engravings on bone. The following period, the
named
Solutrean,
what
across to is
after a people
now
made by
The
all
Cro-Magnon
and
art,
Paleolithic art, occurred in
its
Age)
cave-dwellers, then
The sculptors of the period worked in mammoth ivory, reindeer horn, bone,
known, but animal figures were modeled in the round and drawings of figures were incised upon the wet pottery
walls of the cave.
is
is
The
tional Mesolithic art art-lover
At the beginning of the the
of
skills
fined stage, as indicated in the
only claim of transi-
upon the
attention of the
the invention of a rude sort of
Polished
tombs, sometimes as architectural or arranged
monuments,
sometimes
as
monoliths.
The
sculpture.
At the beginning of the Bronze Age there was little change in sculpture, but a major advance
toward
man had
used copper for ornaments and oc-
bracelets,
Age
arts,
Stone Age, or Neolithic
era,
Stone Age, pos
as
and
for statuettes.
especially flint-chipping
The Stone and
pottery-
making, continued through the Bronze Age;
climate due to glacial shiftings.
early
From about
2500 B.C. bronze was used increasingly for weapons and for such ornaments as brooches
and
as
Neolithic
the era of metals really opened with the in-
vention of alloys, notably bronze.
deterioration of other art forms
also as the Polished
industrialization.
casionally for representational sculpture, but
attributable to the drastic changes of
from
name
It
may be
sibly dates
Stone Age,
was the age also of the dolmens and menhirs and cromlechs, the megalithic or "large-stone" art, which appeared as at Stonehenge and in the French prehistoric Stone Age.
The
New
New
preceding ages were not
the
transmitted, except in the field of weaponand tool-making. Pottery was substantially a Neolithic art, and stone sculpture in the monumental sense was resumed only here and there at varying and generally untraceable dates. Men, no longer dependent wholly upon hunting, turned their attention to agriculture and the domestication of animals. The manufacture of stone weapons reached a re-
pottery.
The known
of
menhir is traced over with engraved designs and some of the carefully fashioned stones do, in fact, evoke an aesthetic response hardly to be distinguished from our response to basic
of
shelters.
No
dawn
Sumer, Egypt, and China, and included the bulk of Amerindian, African, and South Sea island art.
civilized art in
be classed as sculpture, though occasionally a
flint
using not only caves but some rude outside
clay.
era of prehistoric art lasted until the
blades and
with the paintings of
and
world as early
parts of the
others say 2500 b.c. This great
the pressure flaking process.
the Magdalenian period (or Reindeer
stone,
B.C.,
the latter to have
stones are usually not sufficiently shaped to
culmination
therefore of
4000
the Bronze Age.
of
France from the East,
is
remarkable only for the
points,
who moved
some
started in as
dawn
the
15,000 B.C.
It
typically
Bronze Age
arts persisted in
some
regions long after others started using iron.
In most regions of Europe, the Iron Age,
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE dating from about
tures,
1300
pertaining
Greek-Roman
to
known
peoples
pre-
Most
The suggest
and swords. which illustrate
how
basic
pulse to create,
improve.
From
this
and universal
how
is
chapter
man's im-
man seems
to
have
had an interior sensibility, a sense of form, an aesthetic impulse. Primitive sculpture is evocative
of
contemplative
sculptural emotion, as
In the 1960s, gists in
is all
pleasure,
great plastic
new discoveries by
East Africa have given
of
a
art.
anthropolo-
rise to articles
appearing under such startling headlines as "Scientists
add a million years
to the
is
de-
man-apes of South Africa and supposedly used stone, bone, and wooden weapons to overcome their prey. However, many anthropologists today believe that despite their upright posture and
instinctive his urge to
the start
man
were
of the sculpture
plates
still-debated opinion that
scended physically from the Australopithe-
small and incidental to manufacture, as on
urns, pins,
man's existence on earth." Equally starding
was the
the
to
civilization as barbarians,
technically primitive. is
was not
B.C.,
but the Hallstatt and La Tene cul-
historic,
19
span of
cines, the so-called
who walked
tool-using
erect
the
capability
Australopithecines
were not direcdy ancestral
to
men, but
in-
stead represent an offshoot of the evolutionary line that led to
man.
It is
possible that these
hominids lived concurrently with the
known As
true
man,
to dating,
Homo
the lay reader does well to
dawn of art, and there. The dates
low, near the
here
haps as near right as scientific
earliest
hahilis.
is
al-
hundred centuries in this book are pera
possible in a period
of
guessing and scholarly controversy.
Feline. Petroglyph. Solutrean, c. 20,000 B.C. Les Combarelles, Dordogne. C^J'chives Photographiques, Parish
II
THERE
is
men were
by
complex of activities known as the figurative arts. It is supposed that from such a begin-
bone which had
ning, perhaps 100,000 years ago, the activity
a marginal theory that the
pieces
first
of
sculpture
bits of stone or
treasured
been worn down by the elements into shapes resembling animals or
man would
itself
After possibly
A
him
pebble approximating the
as a
to
a
human head would
token bestowed by the
might
be instilled with magic.
Through rude to
forward
value such nature-formed figures
beings.
a precious link with them. It
seem
carried
hunter-savage,
mass of a bison or spirits, as
was
Early
as luck pieces.
appeal to
human
improve and then duplicate the nature-formed luck pieces, efforts to
the theory goes on,
there arose
the whole
the late sort of
by
the
by
Old Stone Age,
artists
achieved the
animal image shown in the illustration
of the reindeer-horn sculpture
which
Neanderthal
Cro-Magnon man. seven hundred centuries, in then
is
supposed
to
from
be an ornament or
Isturitz,
a
baton
of authority of the Aurignacian epoch. It
is
pleasing but hardly more than rudely resemblant. (Illustrated
There
is
on page
15.)
only one figurative sculpture that
Reindeer; Bison. Javdin-throwcrs. Ivory. Magdalcnian, c. 15,000 B.C. Bruniquel, Tarn ct Garonne; La Madeleine, Dordogne. British Museum; Les Eyzies Museum QHurauIt photo')
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE is
considered by archaeologists to belong to
an earlier period than is
Woman. The
this baton. Its subject
from
piece
is
known but
Mousterian
to
sumably
at least
Aurignacian
site in
eastern
not only the oldest example
Switzerland, of sculpture
dated
Wilden-
the
mannlisloch Cave, an Alpine
unique specimen
a
and thus
times,
pre-
finds.
Some
archaeologists refuse
when
the unique piece
been
assumed
sessed
no
aesthetic sense at
all.
rough
automatically developed into
human
present
obser\'er
saw
mounted
it
in
it
a
in
The Cro-Magnon session of
they
ex-
people believed that pos-
its
chase,
from Les Combarelles on page
To
return to the
segment of
be
cave bear's
jawbone. This mounting has lasted through
Not only
animal
stag
widely accepted
possibly 70,000 years.
the
an image of the hunted bison or
Then when some sensitive an image of a woman he a
of
of their rock shelters.
shape while being used as a
utilitarian scraper.
look
added the feeling of it. Their little "statues" form a worthy parallel to the virile and sometimes superb paintings on the walls
the illustration of a petroglyph of a feline
He had
pos-
therefore suggested that the stone less
the
had
had
it
man
art.
to
Author-
was discovered,
Neanderthal
that
stone weapons and tools, but no
more or
And
pressively
would afford the hunter mastery in the and so the sculptors concentrated upon quarry animals. There is nevertheless a considerable range of material, stone and clay and horn, and of method, from full-round to incised drawings and figures in low relief. See
knot of sculptural
to believe that this graceful
bulk and the typical movement of a
stag or doe, of a wild horse, bison, or panther.
40,000 years earlier than the
masses was shaped by men, for prior to 1926,
ities
typical
21
Venus a
human
of Wildenmannlisloch, as
of
which
unique is
now
man's handiwork, seems
to
the
figures
known
as
Aurignacian
times.
Scores
of
forerunner of
Venuses
19.
figure, the
the general
shape of the statue but the suggestion of
such
details
as
other scholars to indicate
The Reindeer and on
carx'ed
figures
javelin-throwers.
and nose seem
the eyes
to
human
useful
artifice.
such
objects
as
are characteristic of a
by the sculptors of the Magwhen the images had become vigorously lifelike and there was a maturer dalenian epoch,
feeling for rhythmic design. are examples of the art of the Cro-
Alagnons, successors in Europe of the Nean-
The Cro-Magnons
derthalers.
walls
and
ceilings
their
of
painted
the
sanctuary cave-
rooms with amazingly truthful pictures of the animals
they
archaeologists
broken
hunted.
to
piece
how
found
have
such
to
this,
objects
as
and which have helped them
javelin-throwers,
stone skull-crushers,
addition
In
points,
flint
together a rudimentary picture of
these early
men
lived.
It
seems safe
to
assume that they were exclusively a hunting people. In their ivory or
bone sculptures (they
did not use metal) they caught the obser\'ed character,
the alertness
and the
c.
stance,
70,000
the
B.C.
S\^•itzerland.
Heimatmuseum,
stage attained
These
Bone. Neanderthal,
Wildenmannlisloch Cave,
Bison represent animal
They
Woman.
St.
Gallen
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
22
examples have been recovered from European and Asian caves and campsites. For illustra-
have selected the so-called Venus
tion here I
of Lespngiie
and Venus
These
of Willendorf.
miniature Venuses are generally heavy and
womanly
bulgy, with emphasis on the
The
parts.
faces are mostly without features. Fer-
were among the
tility rites
earliest religious or
conjuring activities of primitive peoples, and the Venuses are
presumed
have been
to
designed
alistic objects or fetishes,
to
ritu-
induce
fecundity.
The
figures indicate a long apprenticeship
and cutting
the use of chipping
in
They
ments.
as revealing a bent, at so early a time,
toward
and rhythmic ordering
outlining
fluent
instru-
are of interest to theorists of art
They
sculptural masses.
of
interest ethnologists
because the bulginess of certain body parts
seems the
Cro-Magnon goddesses with
to link the
Bushmen
present-day
This type of soon after the
art
is
of
the
tribes of Africa.
disappeared from Europe
last glacial age, possibly
10,000 or 12,000 ture
women
steatopygous
similarly
B.C.,
and
then wholly absent.
about
figurative sculp-
The
date
when
the
was reunknown,
practice of carving figures in stone
sumed or
Europe and Asia is would seem to be in the
in
though
it
Polished
Stone Age.
New
Stone
Neolithic cultures
appeared at widely separated dates in
differ-
and some survive today. For that reason the word "primitive," like the word "Neolithic," has come to desigent parts of the world,
nate art of a certain type or
The resumption practice in in
the
rare
pieces
c.
of
a
rather than
typical
Age
the Neolithic
early
Venus
side the is
spirit,
measured time-period.
art of a
Cycladic
figure
of Willendorf.
that
it
seems
primitive illustrated
shown
The
be-
subject
among Cycladic
(but not unique) in
is
to
be
directly
in
Venus of Lespugue. Ivory. Magdalenian, 15,000 B.C. Grotte des Ridcaux, Lespugue, Basses-Pyrenees. Musee de I'Homme, Paris. (^Photo Giraudon, Paris')
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
Venus of Willendorf. Stone. Aurignacian. Willendorf, Austria. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna
Idol. Stone. Early Cycladic,
3rd millennium B.C.
Andre Emmerich
line of descent It
from the Aurignacian Venuses.
has the featureless face and, in the body,
the
steatopygous fatness of
ures.
It
is
at
as a design, clearly a step
tized Cycladic figures.
in
Malta but
the
the same time
is
earlier
fig-
more advanced
toward the schema-
The
thought
was found
piece
be of Pentelic
to
marble.
The in the
Mention gests a
Aegean were mostly
of
human
isles
figures,
ranging from practically abstract pieces, like fat fiddles, to statuettes slighdy
New York
Gallery,
Age
of the Polished Stone
sug-
second line of sculptural development,
and one that bridges the gap between Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures. In both ages weapons and tools were fashioned with notable feeling for abstract form.
volumes
shaping
evolution
the
in
Cycladic marbles from the Greek
23
point.
beautifully of
The handsome
indicate
a
The
art of
illustrated
head and javelin
ax
skull-crushers
hatchets of the
attractive
is
New
conscious delight in
and the
Stone Age the
tactile
more detailed
appeal of the sleek worked stone, as well as
than the one shown on page
Primitive
an intuitive feeling for volume organization.
and vigor are inherent, along with a captivating rhythmic expressiveness. The
chipped scrapers or points, but an increase in
sculptors escaped the pitfalls of intricacy of
sensitivity
i.
simplicity
design,
over-ornamentation,
detailing.
and
naturalistic
The most
the
ancient
of design can
Paleolithic
elegant
artifacts
epochs.
laurel-leaf
blades
were rudely
be traced through
The of
thin,
the
almost
Solutrean
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
24
Crescent stone, spear point, ceremonial baton, boat ax. Stone. Stone Age. Ohio; Australia; Tennessee; Ostergotland.
Ohio
Museum; British Musemn; Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee; State Historical Museum, Stockholm
State
epoch marked a high point of Cro-Magnon
non-utilitarian
and were surpassed only by the poHshed knives and points of NeoHthic times.
the absolute
artisanship
In part of Asia the semi-civiHzation of the
New
Stone Age came perhaps as early
as
and in Europe as early as 8000 B.C. Through hundreds of generations thereafter the changes in weapons and other tools most clearly indicate an awareness of sculp15,000
B.C.,
tural beauty.
suggestion
of
of
natural
treasure
to
abstract,
The imman had begun
polychrome pebbles and bright
as well as shells
and
cultures of later prehistoric
the stone
weapons
and the
teeth,
men
yield
ous types of abstract ornament and it is
in
objects.
mediate followers of early
crj'stals,
is
of the word, innocent
numerBut
fetish.
that are central to the
exhibit.
This obviously originated
less
from man's
desire to imitate nature than out of to
sculpture that
meaning
create rhythmically
and
to
an
instinct
shape things
From the
the useful axes and points and clubs
series
goes on
to
ceremonial weapons,
patently elaborated for display. Often in the
was evidence
into aesthetically pleasing forms. Tools bear
ritual
out this theory, as do the menhirs or "long
of the finer nuances of plastic order, of bal-
stones" set
vive
today
figurative,
up on as
primitive
impressively
monuments; and
sites,
which
grand,
if
sur-
non-
a store of small,
axes there
of the grasp
anced weight and related mass, and of ingly
adjusted
simpler
contour
outline.
pleas-
The advance from
and casual form
to
such
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE elaborated clubs as those of the Maoris and to
Lurs
the rhythmic oars or paddles of the Easter
Persians.
was accompanied by growing apwoods and stones. These mate-
Islanders
preciation of rials
were valued
markings.
for
their
Eventually,
in
texture or their this
there
line,
and
If the
the
early
of
art
the
25
civilized
growth of sculptural awareness can
thus be traced in the weapons or tools of
man, there is also confirmation of his growing feeling for sculptural form in nonearly
appeared the exquisitely fashioned ceremonial
utilitarian objects.
objects of the Chinese, in precious jades.
North American Indians, sometimes appar-
The Bronze Age, marked by
the epochal
sometimes
dawned
used
some Near Eastern regions as early as 2700 B.C. As always when an art enters upon a new phase, the idioms and methods
The
of the past survive for a while.
and axes were
at
examples created the Bronze
Age
modeled
first
knives the
after
the Stone Age, but, as
in
progressed, refinements ap-
peared. For instance, the axes and adzes of
worked weapon
animal
Even
in the
though
compositions
or tool designs, the
virile simplicity.
This
is
between prehistoric and deed there
is
weapons
of
the
artists
into
their
whole retained
a
transitional sculpture, civilized art.
no dividing
line
And
in-
between the
superbly right semi-primitive sculpture of the
The "long
stone"
art.
being
Though thousands of banner stones of North Central Indians have been found, there is no evidence that they served any purpose beyond pleasing the senses. Variations of times.
the
type,
known
winged and so on, are the museums; but the
lunar
as
stones,
stones, double-crescent stones,
commonly met with
Age.
sometimes
the most lovingly
the
banner stone
Stone
among
fashioned sculptures to survive from primitive
the people of Luristan, while preserving a
the
and
symbolic,
as fetishes, are
primitive vitality, began to take on a fluency
and elegance seldom seen
stones of the
ently treasured for ornamental values alone,
introduction of a metal harder than copper, in
The shaped
the
most
is,
in
sculpturally speaking at least,
engaging
exhibit.
It
is
typical
primitive art with vigorous simplicity, forceful ness.
thrust,
Two
and
direct decorative
banner stones are
Introduction on page
A
expressive-
illustrated in the
9.
second line of Amerindian sculptures
approaches the abstract in forms abstracted
from nature or poetically summarizing
Pre-Celtic. Part of temple remains, Stonehenge, England.
CKean Archives, Philadelphia^
it.
Adze head. Bronze.
1000-800
B.C. Luristan, Persia.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
Club. Wood. Maori. University
Although
banner
the
nonrepresentational,
same
tribes
are
While
sense.
realistic,
stones
the bird
abstractions
in
this
the
second
these forms are very far from
they are nevertheless
bird feeling.
The
beauty
is
endowed with
at
once that of
the bird-subject and that of the
artist's crea-
tion.
The
lovingly
ifornia (chiefly
miniature
polished
on the
islands of the
Archipelago) are close to
whales
Channel
common
to
untutored
peoples.
whales, especially, are highly attractive. fishhook
is
from the same culture.
had no other purpose in life than to obtain food, protect and propagate his kind, and develop skills that would serve practical ends. Imitational sculpture, they say, originated as a side issue of manufacture. tical
demands had been
Only when
satisfied
prac-
did art come
the Marquesans
ably passed through
long metamorphosis
before
a
approached the type pictured,
they
with a head or heads terminating the neck of the pestle.
continued
human
would
The to
but
who
had
art
been
carved the bird and
on the stone pipes of the Builders may have done so
Mound
ritualistic
jects
usefulness of the objects
sculptors
figures
American for
The
unimpaired,
The
occasions.
Non-ceremonial ob-
call for less elaboration.
evolution of pottery
is
another factor
be considered in any study of the origins of
art.
The
making vessels in sunbaked came fairly late in the rise of man; meanwhile shells, gourds, and
craft of
or fired clay
primitive
Primitive man, certain pragmatists assert,
made by
of the Antilles prob-
realistic representa-
Yet they never lose the simplicity of
statement
The The
stone pestles
Zealand.
and by the Amerindians
added.
and other animals found on sites of Amerindian communities along the coast of Cal-
tion.
The
wholly
are
stones of
New
Museum, Philadelphia
hollowed stones served his need for a dish or a jar.
No
pottery has been found
relics
of
unsettled,
among
the
hunting or
exclusively
migratory peoples. But, once invented, the baked clay vessel became almost the commonest expression of man's skill, from the
epoch of primal agriculture
The
to a
into being as a playful or pretty addition to
short of civilization.
the plain tool, weapon, or vessel.
velopment, from abstract shaping
period just
line of sculptural deto
elaborated
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE figurative design,
can be traced once more in
27
Picene
vessel. Prehistoric Italian dishes of the
ceramic pot and storage jar and in rudimentary
culture
statuettes.
figures, and innumerable early Middle American and South American earthenware vases have incidental sculpture on their sides. Peruvian wares are
At
first
and, at some undeter-
sentational elements;
mined point
in prehiston,', the
common manu-
facture of clay figurines began.
and massing was instinctive with and when ornamentawas added, it rarely became excessive or
outlines,
ran counter to functional laws, except, perhaps, in ceremonial
or libation
The
vases.
most ancient vessels are forerunners, on a primitive level, of the exquisite Chinese
and
bowls
the
sixth-century
vases
Sung
of
the
art historian usually considers as sculp-
tural only those vessels that
tional
crude testimony
which the sculptors integrated
illustrational
features with the design of the pot or bottle,
function or disturbing
its
the decorative unity of the vessel.
Another sels
line of evolution
is
shown
in ves-
designed in the shape of a head or a In
body.
the
beginning,
face
urns
were
modeled with hardly more than a representation of eyes and a mouth, or eyes and a nose; sometimes they are found with utilitarian
The vase with breast uncommon type. Indeed any
ears pierced for handles.
forms
is
not an
shapely or symmetrical part of the body might
Greeks.
The
if
endlessly interesting for the ingenuity with
without impairing
feeling for good proportion, pleasing
primitive pot-makers; tion
eloquent
about the beginnings of rim
the abstract elements of composition
were more important than the art of copying from nature. But very soon the baked clay vessels began to be embellished with repre-
The
afFord
have representa-
forms in the modeling. At
primitive potters
seem
to
first
the
have experimented
with faintly or crudely imitational details in handles or on the rim, neck, or shoulder of a
suggest variations of the contours of the clay vessel.
jars
This progression leads on
to dishes
and
completely composed to approximate the
appearance of a
and sometimes a
The
man
or a
woman, an animal,
fruit.
primitive artist was likely to geome-
Fishhook; Whale. Stone. Amerindian,
Chumash. Channel Islands, California American Museum of Natural History;
Museum
of Science, Buffalo
Bird stones. Amerindian. Michigan;
Illinois.
American Museum of Natural History; Museum of the American Indian, New York
Amerindian. West Indies. Museum fi'ir Volkerkunde, Berlin. QPhoto courtesy Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin. j Right: Polynesian. Marquesas Islands. Musee de I'Homme, Paris
Pestles. Stone. Left:
Archiv
Bird;
Man.
fiir
Effigy pipes.
United
States.
Amerindian,
Mound
Builders culture, pre-Columbian. South central
American Museum of Natural History; Brooklyn Museum
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE trize or
conventionalize the natural forms in
clay as he did in his stone effigies. for
The
gift
formalization and for subordinating the
representational features to the formal needs of the craft
is
illustrated in
thousands of early
primitive with their simple massiveness
sculptors
living
and they mark a
under Neolithic conditions final point in the progress of
prehistoric artists toward naturalism.
primary aim of the primitive
treme simplifications, or distortions of nature.
of evidences of his
The two Tarascan
lettered sculptor usually
effigy
and
jars,
simulating
a dog, are essentially
and
rhythmic modeling. These were executed by
American vessels such as the human-effigy vase from Chihuahua, Mexico, with its ex-
realistically a child
29
Realism cannot, however, be considered a
spirit rather
artist.
In spite
keen observation, the un-
remained true
to the
than the visual fact of his subject-
30
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
EflBgy vessels. Clay. Amerindian, Stone Age. University of Tennessee; American Museum of Natural History
EflBgy Jars. Clay. Tarascan, pre-Columbian. Mexico.
American Museum of Natural History
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE The
matter. this
last
31
two clay sculptures shown in
chapter are of the type of idol or fetish
found
dawn
at the
of civilization.
They
are
and generally formalized. The representational element— so highly praised by archaeologists and historians simple,
in
an
directly
earlier
expressive,
generation— now seems
less sig-
nificant than the artist's intuitive mastery of
sculptural method.
with stubby arms
Amlash, Persia
recently
The is
figure of a
woman
from the culture called
discovered
northern
in
on the border of the Caspian Sea. The
black clay Mother Goddess figure with a suggestion of outstretched arms, in the Universit)^
Museum,
Philadelphia,
is
more
clearly
a fetish, a descendant of the fertility goddess
commonly found
in the Middle East. This comes from a northern Persian
example
also
culture,
centered
to
the
eastward
of
the
Human-effigy vessel. Clay. Chihuahua, Mexico. Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe
Mother Goddess. Clay. Bronze Age. Asterabad, Persia. University
Museum, Philadelphia
Woman.
Clay. Amlash culture, 2nd millennium B.C. Persia. Bertha Schacfcr Gallery, York
New
32
PRIMITIVE SCULPTURE
Amlash
The Dancing
finds.
Girl in
in
mood,
is still
plicity, vigor,
an example of primitive sim-
and directness
The
wood
(from a Chinese tomb) was made a halfmillennium later and, though very different of statement.
chapter concludes with a
Neolithic
Jaguar in stone, from Panama, which stylized that
neoprimitive modern of this century.
common
trates a
dent also in the
simplification
a primitive style replete
evi-
from Chihuahua.
effigy vase
and massive
a
It illus-
sort of geometrization
Squared or rounded forms, graceful contours,
so
is
might have been carved by
it
elliptical
add up
with plastic
to
life.
For rhythmic massing and pleasing
finish,
the Jaguar might be compared with the Horse
shown on page
i6. It
Age, found
Woldenberg
at
obviously of the Stone
is
in
Germany and
attributed to a prehistoric culture
two
or three
millennia earlier than that which produced the
jaguar.
This
demonstrates
common
a
generic likeness existing in prehistoric sculpture,
whether dated
in Asia, or A.D.
2000
Neolithic
artists,
The
or
combination, in
profoundest sculptural qual-
with such crudities
of dots on head
Middle Europe,
in
1000 in America.
this horse, of the ities
10,000 or 5000 B.C.
at
b.c.
as the faltering lines
and mane remind us distributed over
all
that the
the con-
and tenants of Asia through perhaps
tinents,
one hundred and twenty centuries, worked in societies
at
the
level
of
hunting or rudi-
mentary agriculture and long before the vention of the art of writing. itively,
And
in-
yet, intu-
the Neolithic artist grasped the values
monumental massing, melodious proportioning, and vigorous statement of the essen-
of
Dmicing Girl. Tomb figure, wood. 4th-3rd century b.c. Chang-Sha, Hunan, China.
tial
character of his subject.
Fuller Collection, Seattle Art
Museum Jaguar. Mortar, stone. Neolithic. Panama. University Museum, Philadelphia
:
2 Egypt :
The Eternal
in Sculpture
I
HERODOTUS were the
said that "the Egyptians
to erect to the
first
gods akars and
and they carved in stone the figures of animals." This Greek historian, writing in the fifth century B.C., was one of the first to temples;
and Mycenaean forebears
Cretan
Greeks had formed a single,
and
sculpture
style
so national.
is
A
recognizably
Old Kingdom
the
of
primar)%
so
so
piece of Nilotic
so,
whether of the Middle
of 2600 b.c. or of the
circulate the untruth that the Egyptians in-
Kingdom
vented the
and sculpture. Coming himself from a country young and not too firmly established, Herodotus must have found the relics of three thousand years
thirteen centuries later, just before Herodotus
of Egyptian culture an
plishment far ahead of that of any other
arts of architecture
of age. In the statues
overwhelming token of the gods and phar-
aohs— and animals— he would
ment else
find
the ele-
of timelessness, of eternity, as
nowhere
on
earth.
made
representative
the
visited the cities of the Nile.
The
massiveness
and expressive monumentality combined with a
plastic
sensitivity
Egyptian accom-
place
people of pre-Classic times.
The ture
distinguishing
was
the
trait
persistence
of Egyptian sculpof
the
note
eternity, of durability, of timelessness.
Although the people of Egypt had not vented
of 1900 B.C. or of the Saitic period
art
their
sculpture,
own
as
they
in-
had
had no other
nation. Neither Babylonia nor Persia nor the
it
was
introduce novelty, and as
life
recorded that in the land of the Nile
unlawful
to
of
Plato
went on unchanged, century after century, the artist too, perhaps, was forced to hold to
Hippopotamus. Stone. C. 3200 B.C. Ny-Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen
34
EGYPT
an unyielding
immensely
Only
tradition.
once, in
the
interlude associated with
fruitful
placed close by to prolong the pleasures of living that
were dearest
to
him.
The Egyptian
the mystic and heretic king Akhenaton, did
accepted the fact of the afterlife and, sensibly,
the sculptor step out of the role of disciplined
he
servant of a tradition.
Far from being a symbol of sorrow, uncer-
So many generations of
historians
had
por-
trayed the valley of the Nile as the cradle of civilization that tur)',
when,
Sumer
to
and gloom, happy home
tainty,
as his
nineteenth cen-
in the
explorers on the Tigris proved
about to prepare for
set
tomb was looked upon
his
for eternity.
the sculptures
If
he could.
as best
it
we know
best are like-
nesses of the tomb-builders (or likenesses of
be the original home of laws, writing, and
the gods), this
culture, the Egyptologists fought tenaciously,
profoundest love and exertion into the por-
but in vain,
to retain priority for their
land. Today,
potamian
though
stable ture,
and the
first
the
Meso-
more
as
traits,
There
distinctive
joys
cul-
excepting the
art,
Chinese,
is
so outstanding
grandeur
as
Egyptian sculpture.
for
and tomblike by
dignity and It
has been
critics to
whom
emotional representation seemed more desir-
addition,
in
are,
sculptures
and the ceremonies, the human and
animal companions, the musicians, and the
dancing
art.
called cold
man's happiness.
to a
with the more
great, consistent sculptural
Perhaps no other national
being central
put their
artists
innumerable minor and uncounted relief murals in which have been fixed the familiar life, the
civilized earlier,
as the nation
institutions,
chosen
clear that the
became
cit)^-states
Egypt emerges
it is
because the
is
but obviously the sculptors did
girls;
not give their best efforts
to these
The unending rows
themes.
of
secondary
little
models
houses and granaries and bakeries, and
of
and animals, though fascinating
people
mode
illustrations of a
as
of life in an ancient
hardly warrant being lifted into the
able than the contemplative pleasures arising
land,
But the peace and sense of eternity of the great statues have endured
category of great
and been admired throughout the centuries. The convention of frontality was adopted by the Egyptian sculptors and observed in a large majority of their monumental w'orks.
belong, then, to the serious works, the images
The
high a purpose, the sculptor was obliged
from peace of
spirit.
was made to stare straight forward, and the body was so disposed that a plumbline dropped from the forehead would bisect the bulk of the figure perfectly. A leg may be advanced or an arm lifted, but the two halves of the body have the appearance
face usually
of
equal
weight.
Few
of
the
asym-
and angular posturings that enliven late Greek art are to be found. The Egyptians were obsessed with the fundametrical arrangements
mental order or system of the while the Greeks played upon
human its
body,
every varia-
and chance singularity. Most Egyptian sculpture was destined for tombs. The owner's double was placed in the tomb as a housing for the soul— or, it may be, to act for the mummified one— and servants and beloved companions and familiars were tion
The that
art.
simple magnitude and the eternal note
had
do with
to
religion, those that
designed for survival in an unending life.
But with the formalism appropriate
were afterto so
to
develop a degree of realism suitable to portraiture.
It
woman
or
the
would be
the
if
man
no correction could be made.
afterlife
Thus
disastrous
portrayed were mistaken, for in
the sculptors took particular pains in
modeling the faces of their subjects and allowed themselves a mere routine treatment of the bodies; in these we find an unashamed repetition of standard poses.
heads
preserved
would seem
among
the
to
in
the
A
study of the
world's
museums
prove the Egyptians to be
foremost masters of portraiture;
they succeeded in revealing the individual,
even
to the point of psychological disclosure,
but for the reason just noted the bodies often
seem dull and
The
land,
routine. too,
has
its
influence
on the
EGYPT sculptural
The unchanging
expression.
sea-
was not into realism
tors
3 5
commonly
as
but into a mode where
de-
was
sonal cycle, the regular habits of the River
fined,
Nile and the consequent repetitive agricultu-
heightened by spiritual revelation and by the
the deserts and the
ral cycle,
doubt was related sculptors,
and
of the priests
way
the sculptors'
no
who determined
of service. Incidentally the
architecture— plain,
enduring— grew flat lands and
massive,
out of the topography, out of
emergent
and the sculpture, to fit the was heav)', dignified, squared.
cliffs;
architecture,
Only once did the Egyptian sculptors defrom the norm established by the artists and priests of the Old Kingdom. Under the encouragement of Akhenaton, the
part radically
pharaoh
who
studio
ton),
influence
until
the
Moslems
and
stylistic
archaeologists have discovered
to
they are portraits not of facial
aspects alone, marvelously copied, but revela-
nuances of character, of inner illumi-
nation.
marry
lost
the country to
Egyptians
the
640,
The famous
bust of Nefertiti, Akhenaton's
on the
naturalistic
marvelously
is
control of the physical
side,
woman by
the
when
era,
the
Saitic
was the decline
in the
sculptors
native
in the time of Cleopatra, art
tried
The
pictorialism.
The
an era
marked by a weak,
conventionalized
softly
early
masterpieces were then sleeping underground,
and
in a peace
security not to
nineteenth-century
the
put their spades
The
yet the
suggested;
all
their art to that of the Greeks.
Egyptian
of
Akhenaton, and
III,
end came
until
being
a.d.
Saddest of
rulers.
Ptolemaic
inner
in
time of Khafre, the Twelfth Dynasty Kings,
Thutmose
an extraordinary collection of heads in stone
is
Romans
the
B.C.
and wood, and of plaster casts apparently made by the sculptor as a record of his important works. The masks go beyond mere
queen,
the
sculptors,
modeled with more Sympathy and regard for character. The most notable later change of style came after eight centuries, in the Saitic period, with a high polish and crisp stylization of the sculptural figures. From 600
again touched the high standards set in the
modem
tions of
Amarna
the
of
faces being
expres-
excursions into the realm
of
naturalism;
Idowever, the statues
the old standards.
copied from ancient models show some of the
the lucky chance of uncovering
made
monotheistic
Thutmose, a sculptor at El Amarna (the capital established by Akhenathe
After the heretic's brief reign, art returned to
were sometimes in bondage (to Persians, Greeks, and Romans) and sometimes in a nominal independence; but the arts never
religion, they
By
new
introduced a
of psychologic portraiture
sionism.
creative manipulation of sculptural materials.
thinking of the
the
to
cliffs: all this
reality
to
be disturbed archaeologists
work.
chronology of Egyptian
civilization
can be summarized as follows: Prehistoric Period: from an
the spirit
undetermined
within, the shadowing forth of a soul and a
date in the fifth millennium to about 3400
mind
B.C.
in perfect poise,
is
as
complete as in
sculptural history.
Although the
portrait
heads of the Eight-
the rubric "realism," acter
Few
and feeling
it
is
notable
how
char-
are brought to the surface.
of the heads are without distortion: the
narrowing of the face and elongation of the skull led scientists to
mark
the royal family
from macrocephaly or as sharing the strange African custom of skull de-
as sufferers in
formation.
The
escape of Akhenaton's sculp-
historians prefer
3200
B.C.) II,
2780 b.c. Old Kingdom: Dynasties III to VI, 2780 B.C. to 2280 B.C. Middle Kingdom: Dynasties VII to XVII, c.
eenth Dynasty are commonly reviewed under
(Some
Protodynastic Period: Dynasties I and
anything achieved in thirty-three centuries of
3400
2280
B.C.
to
B.C. to c.
1570
b.c.
New
Kingdom: Dynasties XVIII to XXX, c. 1570 B.C. to 332 B.C. Ptolemaic Period: 332 B.C. to 30 b.c. Egypt under Greek rule.
Roman Coptic
art;
Period: 30 B.C. to a.d. 364. Next,
then, in a.d. 640, Islamic.
#^>-
---.^;;-
II
TH
E Stone Age
historic
and
flint
blades of Egypt
are unsurpassed, but the pottery of preof early
remarkable for decorations.
historic
There
is
also
of
the
its
little
feeling in the polished alabaster vessels
Egypt
forms than for
its
is
less
sculptural
and porphyry B.C. and
only an average sensitivity
is
displayed in the
burnt-mud, stone, and ivory figurines of the predynastic pieces
Occasionally
period.
the
clay
were modeled with great vividness.
is
the a
first
work
Egyptian
datable
religious
of extraordinarily fine sensi-
bility.
The
painted
millennium
fourth
ample, relic,
earliest relief carvings of
Egypt show
probable Mesopotamian or Elamite influence before 3400 b.c.
Bull Palette in
is
A
fragment of the so-called
in a technique not paralleled
known Egyptian
handle
art;
and the
from Gebel-el-Arak
predynastic,
is
subject matter.
alien
On
i\'ory knife-
illustrated,
also
except for the Nilotic
one side
it
vividly
shows a
But Egyptian sculpture at the very dawn of history shows a mastery of fundamental
African fighters; on the other side a god
volume-relationship and a pleasing technical
represented
finish.
The
alabaster
Baboon
of
King Narmer
is
one of a few surviving pieces from Dynasty
I
that appear to
dents.
The
have no sculptural antece-
dog-faced baboon was an animal
sacred to the
God
of
The Sphinx and
Wisdom, and
this ex-
scene,
battle
with
apparently
between two
lions,
Asian
and is
with other
animals below.
A
succession of slate palettes follows the
typical
ture
Egyptian pattern of low-relief sculp-
with
slightly
crisp
rounded
outlines,
the
at the edges,
figures
only
and the
total
the Great Pyramids. Dynasty IV. Gizeh. C^''(^hives Roget-Viollet, Paris')
EGYPT area divided into "fields."
King Nanner,
Palette of I,
with
relief
The
back.
and
The
front
is
the
compositions on the front and
faces
thus early
is
illus-
have individual character,
the documentation
all
played
is
king of Dynasty
curious Egyptian compromise of
realism with convention trated.
Most notable
first
detailed.
is
Dis-
the artistic convention of the full-
fitted with head and feet and rudimentary hieroglyphs are
figure
profile,
in in-
corporated into the design.
How ward
had then gone
realism, even naturalism,
many in
far the sculptors
is
to-
illustrated in
of the miniature statuettes to be seen
museums; and
the
particularly
in
ivory figurine of a king at the British
seum. There
is
a feeling of
the
Mu-
monumentality
even in these small pieces where subtleties of
and temperament "king" even the pattern pose
is
are
fixed.
In
There
Baboon
Yet
it
than four inches high. are gaps of centuries in the 3000-
year span of Egyptian
of King
art,
gaps in achieve-
Narmer. Alabaster.
Before 3200 b.c. Dahlem
Relief on knife handle. Ivory. Pre-Dynastic. Gebel-el-Arak. Louvre. QGiraudon photo')
of the quilted cloak
detailed, without loss of massiveness.
is less
the
Museum,
Berlin
Figure of a man. Stone. C. 3200 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
B.C.
37
EGYPT
3b ment
rather than in data.
Between Narmer
and the Pyramid of King Cheops (Khufu) at Gizeh httle notable sculpture sundves, and the stone
HijJjJO'potamus,
alone
may
shown on page 33, hundred
serve to illustrate three
About 2900 was resumed, and the
however, the
years of effort.
B.C.,
story
qualities
found
in
the sculptures of Narmer's era appear again
on a larger
The
scale
and
in greater magnificence.
kings of the Fourth Dynasty were the
which
builders of the great pyramids,
repre-
sent colossal pieces of abstract sculpture rather
than the designs of an architect. Cheops and Khafre (probable King of the Sphinx)
and
iVIycerinus,
who
are
known
to sculptural
history through imposing portraits,
during the
1
were
rulers
20 years of the dynasty.
Sculpture was already massive and fairly realistic, as
indicated in the limestone portrait
heads discovered in tombs
"Cheops
Cemetery"
pyramids.
shown,
(The
unlike
at
portrait
most
at
Gizeh
the extensive
beyond
head of
museum
the
a princess
heads
from
Egypt, was designed without a body.) As for the Sphinx, the
monument, 66
feet high, has
Figurine of a king. Ivory. I, before 3200 B.C.
Dynasty
been mutilated by the ravages of time and
British
Palette of
King Narmer. Stone.
Before 3200 b.c. Hierakonpolis. Cairo
Museum
head of a princess. Stone. Dynasty IV, c. 2640 b.c. Gizeh. Museum of Vine Arts, Boston Portrait
Museum
by misguided
yet
restorers,
retains
still
it
The
something of the sculptor's intention.
monarch, ennobled, looks out over mankind
Not only
thoughtfully and benevolently.
imposing
the
but a sculptural calm lends
size
majesty and remoteness
to the figure.
There is one perfectly preserved work which exhibits majesty and remoteness without
recourse
The
dimensions.
oversize
to
seated King Khafre, in hardest diorite,
is
a
magnificent portrait statue. Beautifully conceived and sensitively modeled and finished, this
monument and
solidity
Mitry and His Wife. Wood. Dynasty V. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund
Myceriiius and His Queen. Stone. c. 2580 b.c. Gizeh. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Egyptian in
essentially
Originally
its
there
were twenty-three other large statues of King Khafre in the funerary chamber, cut in varying types of stone, but only nine survive.
King Dynasty IV,
is
simplification.
IVIycerinus
often depicted in sculp-
is
is he shown more appealingly than in the double portrait of Mycerinns and His Queen, an almost lifesize monument. As portrait and as sculpture
ture with the gods; but never
the composition
is
than the seated
less vital
Khafre; and indeed the trend of sculpture
was downward
But in
after Khafre's reign.
comparison with similar double portraits of the Eighteenth and other
late
Dynasties,
it
is
definitely superior.
Usually only the face portraiture, at the
is
Egyptian
lifelike in
Woman
but in the torso of the
Worcester Art
of the feminine
Museum
body has been
the loveliness
interpreted, not
with the naturalism of the Greeks but with
The
reticent formalization.
column-like in
its
figure
slimness, but
it
almost
is
loses
nothing
of the melodic curves of the model.
There
are examples of a
more forced and
lighter
type of expression
in
swimming
appear as spoon-handles.
and
deliberate
The
sophisticated,
girls
that
stylization is
and the slender
figures are in strong contrast to the heavier
made to appear in The famous statue known
sculptures
or near tombs. as
The
Village
Magistrate demonstrates a peak of naturalistic
art
reached in
Dynasties.
the
Fourth and Fifth
Egyptian diggers
who uncovered
the statue at Sakkara recognized the likeness, so true to the type of petty functionary
known
4
EGYPT
King Khafre,
detail. Stone.
Dynasty IV,
c.
2620
b.c. Gizeh. Cairo
Museum
EGYPT
The
\ illu:4c Mw^istrulL.
Dynasty IV. Cairo
W uod.
Museum
41
Womati. Stone. Dynasty IV. Worcester Art Miisemn
EGYPT
42
Egypt even today. When the statue was found, the face still had part of its coating of in
and
stucco
two Seated Scribes
illustrated, there is notable play
and counter-
play without disturbance of the rather heavy
color.
Painting, in a
common
Fifth Dynasties, as in the
few conventional
tints,
was
main rhythm.
The
both in stone sculpture and in wood.
scribes, again
tomb
figures, are to
However, stones susceptible to high polish, such as diorite or basalt, were left unpainted.
seen in most of the larger art museums.
On
naturalistic,
the other hand, practically every lime-
stone figure color.
had
its
heightening envelope of
The Nude Walking
Figure, of the Fifth
example from the Louvre
is
tions that so often lead scholars to criticize
Egyptian sculpture as rigid and unnatural. It is
standing masterpieces of Egyptian sculpture,
insets of quartz, rock cystal,
a conventionalized type in a standard pose
and
as
plastic
exact realistic portraiture, heightened by
and copper
The nude is
Ha-Shet-Ef, animated.
exceptionally
a
ization does not detract at all
eyes straight forward, the two halves of the
pered
body symmetrically balanced except for the advanced left leg. This stance was copied by the Greeks eighteen centuries later for their
in
Another standard type
is
that of the scribe,
seated cross-legged with a papyrus roll spread
The
pose affords opportunity for
the rhythmic massing of volumes, and particularly in the examples
The
sculptor
has
noble,
sleek
styl-
from natural-
not
been
ham-
by the conventional runner pose, used so woodenly in innumerable routine portraits. So much realism and free action this
type
sculpture were
of
not to be
achieved again until the seventh and sixth
Apollos or kouroi.
his lap.
ness.
young
The
under the Fourth Dynasty. Hundreds of figures were similarly disposed, with face and
on
in the
eyes.
such lacks something of the sheer beauty of the masterpieces produced
more than usually
with hardly a trace of the conven-
Dynasty, often singled out as one of the out-
is
be
The
from the Fourth and
Seated Scribe. Stone. Dynasty IV. Gizeh. Dahlem Museum, Berlin
centuries in Greece.
The
mutilated Senedem-ih-Mehy bears such
a likeness in technique that the same hand.
The
figure
it is
might be from ascribed to the
Sixth Dynasty, a full thousand years after
Seated Scribe. Stone, painted. Dynasty V. Sakkara. Louvre. (^Giraudon yhoto')
King Narmer; roughly, from the to
the twenty-fifth century B.C.
thirty-fifth
The
period
Dynasty VI was known as the Old Kingdom, ending in 2280 B.C. The Old Kingdom was a golden age of relief sculpture. From Dynasty III there exists from Dynasty
I
to
on These were found in his tomb. The one illustrated, showing the accessories of his office, includes a scepter and writing a series of three portrait reliefs of Hesire,
wooden
panels.
materials.
The
usual conventions of relief de-
piction are observed, the head, the knees
and
the feet occurring in profile, the upper body full front.
and
There
is
a liveliness in the figure,
The modeling is and complete for the
a special linear grace.
exceptionally
varied
period.
Nude Walking
Figure. Stone.
Dynasty V. Sakkara. Cairo
Museum
Ha-Shet-Ef.
Wood. Dynasty British
Senedem-ib-Mehy Wood. Dynasty VI. .
Gizeh.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
VI.
Museum
EGYPT
44
was not
It
interior
until the Fifth Dynasty that tomb walls were covered, like the
pages of a vast stone picture book, with representations of every activity dear to the owner.
Hunting and boating and wrestling, plowing and harvesting, herding and milking, carpentering and accounting, marketing and cooking, wildcats and birds, pet donkeys and calves and ducks, musicians and dancing girls, the offering of gifts and sacrifices to the gods, the mourners and the priests, the funeral procession and the feast; all this and whatever else was important to the man during his lifetime formed the subject-matter of the low-relief sculpture on the walls of his tomb.
Today
the reliefs afford a valuable record
for the fact-seeker,
and there
is
much
in the
display besides to delight the art-lover. reliefs
The
on stone were usually painted, and on
the bare spaces between figures or groups of figures there
is
often a running
commentary
in hieroglyphics.
At the end of the era of the Old Kingdom was a period, roughly from the Sixth to the Eleventh Dynasty, early in the Middle Kingdom, when there were no kings of united Upper and Lower Egypt. This feudal age was there
less
important for
Woman, Museum
in
wood,
its
sculpture.
now
in
the
A
statuette.
University
at Philadelphia, indicates
how few
changes occurred between the Fourth and
^3Br^_ Hesire, relief.
Wood. Dynasty
Sakkara. Cairo Interior wall of tomb, bas-relief.
Stone. Dynasty V. Sakkara. of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum
III.
Museum
Twelfth Dynasties. Also introduced here are examples of minor sculptural
arts,
a pottery
perfume spoon from the Toledo
Museum
and two glazed animals (without regard date).
The
blue-glazed
to
miniature hippopotamuses, often
and traced over with
conven-
tionalized drawings, are especially engaging.
During the Twelfth Dynasty
a renaissance
occurred and some of the old magnificence of sculpture was recaptured. Although the
artist's
touch
it
is
not so sure or so sensitive as
was
during the Old Kingdom period, there are portrait statues of
Amenemhet
III that
could
hardly survive from any but a great sculptural era.
A
and
crisp,
solid art of stylization, at
once massive
returns, too, in the lesser statues.
Perfume spoon. Faience. C. 12th century Toledo
Museum
b.c.
of Art
Interior wall of tomb, bas-relief. Stone. Dynasty VI. Sakkara. Cairo Museum
Woman. Wood. Dynasty University
XII.
Museum, Philadelphia
^m^^
\
n
>''
The
Man, from
stone statuette,
and
strikingly simple
is
Most
but they are imposing neverthedispute
is
among
the archaeologists
as to the dating of the smaller obsidian
a
of
(now
king
Sometimes
it
Lisbon)
in
identified
is
as
shown a
Amenemhet III, and, though it very much in the tradition of the authorities
would place
more than
a thousand years later.
up
dull
little
the king portraits of a millen-
to
earlier,
There
to
especially
These may seem a
in the sphinxes.
compared less.
return
the
is
essentially stonelike efiFects,
large,
nium
however,
notable,
the Louvre
alive.
it
head here.
portrait is
of
certainly
time, a
few
in the Saitic period,
This points
the fact that the changes of style and
method over
in
Egyptian sculpture are
embracing
periods
changelessness
is
due
domination of the
largely,
art
slight,
even
millennia.
The
no doubt,
to the
by the priesthood. But
Twelfth Dynasty or the Twenty-sixth, the head is a superb piece of whether of
the
portraiture.
The British
fine Bellowi7ig
Museum
is
Hippopotamus
a massive clay piece
once was glazed.
It
is
in the
which
the sole illustration
from a period of two centuries when the country was again disunited or held under foreign domination
was
and when
art expression
largely stifled.
Man.
Collection of Mr.
Stone. Dynasty XII. Louvre
Hippopotamus. Faience. C. 2000 b.c. and Mrs. A. Bradley Martin, courtesy Brooklyn Museum
EGYPT
47
About
1580 B.C. the Eighteenth EgypDynasty came into power, and at the opening of this New Kingdom period, sculptian
ture began one of over-life-size
who
The Queen Hatshepsut,
cychc upswings.
its
statue
of
reigned in the early fifteenth century
B.C., exhibits a sleek
mental sculpture.
delicacy
A
fresh
banded eyebrow with
new
to
monu-
convention,
parallel
the
extension of
the line of the eyelid, adds to the alert expression of the face.
A
many
great
statues of the period indicate
some of the sculptors had developed a mechanical routine. A smooth mechanical efthat
fectiveness
replaced
the
virility
of
earlier
work. However, the statue of Thutmose
nephew cessor
of
Queen Hatshepsut and her
on the throne from 1468
The
ception.
an ex-
massive sculptural beauty that
had characterized the traits
B.C., is
III,
suc-
best
Old Kingdom
por-
appears here, especially in the head,
without
loss of surface sensibility.
The Eighteenth Dynasty
covered one of
the great periods of luxurious living at court,
and new
lavish standards of sculptural
em-
bellishment were established in connection
Head
of a King. Stone. Dynasty XII, c. 1820 B.C. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon
Bellowing Hippopotamus. Clay, glazed. Dynasty XVII. British Museum
Monkey. Faience. C. 1400 Brooklyn
Museum
B.C.
EGYPT with the temples. Quahty gave way
imposing in
tity as figures,
quan-
to
were dupli-
size,
cated along corridors and avenues. But the stone Lion from Nubia, created in the four-
teenth century— a
before
little
building— retains
ostentatious
peak of
the its
sculptural
vitality.
Equally
ization
C. 1400 B.C. British
Museum
The
the Egyptian
umphs—to
is
the head-
exaggerated
styl-
known Thutmose III— named
seems quite un-Egyptian.
from the time of
that
Headrest simulating a hare. Wood.
minor way,
fine, in a
simulating a hare.
rest
Napoleon
the reign of
It is
for his imperial
Amenhotep
tri-
three
III,
art-objects
from Crete and
from Mesopotamia appeared
in the markets of
generations
later,
Thebes; but there headrest
no evidence that the workman-
is
of other than Egyptian
is
ship.
By the
the time of
first
Amenhotep
III,
that
is,
in
half of the fourteenth century, mural
through
many changes
at the rich,
almost baroque
sculpture had gone
and had arrived
decorativeness displayed in the fragment of
Amenhotep
a stele illustrated as
Chariot.
The double
a glorification of the
itary hero.
The
in
His
the right half
the relief repeats in reverse
shown— is
III
portrait— a left half of
king as a mil-
small figures represent cap-
tives.
That some
more engaging
of the
qualities
of the ancient style persisted at this time
is
sufficiently illustrated in the simple statuettes
of
two brothers, in
Metropolitan traits
when
silver
Museum
and
lifelike.
Most
trayed boys as
in the
Made
as por-
and
the boys died,
their mother's grave,
and wood,
of Art.
later placed in
the images are factual
statues in ancient times por-
little
old
men, but here the and figure
characteristics of the childish face
were well observed and executed. In the whole course of civilization there
no stranger transformation than that which occurred reign of
Amenhotep
IV,
in
or,
Egypt in the he renamed
as
Queen Hatshepsut.
Stone. Dynasty XVIII.
Over
el
life size.
Metropolitan
Deir
Museum
Bahri. of Art
is
of a national art
Two c.
Brothers. Silver; wood. Dynasty XVIII, B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1500
(^Photo by Charles Sheeler")
Thutmose
III, detail.
Stone. Dynasty XVIII.
Cairo
Museum
Lion. Stone. Dynasty XVIII. Soleb, Nubia. British
Museum
himself, Akhenaton.
I
le
introduced a reform
religion, Egypt's first monotheistic faith, and,
while suppressing the old gods and the powerpriesthood, he undertook vast works of
ful
public building. As part of the
new
order,
Akhenaton freed artists from traditional restrictions and encouraged individual expres-
The Amarna school of sculptors— so named from the new capital city— aimed at
sion.
realistic portraiture,
while expressing the
ner character of the
sitters.
or
The
in-
plaster heads
masks of the fourteenth century
B.C.
un-
earthed in the studio of Thutmose, such as those of
Akhenaton and
been in the nature of there
is
Nefertiti,
no mistaking the touch of
artist striving
may have
artist's trial pieces,
but
a master
Amenhotep
III in
His Chariot, detail of
Head
of Nefertiti. Plaster. Dynasty XVIII.
El Amarna. Dahlem
toward realism.
stele.
Museum,
Stone. Dynasty XVIII. Thebes. Cairo
Museum
Berlin
EGYPT The
lovely
Akhenaton's
51
painted limestone portrait of
queen,
Nefertiti,
most
the
is
Amarna. A perkind, this head can fairly
celebrated of the finds at El
example of
fect
be analyzed as a
its
presentation of both
realistic
and the inner beauty of the model. Nothing so lifelike had been known up to this time. But the sculptor departed from nature sufficiently to make the head more than a surface copy; he emphasized the the
external
clear-cut
of the tilt
exaggerated the slimness
outlines,
neck and shoulders, and underlined the
The
of the head.
full coloring
has sur-
vived, perhaps unfortunately, for while color
was doubtless thought novation,
Head of Akhenaton. Stone. Dynasty XVIII. Amarna. Dahlem Museum, Berlin
El
Many
this particular art.
art-lovers
who have
enjoyed the bust of Nefertiti in black-and-
white photographic
Queen Nefertiti. Stone, painted. El Amarna. Dahlem Museum, Berlin
of as a naturalistic in-
the ancients were not masters of
appointed
illustration
have been
to find the original fully
compromisingly painted in bright
dis-
and un-
colors.
brown sandstone and plaster heads of Nefertiti and of her daughters in the same collection, there is less of the subtle charm of In the
the model, but certainly attainment of creative sculptural form.
The
artists
at
El
Amarna
did not pursue
their naturalistic course for long.
A new
of conventionalization soon appeared,
sort
marked
by an enlargement of the eyes, and lips, and insistence upon the eggshaped form of the head. The elongation of the skull, which scientists have attributed to especially
nose,
advanced cases of macrocephaly in the royal family, occurs so frequently that it may be a compositional convention. In the reliefs of the period the servants and, one fancies occasionally,
cases,
even the animals have as in
it.
In extreme
the royal family heads shown,
there are abstract sculptural values gained in
the arbitrary manipulation of the oval.
With
the passing of
Akhenaton the reforms
he had introduced and the innovations he had fostered in the arts disappeared,
and the old
gods and the priesthood were reinstated. Only faint
influences
from
the
Amarna
school
lingered on in sculpture. Yet here Tutankh-
amen
as the
Moon God,
in the massive old
style,
may well be of Tutankhamen but from the hand
suggests that the statue
the time of
of one of the surviving sculptors of
Akhena-
ton's group. It
was the Pharaoh Tutankhamen,
law of Akhenaton,
who
son-in-
restored the old gods
and returned art to the traditional path. At the same time he revived old ideals of luxurious living and ostentation which led to a florid exuberance in the arts and crafts. Most of the furniture and statuary that was so widely publicized
at the
time of the discovery
Tutankhamen's tomb is decadent in taste and meretricious as art. The pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty left some beautiful and craftsmanlike relics, but degeneration had set in, and there were to be only two notable revivals before the coming of the Greeks: the Ramesseid of the Nineteenth and and
stripping
of
Royal family head. Wood. Dynasty XVIII. El Amarna. Louvre
Royal family head. Stone. Dynasty XVIII. El Amarna.
Dahlem Museum,
Berlin
Tutankhamen as the Moon God. Stone. Dynasty XVIII, c. 1350 B.C. Karnak. Cairo Museum
EGYPT Twentieth Dynasties, and the
Saitic of
the
Twenty-sixth. failed to restore
the best ideals of relief sculpture,
wall carvings of the
design was attained in exquisitely carved but
overcrowded panels.
generally
The Eighteenth Dynasty
Amarna
and the
interlude did
panels illustrated
is
One
of
the
Abydos, from the era
at
immediately following Akhenaton. In the Ramesseid period, the time of the
Karnak, the sculptors recaptured
not reach the standard of the sculpture in the
glories
round. As so often in the tombs, the incised or
something
carved murals were endlessly interesting as
sculpture.
on contemporary life but in general were inferior as art expression. During the Nineteenth Dynasty a certain elegance of
but the faces were occasionally
reports
5 3
of
the
of
The
dignity
bodies
of
monumental
were mass-produced
and, more often than not,
lifeless lit
and dull, up by the
sculptor's success in capturing the spirit of his
V «w« Offerings of Gifts, relief, detail. Dynasty XIX, c. 1315 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Relief, detail.
Temple
of Seti
I,
Abydos.
QSebah photo courtesy Giraudon')
ii^m'~^
Statuette of Talcushet. Bronze with silver
Head of Rameses II. Stone. Dynasty XIX, c. 1290 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Rock-cut Temple of
Amon
at
inlay.
Abu
Dynasty XXV, c. 700 B.C. Bubastis. National Museum, Athens
Simbel. Dynasty XIX,
c.
1250
B.C.
EGYPT model.
The head
politan
Museum
the era
and reminiscent of the best work done
at the time of
What Rameses
Rameses
II in
one of the
Thutmose
III.
sculptors
of
the II
of is
and Rameses
sensibility they tried to
the
reigns
of
III lost in creative
make up
for in vol-
ume. The temple at Karnak and the rock temple at Abu Simbel are embellished by an almost incredible
number
of colossal
stone
At Karnak these were transported to the site. At Abu Simbel the figures (seen in the illustration) are 80 feet high and carved in the face of the cliff. Behind them the figures.
temple halls are to
a depth
of
hewn 120
out of the solid stone
feet,
with two rows of
similar colossi in the great hall. relics
Some
of these
have been saved from the flood waters
dam monuments are
caused by the construction of the high across the Nile.
Many
of the
impressive from sheer magnitude and repetition,
but subtlety
at that
time was no longer
the companion of monumentality.
Five dynasties and as
the Metro-
finest relics of
many
5 5
centuries passed
memorable renaissance occurred. As an empire Egypt crumbled; then toward the end of the dark age, in the soanother
before
Ethiopian period, there v\as a fresh
called
and new
outlook,
activity in small sculpture.
In the past, Egyptian sculpture, while paying
minimum
attention to the
human
body, pro-
duced the most beautifully sculptured heads. Now the feminine body began to be studied and its volumes and curves were sympathetically interpreted,
seen in the statuette of
as
Takushet. Artists delighted in showing the soft
modulations of the
flesh
under drapery,
do later. During the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.) Egyptian art Greeks were
as the
flowered for the
to learn to
last time. Artists of
the Saitic
period revived the dignity of large portraiture; the integrity of the stone block was again re-
and craftsmanship again attained a
spected,
high
level.
Typical of
this
period
is
the pol-
ished surface of both large and small sculptures.
There
is
something essentially Egyptian
about the portrait of Prince Wa-ab-Ra, a qualit)' felt in the
Bahoon
of
King Narmer,
created twenty-five centuries earlier, and in
many examples through the block figure
is
the centuries. Novir
realized with the least pos-
from detailing of arms and and the squared mass is burnished. Although Saitic art is notable for its craftsmanship and an almost silky stylization, there is a series of pieces in which heaN'y pat-
sible interference legs,
terning
is
added in the arbitrary
The
drapery.
stone
Woman
in
folds of the
the Louvre
shows more than usual vigor in the modeling,
and a nice feeling for the effects that arise from a slight asymmetry. The innumerable sleek statuettes of Neit, the warlike sky-god-
dess in the Saitic pantheon, are perhaps
more
By this had become very human, with
care-
in character. figures
time even the religious
fully sculptured bodies.
Prince Wa-ah-Ra. Stone. Dynasty XXVI, 570 B.C. Louvre. QAli7iari photo')
c.
Head of a Man. Stone. Egyptian, ist century a.d. Loivie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. (^Photo by Ron Chamberlain, courtesy University Art Museum^
The Goddess
Neit. Bronze. 6th-5th centuries b.c.
University
Woman.
Museum, Philadelphia
Stone. 7th-6th centuries B.C. Louvre. QGiraudon photo^
EGYPT The
cat,
about which a cult centered in
57
late
Egvptian history, was a frequent sculptural subject from the Twelfth Dynasty on.
known
the thousands of
from the Twenty-sixth Dynast)',
likely to date
when
Among
bronzes, the best are
and However, the
the trend toward simplification
for-
malization was
still
lover will find
many statuettes to please him down to the Egypto-Greek
from
all
strong.
cat-
periods
Ptolemaic.
The
was sacred and the subject
falcon too
Probably
widely varying interpretations.
of
none is finer than the illustrated black basalt example in the Louvre, handled with tj'pical Here again the late Saitic formalization. Egyptian perfection of craftsmanship
is
dem-
onstrated.
The
Thirtieth
B.C., it
the last truly Egyptian
is
Of
dynasty of kings.
the mid-fourth century
preceded the second Persian conquest
of Egypt, a decade before the
The
ander the Great. this
coming of Alex-
only illustration from
Sebennytic period, Prince Nechthorheh,
shows,
an uncompromisingly
appropriately,
stonelike statue with something of the true
Nilotic feeling of the eternal in
it.
It is digni-
fied, majestic, serene.
Perhaps the
finest of the relief sculpture of
the Saitic epoch appeared on the granite and basalt
sarcophagi.
covered led stj'lization.
to
A
The
a
smaller space
crisp,
to
be
shorthand t)pe of
good deal of
earlier idiomatic
method, even of rigid conventionalization,
re-
mained, coupled with late-period sophistication.
The
reliefs
shown
feeling with a subtle, grace.
These
reliefs,
of the priest
now
A
possess the old granite
new, almost decadent
covering the sarcophagus
Taho, son of Petemonkh, are
in the Louvre.
relief created two centuries shows an undulating, ribbon-like composition with st^'lized and somewhat distorted
fragment of a
later
forms.
The
dence,
Rhode
The
Falcon. Stone. 7th-6th centuries B.C. Louvre. (^Archives Photographiques')
piece
is
in the
museum
at Provi-
Island.
Ptolemaic period followed generations
of cultural interchange with Greece, yet the
Egyptians were typically national
still
able
to
monuments
produce such as the
temple
Prince Nechthorheh. Stone. Dynasty XXX, c. 350 B.C. Louvre
1
I
I
I
I
f¥^^^.i _ I
EGYPT
59
Facing page: Details from Sarcophagus of Taho. Stone. Dynasty XXVI. Above: ]ouniey of the Snu through the Undenvorld of Night. Center: Osiris Enthroned. Louvre. (_Alinari photos')
Above: Relief, detail. Stone. 1st century B.C. of Horus, Edfou. ^Archives Roget-Viollet)
Temple Foot of facing page: Offering Scene, relief. Stone. 3rd-lst centuries b.c.
Temple
of Horus,
Edfou
60
EGYPT
of Isis at Philae
and the temple of Horus
Edfou. However, by
now
round was measurably trait
heads in
relief
negligible as
were works of
inferior
(made
mummy-cases)
and the
specifically
generally art.
picturing on temple walls
at
portraiture in the
dull
por-
complete
now
By comparison the was still character-
since
Thirty
sculptor
The most
interesting late relic
head in the Lowie trated on page 56). It shows that
Roman
candid
of
is
a
new
portraiture.
idiom made the figures
But the found in
well in their
architectural settings.
Mural and
relief art
on a small
scale carry
the story of typically Egyptian sculpture into a
period
when
statues in
the round reflected
King, fragment of relief. Stone. C. 300 B.C. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
statement
is
a
the are
Egyptian
old in
earlier native sculpture,
classic.
Clearly
Greco-Roman
It
is
way
of
integrity.
an idiom not
freshness of aspect
sidered
the
has curls
(illus-
influence,
carved in Egyptian stone, and the
sit less
the fine
Museum
portrait
and interesting, but the bulginess of the bodies and the relaxing of the geometrical
istic
had
centuries
unknown
an
fashioned the Baboon of King Narmer,
for
and
decadence.
passed
that
the
traditions
to
be
and there
may be
con-
Egyptian
and
have met.
3:
The Mesopotamian
Pageant:
SumcTj Bahylonia^ Assyria
I
THE
images that Rachel
stole
from her
father were in
all
clay
portraying gods or goddesses
figurines
that are
known
to
likelihood examples of the
have existed in abundance
become an Susa
(the
industry, originating possibly in biblical
Shushan),
Shinar
in
(Sumer), or in the Babylonian centers of the north. Mesopotamia, the original Garden of
Near
Eden, was the cradle of commerce;
it
Eastern lands. These figures, originally de-
here that systematized manufacturing
first
in
signed as
Age
Alesopotamia
ancient
fertility fetishes, are
levels
potamian,
and
and
at
Syrian,
other
found
at
Stone
succeeding stages in Meso-
and Palestinian
history.
Before the Flood, the making of clay gods had
Bull.
Copper over wood. Before 3000
e.g.
veloped.
The Sumerians even
was
evolved
dea
method
of mass-production, using molds for
casting
the "abominable idols" so often re-
ferred to in
Old Testament
AlUbaid. University
history.
Mtiseutti, Philadelphia
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT
62
From beginning
end,
to
Sumerian-
the
Babylonian-Assyrian achievement in the urative arts
But
immense
these peoples an
was the state
as second-rate.
other directions the Eurasian world
in
owed
must be considered
debt; theirs
government, and the
first
law,
(including
the
from rude expression
to
a masterly
through fluctuations of flowering and
style,
decline and reflowering, in the vicissitudes of
Babylonian, and Assyrian domi-
Sumerian,
nance. There
practical
nummade
sculpture as a whole that exerts the fascination of
wide use of the wheel),
no book on Mesopotamian
is
any one of several books reproducing
collections of seals.
The examples
development of the arch), first
the development of the national artistic
talent,
stable
astronomy, agriculture, architecture
mechanics (the
show
first
written language, the
first
bering system. Decisive strides were also in
fig-
illustrated
impressions from the
course,
of
are,
not the seals them-
seals,
For display purposes, museums
medicine, and literature. Sculptural
selves.
ever, is represented
sculptured or engraved cylinder (a negative)
art, howby only two noteworthy
achievements:
one,
which reached
a proficiency hardly
elsewhere bas-relief
at
in
the
art
of
seal-cutting,
matched
over tablets of
wax
roll
the
or plaster of Paris to pro-
duce positive images. Originally the owners
the time; and the other, large
of the seals rolled
them over
clay stoppers or
which the Assyrians
on tablet-markers,
to signify
ownership. In a
stone,
to
brought an incomparable
precision.
realistic
dozen examples of sculptural arts,
most personal of the
this
have
I
tried to present unin-
volved ornamental designs: simple, readable compositions where the figures are clear and
sharp against an unbroken background, as be-
miniature
a
fits
In
art.
their
the
seals,
Sumerians and Babylonians produced
a dis-
tinguished, graceful stylization.
By comparison,
monumental sculptures and stiff; exceptions are
the
are usually schematic
Cylinder seal, stone, and impression. Sumerian, c. 3000 b.c. Ur. University Museum, Philadelphia
to
be found in the marvelous with
beginning
the
series of reliefs
ninth-century
battle
scenes from the palace of Assurnasirpal and
In the realm of monumental sculpture, the
were greatly inferior to their Egyptian contemporaries. Their larger pieces contain no mystery and little grandeur.
Mesopotamian
The
artists
artists
were
sensitive
only to natural
shadings; they were masters only of realistic interpretation.
This
is
demon-
engagingly
strated in the animals they
hammered out
of
copper (dating as early as the Baboon of King
Narmer
in
Egypt), and in their war and
hunting scenes carved in in the ninth, eighth,
bas-relief
on stone
and seventh centuries
B.C.
Herodotus noted carried a seal of
stone in
that
every
Babylonian
and a cane. Perhaps the the Valley of the
Two
scarcity
Rivers
progressing, o\'er
of spirited
As
centuries, to the days of
documents was carved in stone. have hardly been
realistic reporting, these
rivaled in the entire history of art.
that
jects
the
Assyrian
The
bas-relief
sub-
sculptor
excelled at were animals, particularly bulls, lions, horses,
and
dogs.
These he seemed
enjoy portraying more that he did the figure. artist
to
human
In carrying out a royal commission, the
was probably more
wav he
depicted
his
self-conscious in the
king-master.
While
plunging his royal lance into the throat of a lion, the king appears stiff and wooden, but the
movement and
the agony of the animal
are represented realistically
dictated the small-scale stonecutting practiced
straint.
In any event the cylinder seals best
The
there.
two
Assurbanipal. During the latter period a series
and without
sculptured records of
life
in
re-
Mesopo-
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT Sumerian decline, were brave, mighty,
tamia, after the
kings
the
sadistic. tury',
living,
glor)\
The background,
suggests
a
hunting,
The
a
For easy reference, the periods of Mesopo-
us that
cruel,
and
tamian
century after cen-
combination
and
tell
quest
luxurious
of for
military
artists, like their patrons,
had
to
histor)' are listed
below:
From
Prehistoric or Predynastic Period:
a
time well before the Flood (sometimes dated
4000
B.C.,
to
3100
be materialists; the one exception was in the delineations on the seals.
63
c.
sometimes several millennia earlier) B.C.
Early Dynastic or Sumerian Period: c.
3100
B.C. City-states of Kish,
Sargonid Period: From
2340
c.
From
Uruk, Ur, b.c.
etc.
Sumer
ruled by Semitic invaders led by Sargon of
Akkad. Sometimes known Akkad.
..im
mil
as Period of
Neo-Sumerian Period: From c. 2125 b.c. Bahylonian Period: From 2000 B.C. The Semitic Amorites invaded Sumer, founded Babylon, and, under Hammurabi, sixth king of the dynasty, formed the country Babylonia out of Sumer and Akkad. Period of the Assyrian Em'pire:
Impression from seal. Babylonian. Babylonian Collectioti, Yale University Library
1270
B.C.
Akkadian, c. 2400 B.C. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
lonia. seal.
From
From
c.
Assur, a city or city-state in
the far North, the Assyrians spread southward
and over Contest of Heroes with Lions and Water Buffalo. Impression from stone
Sumer-
conquered Baby-
several centuries
Under
their king, Assurnasirpal
(884-
subdued Babylon itself and set up the greatest empire so far known in west860
B.C.), they
em
Asia.
Chaldean or
N eo-Babylonian Emfire: From
606 B.C. The resurgent Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar displaced the Assyrians. Babylon became the world's greatest and showiest capital, with temples, the palace, the
Hanging Gardens,
the king's library, etc. In
Babylon was taken by the Persian Cyrus the Great, and Mesopotamia became a part of the Persian Empire. 539 or 538
b.c.
-^ >
^ •<
I
1-
'^
-v
/
I
Runni7ig Animals. Impression from stone seal. Sumerian, before 3UU0 b.c. Lruk. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
f
II
TH
E
origins
obscure.
ples
of
Mesopotamian
art
are
Some books begin with exam-
from Susa, in Elam, over the border of the
Iranian highland, and the earliest Sumerian sculpture
Persian
may well be related to Elamite or The ruins of the Sumerian cities
art.
Ur and Lagash and
of
relics older
ing
Kish have yielded
than the Susan statuettes, includ-
fragments
dating
4000 B.C. These and patently less
to
pieces are, however, cruder likely to
have been in the
line of a developing
tions,
and
It
Ram
illustrated.
stands as one of the earliest attractive ex-
pressions in sculpture from western Asia.
The
alabaster Kneeling
Woman
shown
is
from Susa, though of later date, and is likewise superior to most of the statuettes in
Sumer. The piece
in
its
simplifica-
Stag Hunt, relief. Stone. Hittite,
c.
of
technique
materials,
to
The
with hands upholding her
subject, a
woman
breasts, symboliz-
ing the Mother Goddess, or perhaps repre-
woman in the Mother Goddess atticommon to fertility fetishes in Persia, Mesopotamia, and Syria. The figure possesses
senting a tude,
is
a sculptural sensitivity seldom manifest either in the
contemporary Sumerian or in the
later
Babylonian statuettes of idols and adorers.
Among is,
the Sumerian clay figurines there
however, one strangely di\'erting group of
serpent-headed
women
that
is
superior to any
Though
other sculptures of so early a date.
also
found
fitness
rhythmic orderliness, retains certain
virtues of primitive art.
regional tradition than a figure such as the
Susan stone Curly-Horned
its
its
presumably representing a demon, the ure illustrated, in the
University
Philadelphia,
to
is
dent civilization
likely
of
today,
fig-
Museum,
suggest the deca-
with
its
12th century b.c. Malatya. Louvre. (Tel photo')
lounge
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT and
lizards
65
exhibitionist ladies with skin-
its
tight skirts.
Some animals devised in copper were found by the excavators at Ur. The appealing copper Ass, which had served as mascot on the rein-guide of the chariot of Queen Shubad, was recovered from a royal cemetery of possibly
3300
As
B.C.
own
territory.
The
yet this piece
known
lated find, without
an
is
iso-
antecedents in
its
character of the model has
been sympathetically conveyed, with even a touch of
humor
cocked ear and the
in the
Thus
jaunty pose of the head.
the naturalism
was to become the most notable trait of late Mesopotamian art is exhibited in one of the oldest relics of Sumerian civilization. It is found again in two free-standing bulls, shaped in sheet copper over wood. These formed embellishments on a temple facade at al-Ubaid, of about 3100 b.c. One is shown that
Kneeling
Woman.
Alabaster.
C. 3000 B.C. Susa. Louvre. (Tel photo')
on page
61.
An
almost startling lifelikeness
achieved here,
Greek work
twenty-five
More
realism. this
at
period
typical
Sumerian
of
the
are
is
before
centuries
skirted
tw^o
Adorers, in which the exaggeration of features
such
the
as
nose,
eyes,
and beard almost
reaches the point of caricature.
The
expres-
on the faces of these male figures, one of intent worshipfulness, was doubtless the sculptor's main preoccupation. sion
After the Adorers there were portraits of
king and ary
Curly-Horned Ram. Clay. C. 3000 B.C. Susa. Louvre. (Tel photo)
A
officials.
named
Kur-lil
keeper of a temple gran-
from al-Ubaid
is
ject of a blocky sculptural portrait of
in
which the
the sub-
an
feeling for the stone
official, is
well
preserved, the area of the face alone tending
toward naturalism. This forthright statue marks one of the peaks of achievement in the monumental type of art in Sumer. Nevertheless
a
more conventionalized
art,
prac-
ticed with full respect for the nature of the
medium, realistic
existed
main
side
effort;
by
side
with
but the surviving
the relics
are too battered for easy enjoyment.
There was
a
feeling
of
confinement in
much
of the stone sculpture of the eight cen-
turies
between the Sumer of the First DyUr and the Neo-Sumer of the Third
nastv of
Ass. Figure on rein guide. Copper. C. 3300 B.C. Ur. British Museum
Kur-lil,
Keeper of the Temple Granary. Stone.
C.
3000
B.C. Al-Ubaid. British
Museum
Adurer. Stone. C. 3000 B.C. Sumer. Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
Detnon Woman. Clay. Before 3000 University
Museum, Philadelphia
b.c.
AlUbaid.
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT Dynasty.
in the typically squat
It is illustrated
Gudea
statue,
King
dumpy
figure,
Seated.
the portrait
contemporary Egyptian
67
style
is
Despite
the
nearer to the
than
is
any other
surviving Mcsopotamian statue. King Gudea,
though not one of the great conquerors, best
known
cit)'-states,
A
of the rulers of the
the
is
Sumerian
through his patronage of sculpture.
score of statues of
him
survive,
whole or
as
fragments, and usually in a conventional pose
such as the attitude of worship, or as architect.
The
stiff
bodies with wide shoulders give the
way not because
the
but because he had an
in-
impression of being that sculptor willed
it,
complete mastery of his medium. are
more
lifelike,
at
Adorer. Stone. C. 3000 B.C. Sumer. University Museum, Philadelphia
King Gudea Seated. Stone. Neo-Sumerian, c. 2100 b.c. Metropolitan Museum of Art
ears,
heads
times even catching a
spontaneous expression.
and
The
The
enlarged
eyes
and the feathered eyebrows, were
68
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT
head ornament;
Bull's
lion's
head
seal;
duck
weights. Copper; stone. Svunerian; Babylonian. Metropolitan Museum of Art; Louvre; University Museum, Philadelphia
local conventions.
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin. Stone. Akkadian, c. 2300 B.C. Louvre. QGiraudon photo')
Almost Egyptian in
the headless stone statue,
the Louvre.
It is
style is
Gudea Stmtding,
smoothly sculptural, in a
in set
and it marks the point at which Mesopotamian sculpture is most profound. attitude,
But the best is now past in the story of Mesopotamian sculpture in the round. During the following two thousand years the major sculptors produced masterpieces only in the
medium
of bas-relief, in tiny seals or great
stone murals.
The
and weights had been and in-
seals
exceptionally fine from earliest times,
deed there
is
no more
attractive
ature sculptured stones than
run of mini-
the one com-
duck and frog weights of Examples are shown above, lion-head seal and a bull's head in
prised
in
the
Mesopotamia. with a
copper that once decorated a
The museums memorial
reliefs,
lyre.
contain innumerable stone
boundary markers,
tablets,
vase decorations, and the early pieces, the most
like.
famous
is
Among
the
the Victory
Naram-Sin of Akkad, of about 2300 This vividly represents the conqueror-
Stele of B.C.
king trampling cohorts of his victims as he leads
his
warriors
up
which the favorable sun
a is
mountain,
shown.
Gudea Standing. Stone. Neo-Sumerian, c. 2100 B.C. Louvre. QBuUoz photo)
above
The
con-
Head
Standard. Bronze. Pre-Hittite, c. 2100 B.C. MetroMuseum of Art, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest
politan
ventionalization of the mountain is
and the
simple,
and the sun
sculpturing has a
relief
roundness, even a flowing grace, unusual in
Sumerian
A
art.
great quantit)' of sculptured
work must
3300 B.C. cylinder seals had gained popularity and relief impressions were appearing on clay
(The illustrations show modern impressions made from originals in the museums. See pages 62-63 and 70.)
stoppers and markers.
The
have been imported from the north and west.
Most
of the identified relics, however, are in
bronze and are therefore later
Sometimes
dates.
labeled
be assigned to
to
a
scepter-cap
though
Mesopotamian,
the
was
prove-
nance must have been Iranian; and there are harness rings and statuettes that are Cappadocian
or
Babylonian
Hittite
though exhibited beside
relics.
The Head
of a
Dragon
in the
Louvre
is
an
exceptional bronze sculpture, doubtless of a late period.
It is
supposed
a scepter or staff and,
the Iranian countries,
if
to
be a cap from
not imported from
was made by an
influenced by the art of
Elam
artist
or Luristan.
A
second animal piece, the bronze standard with
two long-horned beasts skillfully entwined, is labeled by the archaeologists merely "preHittite (about 2ico b.c.)." Its affinities, stylistically, would seem to be northern Persian. In Sumerian relief art the best examples are the work of the seal-cutters. As early as
of a Dragon. Bronze. Possibly Elamite. Louvre. (Tel photo')
clined of
art of the seal-cutters flowered
many
times during the
Mesopotamian
history.
thirty'
The
and
experts stress
differences of subject-matter, technique, aesthetic value in such periods as
Ur
de-
centuries
and
Uruk, Ur
I,
and in Babylonian and Assyrian examples. There were also incursions of style from Susa and influences from the confused complex of cultures that existed in the general direction of the West, from the Egyptians, the Syrians, and the Hittites. From earliest times the seals took on the Sargonid age,
a clarity to
their
and
III,
a crispness of technique fitting
purpose and
to
the materials and
methods of the art. In many periods the subjects were religious: heroes protecting sacred flocks, scenes of
judgment,
and demons; and
divinities, priests,
of course the familiar wor-
shiper, adoring or being introduced to the
god
Ocwere hunting scenes, heraldic
or priest, or protecting divine property. casionally there
motives,
and geometric
or floral patterning.
Impressions from stone seals: hunting scene and physician's charm. Akkadian. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Louvre similar Babylonian
and graceful than
Of
the
seals
the
illustrated,
earliest
ex-
amples (from before 3000 b.c.) are notable
freedom of movement and the
for the
of
the
The
designs.
were
artists
The
ninth-century stone statue of Assur-
already
mental work surviving from the sixteen cen-
is
especially successful in fitting
the heavy animals into the
trates
stylized
field.
including
seal
A
cattle
the
The amber
skirt.
pal in the Boston
gold breastplate
illus-
Less subtlety
are
figures
in
gonid era (approximately 2340 b.c.) a strain of realistic detailing entered, but the better
sides.
seals are
characteristically decorative.
still
Some
believe
authorities
seal-cutting
the large
seems engagingly
that
the art of
preceded bas-relief sculpture in
and
that the
famous stone murals of
grew out of the smaller But influences also came from abroad, and particularly from the Hittites, who emigrated southeastward from the neighborhood of Anatolia and upper Syria. These people seem to
It is solid
and
are rather
statuette of Assurnasir-
Museum
is
is is
set into
more clearly deAn ornamented
the amber.
evident in the sculptured
monsters which guarded the Assyrian palaces.
These
it
really
and beard
and more column-like.
fined
"modern." With the compositions of the Sar-
thousand years,
first
coarsely conventionalized, as are the fringes of
second
more conventionalized type and,
the
after five
the
Gudea's reign.
turies following
dignified, but the hair
crisply
monu-
nasirpal II of Assyria
which the Orientals have always excelled. The seal with running deer (the design, as is the case with others, was repeated in the impression by rolling the spool through two is
in
vitality
masters of the sort of decorative design in
revolutions)
work
the large. (See Stag Hunt, page 64.)
not so
much
the round,
The
reliefs
sculptors gave each monster five
legs so that the observer, looking at
from the
engaged
as
viewable from three
side,
would
it
directly
see a required four legs,
and, looking from the front, a required two legs.
The human-headed winged
bulls are
more impressive
lions
for their size
and and
the Assyrian palaces
art.
have been the
monumental outdoor
first to
scale.
reliefs
develop bas-relief on a
Extensive ruins exist with
cut in rock at Yazilikaya near
modern village Bogazkoy, and lesser monuments are to be found elsewhere. The the
relics are from the walls of a palace Carchemish (or Kargamish), a later capital.
best-known at
The
Hittite style
is
typified in very flat figures
on almost unbroken
flat fields,
and by highly
conventionalized objects and patterning with-
from the more alive
in precise outlines. Hittite sculpture,
twelfth to the ninth centuries,
is
Column base. Stone. Hittite, c. 12th century B.C. Tel Tainat, northern Syria. QCourtesy Oriental Institute, Chicago')
Lions.
THE MESOPOTAMI AN PAGEANT the
main
sculptors'
been
have
interest
feathers, fringes, tassels,
would seem
as
imposing beards,
ele-
details
gant hairdos, bracelets, and dagger-handles. boastful inscription, standard for
monuments,
is
to
such
depicting
in
71
all
A
the king's
written across the face of the
design.
The war and hunting murals are
scenes in the palace
outstanding, but there was
less
competent practice of a reach
its
style
which was
to
culmination two centuries later in
the realistic reliefs at Nineveh. In the
Hunt-
ing Scene, a stone relief from the palace of Assurnasirpal
II,
although
the
woodenness
beard
still
a character-
persists (the King's
is
stereotyped convention), one finds a growing naturalness in the animals and a more competent sense of pictorial composition. less,
After the reign of Assurnasirpal, mural art
The
declined.
artist
conceived each incident
and the panels constituted a series illustrations which were neither sculptur-
episodically
of
nor integral to an architectural
ally related
scheme.
Some banded
scenes from the gates
of the palace of Shalmaneser III at Balawat Assurnasirpal U. Assyrian, 9th century b.c. Left: Stone. Height about 43 in. British Museum. Right: Amber. Height about 10 inches. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
are of technical interest because they
worked
in bronze.
controlled
and
something of the massiveness than for any other quahty. Sculpturally speaking, the
volumes are haphazardly
the rhythmic lines broken, and the
related,
The
They
flatly
ornamental,
but lack
liveliness of the stone reliefs.
illustrated panels, Siege Scenes,
palace of Shalmaneser chariots
were
are architecturally
III,
and the slaughter
from the
show Assyrian war of prisoners.
patterning of feathers, hair, and beard too insistent.
Perhaps the best of the massive
monsters
is
nasirpal
II
at
nobility
of
the
stroyed
stone
the
Museum, from
Lion in the British
the palace-temple of Assur-
Nimrud. The largeness and animal have not been de-
by sculptural niggling or ostentatious
patterning.
The low
reliefs
on immense
slabs of stone
in the palace of Assurnasirpal established a
mode or
of mural decoration that
less
standard
epoch
and
period.
A
the
throughout succeeding
series of stones
Assyrian
neo-Babylonian
depicted giant
ures of protecting deities, or
and
became more the
fig-
showed the king
his attendants. In these stiff compositions
Lion. Stone. Assyrian, 884-859 B.C. Palace of Assurnasirpal II, Nimrud. British Museum
.i?l^:
72
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT
A
centur)'
the
later
Nimrud
lath-Pileser III at
toward vivid
trend
From
naturalism returned.
the palace of Tigstones have been
recovered that represent a transition in style
between the
art of Assurnasirpal's palace and found in the palace of Assurbanipal at Nineveh. The artists recorded war and hunt-
that
ing scenes with increasing exactitude.
two panels shown, Siege
ing historically, for what they ture of a city.
One
The
Sceties, are interest-
of the cap-
tell
illustration
depicts As-
syrian scribes listing the spoils taken from the city's inhabitants. is
of
Here the wool
of the sheep
nicely differentiated from the sleek hides
the
Another
oxen.
illustration
shows
a
wheeled, fortified tank with a battering ram, followed by infantry. Bows, arrows, spears,
and
shields are
shown
in detail.
The
with no attempt
Oriental,
typically
style is at
sci-
but few observers today
entific
perspective;
would
find the design less satisfying or the
record less telling because the figures
fail
to
diminish in depth. Since a single Assyrian palace might contain bas-relief
half in length, it
work
of
murals totaling a mile and a it
uneven
is
not surprising to find in
quality.
A
high mark was
reached, however, in a series of well-composed
and
vivid
Hiintmg Scenes and
executed in low-rounded
Battle Scenes
relief, for
the palace
of Assurbanipal at Nineveh. This Mesopo-
tamian ruler was the
last
notable figure of the
Assyrian line— the Sardanapalus of romance
Winged
Figure, relief. Stone. Assyrian. Palace of Assumasirpal II. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
and legend. (See page 74.)
The
ultimate point of precise delineation
was attained Hunting Scene,
relief. Stone.
Palace of Assumasirpal
II.
British
Assyrian.
Museum
in depictions of animals such as
camels, dogs, deer, and lions. These were cannily observed and superbly horses,
asses,
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT
Siege Scenes, relief. Bronze. Assyrian, 9th century B.C. Palace of Shalmaneser III, Balawat. British Museum
Siege Scenes, reliefs. Stone. Assyrian, 8th century b.c. Palace of Tielath-Pilescr III, Nimrud. British Museum
2ili'
n •^giitwi^.
73
Battle Scenes, relief. Stone. Assyrian, 7th century b.c.
Palace of Assurbanipal, Nineveh. British
Museum
Hunting Scene,
relief, detail.
Stone. Assyrian. Palace of
Assurbanipal, Nineveh. British
Wounded detail of
Lioness,
Hunting Scene. Stone. Assyrian.
Palace of Assurbanipal, Nineveh. British Museum QHachette photo)
Museum
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT The typical Hiinting Scene illusshowing the hunting of wild horses, is one of the finest of the mural slabs.
drawn. trated,
A tion
similar panel of deer
artists
is
so true to observa-
one cannot doubt that the king's
that
rode beside
him on
ring expeditions— just as
his
hunting or war-
newsmen and pho-
tographers have recorded front-line battles in
Reporting could hardly seem more immediate, more objective than in the sculptured Wounded Lioness shown, in a detail, from a panel at Nineveh. our century.
When
the Babylonians regained control of
Mesopotamia,
the
Nebuchadnezzar,
new
kings,
especially
out to surpass the As-
set
and elegance. However, sculpture suffered a decline except in a type of relief work on bricks. Small sections of animals were molded on bricks syrian achievement in luxury
75
Only the colors varied. was sacred to the goddess Ishtar or Astarte. Other animals were represented on the high gateway towers: rows of bulls and long-legoed dragons were created in similar glazed-brick relief, with a few in flat enamel. to the
The
Ishtar Gate.
lion
When
the Persians conquered Babylonia in
539 B.C. they brought the story of Mesopotamian art to an end, but they utilized the glazed-brick technique reliefs
with greater
and created
their
own
finesse.
Meanwhile, among the marginal developart was the continuation of seal-cutting, examples of which are illustrated. During the final centuries of Assyrian and Babylonian rule, in Syria and ments of Mesopotamian
Palestine especially, the cultural lines
became
very confused and art influences were inter-
The
mingled.
Hittites
sometimes provided
with colored-glaze facing in such a way that
models; but as far away as Cyprus unmistak-
the animal forms took shape as the bricks
able Assyrian idioms appeared freely in monumental sculpture. In Cyprus and Phoenicia and Cappadocia small bronzes might be in-
were
fitted together in the
The method
of modeling,
building of a wall.
making molds, then
mass-producing clay figurines and small liefs,
re-
had been practiced by the early Sumerthen by the Babylonians. Now, in this
fluenced from any one of several cultures or
from two or three
at
once.
The examples
larger-scale application of the technique, the
shown illustrate a wide variety of methods and motives. The most Egyptian of the
Neo-Babylonians achieved fuller use of
pieces
ians,
The
exceptionally
illustrated
fine
color.
glazed-brick Lion
appeared sixty or more times on
the walls of the Street of Processions leading
is
The God Hadad.
Probably older
are
northern,
possibly
Cretan or from the
Anatolian countries.
Lion, relief. Glazed brick. Babylonian, 604-562 b.c. Street of Processions, Babylon. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
I
:^
Ml
is
the sinuous Snake Goddess, whose affinities
lilia^-
t
¥^WB^\^
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT
76
-
-< l-^
%..fV ^"
."^
-:r^-
f'^
rr
*<» ?
p .^, ^ ^\y W/
'
-r
mr - -f -rrf
'
i^.-J^ ' ;
;/>-^-: Impressions of British
Cow and
seals.
Museum;
Assyrian and Babylonian. C. 1500-5 50 B.C. Oriental hzstitute, University of Chicago
Calf, high relief. Ivory. 9th century B.C.
North
Syria. Louvre.
The God Hadad; right: Man Walking. Bronze. Phoenician, Museum; Louvre QAlinari photo"); Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
Left: Snake-Goddess; center: 1st
millennium
B.C. Brooklyn
QTel photo^
m
THE MESOPOTAMIAN PAGEANT These thought
and the
figures,
have
to
Man
originated
Walking, in
all
what was
ancient Phoenicia, or in other parts of Syria or
Canaan, might
Cappadocia,
as well
have been found in
Malta, Carthage, or even
Cilicia,
Thousands more or less like known to have been produced by
farther afield.
them
are
the Phoenicians for export.
Only
one
other
marginal
but some-
times evident influence of the Scythians, the
who
developed the superb "animal
art" of the steppes.
world sculpture
whereas Scythian
Their special
st)^le
seems
and
ized
was an engaging art is
The
decorative.
realism,
highly conventionalcontrast
is
interest-
ing between the Lion of the Ishtar Gate and
more
the
virile
sculpture of the Scyths,
which
illustrated in the next chapter.
The
development
slight
The one
contribution of the Mesopotamians to
true
is
might be suggested: the rather sculptors
enced by the people of the steppe.
77
relief
from North
group of ivory added here merely of a
Syria, opposite, part
reliefs
from furniture,
is
emphasize the mixed
to
influences that the Syrians
Eastern craftsmen absorbed.
and other Near Some details on
and
the ivories are unmistakably Egyptian, but the
rhythmic arrangement of the horses in relievo
whole set might be Cretan, or possibly Mesopotamian. The plaque shown, with cow and calf, is perhaps too rhythmic and too
reflected, for instance, in the spiritedness
on the Phoenician silver platter illustrated. It was the Scyths who helped to sack Nineveh,
weakened the to
Assyrians,
and opened the way
the final Babylonian hegemony, the last
phase of jMesopotamian independence. for the
most part
it
seems unlikely that
ian and Babylonian art
was
But
Ass)'t-
essentially influ-
Platter with reliefs. Silver. Phoenician, 1st
graceful to be either.
by
a
It
was preserved
king of Assyria, Adad-Nirari
for us
III,
who
from King Hazael of Damascus. In such ways the arts were widely interchanged stole
it
in the centuries of the
millennium
Babylonian wars.
B.C. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
4:
The Animal Art
of the Eurasian Steppes I ON
the
maps
of the classical world Scythia
about them historians have had
appears as a variable and unbounded country
foreign
and northeast of the Black Sea, and the nomadic people who roamed it were horsemen of the forests and the pastures. The
Greek
to the north
reporters
is
Scyths seldom built cities, and moved on to more favorable lands when climatic conditions and opportunities to conquer weaker peoples prompted a change. Before the flowering of Greek civilization, the Scyths had helped to destroy the Assyrian state, and after the seventh century B.C. they were frequently at war with the Greeks them-
diffusion
selves.
leave
They had no
written language, and to learn
knew
writers
Scyths, however,
mitted
such
as
to rely
upon
Herodotus.
The
only
the
borderland
and what they have
trans-
a fragmentary, half-mythical account
of the vast hordes in the real Scythia of the steppes.
The
surviving
art,
which
consists mostly of
small sculpture in gold and bronze, with some
antecedent Stone Age bone and horn carvings, also tells
of life
and of of
something of the Scyths' ways their culture.
Studies of the
Scythian and related sculpture
no doubt that this nomadic people roamed a territory larger than all Europe, a
Plaque with fighting animals. Bronze. Scythian. Russia. Art Association of Montreal
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES extending from the
territory
what
modern
the Ukraine in
is
Danube
Basin to
borders of Mongolia, including
the eastern
Russia, the
and most of the range that some his-
steppes about the Caspian Sea, Siberia.
So wide
torians
refer
Siberian
the
findings
as
Scytho-
Others, despairing of ever fixing
art.
even vague
is
to
merely of
territorial limits, write
"the
animal
descriptive of Scvthian
human
seldom chose
The
we may
as
call
The
mid-Siberian phase,
distinguishable from the
is
it,
Ural or East Russian phase and from the Western phase, \\ hich centered in the Dnieper and Don basins. There is great simplicity, almost primitive,
even the smallest ren-
in
perfectly
and other beasts by the Siberian craftsmen. Later a special
for
its
sculptors
way
art,
beings as subject-matter.
sculptural forms of animals are formal-
and decorative, as opposed to the naturalistic work of the IMesopotamians late
important as a center.
is
ized, vigorous,
and the
Siberian finds are numerous, and
Minusinsk, near the border of Mongolia, was
style"
"the animal style," or "the art of the steppe."
Certainly
The
covery.
79
Greeks; they are also more
virile
derings of stags,
of formalizing wings, manes,
tigers' stripes,
and even
in flowing linear patterns, en-
riched the style; more involved compositions, usually
savage
of
beasts
in
conflict,
were
beautifully executed.
Generally
than the idealized sculptures of the classic
may be
Greeks and are Oriental in feeling.
st)'le
Ethnically the Scythian peoples, although
tigers, elk,
speaking,
these
characteristics
said to apply to the Scytho-Siberian
of art as a whole.
though
stylized,
The
representation,
was intensely
true
to
the
doubtless intermixed with Mongolian strains,
nature— or
were substantially of the Indo-European
but the formalization of certain parts remained
They were Aryan-speaking, and
stock.
thus closer in
better,
the spirit— of the animal,
even extreme.
rigid,
Usually the sculptor's
was to be decorative rather than and he did not hesitate to distort
Persian neighbors in Iran (an-
purpose
other form of "Aryan") than they were to the
realistic,
Assyrians, Babylonians, or Arabs. It
parts of the body, or to terminate a lion's legs,
spirit to their
is
logical
therefore that Persia, especially, continued the
way
Scythian ing
it
of art, refining
not only at
it
home but
and perpetuat-
at the courts of
Constantinople (Byzantium) and other
where Sassan-
of the Eastern Christian world
and products were
ian culture
As the designation "Scythian"
later
welcomed.
of a distinctive artistic style,
ser\'es to
Cimmerians,
cities
cover the activities of the
who were
the predecessors of the
for
instance,
feet, if
with approximations of
bird's
more beautidictated by the in-
the resulting forms fitted
fully within
the limits
tended use of the sculptured object. It
was
in the
South Russian steppe area, Dnieper River and
especially along the lower
the upper shores of the Black Sea, that the
Scyths came into trade and cultural relationship with the Greeks. Eventually they even
Scyths in certain western parts of Scythia,
and of the Sarmatians, who
later took over
those lands.
The
earliest
tures left 1
200
B.C.
century
known
gold and bronze sculp
by the Scyths seem not
The B.C.,
to
antedate
golden age dawned in the ninth
and some
of the most accom-
plished Scythian artists were therefore contem-
porary with the Dorian Greeks, the Assyrians,
and the Persians
The
best
of the
way
to
pre-Achaemenid period. approach
Scytho-Siberian sculpture or four
manship
main types
is to
Scythian
and craftsfew centers of dis-
of stylization
in relation to a
or
study the three Double Animal. Bronze. Scythian. Russia.
Museum
of Science, Buffalo
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES
80
accepted and helped spread classical standards
toward Altai and eastern Asia. Before that
had maintained its and flourished as an
time, the Scythian style
Oriental characteristics
highly
independent, desipn.
Kuban
The
of
of
was that of an originally Eastern people who pushed westward from the gold-producing Altai and Urals. political organization,
seems
to
minor kings and
about the sixth
have been a federation
of tribes or tribal groups
under a number of
princes,
each
established a regal standard of
of
art.
spirited
stags
they
who formed
terned with double
spirals.
Despite the confusion regarding their
and the many
gins,
thetic
alien or at times
influences borne in
ori-
sympa-
upon the steppe
peoples, the Scythian small sculptures remain
a distinctive and magnificent contribution to the world's in the
art.
They
Western
art
are especially significant
world because the basic
whom
principles are similar to those animating the
form-seeking or expressionist schools of the
overcame the original Scyths, and
may have been
The
remarkable illusion of
a
Finally,
in perhaps the second century B.C., the Sarmatians
achieve
nique, enriched with insets and borders pat-
The amount
belief that the art
B.C.,
Caucasian plaques.
the
especially
sculptural roundness, within the relief tech-
gold discovered there adds evidence to the
The
is
have been in the
finds
of the Caucasian Mountains.
century
patterned borders were developed. There
a special beauty in the bulbous animals within
almost at the western terminus
chief
district,
way
individualized
zation. It is here especially that geometrically
it
a connecting
twentieth century. It
should be added that the Scytho-Siberian
has been called "the world's oldest style of
A
was noted between the
link between the Scytho-Siberian animal art
art."
and the medieval
animals of the metal-workers of the steppes
art of
Europe.
Scholars speak of a separate art develop-
development marked
ment
in the Caucasus, a
by
the characteristic vigor of the Scythians,
all
but with
its
own unmistakable
type of
styli-
similarity
lively
and the sculptures and drawings of the cave men of Magdalenian times. Through pottery as well
as sculpture,
the proponents of the
theory trace a tenuous line from late Stone
Age effort in Europe to Bronze Age achievement in Scythia. Both styles are primitive, vigorous,
and
affirmative,
and both
are dedi-
cated to the depiction of animals.
Horse and Wild Goat. Bronze. Scythian, 1st millennium B.C. Crimea. Hermitage, Leningrad. (^Courtesy Iranian Institute,
New
York')
Winged
Lion. Bronze. Scythian, 1st millennium
B.C. Semircchyc, U.S.S.R. Hermitage, Leningrad. Yorfe) QCourtesy Iranian Institute,
New
II
TH
E
dating of most Scythian art-objects
goat's
horns and the horse's
mane (misplaced
cannot be other than conjectural, but
below the neck) in the third example. The
have drawn up a table of periods for
chief traits of Scythian art are reflected in
them, beginning with "archaic Scythian" and
these objects, which, despite their small size,
historians
Scythian."
"classic
The
early examples
dis-
play an extraordinary power and forthright-
two
ness,
characteristics
which
persisted even
have a feeling of largeness, strength, and
movement,
as well as richness of detail.
In the golden Crouching Stag, the strength
in later periods
when ornamentation became and again toward the end when the Greeks had taught the Scyths to be more
of the
elaborated,
kept
realistic.
This plaque, from a warrior's
In the three examples here, the
is
Feline
curves
of the design
uninvolved— is
contrasted
shield,
must
have been designed with heraldic or
talis-
manic
no less compelling than that of the Animal and the Wild Goat on an
wood.
spirited
clear,
with the decorative treatment of the horns.
swing of the Winged
are typical.
Lion
The
virile
main motive— the body free,
intent,
and apparently
hammering gold over
The
was made by
a "pattern" carved in
crouching-stag
found among early
it
motive
is
often
in contour, but the sculptors also paid atten-
from the Russian shores of the Black Sea to Minusinsk in far
tion to secondary elements of design
Siberia.
elongated horse. All three designs are vigorous
the
such as
recurrence of the undulating curve in
nose,
jowl,
wing,
and rump
in
the
first
example; the arbitrary patterning of the paws in the second;
and the ornamentation of the
relics
Another type of contrast or variation
(still
within the unity of a single main sculptural
movement) is demonstrated in the patterning of the band about the Panther by means of
Feline Animal. Bronze. 1st millennium B.C. Manchuria or China. Formerly Eumorphopoulos Collection. QCourtesy Musee Guimet, Paris~)
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES
82
Crouching Stag. Gold. Scythian,
1 st
millennium
Panther. Bronze. Scythian, 7th-6th centuries B.C. Crimea. Hermitage, Leningrad. QCourtesy Iranian Institute, New Yorfe)
Steppe, Caucasus, U.S.S.R. Hermitage, Leningrad. QCourtesy Iranian Institute, New York)
Kuban
B.C.
fences;
were
probably
filled
the
with color
enclosed pastes.
were introduced but only
Again
there
is
of
effects
employed.
briefly
extraordinary
the
is
piece
when polychrome
an early period,
once
spaces
The
sense
of
lack the sturdy simplicity of the Siberian ex-
amples; but the harness ornament, at the illustration below, has largeness
and
vigor. It
is
its
own
left in
primitive
notable that the de-
backward to bring more compact decorative
signer has turned the head
aliveness in the total figure, not at all im-
the
paired by the conventionalization.
organism. Even the very heavy stylization has
The
profile piece is standard in
When
art.
back
the design
as well as
is
Scythian
be seen from the
to
from the front (as in the case
and the handles and appears pieces placed back
into
figure
a
not robbed the animal of truthfulness. The head with enlarged jaws is more exaggerated, almost a caricature. The third piece, though
of pole-top standards, mirrors,
heavily stylized, has a lighter sort of rhythm.
of knives) the object
The
is
flattened
two slightly convex relief to back in the form of a closed bivalve shell. Besides woodcarving there was the older Scythian tradition of bone- and horn-carving.
as
The
limitations
imposed by the harder mate-
rials
may have
established the compactness
and
directness of expression seen in the later
phases of Scythian fairly rare
are
many
among
objects in
art.
Wooden
surviving
figures are
relics,
bone or horn,
all
but there of
The Western
Scythian bronzes sometimes
Ornaments. Bronze. Scythian. Caucasus; Siberia Cernuschi Museum, Paris; University Museum, Philadelphia;
Museum
of Science, Buffalo
example shown, a deer, has
antlers
of repeats of the bird's beak-and-eye
motive, and the feet end in approximations of birds' heads. tive
is
This
common and
also seen in the
fantastic
mo-
heads and beaks which
terminate the legs of the horse in the third illustration
of this section.
Occasionally the
bird-head motive appears at the end of an animal's
tail,
as
may be
seen in the golden
plaque at the foot of page
which
follow the same rigid type of formalization.
final
made up
There in
are
museum
84.
numerous separate
collections.
conventionalized
that
The at
birds'
heads
motive became so
last
representation
was abandoned almost
entirely
in
favor of
when
ornament. Abstract designs resulted also
were based upon an animal's
compositions
hoof or hindquarters. Occasionally the Siberian sculptors would restrain
their
tendency
the pole-top figures,
range
formalize
to
Decorative but more
subjects.
from
this
Wild
Goats.
semi-realism
their
realistic
to
are
Examples the
near-
abstract approximations of animals that decorate handles
on bowl-edges or mirrors, or form
terminal figures on knife-handles.
The afforded
horse,
interpretation.
Stag. Pole-top standard. Bronze. Scythian, 5th century b.c. Caucasus. Art Association of Montreal
like
endless
Leningrad
(if,
decorative
tour
the
elk
opportunity
The
for
lead-bronze
indeed,
de
and the
it
force.
goat,
decorative
from
horse
be a horse)
Note the
is
a
bird's-
head feet, and, above, the extra animal heads which add contrapuntal movement. The little bronze running Horse is simpler, but hardly
Wild Goats. Pole-top standards. Bronze. Siberia. Buckingham Collection, Art Institute of Chicago
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES less
appealing in
its
fluent way.
The
piece
represents the southeastern extension of the
Scytho-Siberian
name "Ordos
style,
best
known under
bronzes." This type of
the
work
comes from the Ordos Desert in Mongolia, which adjoins the Chinese provinces of Shan-si and Shen-si.
Horse. Bronze. Ordos Region, China. of Science, Buffalo
Horse. Lead-bronze alloy.
Museum
Perm
District, U.S.S.R. Hermitage, Leningrad
Animals Fighting. Plaques. Bronze. Ordos Region. Collection of Dagny Carter; Detroit Institute of Arts
Antlered Bear Fighting a Tiger. Gold.
1st
century a.d. Siberia. Hermitage, Leningrad
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES
A
series of plaques,
mostly worked in gold
and each with one end
larger than the other,
depicts animals in conflict. This series fine sculpturally
that
it
is
so
places the Siberian
ahead of the Western Scyths in the handling of involved animal forms. The Antlered Bear Fighting a Tiger is a richly artists
skillful
rhythmic creation. Sometimes as
many
as four
(some unidentifiable) appear
fighting beasts
in a single design. Rarely
is
a man's figure
The
animal-conflict plaques are
almost
invariably
design
reversed,
found in pairs with the and they are supposed to
incorporated.
have served
The seem
as girdle-clasps or quiver-clasps.
persistence of the conflict motive to indicate
some
nificance, but archaeologists to
would
religious or totemic sig-
have been unable
explain the true meaning. It is
easy to see
how
the bars along the
lower edges of these plaques, together with elaboration of the antler motive, might evolve into an encircling patterned border. It will be
noted on the page opposite
that, for the first
time, bordered Scythian designs are
In
late
shown.
examples the purely ornamental
elements were increasingly stressed, but there is
no
intricate geometrical fretwork
besque.
did the
Only artist
and
ara-
in the special Caucasian phase
use border areas with all-over
patterning. (In the other direction both the
vigor
and the decorative richness
sculpture entered into Chinese
during the
Han
period.)
of Scythian
art,
especially
Animals. Bronze. Scythian; Chinese. Russia; Ordos Region. Cerniischi Museum, Paris; Collection of Dagny Carter; C. T. Loo Collection Siberia;
THE ANIMAL ART OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES
86
A
culture related
to
possibly antecedent to
it,
that of the is
known
merely by the term "animal casus."
The most
of the Eurasian animal art led directly into
Scyths,
to scholars
art of the
ern Europe.
A
important type of sculpture
wide ornamental border, within which appeared an openwork animal design. The figures were especially
was
and West-
the barbarian sculpture of Central
Cau-
a square plaque with a
complete survey of Scythian
end with degenerate examples, the decline that resulted
became
influences
art
would
illustrating
when
Hellenizing
too strong for the native
added weight to the design. The effect of largeness was increased by slenderizing the
There are many late Greek workmen living within or upon the borders of Scythia, and certainly for centuries there had been a trad-
forms and by curving these into sinuous,
ing of influences at the Black Sea settlements.
spirited,
and an idiomatic use
of swelling or
tradition to withstand.
bulbous forms in the forequarters and flanks
lesser
echoing rhythms. Antlers and
made
to
end
tails
objects
The
were often
to
culture crossed not only with the Greek
but also with the Persian, and there
in spirals as geometric as those in
the patterned borders.
ascribed
Some, perhaps early
to believe that the Persians,
is
reason
unlike the Greeks,
examples, exhibit single animals in silhouette.
derived lasting influences from
Others were rendered more elaborate by the
in Persia,
addition of decorative areas of engraving on
were animal ornaments in the true steppe-art tradition, and in Luristan, within the Persian territory (discussed in Chapter 8), a phase
main forms and by an increase number of figures. In the example the
Chicago Art Institute
(left,
in
the
at
the
below) the stag
of
is
accompanied by two dogs and a bird. It is believed that the Caucasian or geometrical phase
Stag. Gold. Greco-Scythian, c.
500
b.c.
(^Courtesy Archiv
small
even down
sculpture
to
it.
unmistakably related
the Scythian, equally strong, affirmative, decorative.
in Hungary. Museu7n of Fine Arts, Budapest. Kunst iind Geschichte, Berlin^
Found
fiir
Certainly
Sassanian times, there
Plaques with animals. Bronze. Left: Art Institute of Chicago; center
1st
and
millennium B.C. Caucasus. right:
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
to
and
^K^' ^^^^M
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^^^r ^^^m
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^^^^^^^^
->g'»*^?.-^,
.
fld^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l
^^^fcjjsr.^i^
*'
;
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>
1
.
^Bi^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^HmKmb&^^^^^^^^v^^^
^ %U| ~^
^i^^BH HK^
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HHgHIgg ^HflJB^^ij 5:
^^^^^^.* ^^^^^^^H '
The Greeks:
Archaism^ Classicism^ Realism
I GREECE state.
The
was the
first
beginnings of
civilized
its arts
The Parthenon
European
were epoch-
marbles alone afford machapter in the history of
terial for a glorious
making and the later influence overwhelming in European and American culture from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. Greek art avoids mystery and complication and
world sculpture. But the supremacy of Greek
through most of
is
its
its
course
is
distinguished for
realism and
crystal-clear
its
grace.
The
Greeks discarded Oriental conv^entions; they idolized nature,
end
of the decline in
Greco-Roman natu-
ralism, lucidity
and simple representation
vailed in their
art.
pre-
was
it
is
not as freely
forty or four
dred years ago. Nevertheless the
hun-
classic ideal
respected and recognized as having shaped European thought and art practice more pro-
foundly than any other.
and, from the time of the
building and decoration of the Parthenon to the
art over all other expressions
conceded today as
Sculpture took the
figurative
richly is
first
documented.
place in Greece
and
arts,
An
its
among
development
is
acute factual interest
evident in the few "monuments" surviving
from the pre-Hellenic periods: the athletes llissos.
Stone. Parthenon, Athens. British
Museum
THE GREEKS
Statuettes. Bronze. Sardinia. Prehistoric
Statuettes. Clay.
Cj^rus. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum, Rome.
(^Alinari
photo^
THE GREEKS
89
/ Snake-Priestess. Ivory nith gold band. Minoan, c. 1500 B.C. Crete. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
and snake-goddesses of Crete, the Boxer Vase and the Vaphio Cups with their exact hmning in gold, to cite a few famous examples. Before the "true Greeks" emerged, there was a wide dispersal of the geometric style (in miniature expressions), which marks the point where Greek art came nearest to the formalized and unrealistic expressions of Asia. With the later phases of the Dorian invasion the
was
consolidation of the Hellenic nation
new freedom and what we now refer to
complished, and a prevailed in classic art of
The most
as
the
t\'pical
like
Greek
nature,
reposeful.
is
artistic expression,
Classical sculpture.
clear,
is
noble,
harmonious.
The
lovers of
Greek
art,
one might
almost say the worshipers of Greek
Roman
art,
from
days onward, esteemed the Hellenic
masters above
all
others.
Perhaps the only
service of the twentieth-century critic in this
regard should be to broaden the term "Classical" to enlarge
its
meaning
to cover
not only
the Greek achievement of the Periclean dec-
ades but also the transitional period from the archaic.
There was already the
votion to the idealized
human
classic
de-
being, to every-
thing that was rational, nobly ordered, and
both
general acceptance. Classical art
reasonably
realism
Greece.
the superb achievement,
By
ac-
Rhyton (the Boxer Vase"). Stone. Cretan, c. 1600 B.C. Hagia Triada. Miiseum of Heraclion, Crete. (Bhoio of replica, Metropolitan Museum of Art')
inwardly
The grand
and outwardly harmonious.
period in Greece can be placed
between the perfecting of the stone kouroi and korai of the late sixth century and the completion of the Parthenon.
THE GREEKS
90
The
response
we
when viewing
feel
the
pre-Classical statuettes, especially the spirited
miniature
figures
geometric age,
the
of
is
very different from that evoked by the soberer expressions of the Classical
appreciation
stinctive
spirit.
the
of
But our
in-
bronze
little
horses or the fiddle-figured Cycladic marbles
should be a tribute
Greek
when
the Greeks were
East.
The fragmentary
and a
Ilissos of
higher
an added phase of
to
an early and a minor period
to
art,
influenced by the
still
Dionysus, Goddesses,
the Parthenon pediment are in
They
category.
display
a
lithic
grandeur, integrity, and amplitude that mark the sixth-
and
fifth-century
work
as the first
peak of European achievement.
The
years
following
the
Periclean
Age
were
marked by an increased realism in sculpture which paralleled a decline in the expression of Classical ideals. During the fourth century, new interest in the individual and in depicting the actual world was reflected in the rise of portraiture and pictorial sculpture, while monumental works suff^ered a loss of vigor from the overemphasis on naturalistic detail. As Greek culture spread to territories beyond the Aegean during the Hellenistic
Alexander, diffused It
period, its
and
after
the
conquests
original creative spark
of
became
finally died out.
should be added that recently, in the
between the pre-Hellenic and Greece proper have been by archaeologists and historians. Ex-
the
1960s,
ties
civilizations
stressed
cavations have brought to light the extent of
commerce between the Mycenaean civilization and the Athenian territory that later became the nursery of Greek culture. The MycenaeanMinoan languages, too, have been more fully identified as early forms of Greek. Whereas a separate Aegean culture was given independence in earlier histories, the story of Crete, Mycenae, and Classical Greece is oftener told in one unfolding history in
to-
sequence
of
day's
accounts.
stylistic
Despite
the
changes in the sculpture pictured on
the following pages, a rather remarkable overall
unity will be noted.
Above and
at left
and
right on facing page: Figures.
Stone. Cycladic, 3rd or
Metropolitan
2nd millennium
B.C.
Museum of Art; British Museum; Museum of Art, Providence
II
TH
E end
late in
of
the
Stone Age occurred
most parts of Europe. Long
after
Egypt and the Near Asian nations had
ar-
rived at such basic civiUzed attainments as
systematic agriculture, systematic writing, and
and and untamed, and northern and central Europe formed little more than an uncharted wilderness. Even after 1500 B.C., when islands of culture and commerce had risen along the Mediterranean, from Sidon to Iberia, central and western Europe remained subject to waves of wandering peoples for another two thousand years. The lines of migration are confused, and stabilized law, the lands of Greece, Italy,
Iberia
were
still
primitive
knowledge of the rope, and of their
"original peoples" of art,
is
Eu-
vague, to say the
least.
The seaways
of Egyptian,
Mesopotamian,
and Phoenician traders can be traced in early ages, and the pre-Greek arts of the Mediterranean basin most often bear the stamp of Nilotic or
Near Asian
cultures.
Iberia
and
Malta both have notable relics of the Stone Age, especially dolmens and menhirs, and many Bronze Age figurines have been found.
These
are of problematic date, as are the clay
figurines of the region,
which could be
as-
signed to almost any century from prehistoric times to the eighth century b.c.
Center: Seated figure. Stone. Cycladic. Melos. Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
Shown on
92
THE GREEKS
Figured cups. Gold. C. 1500 b.c. Vaphio.
page 88 are three bronze votive figures from
sculpture was not foremost
where the influences might be those of Etruria or an earHer culture imported from
practiced
Sardinia,
the East. In Sardinia the culture
Nuraghian, tower of
after a
unique type
known as Age
is
of Stone
fortification.
Crete and C}'prus were outstanding
pre-Greek
artistic
sites of
development, and the early
Cretan achievement
is
pre-eminent in
at the time, illustrations of
Sardinian bronzes,
Cyprian clay figurines (see page 88), and Cycladic marbles have been placed before the Cretan
The Aegean
eflFective as
more than
The
the
Aegean area. However, to stress the fact that there were areas of sculptural activity in other regions of Europe and in nearby Cyprus
Cycladic statuettes, originating in the
the
produced in Greek
territory.
first
is
seldom
Boston
(at the
Mu-
seum; see page 89) belongs to the highest period of Cretan accomplishment. In general, Cretan
art
is
light, worldly,
capricious
to
even gay, running
and
elaboration
to
representations of athletic feats
surprising
and violent
body movements. especially the group of god-
ivories,
desses
or
priestesses,
of
the most subtly
which the one at realistic, are more
Boston
stone
sculptures
appealing than any other local
They
are seldom
more finished than the examples shown. These works, like those of Sardinia, constitute a distinctive minor development. Many of the pieces are intuitively rhythmic and very en-
the arts
routine.
Attica, are
islands southeastw-ard
considered to be
from
genre pieces, the quality
Snake-Priestess
The
relics.
among
by the Cretans. Indeed the surviving body of sculptural art from the Cretan city-states and from Mycenae in the Peloponnesus is small, and, though some of the semiprimitive statuettes and groups in clay are
is
t)'pe of sculp-
There are painted faience statuettes of the same subject, but these incline to be elaborate and garish. The priestesses with their small waists, bared breasts, and aproned ture.
loins,
together with the snakes they usually
Minoan
The
gaging. Especially prized today are the early
hold, figured in
schematized figures, almost abstract— amulet-
Cretan culture was neither overwhelmingly
like bits of
marble in the shape of spatulas or
A
centered in religion nor dedicated, as were Assyria and Babylonia, to glorification of a
fat fiddles.
great commercial civilization prospered
in Crete as early as
religious rites.
1
500
b.c.
This
is
indicated
by discoveries in the ruined palace of King Minos at Cnossus, where fine vases and colorHowever, ful mural paintings abounded.
king-god.
There
are
no
portrait statues; rather
the athlete, the warrior, are
commonly
and the entertainer
depicted.
The Boxer Vase
(page 89), with
reliefs, is a typical piece. It is
its
spirited
carved in steatite
THE GREEKS
National
Museum, Athens. QGiraudon photos
of replicas in Louvre^
and was probably gilded. Crete also produced ivory and bronze figurines of athletes and worshipers, and many gems and seals, interesting but not quite so skillfully
made
as the
Sumerian and Babylonian examples. There are a few realistic colored faience reliefs, as well as double axes and ceremonial pillars which might be classed as abstract designs. Also
of
Minoan
workmanship,
93
though
found at Vaphio in the Peloponnesus, are the two Vaphio cups of gold, bearing designs on the outer shells. The modeling was accom-
In the few notable relics of sculpture from Mycenae, the city-state that succeeded Cnossus as the dominating power of the Aegean
world about 1400 B.C., we find, as in Crete, a growing tendency toward naturalism. The best-known example
is
the famous pair of
sculptured lions carved in stone over a gate at
Mycenae. There
are also grave stelae with
rather crude low-rehef
work which
suggests
a possible Hittite influence.
The
other
Mycenaean
most
treasured
examples
of
being hammered up from the reverse side and
Golden cups recovered from graves at Mycenae, like the Vaphio cups and perhaps also Minoan, are
the detailing probably finished by surface tool-
beautifully designed in abstract shapes; others
plished by
ing.
The
the repousse process,
the metal
designs, one of bull-hunting
other of bulls in a
wooded
ous and marvelously
and the
pasture, are vigor-
realistic.
As
sculptural
goldsmithing they were not surpassed by the artists of
the golden age a millennium later. Impressions of
seals.
I
sculpture are in metal.
are boldly figured in relief. Aside
from these
cups, the most interesting relics in metal from
the
Mycenaean
civilization
are daggers
and
swords with inlaid designs upon the blades.
Many
of these
show
superlative workmanship.
Cretan and Mycenaean. National Museum, Athens
I
Horse and Rider. Clay. Greek, early 1st millennium B.C. Attica. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
In summar)'
we
can say that the Cretan
had advanced furthest within the Aegean complex of cultures before 1500 B.C. civiHzation
Then about 1400 leadership.
Mycenae
took
the
culture, however,
was
b.c.
Mycenaean
soon to be absorbed into that of the Dorians, the Indo-European invaders from the north, and for centuries thereafter the figurative arts were all but obscured. The tenth and ninth centuries are often referred to as the Greek dark ages. Animals in clay are the best sculptures surviving from the period before the eighth century. At that time the islands nearest
Asia were the most progressive, particularly
Cyprus.
The
Cypriote clay figurines are especially
noteworthy.
Four
statuettes
the
of
Mother
Goddess, or of worshipers, favorite subjects in
Cyprus
in
Syria
illustrated
at
the
From
sixteenth
as
the
and Mesopotamia,
are
bottom
88.
of
century
on,
page
Cypriote
sculpture borrowed freely from the Cretans and Mycenaeans and also from the Egyptians; and, late in the eighth century, from the Assyrians when the country became vassal to Sargon. In many of the remaining works there is
evidence of diverse influences, including
the Egyptian, the Assyrian
mixed Phoenician
and the already
styles.
Early in the seventh century Cyprus was already a part of the there
is
no
Hellenic world, and
clear dividing line
from then on
betu'een the native style and the sculptural
Horse and Rider. Clay. Cyprus. Louvre. (_Giraudon photo^
Head
of a Man. Stone. 7th century B.C. Cyprus. Fuller Collection, Seattle Art Museum
THE GREEKS developments that took place on the Greek
mainland or in
Ionia.
The Head
of a
Man
(at Seattle) cannot be exactly dated but
would seem at the
to
ing realism.
It
artists
arrived at a pleas-
should be noted that part of
was derived from
the Cypriote stylistic idiom
Europe and
its
later
incorpora-
Romanesque sculpture. Students of Greek vase-painting recognize
tion into
it
represent Cypriote sculpture
moment when
cultures of
95
similarities in form between the bronze horses and the engaging beasts found on Athenian pottery of the eighth century. There is the same tendency to elongate the masses and to
The
the nature of the limestone or soft sandstone
model
which the sculptors commonly worked, which permitted fluent cutting and the tool-
compositions angles.
The depth
ing of sharp edges, characteristics better
back
narrowed, and ribbon forms are played
in
lustrated in the
Before the istic
head on page
artists
art histories as
st}'le
is
are
rhythmic
silhouettes.
most often based on of the figure
tri-
from front
to
against sudden excrescent cur\'es.
148.
achieved this fairly
standard, the geometric
il-
graceful,
real-
(known
in
one of the most widely diffused
modes of stylization) had Cyprus as well as in the
It
to
would be an
assume
that,
oversimplification of history after
the
eclipse
of
the
iMinoan and Mycenaean cultures, the Hellenes
of European-Asiatic
from the north brought
been in vogue
but the typical combinations of zigzags, meanders, and checks, and of virile geometrized
in
neighboring cultures. In the Cycladic Islands
human
figures
geometric
style,
had been produced in the and Greek potter)^ was often
decorated with highly conventionalized hu-
man
forms.
in the geometric style;
figures, do seem to have spread with the Dorian invaders. The geometric style filled the gap between the Cretan-Mycenaean art of
Popular subjects in the round
were horses with
riders,
and
in
the
later
phases of the geometric style animals were the essential
many
subject-matter for bronzes and for
painted
decorations.
Some
scholars
plausibly infer a connection with the animal art of the steppe country,
and imposing charts
have been compiled showing the diffusion of the
geometric
style
within
the
barbarian
Horses. Bronze. 9th— 7th centuries B.C. Greek, early and late geometric. Art Museum, Princeton U7iiversity
Deer and Faivn. Bronze. Greek, geometric period, 9th-7th centuries b.c. Mtiseum of Fine Arts, Boston
the Heroic
Age and
The
st)'lization of
Greek art— that is, Greek development.
archaic
the oldest recognizably
animals deriving from the
northern countries has
no connection with the
approach of the Cretans and
more Mycenaeans; eventually the Greeks too benaturalistic
came obsessed vdth
The largely Ionia.
realism.
monuments of Hellenic art came from Asian provinces, especially from
early
Certain ivory figurines from Ephesus
are t)'pical of Oriental ideals (if not work-
manship), but are unmistakably related the sort
first is
Greek mainland
to
Of this man stand-
sculpture.
the bronze figure of a
ing erect and column-like with arms held
Kouros. Bronze. Greek, 7th-6th centuries b.c. National Museum, Stockholm
Hera of Samos. Stone. C. 590
b.c.
Louvre
.J
THE GREEKS Stiffly
the
to his sides
neck
so
that
and spread locks widening the single-block effect
is
not disturbed. This type of figure was the
forerunner of the two commonest kinds of
another century or more and did not become a
common
The Hera
kouros or hero-athlete, and the kore or maid-
definitely
bronze kouros
one of the period.
It
now
finest surviving is
noteworthy
in
Stockholm
is
examples of the that
while
male
were commonly presented in the nude, the undraped female figure was not seen for
figures
of Samos, one of the earliest
monuments
large
The
the middle of the
subject until
fourth century.
sculpture practiced in the sixth century: the
en.
97
shows
of
Hellenic
Oriental
scholars attribute the
stiff
sculpture,
influence.
Some
effect to a slavish
copying of prototypes in wood, where the tree-trunk
dictated
the
mode
of
carving.
However, a change from the former, Oriental tradition is seen in the arm, which is raised
Kouroi. Stone. 6th century B.C. Tenea; Melos. Glyptothek, Munich; National QAlinari photo')
Museum, Athens.
I
fl
THE GREEKS
98
A
to the breast. is
further attempt at naturalism
seen in the treatment of the
separately
if
which
toes,
somewhat awkwardly
are
character-
ized.
By
the late seventh century the peoples of
Greece had
and
their
common
a
own
language and literature
but strangely
and minor
elastic
hierarchy
They
also had and athletic festivals which periodically drew the leaders together. But the tendency of the Greeks toward the centralization of their empire was balanced by a fanatic loyalty to the individual citystates that collectively formed the Hellenic
of gods
established
divinities.
religious
Sculpture
nation.
progressed
in
much
the
same way. While the art followed a common national ideal, the work of different regions such
Ionia,
Attica,
as
and Crete was
Epirus,
would be wrong,
Arcadia,
Corinth,
recognizable. It
still
for instance, to overlook the
and korai just because had become standardized.
variations in the kouroi
the types
The
kouros type of figure, long
known
erroneously as the archaic Apollo, had a prototype in Egyptian sculpture.
with hands at sides and vanced,
is
The body
pose,
left foot slightly ad-
so similar to the Egyptian conven-
tion that there
can be
doubt that the
little
Greeks worked from Egyptian models. From this point on,
gan
to
however, Greek sculpture be-
change quite
radically.
Despite the set
pose and such schematized details as the
ment
treat-
and eyes in the two stone figures illustrated, from Tenea and Melos, the natural rendering of the body definitely shows of the hair
new direction. The Greeks began to crystallize a ophy that made man the measure things. The gods, as revealed in the
a step in a
were human, and
The
of
all
myths,
fidelity to the ideal physical
standard soon became the prime art.
philos-
figures long
known
test of visual
as Apollos
were
probably hero-statues of youths (generalized as to features
but true
to the
common
ideal), depicting athletic heroes
athletic
and probably
used as votive figures.
For
some
time
the
anatomy
of
body, though more realistically rendered,
the re-
Bust of a young man. Stone. Late 6th century Museum. QAlinari photo}
B.C. Athens. Acropolis
Kouros. Stone. Boeotia. Late 6th century b.c. National Museum, Athens. (^Alinari photo}
THE GREEKS tained a certain schematized symmetrical pat-
This
terning.
is
seen in the
stiffly
frontal
atti-
99
Probably not since the era of Minos, a thous-
and years
earlier,
had
a staute
on Greek
soil
tude and the balancing of such stressed parts as
possessed a head that did not face directly
breast muscles, shoulder contours, the outline
toward the
abdomen and
kneecaps— all of which are evident in the example from Tenea. Originally these statues were colored, of the
painted
or
tinted
of the
sculpture
stone
being
standard throughout Greek history.
latest
kouroi are ascribed, a greater
understanding of anatomy
we
see
still
little
is
sculptures of the
evident.
Even
so,
deviation from the careful
first
taining to the kouroi
known
and the
korai.
frontal
rigid
The
Winged
scheme.
to
hold
Victory from Delos follow this tradi-
tion only
from the waist up; the lower limbs
are sculptured in profile to suggest motion.
The one
condition, illustrating a variant type,
rather less protruding, perhaps, but the lips
Moschofhorus
Neverthe-
to the
But fragments of a
The face too remained a "type," the eyes fixed in the "archaic" smile.
well-
seated figures, mostly battered, from
balancing and stressing of symmetrical parts.
still
half of
the sixth century escape the basic rules per-
Branchidae in Greek Asia seem
In the latter half of the sixth century, to
which the
front.
Few known
notable relic that survives in fair is
the
or Calf-Bearer, a votive offer-
ing to Athena. Possibly this was a portrait
in
of the donor, Rhombos. Stripped to essentials
at left, is more natural and believamore human and active. The statue may remind us that the Greeks had now estab-
and formalized only in certain details— the man's garment is indicated only by faint
less,
the
third
of
the illustrated kouroi
stone, ble,
the
lished
human
free-standing
figure
as
central in the art of sculpture, in accordance
with their man-centered philosophy, a gain
lining over the modulations of the
whole
exhibits
body— the
an entirely new sculptural
mastery.
The famous
Lions of Delos, which stand
revolutionary and historic, and a gain destined to
be
passed
Renaissance
on
Italy,
as
standard
and
for
eventually
Rome, all
of
Europe. In the battered bust of a young Acropolis
Museum,
man
in the
the stereotype smile per-
but there is increased freedom in the modeling of the head. This is slightly turned sists
—and
a very long tradition
was thus broken.
Moschophorus. Stone. Mid-6th century B.C. Athens. Acropolis
Museum.
(^Alinari photo')
I
100
THE GREEKS
Kore. Stone. Mid-6th century B.C. Athens. Acropolis Museum. (_Alinari photo')
Sphinx. Stone. Mid-6th century B.C. Athens. Acropolis Museum. CA^'nari photo)
Kore: La Boudeiise. Stone, c. 490 B.C. Athens. Acropolis Museum. QAlinari photo')
Kore. Stone. Mid-6 th century B.C. Athens. Acropolis Museum
THE GREEKS row on
in a
a ruined terrace, are
101
somewhat
weathered but remain monumentally impres-
These mark
sive nevertheless.
a
peak of the
archaic style as developed in the Cycladic
A common
was
tury sculptors fully the
Isles.
tendency among the sixth-centheir failure to differentiate
male from the female
many
Calf-Bearer and
almost androgynous
figure.
of the kouroi
air.
The
waist
The
have an is
nar-
rowed, the hipline rounded. Conversely the or maidens,
korai,
often have a masculine
look.
The cally
early korai statues are not as aestheti-
satisfying
as
the kouroi, nor do they
demonstrate so well the transition from rude convention to
realistic statement.
Nevertheless
there are finely statuesque figures
among
the
Athenian "maidens" discovered in the ruins of the Acropolis.
antique dress
is
The solid
way
maiden
in
has broken the figure at the waist. is
particularly
in
sculptural, except
which the sculptor The head accomplished, and the dress
for the unfortunate
Head. Stone. Greek. C. 500 b.c. Nelson Gallery—Atkins Museum, Kansas City
figure of a
and
Horse. Stone. C. 500 b.c. Athens. Acropolis Museutn. QAlincri photo~)
THE GREEKS
102
when draped
notably simple for a time
folds
and painted ornamentation were strongly
ex-
statues with riders survive, but in the frag-
ment
of a Horse shown,
from Athens, there
is
ploited.
a direct statement of the essentials in sculp-
The most majestic of the korai is the example known as of the Oriental type. Extreme
tural terms,
formalization persists in the treatment of the
neck, and back are fixed perfectly, then rein-
hair
and drapery, and the
rigid pose adds to
the air of dignity and reserve.
The
statue
is
but the conventions are
less
marked,
The
superb lines of the head,
forced by the simple and effective formalization of the
of approximately the date of the preceding piece,
without undue insistence on ana-
tomical fidelity.
mane.
In the bronze Charioteer at Delphi, the
known
best
of the
monumental bronze
sculp-
and the full lips modify the archaic smile. Another step toward the classic profile is seen in the way in which
tures of the early fifth century, only the
the slope of the subject's nose follows the
rather
slope of the forehead.
character of the body; but the head, set firmly
the eyes are inset better,
The
pensive maiden, sometimes
La Bondeuse, chronological
naturalism
were
order)
for
striving.
hardly
less
shown here
is
known
(slightly out of
demonstrate
to
the
of
when
great
moments
stylization
in
obtains but
still
is
Head now
at
quality
their quest for
mid-sixth-century
of
and an animation derived
is
less
from observed form and movement than from for
sculptural
masses
rhythms of formal creation. After Phidias, Greek artists were
and
the
it
could not be mistaken for
ventions persisted, but the total aspect of the
sculptured figure or face was becoming more
done
Athens and Olympia.
in
as
limestone
Head
of a Priest
The
shown (probably
a quarter-century before the Charioteer^,
despite
beard,
schematized hair, mustache, and
its
and the unnatural
eyes,
is
graphic and
factual.
Among
the Cypriote pieces there
head which has achieved fame
ing the "eternal
human
which these
feeling
the
any other people. Certain archaic con-
that of
by hardly more than a century. But here
a
Persia,
Seas.
the
largeness
over
victories
its
archaism preceded the Parthenon sculptures
a
both simple
the coasts of the Mediterranean
of
masterpieces
is
period before Greece achieved
last
after
and the
Hellenic settlements were scattered around
realistic
expression.
The
In this
lifelike,
which is so typical of Egyptian sculpture was never more nearly attained in Greek work than in the sixth-century Sphinx shown. It represents a brief period before the Hellenes became completely absorbed in
upon the column-like neck, and believable. unity
here,
treated drapery nuHifies the
distinctive that
Kansas City.
The monumental
evident
main
of the
sculpture,
closer
by knowledge and the desire to present the natural nobility and dignity of the model. The same tendencies are illustrated in the lovely
is
Some
controlled
is
indeed one
is
Greek
stiffness
awkwardly
a lost group.
and Aegean At the opening of the fifth century, although Cyprus was already thoroughly Hellenized, the work of her sculptors was so
conventionalized than before, but
anatomical form. This
archaic
the
which the Greek sculptors The hair and garment are
the carving of the face and the ear to true
as
from
figure survives
critic."
Readers
is
a type
as represent-
who know
type can appreciate the
skill
with
sculptors caught in light carica-
ture a characteristic mixture of eagerness
and
colossal
and scorn. In the stone Head shown, from the seventh
century
B.C.,
superiority,
of
alertness
note
how
the wide-open mascu-
matter, but in the archaic period they were
brow and beard contrast with the rather precious and feminine mouth. In Greek relief sculpture the conventions
proficient in representing the character
of the archaic style disappeared sooner than
strangely
still
indifferent
of the animal model.
to
No
to
prove
animals as subject-
complete equestrian
line
thev did in statues that were carved in the
round.
One
reason was that the rigid rule of
was
frontality
less logical
on
inserted serially
where
a flat panel.
figures
were
Moreover,
re-
were particularly suitable for the depiction of scenes that called for pronounced lief figures
action.
Almost
as early as the action reliefs,
compositions of figures in the round were placed in the pediments of temples.
There
are existing reliefs
illustrate
on pediments that
every step from the archaic
style,
famous panel showing Perseus and the Gorgon (from an early sixth-century temple at Selinus, a Greek colonial city in Sicily), to the free action panels showing Youths at Games on a statue base found at as seen in a
Athens. Here, despite the archaistic treatment of the heads, free bodily variety of poses first
time.
The
is
movement
in a
wide
achieved, perhaps for the
which was
athletic ideal
blossom during the next century
is
to
already
evident Head. Stone. 7th century B.C. Colossal. Cyprus. Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art Charioteer. Bronze. 470 b.c. Delphi. Delphi Museum. QAlinari photo}
Head
of a Priest. Stone. C.
500
Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan
b.c. Cyprus.
Museum
of Art
Youths
at
Games,
relief. Stone. Attic, c.
510
b.c. National
Museum, Athens
(Vhoto by Clarence Kennedy^
Death of Aegisthos, high
relief. Stone.
Archaic. Argos.
Ny-Carlsherg Glyptothek, Copenhagen
One is
of the finest of the transitional pieces
the panel depicting the
now
at
Death
Copenhagen. The
of Aegisthos,
relief displays the
major archaic conventions in the treatment of hair
and drapery, but there
movement about
flowing
work
is
is
the
a
of Argos
is
The
relics are part of great decorative
groupings of statues once designed integrally
The figures from the two pediments which formed the gable ends
with the architecture.
rhythmic,
of the temple vary greatly in lifelikeness. In
This
the nineteenth century they were subjected to
whole.
which flourished Athens, where Hagelaidas
of the Argive school,
before the one at
realism.
reputed to have taught Polyclitus,
a
process
of enthusiastic
restoration
who added
heads, legs, and weapons as he
thought they would originally have looked.
The
ruins of the temple there are, in fact, the
Greece's progression toward her
to
suggest the
dawning
of the
new
first
classic
the
neo-classic sculptor
and Myron. Another accomplished school was that of Aegina, and the sculptures recovered from Phidias,
at
Thorwaldsen,
hands of the
least battered
remain
The
of
great
(and
least restored) pieces
interest
as
restorations of the total
examples
of
classic ideal.
pediment com-
THE GREEKS positions,
though doubtless inaccurate
are
tails,
aspect
105
instructive
suggestions
as
in de-
the
of
afforded by monumental temples
half-century
before
building
the
a
the
of
Parthenon.
The Hercules from and
the Temple of Aegina Dying Warrior are important
a similar
examples of the new, factual representation.
While hidden
restorations
the
increased
sculptors'
have been made,
and
mastery
their
grasp of free action are plainly to be seen.
Many
years before, the workers in bronze
had produced the superb Apollo shown at left. This was excavated as recently as 1959, at Piraeus, the port of life-size. It is
as
520
first
B.C.
The
Athens.
figure
is
dated by some scholars as early It
might
monument
be termed the
fairly
Greek
fully in the Classical
style. It
was about 460
sculpture reached a
that
b.c.
new
tion of the temple of
architectural
height in the decora-
Zeus
at
Olympia.
The
remains of the pediment groups, which were destroyed by an earthquake, are unfortunately Apollo. Bronze. Late 6th century b.c. Attica.
more scant than those recovered
National Museutn, Athens
but the fragments point toward a culmination in the pediments
Perhaps the
and
friezes of the
finest of the
though not the most Hercules. Stone. C. 485 B.C. Temple of Aegina. Glyptotheky Munich. QGiraudon photo^
The god,
strength portrayed here
known
cessful,
as
Parthenon.
Olympian is
of
more than
The head
Kladeos,
is
figures,
the Apollo.
realistic, is
merely physical kind.
Aegina,
at
a
of a river
particularly suc-
and the modeling of the face
is
even
superior to that in the Apollo.
There were technical advances
in
relief
sculpture too, particularly in gravestones and
other commemorative stelae.
More appealing
than any surviving examples, however, are the panels of the so-called Liidovisi Throne.
These are obviously of a period when sculptors still found decorative value in the old conventions, while they strove for more realistic means of expression. In the Birth of Aphrodite the artificial
veil-like
garments create an
yet most pleasing effect, while the
rounding of the figures produced a feminine
charm not positions,
earlier
encountered. Three com-
including one not visible in the
THE GREEKS
106
here,
illustration
were carved on one block
of marble.
The about
athletic ideal
this time,
came
into full flower at
and the Discohohis
or Discus-
Thrower, by the most renowned of early
Greek
sculptors,
Myron,
is
exist, all of
Myron
which are more
or less imperfect.
his as a
triumph of reproductive
opinion
is
echoed in schoolbooks
art,
and
to this day.
many moderns who artist
with the physical body.
this
agree
was overconcerned
is lost,
later
benefit
copies
work
Museum
original
The illustration here is the restoration known as the Castel Porziano copy. The Romans of Nero's time wrote of the Discoho-
with Pliny that the
original
the British
example
many Greek and Roman
however,
The
The
Discobolus of Myron, in bronze, does not survive, but
are,
which probably formed part of
a larger
composition including the goddess Athena.
a pleasing
of the classical figure in action.
There
Equally accomplished was Myron's Marsyas,
of
is
but
if
the copy in
accurate and without
knowledge by the
copier,
achieved a comprehension of anatomy
and an all-around
lifelikeness
unknown
be-
fore his time.
The recendy
discovered bronze
according to some
scholars,
a further gain in exact copying.
though the statue tegrity of the
is
in
its
Zeus— or,
Poseidon— marks Interesting
own way,
mass has been
the in-
sacrificed for the
privilege of presenting a detailed imitation of life
and
figure
action.
The whole
conception of the
can be considered anatomical rather
than sculptural.
Ludovisi Throne: Birth of Aphrodite. Stone. 5th century B.C. National Museum, Rome. (^Alinari photo^
\ "^
Apollo, detail. Stone. C.
460
Kladeos, detail. Stone.
I
B.C.
Temple
Temple
of Zeus, Olympia.
of Zeus, Olympia.
Museum, Olympia.
Museum, Olympia.
CAlinari photo~)
QAlinari photo')
108
THE GREEKS
Zeus. Bronze. C.
460
Discus-Throiver. Bronze. Copy of original by Myron. C. 450 B.C. National Museum, Rome. QAlinari photo^
B.C. National
Museum, Athens
Marsyas. Bronze. Myron. British
Museum
THE GREEKS Gem-cuttino continued ing minor typical
to
be an outstand-
can be seen from these
as
art,
compositions.
During the
fifth
and
fourth centuries they were often amazingly true to the model. or engraving
on
of a finger-ring.
The stone,
The
orioinal
was
a cutting
sometimes the stone
impression, taken usually
in
wax
or
plaster
of
Paris,
miniature bas-relief sculpture. illustrated
follow
the
as
a
The examples
show how the jewel-like imprints main lines of Greek sculptural
development, even while possessing the precision
and
crispness
that are required in
miniature.
iJlI^TSU/:
^^^^
Impressions from stone gems. Greek, 8th— 1st centuries b.c. of Fine Arts, Boston; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum
appears
109
a
1
THE GREEKS
10
Museum
Dionysus. Stone. C. 433 b.c. Parthenon, Athens. British
When the free-standing sculptures of Myron were being produced,
the
Parthenon,
the
Athens dedicated to Athena Parwas being adorned with pediment groups and friezes. The completion of this great edifice marked the culmination of heroic temple
at
thenos,
architectural sculpture. sions
and
battles
The
long
subjects, proces-
since
standardized,
varied only in the devotional scenes centering
These minor
desses.
divinities are
godlike, familiar but remote.
human
The
yet
triangular
space occupied by Dionysus, and by the Three as a group, was determined, of by the architectural form of the pedi-
Goddesses course,
The
ment.
entire composition within the pedi-
ment was known
as
The
Birth of Athena.
Un-
fortunately the central standing figures, pre-
sumably the commanding ones, are
The
lost.
The Athens
of
had drawn sculptors from all parts Greece. Though Phidias has been named
of
from a group in the western pediment depict-
as
ing the contest between Athena and Poseidon
genius of the Parthenon, no
It has been possible to reconscheme of the western pediment group of figures more plausibly than that of
around the
lives of the gods.
Pericles
the
directing
sculpture survives which can be identified for
From
and a small Athena which stood within the Parthenon, it would seem that it was a pretentious and florid "showpiece"; in fact, the figure was encrusted with plates of gold and ivory. It was approximately certain as his.
descriptions
replica of his colossal statue of
forty feet in height.
Among
the extraordinar)' single figures of
the pediments, the Dionysus perhaps represents the highest
There
is
achievement of Greek genius.
a similar grandeur in the
Three God-
so-called Ilissos, symbolizing a river,
is
for the land.
struct the
the ones occupying the eastern pediment, but
again the dominating figures have perished.
The
Ilissos
suggests that the genius of the
artists
was hardly
ment
than
in
less
the
brilliant in
other.
one pedi-
Certainly
the
Athenian sculptors achieved a richness of design and a show of power in repose unequaled in the pediments at Olympia and Aegina.
One
(The of the
Ilissos is illustrated
few
details that
on page 87.)
have escaped
THE GREEKS
1
1
1
Three Goddesses. Stone. Parthenon, Athens. British Museum
serious
since
damage
the
into place
in the twenty-four centuries
Parthenon sculptures were Kfted is
the Horse of Selene.
At the
treme right of the eastern pediment,
ex-
filling
the edge of the fectly
is is
nature.
as
it
now
protrudes over
marks per-
There
the muzzle protruding outside and below the
much
base. It
grandeur about the piece, which
an
floor
museum
advance from archaic stylization
into the full Classical style.
the angle of the gable, the head rested, with
pediment
the
interpretation
The
designs in
Horse of Selene. Stone. Parthenon, Athens. British
and
an
at
once
enlargement
high and low
Museum
a simple
relief
of
are
Metopes. Stone. C. 440 B.C. Parthenon, Athens. British
Museum
THE GREEKS only slightly
impressive than the figures
less
the round that decorated the pediments.
in
A series of ninety-two
sculptured compositions
formed the metopes,
originally
between the triglyphs
The
in
relief,
and of action
frieze.
of the figures
The two
situ
or
The
expression
natural
greater here than in any earlier
the
of
porticoes
335 in
is
only about
the highest projection
Phidias
Myron
is
the
first
is
i
depth
Vi inches, and
2V4 inches.
important
name
after
profusion of panels with narrative scenes in
the
of
Originally a frieze 525 feet long decorated
as
in space, yet the average
museums. The subject was the
skill
adapting their designs to
in
space. is
the
of
panels
Greek work. inner
mirac-
be seen, in
architectural
many
relief
and Greek Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was more than forty feet high, and like his Athena Parthenos it was cased in plates of gold and ivory. In the throne upon which the god sat were inlays also of ebony and precious stones. Many minor statues were set into the composition, and there was a
indicative
are
best sculptors
the
The low
ulously creates the effect of rounded forms
panels
deal chiefly with contests between the
in the faces
perfection."
"classical
the
Lapiths and the Centaurs.
shown
seeking to comprehend the mystery of
artists
the Doric
surviving examples, carved in very high
113
figures are
still
As
Parthenon. to
sculpture,
in the history of
his figure of
Zeus
at
and others with painted
was
Panathenaic Procession, picturing a group of
relief
gods and with them the horsemen, marshals,
doubtless a wonderful and glittering example
sacrifice-bearers, musicians,
izens
who marched
to the
maidens, and
year during the Panathenaic Festival. free action
sculptures
illustrated
The
and flowing rhythm of the com-
positions reached a
the
cit-
temple every fourth
has
of
new the
been
peak, especially in
horsemen. studied
The
endlessly
slab
by
scenes. It
of bravura sculpture, and to the Greeks it was a holy symbol of the Olympian religion.
In the nineteenth century
classicist scholars,
accepting a series of "brilliant conjectures," praised Phidias as the greatest of
and
They
as
creator
of
the
Greek
artists
Parthenon marbles.
accepted as "in the style of Phidias"
Horsemen. Stone. C. 440 e.g. Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens
the incomparable Dionysus and the Three
Goddesses of the east pediment. In the twentieth
century scholars reassessed
these
ments, pointing out the fundamental
judgdiffer-
the monumentally solid and the two showpieces as described by ancient writers and as known in incomplete replicas. It became clear that Phidias had been a showman and a director
ences
between
pediment
figures
of other artists rather than the foremost genius of
Greek
sculpture.
He
died in disgrace, hav-
ing been accused, according to Plutarch, of inserting portraits of himself
elaborate
reliefs
on
the
and
Pericles in the
shield
of
Athena
Parthenos.
The names
of a
number
of Phidias's con-
temporaries are known, but only two or three
can be connected with surviving works.
Head is
a
of
The
an Athlete (possibly a Roman copy)
ascribed to Cresilas,
famous bust of
who also sculptured The athlete's head
Pericles.
Doryphoros. Stone.
Roman copy
of original by
450-440
b.c. National
Polyclitus. Argive,
Museum, Naples. Boy Athlete,
QAlinari photo')
or Idolino. Bronze. copy. Argive, c. 440 b.c. Archaeological Museum, Florence. QAlinari photo')
Roman
Head of an Athlete. Stone. Attributed to Cresilas. 440-420 B.C. Metropolitan Museuttt of Art
THE GREEKS smooth, harmonious perfection
illustrates the
at
which Athenian
In
it
we
115
had now
artists
arrived.
find the most prized attributes of the
Classical school: idealization, dignity, nobility,
firmness,
repose.
Polyclitus reached the athletic ideal in his
The
Doryphorus, or S-pear-Bearer. wrote a
theme
on proportion
treatise
being
proportion
human model
of old as
the
presenting
the
rather than in compositional
Some
division or adjustment. lieve the
in
sculptor art,
in
authorities be-
Doryphorus to be the statue known "the Canon," a demonstration piece
by which PolycHtus sought to illustrate the ideal measurements of head, shoulders, arms,
and
legs.
Taking the palm
hand
of the
measurement, he constructed
basic
statues with thighs six
The
The head measured
total
height.
man
new^ interest in
t)'pe is illustrated
handsome, the body
slight,
The
face
rhythmic, and
Pausanias considered that
of youth.
typical
physical
a
as
again in the Boy Athlete,
sometimes known as the Idolino. is
his
palms wide, feet three
palms long, and so on. one-seventh of the
as a
all
Polyclitus in his time "had brought the art of bronze-casting to perfection."
The group
several figures
supposed
one
in
to
from a
the
illustrating
pediment Niobe are
lost
of
stor)'
of
the
Asian
Peloponnesian
or
cities.
The Wounded Niohid shows
tically
no
an arrow
facial
in
prac-
though she has
contortion,
her back.
figure, its firm
The
dignity of the
modeling, and the rhythm of
the masses, raise
it
above most of the work
of the period, except for the Parthenon marbles.
Especially noticeable
is
the avoidance
and gesture that would carry the observer's eye away from the center, a comof
line
mon
fault in the routinely sculptured athletes,
Amazons, and goddesses of the Polyclitan and later schools.
About this time (after 435 b.c.) there developed in Arcadia a school largely devoted to the depiction of violent action.
and Amazons temple
at
Wounded Niobid. Stone. C. 435 B.C. National Museum, Rome. QAnderson photo^
have been the work of sculptors
Battling
on the
In Greeks
frieze
from a
Bassae near Phigaleia, Arcadia,
we
Greeks and Amazons Battling. Stone. Arcadian, c.
420
B.C. Bassae. British
Museum
|l
Maiden Untying Her Sandal.
Stone. C.
410
b.c. Athens. Acropolis
Museum
THE GREEKS thrown into confusion and horses and stumbHng. Even garments are
see warriors
rearing
arranged so that they appear to be blown
117
balustrade of the Temple of Athena Victor on the Acropolis. The draperies are rhythmically handled, and the way in which the
this
way and that, to increase the impression movement. The designing is effective in the large, and only a lack of subtlety in the
fabric clings to the curves of the maiden's
of
body brings
from taking
and wore a transparent little tunic." Something of the same lightness, charm, and liveliness characterizes the Venus Genetrix, although the work is known to us only through copies. The original statue may have been the A-phrodite of the Gardens by Alcamenes. As yet there were few female nudes
actual carving prevents the frieze its
place with the great works.
The Athenian sculptors seldom carved a more graceful and ingratiating figure than the Maiden Untying Her Sandal. This is one of the slabs
from a
frieze that
adorned the
lines
in
to
about the
Greek
mind girl
Aristophanes'
famous
who "had had
a bath,
sculpture, but here, certainly, the
underlying graces of the body are more
re-
vealed than veiled by the effectively arranged
garments.
As
in the
Venus Genetrix,
so in
many
of
found on gravestones of the period, effect the sculptors sought was more the pretty than profound. The example illusthe reliefs
trated,
the gravestone of Hegeso,
the best in
Venus Genetrix. Stone. Athenian, c. 400 Museum, Rome. (^Brogi photo^
B.C.
National
Gravestone of Hegeso. Stone. Athenian, c.
400
B.C. Keramikos, Athens. QAli7iari photo}
its
known
of
its
particular field.
is
perhaps
type and a masterpiece
1
1
8
THE GREEKS By
many
Greek writers, coinage the Lydians in the by had been invented eighth century B.C. Designed and identifiable
Greece proper and of the Asian, African,
disks of electrum, gold, and silver were used
coins.
for barter instead of cattle, axes, bullion, or
Greek designs
According
to
the
had previously been used
whatever
else
standard
measures
of
value
in
was Croesus of Lydia who regularized minting and values.
regions.
It
as
different first
the early fifth century
Sicilian,
are
Italian colony-states
the
ancient
in the average coin collection
Most
of these
the head of Arethusa, or Persephone, on
obverse,
and on the
reverse
favorite motive of a chariot.
m
Coins. Silver. Greek, 5th-4th centuries b.c. Bibliothequc Nationale, Paris; of Art, Rhode Island School of Design; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum
were issuing
most beautiful
the Syracusan examples.
show the
and
Perhaps
cities of
side
the
THE GREEKS It
used
be said that the second great
to
dismiss such works as the
19
1
Hermes with
the
period of Greek sculptural art opened with
Infant Diot2ys2ts as merely pretty and aflfecting
the appearance of Praxiteles. Generations of
would not be
art-lovers
who
looked for faithful transcrip-
tions of attractive
models in graceful poses
praised the statues of Praxiteles as
examples of supreme
time,
critics
and Lysippus
lithic art.
In our
who have reawakened
primitive
and
to
own
typical in
body.
Its soft
fair.
The
handsome
statue of
face
and
Hermes
is
substantial
modulations and pleasing finish
are a great deal
more expert than the work
of copiers in later centuries.
The
the
expressive
its
A-phrodite of Cnidos by Praxiteles was
one of the outstanding statues of the fourth
values
of
rather
than representational sculpture have
century.
The
to some extent undermined the reputations
Phryne,
of the fourth-century Classical masters. But to
shapely,
beauty, was obviously and the sculptor has portrayed her
art
Hermes with Infant Dionysus.
of
Stone. Praxiteles. C.
350
b.c.
a
model, reported to have been
famous
Museum, Olympia.
QAlinari photo')
THE GREEKS
120 prettily
only
and acceptably— although we have
Roman
replicas of the statue as evidence.
Ancient writers were eloquent in their praise of
the
declared
original in
his
marble Natural
composition.
History
that
Pliny "the
finest statue, not
only of Praxiteles but of the
entire world,
the Aphrodite.
is
traveled to Cnidos just to see
Many
have
be
figures.
statue,
ancient
copies
of
the
Cnidian
The Head of a Girl, from a draped now at Toledo, is typical of the
Praxitelean grace, charm, and tenderness; is
characteristic
face with
too
of
the
it
regular-featured
dreamy eyes then fashionable.
In the fourth century the sculptor Scopas
it."
Several heads exist which are considered to
from
Afhrodite or of other of Praxiteles' female
was among those who opposed the current
Afhrodite of Cnidos. Stone. Attributed
to Praxiteles. C.
340
b.c.
Louvre
tendency
human
and sentimentalize the
soften
to
figure, especially the face.
His model-
ing appears to have been vigorous and firm
while that of most of his contemporaries was
Unfortunately
weak.
the
only
uncontested
originals of Scopas that survive are fragmen-
tary or in poor condition.
Also of the fourth century was Lysippus,
who
has generally been
and Scopas masters.
He
named with
Praxiteles
one of the foremost Greek
as
tried
to
perpetuate the natural
own
idealism of Praxiteles and invented his
canon of proportion, done.
No
Polyclitus
as
surviving works are
from his hand,
Roman
just
copy,
known
the
A-poxyomenos, suffers in
typically naturalistic figure of is
commonly
be
and the one outstanding
comparison with copies from Praxiteles.
cannot be
had
to
The
Hermes Resting
Head of a Girl. Stone. School of Praxiteles. Late 4th century B.C. Toledo Museum of Art
attributed to Lysippus, but this
verified.
Hermes
Resting. Bronze. Attributed to Lysippus. 4th century b.c. National
Museum, Naples
l|
.
THE GREEKS
122 The
relief
panels on the so-called sarcoph-
agus of Alexander are characterized by vigor
and
lively action.
Though
they
the melodramatic side, there
is
may be on no denying
that the presentations of Alexander in battle
against the Persians,
and Alexander
in a lion
hunt, are visually exciting. In small reproductions the composition seems crowded, but in
reality
well spaced and
the
figures
the
characteristic
are
rhythmic.
Among
reliefs
of
the
mid-fourth century, the most famous was the frieze decorating the
of Caria,
tomb
of Mausolus, ruler
The Mausoleum
at Halicarnassus.
The
panels are superior to the designs on
the
Sarcophagus
of
Alexander
(produced
several decades later) in their simpler
position
and the firmer handling
dividual figures. Scopas
is
com-
of the in-
believed to have
Battle Scene. Stone. 4th century b.c.
been one of the sculptors involved in the making of these vigorous reliefs, but no specific part of the frieze
can be convincingly
ascribed to him.
In
the
fourth
century
the
decline
of
monumental sculpture into naturalism was matched by the rise of lifelike portraiture. The statuette Socrates was not a study from the life (the philosopher had been put to death in 399 B.C.) but was a later sculptor's version,
and
expressing alertness, inquisitiveness,
As sculpture
kindliness.
achieves
it
a
sense of controlled organization.
had said that the purpose of porwas to represent a man's features,
Aristotle traiture
"and, without losing the likeness, to render
him handsomer than he Great objected
to
is."
Alexander the
being portrayed
and appointed Lysippus
Mausoleum, Halicarnassus.
British
sole
realistically
imperial
por-
Museum
So-called sarcophagus of Alexander. Stone. 4th century B.C. Istanbul Miiseuvi
iMptll^piljjiliM^iM^y; W\V^iV^nV^)(V<)l^^llV^)IV^)iV^iaf)\^^ilV*MV^MV?MVtMVti|V'*'IVm'?'IV»'»Vf'lVfMWMWi|V'f'K^'t\f'IVf'n^'l\^'tV^(\?'i\»''\ UtHkUtULULUlULUtUklitULiik
:m;.);.y|y^.^A:;.>>^ .
-.^<
THE GREEKS traitist
according
because,
had
others
and leonine
"failed
The
Lysippus made
look."
This
them. parallel ture.
rather
bust here
than is
sort
Plutarch,
all
convey his masculine
to
of Alexander, picturing
queror
to
123
a
him
many
busts
as a heroic con-
plausible
individual.
probably a copy of one of of
with the
heavy idealization ran
realistic
Hellenistic sculp-
Comparison with the bust
of Pericles
by Cresilas may suggest that little progress had been made in the intervening years.
The
fourth century was also notable for
the charming terra-cotta statuetttes generally
known
as
cates the in
Tanagra
figurines.
provenance of the
modern times and
also
The name first
one of the impor-
tant sites of manufacture. Less well
are the Alyrina figurines
made by
Socrates. Stone.
Pericles. Stone. Cresilas. 5th century B.C.
British
Museum
known
the artisans
Roman copy. Museum
After 350 b.c. British
Alexander. Stone. Lysippus. 4th century B.C. Capitoline Museum, Rome. QAlinari photo^
indi-
large finds
1
THE GREEKS
24
Myrina
of
were
Minor. In addition, there
in Asia
schools
sculptors
of
devoted
the
to
miniature clay compositions in Smyrna, in
Rhodes,
and,
way,
smaller
a
many
in
including Athens and the Greek com-
cities,
munities in
Italy.
Terra-cotta
from
in
statuettes
had been common
but in the fourth century
earliest times,
the sculptors abandoned the subjects that had been popular earlier— notably the gods— and specialized in girls,
intimate portraits of
and eccentric
characters.
women,
Women,
grace-
fully dressed, conversing, walking, reclining,
dancing, were the commonest and the most successfully figures
are
subjects.
treated
are attractive
illuminating
as
Many
the
of
and engaging, and social
documents.
all
The
examples shown. Dancing Girl and Standing
Woman,
are typical of the
to
The
Myrina were more amand they often returned to the gods and legends for their subjects. Four exceptional little statuettes from Myrina and other sculptors of
bitious,
provincial centers are illustrated.
The Crouch-
ing Eros and the Ve^ms Rising from the Sea, at the
Royal Ontario Museum, are examples
which combine exquisite superior
feeling
Horseman,
at the
for
sensibility
plastic
Louvre,
is
with a
rhythm.
The
another excep-
tional piece.
After the conquests of Alexander, vast territories outside
when
Greece were Hellenized
and leadership slipped from Athens and the original Greek territories, eccentric portraits, and occasionally pornographic caricatures,
Girl; Standing Woman. Clay. Hellenistic. Tanagra. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; Louvre. QGiraudon photo^
Dancing
many hundreds
be seen in the world's museums.
THE GREEKS genre compositions became a "leading line"
among
the
statuette-makers.
At Smyrna
pecially, the artisans delighted in oddities
exaggeration.
Favorite
subjects
were
es-
and
Eros,
old people, actors, slaves, and the like; and there
was an extraordinary run
caricature heads.
now
lost
from
The his
of miniature
bent Slave (the bundle
back) gains sculpturally
from the clever exaggeration of natural
fea-
125
and the Comic Actor, a Boeotian piece, extraordinarily alive and expressive. The two caricature heads, which might be tided "Loud-Mouth" and "Thick-Head," are typical of the combined alert observation, tures,
is
also
satirical
intention,
and
intuitive
feeling for
medium that went into the artisans' equipment. They are from a large collection the
of caricature heads at the Louvre.
Caricature heads. Clay. Hellenistic. Smyrna. Louvre. (Tel photo')
Comic
Slave. Clay. Hellenistic.
Smyrna. Louvre
Boeotia.
Venus Rising from the Sea; Crouching Eros; Horseman; Cupbearer. Clay.
Actor. Clay. Hellenistic.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
Hellenistic. Tanagra; Myrina.
Royal Ontario Museum; Louvre. QAlinari photo^
THE GREEKS
126
Whatever Greek sculpture may have in the later centuries, dignity
One
very end.
remained
the grander
of
after the Hellenistic dispersion
and
spirited Victory of
is
lost
to the
generalized and
that
the
monuments
rather than a
preserved
many
is
possible
to
for
generic
woman
it
stands
statue
the majestic
Samothrace or Winged
which
least
naked model. The head
is
feel
better
than most ancient examples and
shows the persistence of the ideal
classic face.
group of horses surmounting the porch of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. Once an adornment of a Roman arch in Byzantium,
During the latter and more degenerate phases of Greek culture, one of the largest monuments of architecture and sculpture, the Altar of Pergamon, was erected in Asia Minor. This had an enormous frieze on which the battle between the gods and the giants was pictured in high relief. The work here is too vigorous and melodramatic to be counted
the Horses of St. Mark's were for long con-
among
Victory, in the Louvre, servers
ranks
still
among
for
ob-
the greatest statues
in the world.
Almost the only equestrian monument suris the imposing
viving from late Greek times
sidered
Roman origin, but their now generally accepted as
be of
to
provenance
is
breath of
What
remained of Greek in
and
went
into
cutting.
beauty.
No
Hellenistic era
the
the devoted re-creation of
human
god was so glorified as Aphrodite, and in the artists' hands she became a very womanly woman. Some of the most famous life-size nude figures are shown on pages 128 and 129. One can realize what study and loving
went
care
into the conception
and carving
Cyrenian Afhrodite and the Syracusan
of the
sculpture
a
repro-
Aphrodite.
Insofar as
ductive
and observation of and feeling
art,
is
for
natural beauty a source, these are examples of high accomplishment.
In
this
realistic
sculpture the comeliness
of the model counts for a great deal. observers find the Capitoline similar
Venus de Medici^
it
originality
them. freshness
the masterpieces of sculpture, but
important as 'marking the culmination of a
tendency to which it gave the name "the Pergamene style." This style had already begun to form in the days of Scopas. Technically it is distinguished by a special boldness of handling, with vigorous ridging and under-
Whatever their date, there is a grandeur and monumentality about
Grecian.
is
Some
Venus (and
the
less attractive be-
The method
is
nowhere
better illustrated
than in the portrait of Homer.
and verve here a
series
of
The
strength
are tj'pical of the handling of
portraits of famous poets, and statesmen, which do not
t)'pe
philosophers,
pretend to be personal portraits but rather crystallizations of the popular idea of
Homer,
Socrates, or Epicurus. Paradoxically they are
conventionalized in the Pergamene yet remain
manner
naturalistic in the sculptor's obser-
and intention. Even the head of Anytos, an extreme example of the Pergamene vation
type of carving, with turbulent modeling, has a lifelike aspect.
The through
Dying
Gladiator,
replicas, is
The head
so
well
known
another example of this
cause the clean-cut, athletic ideal seems to
style.
have given place
amplitude
but the anatomical truthfulness, together with
These were among the univera few decades ago.
the sentimental subject-matter, has made the work famous. This was the Dacian "butchered to make a Roman holiday," whom Byron
and
softness.
sally
The in
to a preference for
admired statues only A'pollo
Belvedere has similarly fallen
popularity,
on
account
of
the
fem-
inine head and the almost painfully naturalistic
A'phrodite of Melos, or
Venus de Milo, more
a refreshing figure after a century or
of facsimile realism.
not especially noteworthy,
wrote about in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
The
Capitoline
example
is
a
copy of the
bronze original from the Pergamene Acropolis.
treatment of the body.
The is
is
Here womanhood
is
at
Recent authorities prefer the name Dying Gaid and reject the gladiatorial inference. Athens was not without sculptors to vie
Victory of Samothrace. Stone. Rhodian, c. 250 B.C. Louvre. (^Roget-V toilet photo^
T 'J*
<#
w Syracusan Aphrodite. Stone. 3rd century Museum. QAlinari photo^
B.C. Syracuse
Horses of
St.
Mark's. Bronze. 4th century B.C. San
Cyrenian Aphrodite, B.C. National
detail. Stone.
3rd century
Museum, Rome. QAnderson photo^
Marco Cathedral, Venice.
(^Alinari photo")
.__..
THE GREEKS
Yenus de Medici. Stone.
Hellenistic.
Ufjizi Gallery, Florence.
QBrogi photo^
Homer. Stone. Greco-Roman. British Miisentn
Aphrodite of Melos,
detail. Stone.
Louvre.
1
29
C. 150 B.C.
(Jciorillo photo')
The Titan Anytos. Stone. 2nd century National Museum, Athens
B.C.
Laocoon. Stone. Rhodian, 1st century b.c. Vatican
Museum
The Dying Gladiator. Stone, after bronze original. Pergamene, 2nd century B.C. Capitoline Musemn, Rome
a
THE GREEKS
131
with those of the Pergamene and Rhodian
As seen
Schools.
carved
The
Athenian
in the
style
was hardly
practiced
that
it
the
in
Although Glycon cules,
work
of Glycon,
who
Farnese Hercules, the Hellenistic
is
forced than schools.
credited with the Her-
sometimes
is
less
provincial
considered
be
to
model by Lysippus. After Greece succumbed politically to the Roman armies, Greek restraint in matters of art also came under pressure from the Romans, and the style that evolved became an
after
known were
as
still
We
earlier
Greco-Roman. The
artists,
however,
Greeks.
see
the
degeneration
of
vigor
into
and even sculptural anarchy in the Laocoon, a group of figures by the Rhodian sculptors Agesander, Polydorus, and physical violence
Athenodorus. The work would hardly be worth reproducing, had it not precipitated one of the most protracted debates in the later histor)' of aesthetics, a
debate revolving
around the question of emotion's place in art, and especially around the humbug of the pathetic appeal. restored after
and
a
new
initiated in
The Laocoon was
its
discover^' in
restoration
or
extensively
1506 in Rome,
"correction"
was
i960.
As often happens period of decline, the a final effort to
at
the end of a long
artists of
Greece made
upgrade their sculpture by
returning to older masters for their inspiration.
They
copied the surface virtues of the sculp-
ture of the fourth century into
the
territory
Occasionally they
and even ventured
of fifth-century archaism.
managed
to achieve the old
grace and naturalness, but the creative
fire
had long since burned out. Five hundred years after the carving of the archaic korai and kouroi, the story of Greek sculpture came to an end with graceful but weak and conventional work. The West-
em i /.e
i.w,.^,^ iLi^.ii^'. .Munc. Glycon.
century B.C. National QAnderson photo^ 1st
Athenian,
Museum, Naples.
world was waiting for a
in art.
There was an
air of
new impetus
expectancy, as
heralding the birth of Christ.
if
6:
Roman
Etruscan and
Sculpture
I I
N
Augustan Rome there was
a
vogue
for
twentieth century did English-speaking peo-
Etruscan literature and for Etruscan bronze
ple
While the Imperial Romans reverenced Greek art, they recognized that an antecedent native art had existed and that this had served as a foundation for their
Victorians
sculpture.
own
artistic
achievement. Especially admired
were the statues brought conquered mid-Italian long
to
cities.
Etruscan
periods,
art
Rome from
the
Later,
and over
was
forgotten.
During the eighteenth century the sculpture was rediscovered and Italian and German scholars contributed to the literature about
However, only
after
the
it.
beginning of the
begin
to
who
as "rude sculptors"
fully to imitate the
The
range
of
the
the
art,
Etruscans
attempted unsuccess-
Greek
style.
Etruscan
sculpture
is
re-
markable. As well as the primitive, simple
work,
realistic pieces existed at
The most
an early
unnatural
and
date.
interesting examples to the twen-
tieth-century eye are the spirited statuettes
of
and frankly
warriors,
maidens,
and the magnificent bronzes of animals which might well have been inspired by Scythian art. There are not votive
figures,
She-Wolf or CapitoUne Wolf. Bronze. Etruscan, early 5th century
Museo
Etruscan
appreciate
having dismissed
dei Conservatori, Rojne. C^^if^^fi photo')
b.c.
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE only
resemblances
stylistic
but exactly
re-
At one time Roman
art
was universally
considered a reflection of Greek art (accom-
Roman
by imported or captured
soil
Greeks), and the outstanding achievements
Roman
of
and
sculptural artistry, in portraiture
decorative
in
relief-cutting,
were
garded as extensions of the Greek or
re-
classic
one can judge by the sculpture exhumed
If
Herculaneum, and other
Pompeii,
what counted most of the Empire was Greek
to the art-loving
desses,
statuary
sites,
Roman of
period— especially
Hellenistic
realistic
the
the
of
figurines
terra-cotta
Tanagra,
Myrina, and Rhodes. The conquering Roman armies brought back to their capital city marvels
Greek
of
sculptural
achievement.
Emperor Nero is recarried away five hundred to have ported statues. The Etruscan sculptors, who were already proficient at portraiture, possibly were then influenced by Hellenistic naturalism.
From Delphi alone
What Rome
Etruscan
art
By
in the
flowering of
the mid-fourth
Roman
century Greek influence and
modified the native Etruscan
pressure
although
style,
superb manufactures in bronze were
still
pro-
There followed the indeterminate Etrusco-Roman period, and even after the Romans became masters of a vast empire that
the
known
included
minor
all
arts
Roman I.
Period
from
of Etruria, certain typical Etruscan
were fostered by the emperors. history can be divided roughly of
the
consolidation
earliest
as:
and expansion,
settlement
perhaps as early as looo
B.C.,
in
Latium,
through the
period of the city-states and local kings to the expulsion of the last Etruscan king of
Rome 509
in about 509 B.C. 2. Republican period,
B.C. to
27
B.C.
3.
Imperial period, from
the Augustan age through the great era of
conquest and building Aurelius in a.d.
180.
to the 4.
death of Marcus
Degeneration and
for artistically
break-up of the empire, ending with the final
immense structures decorated with and also, toward the end of its era, the impressive carved tombs— and
occupation by the barbarians in a.d. 476. Be-
is
best
the
date the Byzantine style
fore that
born in Eastern
In portraiture there were
always the
portraits.
occasional
variations
in
the
form of
full-
wealth of
human
interest
is
to
appeared
to
the
be found
and wives
the age of Virgil, Horace, Ovid,
realism
in
as they
uninhibited portraitists of
the time. In the Augustan era,
sculpture
which was and Livy,
reached a peak.
The
quantity of sculpture produced by and for
Romans would seem to have exceeded known to any other Western civilization. A few historical guideposts may help one
that
appreciate
the
chapter. First there
work illustrated in this was a pre-Etruscan period,
from which sculptural fragments are
rare.
These are artifacts of the Villanovans, Bronze Age Indo-Germanic people who had pushed
to
sweep all but the last vestiges of the Roman style from large areas of Europe.
in the faithful imaging of emperors, generals, senators, actors, courtesans,
had been
Christendom, destined
length figures and equestrian statues.
to
Then
occurred from the seventh cen-
tury to the late fifth century.
great
the
The
tenth or ninth century B.C.
bas-reliefs,
A
north.
overcame the "native" people, probably
god-
nymphs, and legendary heroes— and
late
are
Tuscany from the
duced.
style.
at
into
the Etruscans— presumably invading by sea-
peated idioms.
plished on
down
133
Kouros. Bronze. Etruscan, 7th-6th centuries B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art
II
MANY are in
of the at the
trated here in the bronze Warriors. figures of priestesses
and gods (or
as illus-
There
are
athletes) be-
longing to the same period, similarly stylized,
thinned and rhythmic. bronzes,
and
a
development of the Greek kouroi, and main Hellenic centers of the art there hardly an example to be compared
of the early Etruscan bronzes
an attenuated idiom,
few
Some
seventh-century
figures in the native huc-
was
artistically
with a host of Etruscan "Apollos,"
and female worshipers.
athletes,
Despite the tendency to depart from nature
and render the
total figure
rhythmically and
manner,
chero or black-clay ware, seem closer to the
decoratively,
Phoenician or the Greek
Etruscans soon began a course of individ-
shown
in the
authorities,
subtle
museums
sculpture
style. If
the examples
by the was more
are not misdated in
Etruria
and expressive than that in Greece This was at the very beginning
at the time.
ualized
in
The
Oriental
representation.
when Greek with
an
type clav
sculpture
faces
Woman
and
This was
was
still
at
Portrait figures on a sarcophagus. Clay. Early 6th century B.C. Cerveteri. Villa Giulia, Rome. QAiidersati photo^
time
concerned
standardized
illustrated,
a
the
figures.
from the British
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE Museum, It
is
patently an individual portrait.
is
one of a
features,
135
the
series
which the and the expression
in clay in
contours,
vary widely.
The
Etruscans could, however, yield to a
vogue and meet foreign ground.
with
The
all its
rivals
on
their
own
kouros figure finds treatment
limitations recognizably
many bronze
if
liberally
and the so-called A'pollo of Veii in clay witness. Even the "archaic smile," which conditioned Greek observed, as
representation of the
athletes
human
face for a con-
siderable period longer, appeared in the prod-
ucts of Etruscan studios.
The
portraits
on the
lids
of
sarcophagi
yielded temporarily to the vogue, as in the double-portrait arrangement on the sarcoph-
agus from Cerveteri. identification
is
The
intent of personal
plain, despite the smile
and
a likeness in the two faces arising out of a
Woman. Warriors. Bronze. Etruscan. 7th century B.C. University Museum, Philadelphia; MetropoUtaji Museum of Art
British
Clay. C. 600 b.c. Sculpture,
Museum. QFrom Etruscan
courtesy Phaidon Press,
London^
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
136
The statues on coffin man entombed, or
conventional method.
likeness of the
in
slabs,
the man and his wife, are among the commonest and most distinctive relics from pre-
Roman
The
Italy.
gressively
more
Roman
Many even
portraiture of the Republican era.
of the sarcophagus groups are "light,"
general
in
satiric,
used
pro-
until that pitch of
was attained which led on
exact delineation to
became
portraits
realistic,
to teach that
and somber, but
art
was funereal
possible
is
it
Authorities
aspect.
Etruscan
these
that
people, like the Egyptians, enjoyed planning
and contemplating
The is
their
charming tombs.
so-called A-pollo of Veii, in terra cotta,
Greek work of the time, more is any other important statue.
related to
obviously than
The
treatment of the hair, the brows, the eyes,
and the smiling
and
lips is clearly Hellenic,
the treatment of the draperies closely parallels
500 B.C. But unusual boldness in the thrust and
that seen in the korai of about
there
is
stride of the figure,
and the face
is
lifelike
and individual.
The Worshiper earlier date,
in
probably
bronze,
of
a marvel of sculptural expres-
is
sionism, distorted anatomically for both decorative purpose
A
and increase of meaning.
twentieth-century
Votive Figure. Bronze. Etruscan, 7th-6th centuries b.c. University Museum, Philadelphia
Lehmbruck could hardly
have slenderized and manipulated a body with happier sculptural
effect.
not a variation of a type but
The is
interpretation of an individual.
the
face
is
artist's
Though
the
idiom or mannerism of thinning the figure persisted through four centuries,
one of the
surprising- things about Etruscan bronzes
is
the wide variation of types and methods.
Vigor and animation distinguished Etruscan sculpture, and in the animal pieces these qualities
attained
perfection.
smaller bronze figures, orative
accessories
on
Some
which appear vases,
of
the
as dec-
carriages,
and
furniture, suggest a relationship to the spirited
animal sculpture of the Scyths.
The two
early
shown here, probably eighth-century, are somewhat characteristic of the "steppe art." In the Chimera at Florence the animal's pieces
strength
has
Head
of a Warrior. Stone. Etruscan, 6th century Museum, Florence.
B.C. Archaeological
been expressed in a frankly
QBrogi photo^
Apollo of Veil. Clay. Late 6th century B.C. Villa Giulia, Rome. QAlinari photo} Warrior. Bronze. Late 6th century b.c. Louvre. QGiraudon photo')
Worshiper. Bronze. 6th century B.C. Rome. (Fro?H Etruscan Sculpture, courtesy Phaidon Press, London')
Villa Giulia,
wj;^:k
138
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
Pantheress. Bronze. Etrusco-Roman.
Dumbarton Oaks
Collection,
Washington
Chimera. Bronze. 5th century b.c. Arezzo. Archaeological Museum, Florence. QAlinari photo')
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE decorative creation.
brought
to a
new
It is
139
the Scythian formula
refinement. Other animal
as the head terminating and the ibex head and neck stemming unaccountably from the ani-
forms are added, such the
chimera's
tail,
mal's back.
The
Pantheress,
thorities
typical
by some auexhibits
the
and verve hardly known Roman product. Again ornamen-
litheness
in the later tation
described
Etrusco-Roman,
as
superimposed, on the throat.
is
The She-Wolf, sometimes known
as
the
Wolf and famous as a symbol of the founding of Rome, is another example of Cafitoline
with both decorative and Nothing could be truer to wolfish nature, to strength and alertness. The superb
limning intent.
realistic
ornamental treatment of the
fur, in arbitrarily
chosen areas only, indicates that the intention non-naturalistic. The presence of Romulus and Remus in the statue today distracts attention from the animal and destroys sculptural unity. The child figures were added at is
the time of the Renaissance. is
(The
illustration
on page 132.)
The
Etruscan workers in bronze sometimes
achieved an equal elegance and suavity in sculpturing the
Hercules body satiny,
Hercules or Warrior. Bronze. Early 5th century B.C. Nelsoti Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Bull, aquamanile;
while
human is
the
The
figure.
bronze
clean-cut, smoothed, even characteristic
contrast
is
gained by ornamental enrichment of the scant draperies
and texturing
of hair
and beard.
wheeled censer. Bronze. 8th— 7th centuries b.c. Tarquinia Museum. (^Anderson photo')
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
140
Like the Chinese, the Etruscans frequently
combined
and free-standing
reliefs
embellish metal vessels.
The
figures to
legs, clasps,
and
handles were adapted from objective nature,
and
pictorial scenes in relief either circled the
vessel, as here, or filled four side panels.
elaborate composition
on top of the
The
cist is a
device often encountered.
museums once The more usual
Scores of statuettes in our
adorned the subjects
were
lids
of urns.
acrobats, or satyrs
and nymphs, body
or warriors: a single acrobat arched his
Bronze
cist
to
form a handle, or two wrestlers formed a and a nymph stood with arms
loop; a satyr
two warriors carried a mate crosswas used to vary the formula, and the technique of the casting
locked, or
wise. Great inventiveness
and finishing was extraordinarily refined. Such figures are found on incense-burners, candelabra, mirrors, and other small furniture, as well as on vessels. There was a special division of Etruscan sculpture in terra cotta in which naturalism was pursued
for its
with relief of Amazons in battle. Vatican
own
sake.
Some
oversize
Museum
H^H^^^^/^^^M Etruscan Dining. Portrait on sarcophagus cover. 3rd century b.c. Archaeological Museum, Florence. QBrogi photo')
^^P^^^^^H
^^H
^80^
r-
\v^
'
.«
.
jAfl
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE tion
the rich
for
Roman
pictorial
were
sculptors
to
reliefs
make
most distinctive contribution
141 which
in
their second
to sculpture.
After Greek influence had been assimilated in the Etrurian cities, local sculptors created
panels and even temple friezes in which each
was obviously studied from
figure
They
life.
reached a degree of truthfulness unsurpassed
even by the melodramatic works carnassus and Pergamon. in the scene of warriors
gus
Boston
at
cutting suffers
is
The
Hali-
at
design
relief
on a stone sarcopha-
The
simple and stylized.
somewhat from crudeness, but
the sculptural effect carries well to a distance.
This was preparatory
to the
famous Warriors'
Dance of the Roman collection Museum. During the fourth century important
to lose
of a Woman. Clay. 3rd century b.c. Civic Museum, Chiusi. QTrom Etruscan Sculpture, courtesy Phaidoti Press, London')
Head
and
warriors, with every detail of dress
ac-
couterment meticulously shown, are notable.
But the more engaging examples are the portrait slabs adorning sarcophagi and cinerary urns. The deceased was usually shown reclining, often as if dining in the Roman manner. The faces were minutely representational and cruelly candid.
The Head
and
Woman
at
Chiusi
is
a strik-
ing example of the progress of portraiture. suggests modeling from life
and shows
It
psy-
chological understanding, recalling the Egyp-
Amarna
in
on the cover
is
tian realism of the sculpture at El
the time of Akhenaton.
Greeks, another gives
it
The Head of an Museum is another
Athlete in
its
to the Etruscans.
modeling edge
is
the sides of the casket. Etruscan portraiture
Roman
as the
because
it
it
The
Every
even forcefully marked, yet
the details comprise a whole and sculpturally compelling.
final
to bear
firmness and
vigorous but restrained.
is
clearly,
fitting
likely
its
British
dated by
could hardly be mistaken as Hellenic.
examples of more standard decorative or formalized sculpture in the relief panels on
sarcophagus or urn
is
the
masterpiece,
clean-cut, subtly formalized expression
life-size
portrait
Etruria began
Romans; but as the art of the vanquished merged into the art of the victors, Etruscans became the most accomplished of Roman artists. There were, too, increasing waves of influence from Greece, so that the fine workmanship ceased to be identified nationally. The brilliant Head of a Horse at Florence would seem to be in direct line from the Chimera and the Pantheress illustrated previously. Elsewhere the styles are so mixed that while one scholar credits the piece to the
The known
Even when the
Vatican
territories to the
experts as late as 200 b.c. In
of a
naturalistic, the
cities
at the
that
is
massive
bronze portrait of Aule Meteli, Orator or the Arringatore,
is
a
example of Etruscan invention, leads directly into the following
developments. Again the portraiture
is
led into the literal
exact and uncompromising. Neither decora-
traiture
tive
and precise sculptural porof the Romans, and the relief panels
of the Etruscans partly afforded the inspira-
nor rhythmic intention
is
important com-
pared with presentation of an image true
to
142
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE every wrinkle, hair, and mole of the original.
The
apotheosis of this naturalistic
method
ap-
pears in the illustrations on pages 144 and 145.
Perhaps the excellent forthright
The Actor
C. Norhamis Sorix,
is
portrait,
the best
surviving example of a transitional type, in
which sculptural
nobility
with painstaking
fidelity.
The
Roman
t)'pical
is
discernible, along
portrait soon lost the
Etruscan characteristics, except the ness,
as
in
lifelike-
the marble portrait bust at the
Museum
Metropolitan
of
Art,
illustrated,
which would seem to be marvelously exact, but hard and cruel. Henceforward there is only a determination to present the individual as he
is,
manner) nor
neither improved (in the at
any point
Greek
falsified for
fancied
most
telling
aesthetic requirements.
The Roman gallery men of an
record of the
is
the
era as they outwardly
looked, stripped of dignity, pride,
Head of a Horse. Bronze. Etruscan. Archaeological Museum, Florence. QBrogi photo")
The
Relief on a stone sarcophagus. 3rd century b.c.
Sarcophagus. Stone. Tarquinia
and inner
aim was to reveal character, not in the noble sense, by portraying essential humanity or divinity, but by imaging the individuals with their defenses down. As light.
artists'
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum. ^Anderson photo)
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
Orator. Bronze. 3rd or 2nd century B.C. Archaeological Museim2, Florence. QBrogi photo')
Head
143
of an Athlete. Bronze. Etruscan, c. 200 B.C. British Museum
The Actor
C. Norhanus Sorix. Bronze. Etrusco-Roman, 1st century B.C. National Museum, Naples. QAlinari photo)
n
Portrait bust. Marble. Roman, 1st century B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
144
often as not, evidences of physical degeneration are
added
decadent character,
to those of
Boston
as seen in the clay portrait bust in the
Museum, The rather
battered first-century B.C. stone
Museum might
head in the Metropolitan
be
entitled
"The
pression.
The head in the British Museum is menacing subject, and the workman-
of a less
Pugilist," so brutal
the im-
notable for the subtle, flowing model-
ship
is
ing,
although the material
The
portrait bust of
sort.
is
follows
It
Greco-Roman
hardest marble. is
the
closely
style
is
Seneca
known
of a different
late
as
Greek
or
Pergamene,
with rough exaggeration of the features and a sketchy
vigorous,
however,
is
Sometimes bust of a
technique.
Lifelikeness,
not sacrificed. historical interest is
man who was
despot. In general the rulers
Rome were shown more
added
in the
a military genius or
and emperors
of
sympathetically, with
some softening if not idealization. This is true the head reputed to be that of Julius
of
Portrait busts. Stone. 1st century B.C. Museum of Art; British Museum
Metropolitan
.X\
'/
Portrait bust. Clay. Roman. of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum
Seneca. Stone. 1st century a.d. Vffizi Gallery, Florence. QBrogi photo')
Supposed bust of Julius Caesar. Stone. Louvre. QGiraudon photo)
Pompey. Stone. Natiotial Museujii, Naples. (^Anderson photo)
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTU
146
is illustrated, and of the bust of Pompey. By the time of Augustus the sculptors, possibly Greek, frankly improved upon
Caesar w hich
nature.
The famous in the Vatican
full-length figure of is
excellent mythological in
relief
Cupid It is
upon
Augustus
a showpiece, enriched with
and
historical
the breastplate,
scenes
and with
a
riding a dolphin at the emperor's feet.
the best full-length figure in the whole
range of
Roman
appropriately opulent
effort,
and imperial, though lacking in sculptural integrity. The most interesting part of it is shown in the illustration, from which some disturbing elements— the outstretched oratorical arm, the lance, the wooden, overlabored draperies, and the Cupid— have been sheared. Of the studies of children, one of the most appealing
the portrait
is
A
Youthful Roman.
Mastery of child portraiture followed long after that of reproduction of the adult face
and
figure.
medieval
As we know from ancient and the child was often limned as a
art,
small man. So rare are realistic children in classical sculpture that
many
standard books
on the subject yield no more than an occasional tively.
Cupid
or a bevy of babes used decora-
Here, however, the
artist
has realized
Augustus, detail. Bronze. C. 20 B.C. Vatican Museum. QAnderson photo^
the special anatomical character of the youthful head.
In the symbolic statue
The
Nile, the chil-
dren (there are sixteen of them, representing the cubits of the river's annual rise) are
among
some question as to whether the statue may be Greek rather than Roman. The Nero on a horse is one of the curithe best. There
osities of
is
Roman
sculpture.
The
masses have
been related with some competence; there
is
even a certain nobility in the stance of the
whose intention was some of the requirements of correct reporting. Other equestrian statues, notably a marble one portraying Lucius Cornelius Balbus and a bronze one of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, suffer from the same fault. The animals are out of drawing. The compositional relationship of horse and rider has not been solved. horse.
But the
sculptor,
realistic, failed in
A
Youthful Roman. Stone. Barracco Museum, Rome. CAUnari photo')
Nero, equestrian statue. Bronze. 1st century a.d. Pompeii. National Museum, Naples. C^rogi photo~)
The
Nile. Stone.
Greco-Roman. Vatican Museum. QAnderson photo')
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
148 The
tradition
of
naturalistic
delineation
The
continues long after the Augustan age. portrait of L.
Caecilius Jucundus, a banker,
belongs to the reign of Nero, in the second half of the It
is
a
first
century of the Christian
a mercilessly candid
In
the portrait of a lady in
the
Museo
self-assuredness of the subject has
the
been ad-
mirably caught. Certainly no attempt
is
made
In the bust of Marcus Aurelius, attempted
affinity
the
is
illustrated.
with the Etruscan
truth
that
were the best of
plastically
Roman
style
It
suggests
and points
to
the earlier works
sculpture.
The Romans seldom excelled in animal The Young Deer found at Hercu-
sculpture.
laneum
Portrait of a lady. Stone. 1st century a.d.
QFrom Roman
or possibly provincial Greek, of the
third century B.C.
hide the signs of advancing age, the pro-
tuberant eyes and the sagging cheek muscles.
treatment of eyes, eyebrows,
and draperies has ended in a rather unnatural fuzzy and plushy effect. This is a link with a type of over-ornate bust which later became popular. As contrast, an admirable bronze head of an African, provincial beard,
Roman
image of the man.
Chiaramonti, of about the same time,
to
era.
prime example of camera exactitude,
naturalism in
Portraits, courtesy
is
a lone piece, hardly
Museo Chiaramonti, J\ome. Press, London^
Phaidou
approached in
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
L. Caecilius Juciindiis. Bronze.
1st
149
century a.d. National Miiseinn, Naples. QBrogi photo')
Bust of Marcus Aurelius. Bronze. 2nd century a.d. Private Collection. QGiraudon photo)
Head
of an African. Bronze.
3rd century B.C. British
Museum
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
150
by
attractiveness
Roman is
similar
Greek the work
a copy of a
deduction,
if
Otherwise
centur)' B.C. as
any
from
statue
original. is it
It
is
A
a fair
tion
of the early fifth
could be accepted
achieved mastery of
picturing in stone, the
field
relief
which they extended decorative carving.
free
of
into
Their
from the Greeks, whose grave monuments especially had been in the bas-relief mode; and from the Etrus-
was double:
inheritance
reversion to simple, rhythmic composiis
to
be seen in the Warriors' Dance, in
the Vatican
Museum, where
gained by a related
the
effect
is
series of isolated figures,
creating strong shadows, against an unbroken
Etrusco-Roman.
The Romans
feature not previously notable in sculpture.
it
hands. Experts have surmised that
background. This panel, however,
by some
historians to a period
centuries
and
earlier,
may,
is
ascribed
two or three indeed,
be
Etrusco-Roman.
The
love of the
Romans
for landscape
is
evident again and again in their bas-relief
who had embellished stone sarcophagi and bronze urns with lively and striking compositions. The panel here, Air, Earth, and
sculpture.
Water, an ingratiating
shaping of the foreground group. But the
cans,
piece,
is
if
superficial master-
from the famous Ara Pacis or Altar
commemorative monument erected by Augustus about 13-9 b.c. Inner and outer walls were sheathed with sculp-
of
Peace,
a
tured slabs.
male
The
figures
three admirably placed fe-
symbolize
Earth, and Water.
Air,
Without
the
fecund
calling into play
the principles of mechanical perspective, the sculptor achieved a sense of objects receding
in
space
and
thus
added
an
illusionary
There
is
a sentimental note in the
treatment of the Peasant Taking a
Market, and considerable
skill
all-inclusiveness of the picture ing.
The
shrine
and
statue
Cow
to
in the realistic
is
disconcert-
on the ledge
at
the top, the circular building at the center,
opened Diana,
to
show
the
a
tree
pillar
with offerings
growing
to
incongruously
an archway at right, the basket by the peasant, and the rabbit on a pole-end— this might not tax a painter's power of integration, but the burden all but through
carried
breaks the sculptor's back.
1st
Youtig Deer. Bronze. century a.d. Hcrculancum. National Museum, Naples. (^Andersoyi photo^
Air, Earth,
and Water. Stone. C. 13-9
Warriors' Dance, high
Peasant Taking
B.C.
relief. Stone.
Cow
to
Ara
Pacis,
Vatican
Rome.
Museum.
Uffizi Gallery,
C Anderson
Florence
photo^
Market. C. a.d. 50. Glyptothek, Munich
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
152
In the wave of building and decoration that increased consistently during the reign
of
sculpture
Trajan,
more opulent than the period
Forum and
in
113.
is
became grander and
e\'er
Trajan's
Column
in the Trajan
Rome, constructed between Around a stone shaft 11
diameter, rising 100 feet in the
carved
a
Typical of
before.
pictorial
record
of
air,
the
a.d.
io6
feet in
sculptors
emperor's
military expeditions against the Dacians.
The
armies in preparation, the river crossings, the fortified
towns,
the
victorious
battles,
the
were all shown in vivid if overcrowded and generally undistinguished reliefs, flowing spirally round and round the column. The monument was copied often in later times but never surpassed. Because each pacified
land
of the 155 episodes flows into the next, the
picturing style.
650
is
said to be in
the "continuous"
Trajan himself appears 70 times in the
feet of picturing.
The triumphal arch was another type of monument frequently erected by the Romans to commemorate personages and events. Some of
the
structures
survive
in
more
or
less
ruined condition, as in Rome, in Benevento,
and
Orange
in
panels
from
in
others
France, are
and sculptural
preserved
in
the
museums. The sculptors worked in high relief and aspired to effects of pictorial depth formerly considered beyond sculptural atattainment. The panels from a destroyed Arch of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, now in the Capitoline acteristic.
Museum, are The foreground
thoroughly
char-
figures appear al-
most in the round, heads on hidden bodies
Preparation for War with the Dacians. Stone. C. a.d. 113. Base of Trajan's Column, Rome. QAlinari photo")
mwm
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE suggesting
made
to
and the background is were at a considerable
depth,
appear as
if it
As well
a
wooden,
flows
into
round sculpture of
winged animals. In other examples
cer-
and symbolic females and winged beasts, carry the style into a mixture of methods and to a distressing decadence. The most distinctive and masterly work in
It is reflected in
the exquisite re-
ICO B.C.). Sculptors attained their
to
unequivocal
success
in
ornamental
panels, instituting floral wall decoration
and
decoration for furniture, destined to be revived
with enthusiasm sance
into the
graceful designing in very low relief
if
on Arretine pottery (which was now in
back
tracery
low-relief
and
tain standard motives, including cornucopias
as this rather
decline artistically, after a history dating
most
relief
ambitious
continued. liefs
high the
distance.
style,
Museum. The
153
at the
and even
twentieth
at
century.
the
The
time of the Renais-
beginning
of
the
transformation
of
late
Roman
sculpture
adorned with ples
is
sarcophagus
the
relief
panels.
Exam-
survive illustrating the transition from
pagan
The
pictorial
to
Christian symbolism and purpose.
compositions carry on the
st)'listic
dition of the high-relief panels of the
memorative
arches
(while
recalling,
tra-
comof
and sprays of common flowers into exquisite all-over patterns was
course, the Etruscan sarcophagi). It
superbly accomplished.
Middle Ages and dawning Renaissance were to draw inspiration for
garlands,
The put
is
wreaths,
use to which this decorative style
Roman
reliefs that the Italian
sculptors of the late
is
almost sumptuous in such compositions
as the stone table support in the Metropolitan
Reliefs
study of these
was from
their pulpit panels, as seen especially in the
work
of
the Pisanos.
The two
panels
first
from Arch of Marcus Aurelius. Stone. C. a.d. 130. Capitoline Museum, Rome. C^rogi -photo^
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
154
A-
Table support with
shown,
in the
MetropoHtan
reliefs. Stone.
Museum
of Art,
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
became
in general low, for their production
both illustrating the story of Endymion and
commercialized. Boxes were put on sale with
continuous-composition
the sculptural decorations completed; only a
Selene,
are
the
of
figure
type-
The
appeared on
friezelike panels usually
more
the two sides of the coffin, and smaller,
on the top
slab, usually a portrait of
the owner, was left unfinished to the day of
many
Nevertheless there were
sale.
reliefs
formalized reliefs upon the ends. Often the
beautifully designed and competently carved.
edges of the slab forming the coffin lid were
The coming of Christianity marked a change from secular and pagan mythological subjects (such as the Circus Races illustrated, with Cupids acting as horsemen and as
adorned with scale,
adding
a
second
frieze,
smaller
in
to the sense of rich elaboration.
Sometimes curved ends permitted a continuous relief around the whole coffin, as seen in
To
intensify
charioteers)
to
Christian
At
themes.
Roman mythology was drawn upon
the second illustration. sculptural
values,
the
sha-
first
for epi-
sodes that might suggest the immortality of
Then
dows were deepened. The sarcophagi showing a Bacchanalian scene and the story of
the soul or the resurrection.
Orestes illustrate
openly introduced. As soon as Christian wor-
and
the
contrast
of
low-relief
ship was legalized, depiction of Christ and
high-relief methods.
Elaboration could hardly go further than in the panel depicting
Christian
motives and scenes from the Gospels were
Romans and
Barbar-
on a sarcophagus in the National Museum, Rome. There are hundreds of the carved stone coffins in the museums, and the standard is ians Battling,
the Apostles
became common,
Judeo-Christian
ment. the
The
niched
Adam and
figures
Museum
Old Testa-
includes
type,
scenes
such
as
Eve, Daniel in the Lions' Den,
and Christ hefore
of Art, Rogers
as well as the
the
sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, of
Pilate.
Endymion, panel on sarcophagus. Stone. 2nd century Metropolitan
of
Fund
a.d.
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN
Sarcophagus with Endyuiion
story. Stone. C. a.d.
200. Metropolitan
Museum
SC ULPTURE
of Art, Rogers
Fund
Sarcophagus with Bacchanalian scene. Stone. National Museum, Naples. QBrogi photo")
Sarcophagus with story of Orestes. Stone. Latcran Museum, Rome. QAlinari photo)
Romans and Barbarians
Battling. Stone. National
Museum, Rome. CBrogi photo)
15
5
156
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
S^s£^^Efc-r
Circus Races with Cupids. Stone. Vatican
Museum. (^Anderson
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. Stone, a.d. 359. Vatican Grvttocs,
Feats of Hercules. Stone. Borghese
Pio>iie.
'photo')
C Anderson
Museum, Rome. (_Anderson photo)
photo)
1
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
pm ^Kh^ ^^R^jr^-^
The
Bk>i;^|^^^|
^ BHfP4^\j^^^^^^^^H
^^^EH ^wgL^i ^^^^^^^^^^^Hll^&u
T^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
^^^^
twfr^
^
^^^^^^k&iS Fv'^
^
^^^^^^^P^^ vj»"
^i^^^^^^^^^^^H
o^^^^^^H
«
i^^^^l
^^^^^^^^P^iiyn i5E\ ^^^^^^^^^^H i\^H| BJr y \
KL^iV KkpX
^^^K||l tWcp y^
tl
T^-^j^^l^^^
1
IC^
niched type commonly shows
seven scenes on each side, or figures,
x^^-^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1
five or
seven
five or
separated by classical columns.
The
many: tree trunks and foliage for columns and arches; Apostles and saints where Roman gods or the seasons used to be; variations are
austere scenes;
single
figures
and frequent
too mechanical niche effect
group
detailed
or
efForts to
break up the
by the thrust of
an arm or a drapery-end across a column. curious fact
that in a time
is
A
when Roman
had degenerated, so that there
portraiture
is
hardly a competent bust extant of any of the
emperors from ^/m
157
Great,
Commodus
to
Constantine the
the heads and figures in
the relief
compositions are often natural and believable
1 Tl
^B^-^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^H as well as sculpturally sound.
The shepherd
^^-
1 If
cowherd carrying a lamb was not a new figure in classical art. But when the Christians were being persecuted by official Rome, in the days of the catacombs and the casting of martyrs into the arenas, an old, recognized subject could be repeated with new or a calf
Ik^^^^^I^^^^^h
on
significance
for
the persecuted followers of
m\ I^H
was generally interpreted rather woodenly, as in the famous statuefamous for sentimental reasons— illustrated.
h*.^'"
A
-,,
_^|
Good Shepherd. Stone. 3rd century Lateran Museum, Rome. T/ze
or
his shoulders
a.d.
Christ.
The Good Shepherd became
ard figure in
a stand-
art. It
characteristic setting of the symbolic figure
into a richly sculptured panel
is
in the sarcophagus Vintage Scene,
ple of third-century
almost Oriental in
Roman
its
illustrated
an exam-
decorative
opulence.
Vintage Scene with the Good Shepherds, panel from sarcophagus. Stone. Lateran Museum, Rome. (^Anderson photo')
work
158
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE
The removal of the capital of the Roman state to Constantinople in
Christian a.d.
330
was a turning point and presaged the converging of East and West. How much longer
Roman
Roman is
remained
art
debatable.
On
might mark
as
Roman
monuments
in
which
stylistic
intrinsically
grounds one
those last story-telling classic
naturalism and
extravagant grouping of figures persisted.
When
a
recognizably
Byzantine
style
emerged— that is, an Oriental Christian style —marks that distinguished it from the sculp-
tural practice of the Western Christian realm were a pronounced rounding of all forms and the return to design with separate fig-
ures against bare backgrounds.
One might
choose contrasted coffin panels that exhibit
Roman and But the ivory showing the Ascension and the at the Totnh is even more eloquent
the difference between the late the
dawning Byzantine
plaque
Women
style.
new ideal. Its serenity of design and harmonious grace, and the distinctive Byzantine rounding of the figures, mark it as postof the
The Ascension and Women at the Tomb. Ivory. 4th or 5th century Bavarian National Museum, Munich. (^Giraudoti photo^ Story of Jonah, panel from sarcophagus. Stone. Latcran
a.d.
Museum, Rome. CAUnari photo}
ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN SCULPTURE placing the
A new way of art was disRoman, even before Rome itself
succumbed
to
Roman
in style.
the assaults of Northern Bar-
lief.
Endless ingenuity was exhibited by the
Roman
cameo-cuttcrs to obtain natural
trational effects.
The Gemma
Cameo-cutting was a minor sculptural that reached
The cameo
its
is
a
apogee among the Romans.
soldiers
orate example.
cut in agate, sardonyx,
stands
out in
way
that a
one color on
a
Roma among
attendant gods and mortals, over a scene of
gem
or other layered stone in such a
composition
art
illus-
Angnstae, show-
ing Augustus enthroned with
barians.
159
and
is the most famous elabBut many art-lovers prefer the sharper-cut, more decorative designs, such as
the neat
captives,
Venus Bathing,
in the Bibliotheque
background of another— commonly white on some reddish hue. Unlike the seals of the
compositional laxness and the naturalistic ap-
ancient world, which were engraved in in-
peal which, here and elsewhere, vitiate so
taglio,
the designs
ological,
on cameos, whether myth-
genre, or portrait, were cut in re-
Nationale in Paris, because they escape the
much
of the general run of
Roman
ucts.
Cameo. Stone. Roman. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, (fiiraudon
Cameo. Stone. Roman. Bibliotheque Nationale,
Paris.
photo')
QGiraudon photo)
art prod-
7:The Opulent Sculpture of Persia; The Legacy
to
Islam
I IF
there
is
such a thing as a characteristic
Oriental style in
art,
The
ancient Persia was at
clay,
is
a
product of cultures outside the main
historical
path of Persian
civilization.
The
monu-
peoples or tribes were similarly Aryan but
ments that survive in Iran are not many, nor are they all in the full current of Oriental-
they were of Outer Iran as distinguished from the Inner Iran of the vast Iranian pla-
ism. There is at times obvious borrowing of method from the Babylonian, with evidences
of Luristan, several in Azerbaijan, one
of a naturalism that has affinities with the
as
the heart of
West.
It
it.
was rather
ture in lesser size
large sculptural
some types of sculpand marked by Eastern in
formalism and richness that the early
working on Iranian Their
sculpture,
soil
artists
achieved supremacy.
mostly
in
bronze
Crouching Panther.
Museum
and
teau.
The
peripheral cultures included those
Caspian (in the present-day
known
territory
of
Mazanderan), and an Eastern phase centered at Asterabad. During the 1960s an Amlash or Marlik Culture was identified, though some authorities
sought to classify
the Caspian.
Silver. Parthian.
Of
all
3rd-2nd century
of Art, Princeton University. (Enlarged)
it
as
part of
the bodies of sculpture
B.C.
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Horse. Bridle
from the outer stan
however, that of Luri-
states,
and most
the largest
is
bit.
No
individual piece can be placed,
except provisionally, but that the earliest typical
before
looo
tinued
down
sporadically,
that
and
b.c.
to
era
that
no doubt,
"civilized" Assyrians
production con-
later. It is
people
remarkable
known
to
and Babylonians
the
of the
rude provincial horse-traders should
as
have
may be assumed
works were produced
the fifth century^ B.C. and
highland
a
it
created
such
sensitive
and
Institute,
refined
of the glories of Babylon
those
fluence,
to
Outer Iran
of
small
animals in metal in the
tradition,
and
into one national entity
empire
to
brought
Median lands
and expanded the
include Mesopotamia and Armenia,
Minor and
Macedonia and Thrace, Eg)'pt and Libya, and a segment of India. It was the greatest empire known to history in 500 B.C., but it had no cohesive force and certainly no single style
Asia
of
parts of Greece,
far-traveled
emperors
commissioned
on pages
172-73O
The
empire's process of disintegration con-
tinued for over two hundred years. Persian
was not much changed by the conquest
323-330 B.C., but Greek grace and Greek realism sometimes
crossed
with Oriental elements
produce
to
hybrid forms, as witnessed in Gandhara (in
Afghanistan and India) After
(named
Alexander's after
at a later time.
death
Seleucus,
the
territories so that the
Seleucids
one of the Greek
generals) consolidated Persia and
its
eastern
empire stretched from
Aegean to the Indus. After a period of rule by the Parthians, who were eastern the
Iranians,
art.
The
fully Orientahzed
jewel-like trinkets. (See illustrations
art
the Persian and
to
Nebuchadnezzar and Assurbanipal and called in artists and craftsmen from near and far. Achaemenid sculpture varied from friezes showing Babylonian inrival
of Alexander the Great in
all
and Nineveh. At
Susa and Persepolis they built palaces
was the Achaemenian kings (Cyrus the Great, Darius, and Xerxes) who, despite the It
together
York^
palaces and gateways of honor and sculptured
products.
barriers to unification of the countrv,
New
murals worthy of conquerors and reminiscent
distinctive.
As yet no calendar of the Luristan achievement has been worked out on archaeological evidence.
Bronze. Luristan.
Mott Giinther Collection, Washington. QFhoto courtesy Iranian
Frankliti
161
in
224
a.d.
the
Sassanian kings,
the true Persians, brought back earlier
tra-
A THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
162 ditions
and inspired
The peak
arts.
the
reached in sanian
size
was
that of the
the
Sas-
tury,
Sculptural cliff
compositions
carvings to coins
and jewelry. Persian
influence in
extended
civilized
to
all
the
the arts
countries
of
Asia and Europe.
had
Mongols
brought in a little
upon
effect
The Moslem
and Turkistan
art of
sculpture.
began
nations
Islamic
painting,
By
to
deteriorate,
The
list is
accurate guide, although
fairly
offered as a
it is
sometimes
impossible to determine exactly in what year a
king took over the majority of the Persian
in
states.
restriction against the
B.C.
Achaemenid Dynasty
B.C.
Seleucid Dynasty
550-330 323-250
like art in metal, stucco,
and wood, though animals and flower motives, as well as some
250 B.c.-A.D. 226 226-641
human figures, appeared in the compositions. Mohammedans introduced the written word,
641-1037 1037-1194
Seljuk Dynasty
1256-1501
Mongol Dynasties
and stucco or stone panels were overlaid with calligraphy. The beautiful Arabic script was inset in bands of tile ornament circling rooms, and was interwoven with the relief ornamentation on bronze ewers, silver platters,
and
was complete.
following reference
use of figures contributed to hght arabesque-
the east.
it
the end
from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries its eclipse
in Spain in the west
in the thirteenth cen-
new
of the fourteenth century the sculpture of the
was
Islamic a development of extended, with slight varithe Persian and ation, into India and Egypt, but was recreated as purest Persian in Iraq and Arabia
sculpture
and
the last great invasion of Persia,
sculpture
four centuries of
from
Though
flowering of the
Persian
of
period.
ranged in
new
a
Parthian Rule Sassanian Dynasty Early Islamic
(and successors)
and wooden sarcophagi.
1499-1736
Safavid Djoiasty
1736-1786 1794-1925
Afghan and other
1925 to date
Pahlevi Dynasty
rule
Kajar Dynasty
Tribute-Bearers, detail. Stone. Palace of Darius I, Persepolis. QCourtesy Oriental Institute, Chicago^
<•
v;
-
i
^rP
'->;,'
-,>'
"J^v
-J >y
-^jU
"^jj--
-,.>
\r,'\
-
-oiy
"-ij^
'^xP
'h{r
'^,if
'J
]
tufpC
S/ff
-t^j.,--
4VI
''ti(kfv"'
u.
II
THE
Standing Stag shown in the
tration
minate date in
and
is
one of the
from Outer
illus-
some indeterthe second millennium b.c
attributed
is
earliest
Iran.
It
to
known bronze
represents one
pieces of
the
found in Luristan, Azerbaiand the area along the south coast of
several cultures jan,
the Caspian Sea.
In Luristan,
in
heraldic
and
vigor,
through the follow-
The
subjects may have been almost wholly symbolic or religious; each represented an animal related to an astral
whether
deity,
a
lion,
a
goat,
or
a
The exclusively talismanic pieces were common than usable objects such as
the most famous of the
less
bridle
usual subjects, with every line and feature
knives,
and recorded. Though con-
movement was
many examples
grace,
horse.
later,
of the beast noted
The
attributes of Persian art
ing twelve centuries.
outer cultures developed. Animals were the
ventionalized,
fashion.
elegance of the Luristan bronzes were to be
a strict
intensified.
In
symmetry was main-
tained, with animals confronting each other
Center: Standing Stag. Bronze.
Metropolitan
parently
vases a
and harness rings, axes and and personal ornaments. Apcertain
reverence
attached
to
everything pertaining to the horse, and axes
and vases had divine four examples are
2nd millennium
Museum
bits
significance.
The
finials.
B.C. Pusht-I-Kuh Mountains, Persia.
of Art, gift of Mrs. Khalil
Rabenou, 1959
Left and right: Finials. Bronze. 1000-800 B.C. Luristan. Tyler Collection QGiraudon photo^; City Art Museum, St. Louis
first
Confronted Animals. Finials. Bronze. 1000-800 B.C. Luristan.
It
is
not the symbolic or magic
signifi-
cance, or the notable functional fitness,
how-
a
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
from fantasy
flight
the
to
best
The Lurs might have been
reahsm.
ever, that attracts the attention of art-lovers
ing
more than twenty-five centuries
the Assyrian reliefs in the same era)
but
later,
the inherent beauty of the designs.
As
if
to
prove that their success proceeded from no trick
of elegant attenuation,
the Lurs pro-
ceeded from slender conventionalization to sturdy, even
Horse
heavy
illustrated
Practically
effects, as in
on page
known
all
the bronze
bits,
in pairs, are
Luristan
grave-finds. Horses
beings.
Today
among
culture
art
had been
one, for there
(as were the sculptors of
anatomy.
The
bronze vase with ibexes
sculpture
the
commonest
were buried with human
zoologists are able to identify
which were twenty pitcher
is
Persia, of
libation
characterize
to
centuries
later.
about looo
ewer
sculpturally refined.
sculptural
effects.
The
ibexes were often given
remained true
the
stags,
range lions,
of
and
wings, but others
outward nature. From the
to
Winged Rams on the meticulously
is
handles
the bridle bit opposite to
documented Rams below
is
to
Persian pottery
The
spouted
clay
b.c.
The bronze
spouted
patently a lineal descendant,
is
tent
remarkable
as
of a culture centered in northern
the breeds of horse from the characteristics
more
their
and a sound knowledge of
conveyed in the plaques. Yet
if
a scientific or materialistic
ample evidence of camera-
is
like observation
of
has something of the delicacy and richness
i6i.
has been dug from graves, and plaques for horse
realists in
sort
surpass-
Whether
there
was
suggest bird form in the pieces
inis
questionable.
A
series of
be assembled
to
prove that the basic elegance,
such products could
the feeling for a rich but simple refinement of forms,
and
that,
Persian
was
a gift of the
when style
mountain peoples, was formed, the
the empire
emerged
with
characteristics
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Winged Rams.
Bridle
bit.
Bronze. C. 1000 b.c. Luristan. Nelson Gallery-Atkins
165
Museum, Kansas
City
Vase with ibexes as handles. Bronze. Luristan.
Rams. Bit plaques. Bronze. Luristan, University Museiun, Philadelphia
AI.
and R. Stora
^Courtesy Iranian Institute,
Collection.
New
York')
166
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Spouted pitcher. Clay. C. 1000 B.C.
Spouted libation ewer. Bronze. Luristan. ^Courtesy Iranian Institute, New York')
Museum
U^^^^
BESflMU];
nnuiu
^, {^^
oifiuaa^
Above: Pins; below: pinhead; right: finial. Bronze. Luristan. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sialk, Persia.
of Science, Buffalo
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA native to Iran rather than borrowed from the artists of
Mesopotamia,
as
some
scholars
had
Animal motives were predominant ornament, on vases and mirrors, on and weapons. Necklaces were closed tools with animal clasps, bracelets were plain or braided bands endino o in matched animal heads, and pins often had animals as terminal ornaments. Note especially how well fitted in per-
sonal
the natural object the
to
stylized.
actual
The
is
pin,
to its placing, in relation
and
how
completely
awls, too, are examples of the
object designed to function, then embellished
by
a talismanic decorative animal.
rare
exceptions
feeling for the abstract values of proportion,
and balance
silhouette,
in the design of axes.
Perhaps more ceremonial than
previously believed.
when human
There
beings
167
utilitarian, the
bronze ax heads have notable rhythmic flow. For pulsing surge of passed;
and
in edgings allv,
there
line,
they are unsur-
a wealth of counterplay
is
and patterned
bits and, occasion-
superimposed animal forms.
The
beauty of the Luristan miniature
goat, or unicorn
is
lion,
formal, aesthetically real-
ized, rather than lifelike. The Camel shown, which looks quite unlike the graceful and elegant products of the Lurs, is from the adjoining province of Azerbaijan, and is from
are
a different
Persian) culture.
Its
(or
fixed expression of disdain can be seen
on
(though
still
gods) have been represented, just as an oc-
the head of any present-day camel.
casional Luristan stone relief or clay figure
decorative
No
less
indeed
a
more "distorted," and superb example of expressionistic
metal finds.
design,
is
the Leafing Lion of the
As among the Scythians— and other primitive Asian peoples— the Lurs had a special
Collection.
has
turned
up among
the
ver\'
numerous
but even
Ax head with
lion. Bronze. Luristan. (^Courtesy Iranian Institute^
Warburg
Pins. Bronze. Luristan.
University
Museum, Philadelphia
Left: Pin. Bronze. Caucasus.
Museum
of Science, Buffalo. Center: Ibex. Harness ring. Bronze. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Right: Camel. Bronze. Metropolitan
Museum
of Art, Rogers
Bull's Head. Bronze. C. 1200 B.C. Azerbaijan. Collection Mrs. Otto Kahn. (^Courtesy Iranian Institute^
Leaping Lion. Bronze. C. 1000 B.C. Luristan. Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. M. M. Warburg
Fund
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA The 1
200
Head from
Bull's B.C.,
has
Azerbaijan, of about
elegant
the
169
simplification
which later marked the best Persian sculpture. Again animals predominated as subjects, and there were pieces with close affinity to the Luristan bronzes. Others have no discoverable prototypes and are labeled by archaeologists sian."
merely "pre-Achaemenid Per-
The Prancing Unicorn
of a heavier decorative type.
is
representative
A
second Bull's
Head, in the Cleveland IMuseum, illustrates interesting variations from the one just shown. It is a little less refined but still is marked by bullish character and plastic vigor.
The the
province of Azerbaijan also yielded
rare
copper head of a
which, like the bronze Bidl's
same
area,
might be
a
bearded man,
Head from
link
the
in
the true
Persian tradition, of the indeterminate pre-
Achaemenid naturalistic,
period.
It
giving us
is
but non-
lifelike
individual
the
man
within a conventionalized sculptural conception.
A
early
Achaemenid
is
limestone head, probably from the period,
now
nearer to the true Persian
at
tj'pe.
Brussels,
Orientally
formalized (as in the patterned beard), and
escaping the influence of Chaldea and Babylon, which was to intrude at the very moment when Persia's political power was at its greatest.
Head. Copper. Before 1000 B.C. Azerbaijan. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund
On
facing page:
Prancing Unicorn. C. 1000 B.C. Kuh-I-Dasht.
Museum
of Science, Buffalo
Bull's Head. Bronze. Persian, pre-Achaemenid, 6th century B.C. Cleveland Museum of Art
Head. Stone. Achaemenid. Adolphe Stoclet Collection, Brussels. QCourtesy Iranian Institute')
170
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Great parts of the stone mural the palace of Darius at Persepolis
and
are
typically
Persian,
brick,
reliefs of
still
and here Persian rhythmic feeling and
luxurious Persian ornament prevailed.
sur\dve
but the glazed-
In the sculptured capitals of the palace of
Susa
the Babylonian
brick relief figures of the palace at Susa re-
Artaxerxes
verted to Mesopotamian models. In the latter
models were forgotten, and work of essen-
was taken over and only a little of the t)'pical Iranian formalization was added. The animals are spirited and decorative, but
II,
at
also,
Persian beauty was revealed.
The main
the technique of neo-Babylon
tially
by the Persian
forms, of bull or unicorn, are monumentally
there
is
a
frieze of the
builders,
Babylonian
Spearmen
shallowness.
at Susa,
ject-precedent in Babylon,
is
preserved, the parts are disposed with sculptural
The
the
without appearing obvious.
the special Persian elegance to be
seen in the refined architectural columns.
also in glazed
j':sWk/;..»iv
effect
They have
without sub-
Tribute-Bearers, relief. Stone. Palace of Darius
compactness, and the detail enhances rich
I,
Persepolis. Courtesy Oriental Institute,
Chicago
:i
Capital with bulls. Stone.
521-485
1
k-i^i
B.C. Palace of Artaxcrxcs, Susa. Louvre. QAlinari photo')
Spearmen. Glazed brick. Achaemenid. Palace of Darius
I,
Susa. Louvre. (Giraudon photo)
172
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
The same
slender,
rounded elegance
found, without the luxurious note, in stone
friezes
slightly
at
earlier
show Darius
Persepolis,
date,
about
which 500
are
B.C.
is
the of
They
the Great, attended by his son
Xerxes, giving audience to a petitioner and tribute-bearers.
They appear
as
murals flank-
ing a great stairway of the palace. As sculp-
and as architectural embellishment they more dignified and architectonic than the Mesopotamian murals from which they distantly derive. (See pages 162 and 170.)
improved the
type.
But these
"set pieces" are
not important artistically in sculpture,
though
illustrated
the
history
of
widely because
of their imposing size. Almost
any piece from
the mural series, such as the Ahiira
Mazda
Fogg Museum, tells more competence and reticent
of the
in the tural
of the sculptaste
Persian craftsmen. In the murals at Persepolis
ture
the single figures of tribute-bearers, even of
are
camel or horse or goat, have a character
On a
the platform above, the Persians set
gateway or doorway of honor, derived from
the winged-animal or sphinx gateways of the
(who had taken
Assyrians
from
the
changes
Hittites);
as
and
substituting
Semitic head,
the
the idiom in turn aside
from
such
an Aryan for the
Persians
formalized
and
The
relief. Stone.
Fogg
Museum
Achaemenid.
of Art
golden appliques, supposed
to
seems
to
menid a
origin, nevertheless
perfectly within the characteristic Achae-
fit
art-craftsmanship.
They were
hoard of two hundred and
part of
five gold orna-
ments found together, some figurative and some not, all supposed to have decorated a single garment. The stamped animal figures less
than Persepolis.
set of
be Scythian in
are Ahiira Mazda,
suit-
able to the stone, a sculptural dignity.
is
fantastically
treated,
less
distorted
usual in the products of the Scyths,
and may have been designed
in
Scythian
Appliques. Gold. Scytho-Persian, Achaemenid. Kuban Region, U.S.S.R. University Museum, Philadelphia
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA workshops
Persian
for
taste.
The
golden
armlet from the Treasure of the Oxus, one of two sun'iving as a pair,
even
entity
without the
that
ornamental
colored
the
once embedded upon indication
a rich
is
its
surface.
vigor
and
enamels It
is
an
originality
Indo-European or Iranian line con-
of the
Achaemenid
tinued
uncurtailed
in
the
period,
with
an
added
only
luxurious
refinement.
In
small
so
achievement
is
craft
a
as
repeated.
seal-making,
The
the
Persian seals
have a wider range of subject, though obviously
deriving
tamian.
and
The
fluent,
part
in
st)'lization
from is
the
oftener
Mesopograceful
with clear outlines against plain
backgrounds. In the Seleucid and Parthian periods,
fol-
lowing the Achaemenid, there was growing influence from outside cultures, especially the
Greek, after 330
B.C.
Nevertheless examples
of small sculpture exist that continued the traditional
vitalit)',
Crotiching
Panther,
character,
shown
at
as
illustrated
enlarged the
to
in
show
beginning of
the its
this
chapter, on page 160.
Armlet. Gold with depressions for inlays. Achaemenid. From Treasure of the Oxus. Victoria and Albert Musentn
Impressions of
seals.
173
Assyrian Qtop^; Persian,
Achaemenid. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; Bibliotheque Natiotiale, Paris; British Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
174
The glazed-clay head in the Museum of Art was actually or
The
gargoyle.
glaze
has
Metropolitan a
waterspout
all
but disap-
peared, but the earthenware color beneath
is
pleasing and the total effect singularly sculptural.
The
creative composition indicates the
which the Persian
master)' to
artists
had
the great period
tained just before
at-
known
silver
Amazons Hunting
plate with
Lions, of the Parthian period and probably
more Greek design would have made it, with a more rhythmic treatment of the animals than any Minor,
from Asia
is
composition
a
found among the Greeks. Note the sprit of the lions and of the horse's head, in relation the
Sassanian
following.
repetition
of
and enrichment of patterning were t)'pically Oriental. But cliff art was unsuited to the Persian genius and is better seen in India or China.
The
decoratively disposed than traditional
to
rhythmic
Taq-I-Bustan— the forms
as Sassanian.
The
The famous rock-cut tombs of the kings, some celebrating the defeat of Roman emperors and generals by the Persians, are imposing and quite ornamental for the narrative type of sculpture. Though somewhat derivative they are not naturalistic, and in the finexamples— as at Naksh-I-Rustum and est
silver
plates
immediately
But the lightness of touch and
a
small sculptures, especially the surviv-
ing figured silver dishes, were lavishly orna-
and
mental is
sensuously
full.
The method
not far different from that of the Scythians
and the Lurs, and of descent through
it
indicates a direct line
Achaemenid and Parthian
But the Sassanians added a wealth of an abundance of patterning, and a
silver.
breath of naturalism in detail are Hellenic.
figures,
Throughout the Near East at this time there was a confusion of the elements which even-
variation of surface appeal fitting to art at
tually
formed the Byzantine
st)de.
the
some Head, downspout. Clay, glazed. Parthian. Metropolitan gift of
Museum
of Art,
Walter Haiiser, 1956
regal
art-lovers
there can be
craftsmen
sumptuous
most
world's
aristocratic,
sculpture at
court. its
It
best.
is
For
it may seem ostentatious, but no doubt that the Sassanian
here
touched
a
high
mark
of
relievo.
Comparatively
graceful
bronze ewer shown, with an ab-
stract all-over
a
feline
is
the
itself
and
animal
at-
design on the vessel
undecorated
sinuous,
restrained
tached as handle.
The silver is
extraordinarily spirited design of the
wine bowl with an eagle
t)'pically Iranian,
tive
at the center
but the emphatic narra-
treatment and the melodramatic poses
indicate late
Greek
Ewer. Bronze. Sassanian. 6th century a.d. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund
influence.
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Amazons Hunting Lions. Silver, repousse. Parthian. Asia Minor.
Brummer
Shapur
II
Collection,
New
York
Hunting. Silver dish. Sassanian.
Collection of Mrs. Cora
Timken
^Courtesy Iraniati Institute)
Burnett.
175
U
Hunting Lions. Silver dish. Sassanian. Hermitage, Leningrad. ^Courtesy Iranian Institute, New York') Shapur
Wine
bowl. Silver, repousse,
partly gilded. Seleucid. Bactria.
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
Horse. Bronze. Sassanian. Arabia.
in bronze, char-
make
small figures of animals, such as the
Lion
shown.
phase, comes from Arabia of the Sassanian
sculptural
Period, a reminder that Persian art
rings, medals,
had con-
The
quered great parts of Asia beyond the borders of the Iranian plateau.
Persian-Arabian
Washmgton
Collection,
but of a less extravagant
The monumental Horse acteristically Persian
Dumharton Oaks
A
second example of
craftsmanship
is
the
small
There and
beautiful
are
compositions,
little
the
coins,
seals of Sassanian
times.
in
too,
decorative gold medal in
the Freer
Washington, marvelously illusBahram Gur hunting with a falcon.
Collection, trates
bronze Bull, identified by authorities as Sabean
A
—from Sabea,
decoration occurs in the coin showing a lion
the biblical Sheba. (Recently the
Horse has been relabeled
"late
Roman" by some
completely contrasting style of posteresque
and
a peacock
on obverse and
reverse.
The
scholars, despite its Oriental style marks.)
decorative script here adds to the ornamental
Although from the seventh century onward Persian accomplishment is oftener known as Islamic art, there are some minor
fullness. In the abstract
design are realized.
The beauty
manifestations— seals, coins, the crafts neces-
calligraphy as seen
in
sary to dress,
and miniature metal sculptures
—that seem
steel
some of the
proverbial.
to belong to the Persian community rather than to Islam. Technically, figurative art was henceforward forbidden in
fields of
Moslem communities;
and
but
many
Persians
took the prohibition lightly and continued to
too,
in
The
the
ornament of gold on
possibilities of
later
of
of Persian
manuscripts
lovely writing
floriation
nonobjective
is
is
embedded,
engraved
bronze
ewers and jugs, and even in the elaborate
ornament on carved wooden doors
screens.
Finally,
there
was
a great deal of stucco
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
177
Bull. Bronze. Sabean, 6th century B.C. South Arabia. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Horse; Lion; coins; ornaments. Silver; bronze; gold; other metals. Private Collection;
Ackerman-Pope Collection; Freer Gallery of Art. QCoiirtesy Iranian Institute)
Hunting Scene; Boars, panels in relief. Stucco. Sassanian.
Philadelphia of Art
Museum
sculpture
embellish houses and palaces,
to
and profuse stucco decoration spread later to all Mohammedan lands and can be seen today in Granada and Cairo, Samarkand and Agra. The arabesque was considered a discreation
tinctive
Arabian-Islamic
of
men, although foreshadowed
ornamentalism
Abstract
compositions.
crafts-
Sassanian
in
folded in lacelike profusion, in
un-
flatly sculp-
tured panels or in tracery over the whole architectural composition.
When it
is
the
likely
Moslems
revert to figurative art,
be reminiscent of Sassanian
to
The
craftsmanship.
motives,
of
repetition
geometrical yet with variation, as seen in the
Hunting Scene and Boars, and the weaving main outlines and repeated details into
of
an
all-over effect,
medan
were echoed in
from
lands
twelfth century.
all
Moham-
seventh
the
the
to
Sculptured frieze. Stone. 4th-7th centuries.
Thus
Persian sculp-
t)'pical
ture continued as Islamic sculpture in Asia, Africa,
and
of
Mohammedan
occurred
that golden age
the
in
fourteenth centuries.
building and
and
thirteenth
The mural
reliefs
of
were unrivaled in decorative
opulence and almost incredibly profuse on
The
the inner walls of mosques and palaces. stone or stucco reliefs vibrate with
Mihrab wall liness and the the
sculptural
at
absence
if
this
figuring
of
as in
the lovet)'pe
in
is
of
illus-
ac-
Mohammedan command-
no animals
or plant-forms ap-
ample suggestion of them, eswhere the modeling is most vigorous.
pear, there pecially
of
"lightness"
cordance with the ments; but
life,
Hamadan. Both
design are here supremely
The
trated.
is
Indeed, despite the prohibition, the
spirit of
Scythian, Luristan, and Sassanian sculpture
was revived
medan
in
lands.
and
Persia
One might
in
all
of
Luristan
Moham-
put side by side
the latest of Sassanian wall plaques earliest
heraldically
and the balanced
animals to indicate the two prime sources of Islamic wall decoration,
the one typical of
the over-all ornamentalism, trating the virility of the
In
Syria.
a fringe of Europe.
The peak sculpture
Omayyad Palace, Mshatta, State Museum, Berlin
the sculptured
the other
illus-
main motive.
frieze
at
Mshatta the
Mihrab of Oljeitu, Friday Mosque, Isfahan. Stucco. 1310. (Photo by Arthur Upham Pope)
.m
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
Detail of the Mihrab, Alaviyan, Hamadan, Persia. Late 12th century. (_Photo by Arthur Uphatn Pope, Iranian Institute^
179
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA
180
familiar animals,
rhythmic and formal-
still
surrounded by areas of lacelike ornament. Authorities differ as to the probable ized, are
date,
and some scholars
Omavvad
Palace
Islamic. It
was perhaps
as
insist
on classing the
Byzantine rather than a product of Christian
craftsmen working under
Moslem
rulers.
In Moslem-ruled Spain the abstract sculpdecoration spread over great areas of
tural
courtyard wall and inner partition, especially at the
Alhambra, built in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. In the Court of Lions here, the fountain's lions (imported Persia, the scholars say)
and
disposition are Oriental, as
is
from old
their geometrical their unrealistic
appearance. But the carved screens set into
the walls, and the light foliation traced over
every structural member, are more trulv lamic. In Spain the style
is
Is-
called Moorish.
Even when the prohibition of imaging was no longer observed except by the most puritanical
human
followers
of
the
Prophet,
the
was seldom depicted. Animals, as so often in the Near East, were the prime inspiration. Ewers, jugs, and incense-burners were designed as birds or beasts, free or even fantastic in detail, and pierced, abridged, or figure
hollowed for functional purposes. In Venice, the Treasury of
St.
Mark's owns
the Persian silver casket with conventional
on top and
sides,
showing
a continuous
com-
C-'^>'c^^'''-^(^s
Roget-VioUet')
refoiisse designs in panels
but
set
on
a base
Court of the Lions, Alhambra Palace, Granada. 13th-14th centuries.
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA position of intertwined animals of a sculp-
common
tural excellence not
The
period.
little
frieze
is
in Islam at this directly
from Scythia and Luristan.
It
is
in
line
spirited,
The Moslem as carvers also
displayed
artists
on such
their
skill
craft objects as book-
bindings and wooden and ivory chests. Their cutting
wood
of
sitely rich.
compositions,
was The Moorish
panels
inlaid style,
relief
or in ivory,
are
that
signed primarily to provide convenient areas
be engraved or chased.
to
burner from Kariz
from the
whether
in
worker in reyousse and engraving
fill
the bazaars with debased representations
ture has generally
In the West, clay-molded and glazed sculpfigures
lain
opulent workmanship.
bright
Islam were often de-
to practice
Even today Oriental craftsmen
his art freely.
trivial
in
The
arbitrary simplification of forms allowed the
small ivor)' inlays are marvels of delicately
figures
but pos-
masterpieces in
and in India large pierced screens and
Animal
naturalist's point of view,
of such beasts.
the
incensefalsified,
and exquichests of Spain bear
intricate
The Lion
shamelessly
is
unmistakable leonine character.
sesses
decorative, fanciful, yet virile.
181
But
and
in
and
seemed
frivolous,
coloring Persia,
a lesser art: porce-
groups
is
are
likely
to
and the common essentially
where the
be
over-
unsculptural.
potter's
art
was
Casket. Silver. Persian, 12th century. Treasury of Saint Mark's Cathedral,
Venice. (^Courtesy Iranian Institute^
'4.';:
ii'^
t
Lion. Incense-burner. Pierced bronze. 12th century. Hermitage, Leningrad
Lion. Incense-burner. Pierced bronze. 12th century.
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
Ewer. Bronze with silver inlay. Mosul period, 13th centiiry. University Museum, Philadelphi
Vase. Clay, glazed. Persian, 13th century. Kashan. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
Aquamanile. Clay, glazed. Persia. (^Courtesy Iranian Institute^
Lion, detail. Incense-burner. Bronze. Seljuk period, 1181-82. Kariz, Khurasan, Persia. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund
THE OPULENT SCULPTURE OF PERSIA carried to a glorious achievement surpassed
nowhere
except
in
China,
the
sculptor
with the potter to produce serious (and sometimes half-serious) works. There are sumptuous designs with animals in the round added to vases and jugs already rich with intricate molded and painted patterns. The aquamanile shown, very diflFerent in method, as regards both total design and surface decoration, seems like a playful work joined
in comparison; but
it is
nonetheless a typical
example of Islamic craftsmanship, sculpture and ornamentally alive.
vital
It is
as
proba-
bly late in date.
The
Persian vases, plates, and jugs were
was completely appropriate. The illustrative were usually kept to proportioned bands within a controlled all-over pattern. The designs
glazed-clay vase at the Freer Gallery,
ington,
and
is
form
lively in decoration.
Persian sculpture declined
when Europe
advanced into the period of the Renaissance, but examples can be found which indicate native feeling for the fundamentals of the art, particularly for fitness of subject and method to material. Islam invaded India, which possessed a great body of sculpture of its
own. The eighteenth-century pierced-ivory
plaque from Madura, Indian Prince and At-
proportioned as beautifully as the Greek, and
tendants, inherits from Indian art
the
were employed to enrich the surfaces the modeled composition
Wash-
characteristically graceful in
when
figurative reliefs
183
richness
of
Persian-Islamic
and from
artisanship.
Indian Prince and Attendants. Pierced-ivory plaque. 18th century. South India. Victoria and Albert Miiscuiu
8:
China:
The World^s Supreme Sculptural Achievement
I
CHINA
been colorful and picturesque, from the entry
is the oldest civilized nation on and the Chinese people have persisted in one recognized national culture longer than any other. Incursions from outside
in 1908. Court life in the
amounted
enriched through devotion to the
earth,
at
times to conquering invasions,
of the to
Shang emperors
the
exit
but the native populace so far outnumbered
there
the invaders and was so fixed in
scholars,
that
the
conquering
art,
culture.
even a
A new
new
but did not
method
religion,
alter the
social life
newcomers were
sorbed in the typically Chinese
and
its
way
ab-
of life
or intention in
might be introduced
mainstream of Chinese
tradition.
The
life
of the Chinese ruling class has
of
was an
who
the
upper are
in possibly 1523 b.c.
last
Manchu empress many periods was
class
especially
arts,
and
(including
the
honored)
that
cherished art works and kept alive the records of outstanding
The
artists.
magnificence of decor at the courts
was attested in the writings of Marco Polo, and the books of China's own historians reflect the vigor and opulence of the nation's artistic life. The Chinese have seldom de-
Lao-Tse on a Water Buffalo. Bronze. Sung. Worcester Art
Museum
CHINA archaeological
veloped
systematic way,
and
exploration
it is
of sculptural material
likely that a
still
lies
in
any
wealth
underground.
which corresponds aissance
the
ritual masterpieces
A
but they were copies
the
rather than
few Stone Age finds are related easily to more pronounced idioms in a profusion of small sculptures and calligraphic scratchings found at Anyang, dated between 1900
These display the squared in relief and serrated edges which appear on the bronze ritual and
1200
B.C.
ornamental
vessels
ribbons
of the early Dynasties,
stituting
the
first
achievement as
The to the
Chou
great
Shang (c.
con-
now known.
ritual vessels,
era
vessels
Chinese sculptural
era (1523-c. 1028 B.C.) and the 1028-222 b.c.)— all early dates are
debatable— give evidence of the existence of spirit- worship and ancestor-worThese bronze ceremonial jugs and jars, cups and caldrons, beakers and basins, were
widespread ship.
nation leads the world.
we know)
flourishing
in the era of the
Chou
emperors.
very intimate appeal.
a
A
piece
and "luck" tokens. The dead were buried with symbolic jades placed in or upon the ears, eyes, and tongue. Various jade animals were found in the graves of the Chou Era, especially those
favored.
vessel.
The most
such as the disk on page 194, may even have been venerated. Others served as emblems
They were designed over a considerable number of centuries. In the Ming Dynasty,
Wine
style
Jade as a material was highly prized and
rection,
Left:
the historic
period of sculpture in jade began (so far as
generally altar furnishings, used for sacrificial rites.
in
to
were produced,
newly imagined works. Carving in jade in China has a history longer than that of bronze-casting. This is one of the branches of sculpture in which the
possessed
dated by most authorities
Ren-
Europe, vessels very similar
in
Chou
to the period of the
185
Many
of
symbolizing immortality or resur-
which the cicada was the most
respected historians claim that every
Bronze. Shang. Mf^tropolitan
Museum
Right: Ritual wine vessel. Bronze. Early Chou. Fogg
of Art
Museum
of Art
Dragons. Jade. Late Chou. freer Gallery of Art; Nelson Gallery-Atkins Kansas City. (Bottom figure enlarged)
motive found in Chinese
West
the
or the North.
art
originated in
Scholars have un-
covered protot)'pes of the animals, masks, and
technique bronzes
of
the
suggests
bordering
steppe
Museum,
earliest
that
known
countries,
Shang
from
invasions
where
the
metal-
figures that appeared as subject-matter in the
working was carried on, had occurred long
Chinese repertory. Rostovtzeff, in his book
before authenticated Chinese history begins.
The Animal
The Shang Dynasty lasted more than five hundred years and gave way gradually before invaders who founded the Chou Dynasty in
Style
in
South
Russia
and
China, even questions whether the dragon
is
an invention of the Chinese and prefers
to
accept as
its
ancestor the "wolf -dragon" of the
Mesopotamians.
was the Chinese
It
whether
who
invaders
or
sculptors,
long-resident
gave magnificence
to
however, natives,
the dragon idea.
In every particular the sculptural carving on the ritual vessels of the
seems
to
to
Shang and Chou
eras
prove a long antecedent period of
practice in this
1028
B.C.
Among
the
disorders
of
warring
feudal states lived the great sages Lao-Tse
one highly original
style.
As
the craft of bronze-casting, the masterly
and Confucius. The philosophy of Lao-Tse, called Taoism, had profound effect on the arts later, after the introduction of Buddhism. In the second half of the third century the
Ch'in
Dynasty conquered and united the name China to the
country and gave the
nation. In the time of Ch'in there
were only
the relics called the Ch'u bronzes, from the
CHINA of Ch'u,
State
to
with repeated animals or with a scene of
style as typified in
the richly adorned ceremonial vessels.
known
animals, and others composed into plaques
indicate radical departure
from the Shang and Chou
Best
conflict
Ch'u or Ch'in works are the bronze mirrors discovered in the Huai River Valley; the backs were worked with an intricate but subdued all-over patterning, upon which appear low reliefs of fantastic dragons
They
With
Chou
about
this
Scytho-Siberian
steppe
country,
kistan
in Scythia
Much now
at
from the was even
and
style"
parts of Siberia.
buckles,
etc.
Bears. Bronze, gilded.
of
dynastic
Han
of the sculpture of the
of
Han
relief picturing
of the
omamentalism
Han is
Han.
era, as it
suggestive
The
invented a sort of low-
on stone unique
in the annals
art.
They
also began manufacture of clay tomb which led on to the familiar decorated ladies, caparisoned horses, dancers and lute-players, dogs and camels. These figures vary in size from the common six- or eightinch height to more than twenty-four inches.
rings,
They may be unpainted,
single
A great many
QCourtesy
familiar
figures,
as
Han. City Art Museum,
are
which
change,
emperors,
appears in the museums,
sculptors
Besides purely
Some were formed
the
of the link with the art of the steppes.
and the steppes of Tur-
ornamental items, there were harness
next
in
simplicity, especially in the animals of
bronze have been turned up, with the spirited
known
all
art.
of the earliest ritual vessels to an inspired
more important. In Suiyuan in Inner Mongolia and especially in the Ordos Desertalong the border of Shensi in China proper —thousands of small animal compositions in rhythmic qualities of the "animal
a horse:
Chinese history begins. Sculpture had pro-
heavily decorative style.
time, apparently direct
and
gressed from the magnificent
are essentially Chinese, even
Another invasion from the northwest
a tiger
the
brought
while differing markedly from the Shang and early
between
patently an extension from the steppe
of the
or birds.
187
St.
that are
now
painted, or glazed. terra-cotta in color
Louis; Adolphe Stoclet Collection, Brussels
Madame V eron-Stoclet')
1 T^^^^p SB ^^^^
1
^
CHINA
1
have
the
In
were often
unglazed.
left
the tomb figures
T'ano
golden age of
which ended about ten centuries
era,
and
figures
objects into the graves of
Han.
clay statuettes are supposed to have
first
been introduced straw
the
The
sometimes placed in the
is
the probable introduction of the clay
after
The
pigment in deep cracks women's figures the faces
traces of brighter
or folds.
as
Chou; those
face
typical
Shortly
Indian.
most sculptural
and a treatment of
folds,
Greco-Indian rather than
is
art of
thereafter
China was
native Buddhist monks.
And
the
fore-
that of the
indeed, through
the most glorious period of national expansion,
through the
Wei Dynasty and
the Six
Dynasties period, culminating in the T'ang
Dynasty, the images of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas were the inspiration for Chinese
had been substituted
for
who had been entombed
with the corpse of emperor or noble in
earliest
sculpture.
by the em-
invasion, encouraged
At
last
human figure became and the Chinese came to
the
central to the art,
The
use the basic sculptural material, stone. period
times.
A new
that
to replace
in turn
the living retainers
the
used during the era of
an improvement
figures
posed in low-relief
of
magnificent
in the fifth century
achievement opened
and continued
until the
perors and sages, produced a totally different
decline of the T'ang Dynasty in the ninth
China during the
Buddhism
and tenth centuries. There had been many sects of Buddhism— a schism in India had divided the faithful
India,
into a southern school, strict in
flow'ering of sculpture in
centuries immediately after the
Han
period.
as a religion was brought from and Buddhist statues and probably Buddhist sculptors were imported. Knowl-
edge of Buddhism and devotion
to the
Buddha
had been pushed eastward to the border of China before the birth of Christ. The actual introduction of the faith into the Far East generally dated from a.d. 65,
when
is
the Chinese
Emperor Ming Ti saw the shining figure of a and sent a mission to India
savior in a dream, to investigate the
new
By
the second
it
lowing,
though
turies witnessed a flowering of
comparable
tural
art
ment
in India.
A
to
the
ments
as the statue-filled caves at
(many
by name), and
statues, in
achieve-
was taken
such monu-
Yun K'ang
Doubtless Indian mismissionaries are
known
sculptors from invader groups
trained in the animal art of the steppes, at first
gave direction
artists.
Among
the
to
their
interpre-
and
a
more relaxed and tolerant northern school— and Chinese sculpture mirrored many of the variations in belief.
Ch'an Buddhism came as a cult within Buddhism, but it was the Taoism of Lao-Tse and of his disciple Chuang-Tse, two centuries later, that
gave
new
direction to the religion
as also the
from the Indian
sionary-artists
its
injunctions,
Buddhist sculp-
great deal of the iconography
Shansi province.
Master's
the
Gupta
direct
in
of
and in turn influenced sculpture. Chinese art had been magnificent, full, rhythmically active. Now it was quietened. The sculptors relied upon simplicity. The statue itself spoke of withdrawal, contemplation, and an inward peace attained. The unassertive art of Ch'an (later Zen) intimated the peace of Lao-Tze
religion.
had claimed a considerable folit was not until the third centur)^ when the Han Dynasty had come to an end, that Buddhist art began to penetrate into China proper. The fifth and sixth cencentury
tation
Chinese fellow
distinguishing marks of
Buddha's vision of Nirvana.
During the famous Sung Dynasty and the following Yuan Dynasty sculpture was plentiful but its quality began to deteriorate. Sung painting and porcelain were of the finest, but the sculpture began to be generally overornamented,
or
merely
of
the
Chou
to T'ang.
Another type of sculpture was introduced oversize guardians of tombs or palaces
the Indian sculptural idiom were schematic
lustrated
on page 204).
arrangements of the draperies, usually
ures
men
dis-
reflective
masterpieces of the great periods from
of
or
The
animals
colossal
were
set
in
(ilfig-
like
Buddha. Stone. 5th century. Yun Kang Caves. Metropolitan Museum of Art
sentries
along
the
avenues leading
the
to
tomb entrances. Sculpturally the surviving examples in stone are magnificent, whether in
museums abroad
or
still
at their original
to
the
Even
surviving
so,
in
amount
Chinese
a proportionate
degenerate dictators.
A
nation that
A as
inhospitable
to
the
arts
at
certain
periods.
Although the legacy of Chinese sculpture is so great that examples can be found in market places the world round, the loss of monuments was perhaps greater than any Again and again the edict went out from an incompetent emperor's nation's.
court than
constitute
usually accepted follows:
Hsia (largely legendary)
ending about
Shang (sometimes Yin)
approximately
Chou
c.
Ch'in
221-207 B.C.
in
flan
Wei &
the Six Dynasties
T'ang
The
the
land must be delivered for
Sung Yuan (Mongol)
The
losses of
were fewer, but the
monuments colossal
in
animal
and in the caves of Buddhist
carv-
B.C.
1523-c. 1028 B.C.
bronze or copper vessels or
guardians of the tombs were neglected for centuries,
1523
all
melting down. stone
products
ap-
quality,
table of the historic periods or dynasties
now
Confucius during his lifetime was obviously
statues
often in
the most magnificent body of sculpture in
share of the
could snub and obscure "the perfect sage"
other
are as
successive Chinese dynasties gave rise
more than
world's
parent.
the world.
sites.
The
the signs of vandalism
ings
Five Dynasties
Ming Ch'ing (Manchu)
1028-222 B.C.
206 b.c.-a.d. 220 220-618 618-907 907-960
960-1280 1280-1368 1368-1644 1644-1912
After 1912, the Republic, then
Communism
II
IN the us from
earliest relics that
to
the
Shang
have come down period,
the
dences of a formal style are implicit.
evi-
The
grain jar of the Freer Gallery, Washington,
relief
ornament can be read
as
an animal
decorative, talismanic jades cannot confidently
form imaginatively paraphrased.
The
Shang era, but the oldest known bronzes seem clearly to be early Shang, and they present a fully formed
and the ornamentalism of these
reliefs
be dated
to
the
early
majestic Chinese style.
The
ornamentation on
apparently ab-
and weapons
Museum
of Art (page 185),
and the wear and
where the
tracings
usually proves to be conventionalizations of
been
in
tear
animal forms, oftenest the
centuries, the contours of the vessel
tao-tieh, the "dra-
gon" or imaginary monster, or other
tradi-
of
ritual vessels
sculptures
relief
figures
in
form a magnificent group
bronze.
The
can be identified
geometrized as
dragons and parts of dragons, or
and beast
later,
lost
have
of
thirty
still
stand
out with controlled power and a rhythmic massiveness.
tional beast.
The
are
In the bronze wine vessel at the Metropolitan
encrustations
tools
vigor
superb.
incidental
stract
is
especially instructive because each unit of the
as owls, pheasants,
and
fantastic
less often,
with
surface reliefs
monster"
or
vessel,
The
panels
tigers,
and bird fragments combined.
The combination design
creative
of
sculptural
sumptuous elaboration of the is
vessel.
better seen in the "horned It
is
a
functional libation
vaguely suggesting a monster, with containing
other
Ax. Bronze. Shang, 1523-c. 1028 b.c. Whittemore Collection, Cleveland
monsters.
Museum
of Art
Heads,
1
CHINA
1
9
"Horned monster" vessel. Bronze. Early Chou. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grain
jar.
Bronze. Early Chou, 11th century B.C. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
eyes, or tails cover
mystery
which ants,
convey the
to
technique
a
in
uniquely Chinese.
is
The
wide areas
animal-power,
of
the
Freer
Gallery,
a
is
pleasing
Symmetric form has been achieved by placing the birds back to back or "ad-
variation.
dorsed."
The
summarily
pheasants, which have been very
presented,
are
conventionalized
almost beyond recognition and
endowed with
rams' horns.
The
ritual
traditionally
ences are
bronzes were limited to a few
determined
those
of
tj'pes.
use,
The
differ-
choice of subject-
wing feet
Sometimes
begin.
may
relief.
The owl-shaped
Fogg Museum, which
style,
of
animal motives and suggests a
of
tails
a or
After the Shang Dynasty gave way to the Chou, there was a weakening of the art. The bronze vessels became less imposing in massiveness of design and wealth of decoration. The Pheasant in the Dumbarton Oaks collection is shown quite realistically, though traced over with patterning and calligraphic
maker
locking
outline
terminate in birds' beaks, in the
very opulence of the wine vessel from the the inter-
the
Scythian fashion. (See page 185.)
a severer style but
illustrates
not clear where
resolves into a coiled dragon;
and abundance of detail. Today some of them seem overloaded with ornament, though there is a certain magnificence in the matter,
It is
the tiger-headed beast ends and the birdlike
forms
two pheas-
libation vessel suggesting
in
link with the Scythians.
In the early
is
jar at
Chou
period design was at
times exuberant and even lost
as
dignity,
the
well the
florid.
rectilinear
as
Yale returns to
equally readable.
accustomed
Ele-phant
Though
crispness
libation
of
reserve jar,
for
the the
and ex-
192
c HINA
Libation vessel. Bronze. Shang. Freer Gallery of Art
Pheasant. Libation
jar.
Bronze.
Shang or Early Chou. Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Washington
Ritual vessel. Bronze. Chou. Victoria and Albert Museum
Owl.
Jar.
Bronze. Yale Uiiiversity Art Gallery,
Hobart and Edward Small Moore Memorial Collection
CHIN A
193
Elephant. Libation jar. Bronze. Early Chou. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
Ritual bell. Bronze. Late Chou, 5th-4th centuries B.C. Winthrop Collection, Fogg Museum of Art
ample,
is
a
masterpiece of
its
try'pe.
Many
bronzes.
ritual
The
bronze gongs and bells have survived from the
tion
Chou
astronomical ring
and are among the finest products of the time. The reliefs on the bodies of the era
bells vary
widely in elaboration and in
vaHdit)\
thetic
A common
accessory
aesis
a
be
to
subtle aesthetic percep-
inferred
sculptural history elsewhere. of the
emblem
compelling
art
maker
the
in
But the owners
doubtless regarded
The
manent Power.
two dragons face to face, forming a handle or hook for hanging. The motive is one of the most beautifully handled in the whole range of Chinese conventionalized animals.
associated with the early Chinese
In both
the
late
Shang and the Chou
It
design
been
has
also
dualism
masculine-feminine basic to world order.
The
periods the carvers of jade produced gemlike
shown
tions in jade surviving
astronomical disk or symbol of is
an example of the
pieces.
The
Heaven shown
ritual objects basic to the
religion of the times.
is
intimately
myths of
interpreted
as
recognized
as
plaque with dragons
Intensity of feeling, even the ferocity, of the
monsters in bronze of
is
animals, however, are little
were generally kept as simple as the bronze vessels were elaborate. Since the pieces were treasured as amulets or charms, they were as replete with symbolism as the designs of the
in marble.
The
Bird
still is
on account medium. The
lacking,
the softer quality of the
formalized
is
is
one of the most elaborate composifrom an early period.
notable that jade figurative designs
It
less as
symbolic of the yin principle of the yang-yin
compositions such as amulets, emblems, and
ornaments and minor figurative
it
than as a link with the im-
pierced, flattened composition, with perhaps
Heaven.
the
of
not easily matched in
is
superbly alive.
The
exceptional in being
Stags are simply set out but
with each animal's characteristic form and feeling recognized
The
figure of a
and expressed. in the group of small
man
CHINA
195
Plaque with dragons. Jade. Period of the Warring States, 481-221 B.C. Nelson Gallery—Atkins Museum, Kansas City
jades
the
the only
is
human being
twenty-two
first
to
illustrations
Chinese sculpture. This
is
appear in of
early
a fair index to
survived to delight the lover of near-abstract art.
As one
the rarity of the anthropomorphic image dur-
Chou
ing the Shang and
The Chinese jade
carvings
range from rare type
objects
that
is
realistic pieces
conventionalization
of
compositions.
The
a
treasury of
unsurpassed.
They
through every to
abstract
animals such as dragons,
and cicadas had Where jade was the
bulls, deer, tigers, pheasants,
religious
significance.
standard
"luck stone,"
the
pieces
included
many poorly designed and executed examples. The stone's texture and color appealed rather than the
number
But an extraordinary exquisitely carved ornaments have
artistic value.
of
five jewel-like
turns again to the bronzes,
it
ap-
that these ancient Chinese statuettes
pears
periods.
form
This may be seen in the
examples on page i86.
and the dragon. The by the all-
also portrayed the tiger
pieces are rendered ornamental
over patterning, which a
is,
language of symbols.
of course, in itself
How
far
the artist
sometimes went in the addition of relievo
is
indicated in the Tigers shown, though the characteristic
beasts
strength
seem not
As against the the
tigers,
Head
of a
curve was
litheness
of
the
simplified ornamentalism of
there
Dragon
made
and
have been impaired.
to
is
the
fantastically
ornate
at the Freer Gallery.
Each
the excuse for a flourish. But
CHINA
196
Tigers. Bronze.
Chou. Shen-si. Freer Gallery of Art
Head of a Dragon. Bronze. Late Chou. Freer Gallery of Art
Ax head
with dragon. Bronze. Chou. Metropolitan Museum of Art
in
spite
of
redundance
this
the
intrinsic
dragon seems reahzed and expressed in an unmistakably Chinese work.
The two
little
bronze
of
late
Chou
sophisticated
when
ornate
design
style
and
Greece was largely
The
came
the Greeks were
archaic
ax-head design
far the
Chinese
style.
still
to
there
Buffalo,
are
The group
of
illustrations
dealing with
Ordos bronzes found in China and upon its border. Again a selection of the Ordos products (or as some insist, truly Chinese counterparts) is introduced: a Horse, a Tiger, and a
had progressed from
bronzes such
be a direct descendant of the heraldically
conventionalized animal art of the steppes.
perfection
its
and mere Between naturalism and a frank
ness
formalized composi-
Scythian sculpture ended with examples of
when Europe beyond an unknown wasteland. of a dragon shows how
artists
The
on the back— technically the lid— seems
This type of
developing their
primitive rudeness
species perfectly.
tion to
Winged Dragons
the Pillsbur)' Collection are masterpieces of
the
its
literalism.
as
where the animal seems
decorative-
the
Water
to represent
Stag. In the
repeatedly
West,
who
first
millennium
overrun
by
B.C.
China was from
invaders
the
in general adopted Chinese cus-
toms and the Chinese
st)'le
of
art.
But
it
would
be foolish to believe that conquerors
from
Mongolia
and
the
steppe
country
CHINA
Winged Dragons. Bronze. Late Chou. Pilhbury
Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Art
Water
Buffalo. Vessel. Bronze.
Chou.
Museum
of Art
Fogg Horse; Tiger; Stag. Bronze.
Han
Period. Ordos Region; Siberia. Hanna Collection, Cleveland Museum of Art; C. T. Loo Collection; Mrs. Jess Bryan Bennett
Collection
QCourtesy Philadelphia
Museum
of Art)
197
CHINA
198
Deer. Bronze. Ordos. Adolphe Stoclet Collection, Brussels. (^Courtesy
Winged
Horses, plaques. Bronze. Han. Metropolitan
beyond, owning a distinctive and of
art,
contributed nothing
Chinese
tradition.
to
vital style
the subsequent
As the invaders
at
one
time revolutionized the military science of the
Museum
China, generations mixture
of
believe
authorities artists
Greek
who
learned
The two Han
Chinese, so they seem to have contributed
sculpture.
much
ascribed to the
of their art vitality to the country they
overran.
down
The
as
influence can hardly be
marked
Han
period,
of the Ch'in or the
though the simplification and directness of statement in
debt
to the
At the
Han
steppe
time
sculptures
may owe some
art.
when Buddhism came
to
Madame
of Art
later,
in that
earlier
there
Indian it
directly
was an art.
ad-
Some
was the Wei from Western
winged-horse
plaques,
Dynasty, suggest that a
Greco-Scythian influence
with some
Feron-Stoclet')
may have
arrived
nomadic invaders.
Truer indications of influence through the Ordos style are found in the two Deer shown. Identified by some scholars as products of the Ordos region, they concise, rhythmic
CHINA are claimed by others to be strictly Chinese. Without being unnatural, they escape de-
variation of the dragon of earlier plates, but
tailed naturalism.
lacks
some of the pieces are more realistic than is usual in early Chinese sculpture, the period, which is not far from the time of
vigorous
If
Christ's birth
though
Shang art, The Chimera late
yields is
a
thousand years after
many
fantastic designs.
surprisingly
rugged
Collection of Mrs. John F. Lewis,
Fantastic Animal. Bronze.
Cleveland
y\
-zm^
199
Museum
o/ Art
Han,
and
massive,
all
considering
small
its
serpentine character.
Lion,
profusely
It
Above
decorated
it
is
is
a
a
and of
similar stylistic character.
The
horned, yet partly feline, partly equine
Fantastic
powerful. this
Animal
is
clean-cut, rhythmic,
and
In spite of the stripped style of
animal
and
the
simplicity
Lion. Bronze. Han. Philadelphia. (Photo courtesy University
Jr.,
size.
and
un-
Museum')
Chimera. Bronze. Han. Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
CHINA
200
Head
of a
Water
Buffalo. Bronze with inlay of gold
and
silver.
Chou. British
Museum
decorated appearance of the Bears (page 187), the hking for profusely decorated sculpture
was
to
continue through
art that
many
The
centuries.
began in the legendary Shang times
ornament at last and directness of representation— though what is represented might still be imaginary or mythical. Bronzes with inlays of gold and silver were especially prized in the late Chou and the Han eras. The inlaid pieces were usually vases, fibulae, and mirror-backs; but the Head with
display
reached
of a
this
added
of
simplicity
Buckle with antelope. Jade. Han. Collection, Fogg Museum of Art
Winthrop
Water Buffalo shown is sculpture in the made to serve as an axle cap and
round,
presumably one item in an array of orna-
Ceremonial ax head. Jade. Han.
mental chariot hardware. From such
British
in our
museums
it
relics
has been possible to gain
added insight into the sumptuous and liant life at the
The Han
Han
jades continued the double tradi-
tion of abstract or near-abstract
highly
bril-
courts.
formalized
figurative
stylization that reverted to the
emblems and carvings.
animal
A
art of
the steppes marks the ceremonial ax head surmounted by a dragon. The reversed head is a familiar Scythian motif and the addition of a second animal, the hare in this instance, is
also characteristic.
Museum
The
jades
example
offer
and
Han. City Art Museum,
occasional
for
engaging
the
clean-cut
Hill jar. Clay, glazed.
and
the
antelope,
on the buckle, which
sheer,
richly patterned for contrast.
cun'es
realism,
little
svelte
The
elongations
is
repeated of
the
animal are far removed from the fantastic
The tomb
first
St.
Louis
conspicuous output of the famous
statuettes occurred at this time.
were
beings
portrayed,
Especially ingratiating are of dogs,
often
Human groups.
in
some perky figures
and the many horses are impressive.
Already sculptors were producing models of
treatment of the beaked, winged Dragon in
houses,
the group on page 202, or the lush orna-
household paraphernalia, which are valuable
mentalism of countless dragon charms and
as
buckles in the museums.
rather
Seemingly there was nothing the sculptors of
Han would
not
Portrayal
attempt.
of
landscape would seem to be the province of painters
and
poets,
but one of the most
tinctive products of the time
The
the hill
jar.
is round with a bas-relief But the lid is a composition which the mountains rise up out of a
vessel itself
panel circling in
is
dis-
perianth
of
it.
waves.
The
subject-matter
is
drawn from the Taoist legend of the Blessed Isles. The elements of mountainous island and surrounding waves are manipulated for rhythmic sculptural beauty, and the effect as abstract composition is definite and compelling. The bas-reliefs molded on the pottery vessels demonstrate the liveliness and strength so usual in
Chinese
relievo.
court)'ards,
garden
and
pavilions,
clues to the life of the Chinese people
than
masterly
Han
as
such
Despite
sculpture.
Head
pieces as the
of a Horse,
the high periods of production were to occur
Wei and the T'ang The Chinese had been
in the
Dynasties.
masters
of
bas-
and the very shallow reliefcutting illustrated by the Scenes of Chinese Liang Tzu, Life from the tomb of one who died a.d. 147, is a typically Chinese relief
carving,
Wu
development.
Here
the
reduced in effect almost black-and-white
drawings;
has
design to
the
but
it
been
status is
of
stone-
cutting and therefore technically sculpture,
although the figures are only slightly raised
from
their
background. As practiced, the
art
and contrast. The voluminous horses and men and the accented contours mark the artists as sculptors at heart, has
unrivaled
vivacity
202
CHINA
Head
of a Horse. Clay. Han.
Royal Ontario
'
Dog. Clay. Han. Royal Ontario Museum
Museum
^^
CHINA
203
Scenes of Chinese Life, reliefs. Stone. Han. Shantung. C. T. Loo Collection: Musee Guimet, Paris. QLowcr photo, Giraudon')
rather than
mere draftsmen. The
illustrations
usually seen (including one of those here) are
from ruhbings or "squeezes" brought out
China by archaeologists. Throughout the stones, which depict military and other earthly scenes and life in fantastic realms of air, wind, and water, the sense of movement of
is
extraordinary and there
pending drama. From incised
design,
depending
linear exactitude,
is
mood
a
so
and high
to cutting in full
There
is
of im-
kind of shallowly
one can go on
of normal bas-relief,
back
this
largely
upon
to the
study
relief,
and
so
volume.
a series of colossal stone animals.
Lion. Stone. Han.
Chimera. Stone. C. a.d. 518. Near Nanking. (Fhoto by Osvald Siren^ Animal. Stone. C. a.d. 1400. Near Nanking. (Vhoto by Claude Arthaud and Frangois Hebert-Stevetis^
CHINA
20
5
incorporating the fullest resources of sculp tural art,
Wei
which date from the
The
period.
breathe
Whether but no
into the
seem
or
lion-like,
an overwhelming
Chimera, the sense of a
sixth-centur)'
to
magnificence.
the Lion shown, fragmentary
is
it
less
and
power
forth
Han
beasts
oversize
cious guardian animal
is
fero-
conveyed
as fully
as
and grandeur. The statues have magnitude and nobility and may mark one of the zeniths of art is
the impact of sculptural energy
in stone.
In the third example. Animal, a series of
bold and masterly decorative additions,
modify
cally Chinese,
appearance
Such
figures pro-
of overwhelming grandeur.
tected the "spirit paths" leading to the
of
men.
great
t)'pi-
a little the
Approaches
to
tombs
palaces
also
might be lined with the animals or with colossal stone soldier-guardians.
One
thousand years after the coming of
two
China's
supreme
Lao-Tse
sages,
and
Confucius, the influence of a third sage, the
Buddha Gautama, whose had inspired
religion
works of
great
art
already
in
India,
brought about a revolution among Chinese
medium figure,
became
Sculpture
artists.
of
this
religion,
essentially
the
and the human
long neglected as subject-matter, be-
came central, owing to Buddhist concentration upon the human mind and its development
Bodhisattva. Stone. North Wei.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
toward enlightenment.
There can be no doubt that Hindu models had effect upon the Chinese sculptors; and through the inherited
t\'pe of
from
the
Hindu
figure that
Greeks,
via
had
Gandhara,
some slight influence from Greece lingered on. There is an unmistakable aura of classic grace.
the
A
figure such as the Bodhisattva
Boston
Museum
exhibits
from
idioms easily
from Indian masters, and Greek and Eastern feeling is
identified as taken
the mixture of
The
Buddhists of India had fashioned ex-
filled
with
Buddha and in
his
life.
cave-temples, rock-cut
The
and
were
these
representations
his attendants,
the photographs of the caves in their present
condition statues,
in
fail to
Honan
justice to the individual
indicates
jestic effect of
One
do
though one of the Lung
Men
Caves
something of the macs
the major figures.
rather angular
and slenderized
style
stands out distinctively and unmistakably in
faintly evident in the face.
traordinary'
more restraint, hollowed out shrines quite as amazing and exuberantly decorated. Perhaps the most satisfying examples date from the late fifth and sixth centuries. In general,
of
the
and of incidents
Chinese, with only a
little
semidetached figures from, and
Men Loo
Caves.
collection
been referred tendency
The is
a beautiful
to as
to play
in,
the
Lung
seated Bodhisattva of the
example and has
Gothic on account of the
with the flowing contours.
Buddha and Attendant. Lung Men Caves, Honan, China. QPhoto by Claude Arthaud and Francois Hebert-Stevens^
and the abstract, almost geometrical design. Another stylistic development, characteristic of the earlier painted sculpture of the
Kang Caves
Yun
in Shansi, resulted in rounder
fine
of
ornamental panels carved upon the face the
monument, and usually
in
which full-rounded
The Buddhist
more in harmony with the serenity of Buddhism. Many of the cave Buddhas in situ
placed.
demonstrate the quiet nobility of the
relief-carving
figures
and
style,
example
there
is
a
deep-cut niche (sometimes more than one) or
engaged
votive
figures are
stelae
shown
two types of decorative flattened
illustrate
much
practiced
China
in
through several centuries.
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art makes clear the sculptural idioms by which the workers at Yun Kang
monumental blossomed
achieved their
Sculpture in bronze developed in two direc-
In
the
the
effects.
early
(See page 189.) century shrines were
sixth
built in incredible
numbers
in China.
During
only two reigns the emperors erected thirteen
thousand
Buddhist
temples.
The
shrines,
except the caves, have disappeared but considerable statues
numbers
of stelae
have survived.
stele is a stone slab
and
high
graphic
relief.
pictorial
and independent
A common
kind of
carved in combined low
There scenes
are
and
wonderfully exceptionally
The
tions.
small sculptural arts as well as the
One was
in the
Wei
Dynasty.
the utter simplicity of such
concise expressions as the Buddhist
Though
small in
size,
Monk.
the figure affords an
impression of solidity, power, even magnitude.
Every unnecessary feature, every complicating detail has at
the
from an
been sheared away. The Buddha
University
Museum,
altar group,
though simple, has been
decoratively enriched.
most baroque.
Some
Philadelphia,
pieces were
al-
CHINA
Seated Maitreya. Stone, a.d. 512. Lung Men Caves. University Museutn, Philadelphia
Top left: Buddhist Monk. Bronze. Wei. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Center: Buddha. Bronze. Sui. University Museum, Philadelphia
Left:
Seated Bodhisattva. Stone. Early 6th century. Lung Men Caves. C. T. Loo Collection
Buddhist votive
Muscinn
North Wei. 6th century. Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
stelae. Stone.
of Fine Arts, Boston;
CHINA The
bronzes were mostly devotional figures
Unmistakable influence
or groups of figures.
from India
evident in the Buddhist
is
though the animal figures have come down direct
and the
The
Chinese
in the
Lung Men
leaf-form
line,
sug-
is
stone figures.
nimbus
filled
the
of
characteristic
altar,
base seem to
at the
angular sculpturing
lean,
gestive of the
was
209
with flames
earliest
dated
Chinese Buddhist sculptures, bronzes of 437 and 444. The exquisite little gilded bronze
Buddha
at the University
Museum
nimbus. This was adapted in to
shows
a
later sculptures
appear as a decorative canopy, along a line
of development that
more often encoun-
is
tered in Japan.
The wide
diversity of techniques can
be
noted also in the surviving monuments of carved
sculpture.
The
Bodhisattva
Freer Gallery, essentially Chinese, farthest
too
Buddhist
altar.
Musee Guimet
Bronze, gilded.
the
at the
remove from the austere treatment previously, though it unmistakably a product of Chinese
is
Buddhist
A.D. 518.
of
Monk shown
the
of
is
art.
The "feel of the stone" is inherent in the Head of a Buddha at Minneapolis, which is typical of many detached heads taken from China into the museums of the Western world. The colossal Head of a Bodhisattva at the University Museum, though decorahas impressive and silent grandeur.
tive,
As
if
to prove their
independence of any
cave
stylistic limitations,
artists,
at
about the
same
time,
light,
almost frivolous touch evident in the
produced mural
Apsara in linear
grace
the Fogg
reliefs
with the
Museum. Seldom
has
been woven more charmingly
into stone patterns than in the series of cave
decorations at T'ien this
Lung Shan from which The differences of
fragment was taken.
style in
the statues
and
reliefs
of a single
cave shrine are attributable to the fact that sculptors
many
came
to a
few working centers from from India. There
distant points, even
Buddha. Bronze, University
gilded.
Wei. a.d. 536.
Museum, Philadelphia
Head of a Bodhisattva. Stone, colossal. 6th century. University Museum, Philadelphia
Bodhisattva. Stone. Period of the Six Dynasties. Freer Gallery of Art
Head
of a Buddha. Stone. Northern Ch'i. Honan. Minneapolis Institute of Arts
CHINA are diflFerences,
Eastern
Wei
too,
between the
211
art of
the
regime and the Western.
was during the Wei Dynasty that the making pottery figurines came to a chmax. In accordance with men's behef that it was good to be surrounded in the tomb with what had been interesting and agreeIt
of
art
able in hfe, the statuettes represented court
dancing
ladies,
and
so
both
pet dogs, pigs, horses,
girls,
on— though anything and
been depicted sooner or
Among more
everything
and legendary seems
actual
the most intriguing objects are the
or less imaginary beasts, such as
catlike
Tiger (or dog) from the Loo
The most
tion.
Providence.
the
collec-
were Dragon
spirited of the figures
often the dragons or chimeras, as the at
have
to
later.
The
ancestors of this beast can
be found, of course, in the bronzes and jades of
Chou
the
era
of
thousand
a
years
earlier.
Most
of
statuettes
Apsara. Stone. Northern Ch'i. T'ien Lung Shan Caves. Fogg Museum of Art
the
were
at
terra-cotta
or
earthenware
one time painted, and those
that have survived bear traces or patches of
and only very
coloring, often white, full
rarely a
coating of pigment. Already glazed or
partly
glazed
appeared
figures
among
the
earthenware pieces.
Dragon. Clay. Wei.
Rhode hland School Tiger. Clay. Wei. C. T.
of
Museum
Design,
Loo Collection
of Art,
Providence.
CHINA
212
Fragmentar)'
ornamental
horses'
heavy
with
horses
clay, and and unusual
heads in
trappings
remain
additions
Wei and T'ang
examples of the
pieces illustrated, at Cleveland
perfect
as
The
mastery.
and Oxford,
once massive, beautifully rhythmic,
are
at
and
reposeful.
The
essential sculptural large-
ness suffers no diminution from the profuse
adornments.
The Wei
Period and the follow-
ing T'ang give to the world
its
largest trea-
sure of sculpture in clay.
The human
figure in the time of
treated, in the statuettes,
Wei was
with something
less
than the finesse shown in the T'ang Era.
But the kimonoed into
solidly
flaring at
skirts
ladies, generally
pillar-like
The
faces of the
ples at the Royal Ontario
and
The buted
Bodhisattva in stone
Wei
in is
A
Museum
and
exam-
are typi-
full of character.
to the Ch'i
bud,
with
the feet, are engaging
sculpturally correct.
cal
modeled
compositions,
550). car\'ed
is
attri-
The
holding a lotus
figure,
with a remarkable simplicity.
dignified material solidity
remoteness
shown
(which displaced Eastern
from
the
W. Museum
Horse. Clay. Wei. Charles Collection, Cleveland
and
world
a sense of
have
Harkncss of Art
been
Women.
Clay. Wei.
Royal Ontario
Museum
Horse. Clay. T'ang.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
CHINA achieved. Captured in stone
213
the stillness,
is
the awareness of an interior hfe, which
is
at
the heart of Buddhist devotion.
The 581
to
tions
the
following Sui Dynasty, in power from 618, brought in no stylistic innova-
but fostered the
arts as
Six Dynasties emperors.
known under
A
high point
was reached in the portion of a shrine now at the Nelson Gallery, which epitomizes the colorful and vigorous Oriental mode. It commands attention for the skill in marshaling mass and movement, and in stressing a main line of direction through a writhing pattern of virile bodies and thrusting ornament. It marks a peak in the sculpof elaboration
tural design that parallels to
some extent the
unrivaled Chinese silk embroideries.
Elaboration ful
in
the
is
more
limestone
restrained
and
Kiian-Yin
at
From this time forward known as Kuan-Yin, and
grace-
Boston.
the god of mercy, later as a goddess,
the Merciful Mother, was a favorite figure in
'>«t
the enlarged pantheon of Buddhist and
Taoist divinities.
The
suavely decorative Kuan-Yin at the
Metropolitan
Museum
is
a
counterpart
in
Bodhisattva. Stone. Northern Ch'i. University Museum, Philadelphia
Portion of Shrine. Stone. Sui.
Nelson Gallery- Atkins Museum, Kansas City
2
1
CHINA
4
bronze. At this time the repeated forms in the
draperies
elaborate
of
Buddhist
the
bronzes began to be more fluent: a step
ward the tMpe era.
characteristic
of
to-
the T'ang
Especially notable here are the ribbon-
and edgings. The seated Kuan-Yin of the Freer Gallery was produced at a time when many of the bronze figures were being dressed up in elaborate garments and garlands. This one achieved sculptural solidity and even re-
like accessories
markable
of
the
retaining
The in
New
York
and religious feeling in a more lyric and more graceful
sions of aesthetic
great era
and
is
than most of the stone sculpture of the time.
of the
the
stone
heights
of
statue
that
Ktian-Yiu. Bronze. Sui. Metropolitan Museum of Art
The
sive qualities
is
to
and mas-
of graceful
be seen in a Bodhisattva
Tien Lung Shan is
caves.
The
large
not unusual for that
time, but the subtle shaping of the
body and
the delicacy of feeling in the treatment of
to
new
the draperies suggest an exceptional refine-
dignit)'
and
ment
was carried
achievement.
rocklike
one of the sublime expres-
is
mass of the statue
and bronze and wood, were practiced all it was
of
Bodhisattva from a private collection
The
in clay
quality
solidity.
histor)'.
with surpassing mastery, but above
undis-
are
and Bodhisattvas are subtlv expressi\e even while
nificent,
techniques of sculpture,
pieces
mass and surface variation. These Buddhas
by reputation the most magthe most gorgeous period of Chinese is
lesser
the
turbed by the counterpoint of line and minor
The same combination
plastic integrity.
The T'ang
monumentalism
of the
art.
Kuatj-Yii:. Stone. Sui,
6th— 7th centuries. Mit^euvi of ¥inc
Arts, Boston
^ .^M^
Kiiati-Yiii.
Bronze.
T
an;^.
Fill
'
-f
Art
gilt and color. T'ang, 8th-9th centuries. Freer Gallery of Art
Bodhisattva. Stone, with
Bodhisattva. Stone. T'ang. 8th-9th centuries. Private Collection, Neiv York
I
CHINA
216 The dried
the
title
lacquer.
which
Mu-
Bodhisattva of the MetropoHtan
seum on is
premely
The
a central felt.
page of
The
volume
this
quiet
in
is
expressiveness,
aim of Buddhist
art, is
sculptural character
suin-
is
politan
Museum, with
The Kneeling much smaller in is
the treatment of draperies.
ously the garment
technique of dried lacquer results in
different effects
from those of stone carving
and clay modeling. Over an armature of
wood
or a removable clay core the figure
roughly modeled with cloths soaked in quer.
Successive layers of lacquer-wet cloth
or of lacquer paste are
been built out
face has
when
added to
until the sur-
its
a coating of lacquer paint
Smooth
surfaces,
sharpened
method.
banded
area-edges
The
are
Bodhisattva
shape,
final is
applied.
and
draperies,
natural of
the
to
the
Metro-
Bodhisattva. Stone. T'ang. T'ien Lung Shan Caves, Shansi. ^Courtesy Osvald Siren^
Tiiii
and
how
worth noting
treatment
is
less
verv
is
power-
colossal figures. It
simply and harmoni-
Again the
suggested.
is
reminder
a
Chinese sculptors
of
the
debt
of
the Buddhist sculptors
to
of India.
The
is
lac-
but hardly
ful than the life-size
creased by surface harmonies, particularly in
The
typical.
is
Bodhisattva in stone size
and
features
facial
drapery edges cleanly accented,
technical
marked edges
is
expedient not,
of
carved stone statues.
in
The
have been noted in some of the of the sisted
Buddha carved
unknown
device might earliest
in China,
and
heads it
through the following centuries,
Head of Buddha in the Museum. That the medium of wood
the
sharply
of
course,
Victoria
per-
as in
and
Albert
also
could be
Kneeling Bodhisattva. Stone. T'ang. Fogg Museum of Art
used for the noblest purposes, with amplitude
and
impersonal
proved in the
grandeur,
life-size
the Metropolitan ness of the
wood
Museum is
is
sufficiently
Kuan-Yin shown, from of Art.
The
soft-
properly revealed in the
deeper cutting and the freer play of ribboned forms.
When sculptors
they worked with wood, Chinese
sometimes
copied
nature
exactly,
as they did also in later lacquer figures.
lacquer
Head
tive of a
at
Chicago
is
model and marks the
attained by the Chinese in
The
obviously imitafarthest point
their excursion
into naturalism— at a far distance from their
normal Oriental formalism. All the collections of Oriental art include
Head. Dried lacquer. T'ang. Art Institute of Chicago
Kuan-Yin. Wood. T'ang or Sung. Metropolitan Museum of Art
figures of
tomb
or temple guardians in stone
Head
of Buddha. Stone. T'ang. Victoria and Albert Museum
218
CHINA
and wood. The bulky bodies and brutal considered appropriate
themselves well
The example
to
to
heavy sculptural
Hoyt Collection is undried lacquer. Somewhat less
horrendous than some, subtlety of expression.
effect
is
of
it
an unusual
The amount
extraordinary,
solidity,
has
is
the
of
minor
considering
the
not to say concentrated
power, conveyed by the figure.
example
effects.
in the
usual, being of
modeling
faces
purpose lent
the
Head
A
related
of a Lion, exceptionally
there
In small clay sculpture the T'ang era
is
Wei. Primitive expression-
and
mastery
realistic is
to
in
more but
in
the
little to
as
too,
Camel shown.
The Horse poulos
in
Collection
Comhat at
the
the
Eumorfo-
British
Museum
of
indicates that the spiritedness
common
to the
treatment of animals in the Chou, Han, and
Wei
eras has
been maintained.
study could be
made
An
endless
of the caparisoned ani-
mals and the ways in which their trappings
The
saddle robe here, in
form and the direction of
its
its
edges, provides
an instructive example of creative composing.
Camel. Clay. T'ang. Fuller Collection, Seattle Art Mtisentn
Horse
a
elaboration,
expression
direct
are represented.
in cast iron.
fully as rich as the
ism and simplicity give way a
Combat. Clay. T'ang. British Museum
CHINA The unusual rounding
of the forms
and
the smoothing of the surfaces of the Polo
Player at Stockholm
make
a
ing appeal, though perhaps a
more
ingratiat-
less
profound
compared with the Camel or the Horse. It is an extraordinarily accomplished one
as
and
fluent design, hardly rivaled in
ticular
field
outside
the
219 its
par-
body of Chinese
work.
The tomb
statuettes of the
be masterpieces of
realistic
T'ang era can reporting.
The
Equestrienne Dismounting, and the group of
posed Ladies are typical treatments of themes
from everyday
life.
They
illustrate the appli-
cation of solid sculptural artisanship to the slightest subjects.
Tetnple Guardian. Dried lacquer. T'ang. Collection of Charles B. Hoyt. (^Courtesy Fogg
Museum
Head
of a Lion. Cast iron. T'ang. Detroit Institute of Arts
of Art')
Equestrienne Dismounting. Clay. T'ang. Detroit Institute of Arts
Polo Player. Clay. T'ang. Museum of Far Easter^i Antiquities, Stockholm
CHINA
220
Wei and
Both the
the T'ang statuettes on
these pages are executed in clay
from
vary
plain
terra-cotta
to
and they examples
painted in white or varied colors, and glazed examples.
seem not
most 1
were generally
sculptural
values
which
loss of
sculpture.
the
contribution was wooden statues. They large and captured the com
distinctive
painted
bination of magnificence and quiet feeling
have been harmed by the
In general to
The made
had
characterized
The
massive and rich in
color.
One t}'pe is
flaring
detail.
It
is
is
both
utterly re-
poseful yet sculpturally alive, a masterpiece
the
of the style.
and sophisticated Lady with festooned sleeves and shoulder patches. Her headdress and with flaring
but the pointed effect
is
ruffles to
relieved
rounding of the statuette
match,
by the
that repeats the oval of the face,
collar
and by a
at the base.
After the T'ang Dynasty came to an end 907, five minor dynasties rose and
fell
Sung Dynasty came into This was a turning point in
before the powerful
being
religious
especially attractive
skirts are fitted
A.D.
T'ang
Kiian-Yin at Boston
a.d. 960.
Chinese historj'; but the more than three hundred years of Sung yielded little superlative sculpture.
Fhtte-Player; Lute-Player; Lady. Clay. T'ang. Victoria and Albert Museum; British Museum; Royall Tyler Collection
Bodhisattva.
Wood. Sung, 12th-13th
centuries. Collection of Charles B. Hoyt. QCourtesy Fogg Museum of Art^
Vase. Clay, glazed. Sung. Freer Gallery of Art
The
Bodhisattva of the
Hoyt
Collection
more dignity and reserve than most of the wooden figures of the period. The technique of cutting, too, is crisper, and the graceful draperies resemble the T'ang. This retains
piece
exceptional for the expression of both
is
discernment
spiritual
and sculptural
sensi-
The bronze Water Buffalo
realism.
who
action,
is
China in the Sung and dishes were unsurpassed for form, glaze, and texture, and at its best the ceramic vessel had abstract the heights achieved in
The
era.
sculptural
The
architecture
the
of
The
abstractly
The
sage
of
non-resistant
put his trust in mystic under-
at
ease
beasts.
the significance of the
beauty.
properly adjusted, with feeling for
is
shown, from the Freer Gallery,
shown
recognize
vases, bowls,
ordered mass and svelte contour.
most refractory of to
no other
on a
Lao-Tse
of
standing and a serene power derived from nature,
generally believed that at
exact and subtly expressive,
statuette is
avoids the over-detailing of a too ob-
it
servant
know
is
bowl
bihty.
yet
It
time or place did the art of the potter reach
upon one of the But one need not this Taoist theme
superlative
treatment. (See page 184.)
values of
the
designed,
is
hardly
less
vase
sculptural than the
infrequent ones with representational touches in high relief.
A (of
set of six
an
Lohans, or disciples of Buddha
original
probable
eighteen),
forms
one of the curiosities of the late period of Chinese sculpture. These of clay, glazed
the potter)' that
and
we
life-size figures are
fired in call
the
manner
of
chinaware. Because
CHINA
Kuan-Yin. Wood. Yuan. Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Lohan. Clay, glazed. Sung or Ming. University
Museum, Philadelphia
of the size, each piece constitutes a man'el of ceramic achievement. versity
Museum
is
The one
at the
Uni-
particularly interesting for
the fine head and expressive face.
The
vir-
tues of the series, however, are comparative. It is
obvious, from the laxness of sculptural
expression in the figure, that the standards of the art
The
had already
223
seriously deteriorated.
colors, unfortunately, are overbright
and
inharmonious.
the
of
earlier
achievements.
The
heavily
decorated Kuan-Yin of the Nelson Gallery,
which ever, a
is
Yuan
ascribed to the
Era,
is,
how-
welcome exception.
The Yuan
Dynasty, of the Mongols, suc-
ceeded the Sung and in 1368 gave way to the
Ming, which
came into among the
the
to 1644. Century and no fresh inspiration
lasted
after century passed, art.
The
ivory carvings are
best works from the
Ming
period.
In the Orient a replica of a masterpiece
Objects in ivory had been treasured im-
was valued as highly as the original, if it was as fine, and copying the great works of the past now became a recognized industry.
memorially but had been overshadowed by
Works dated to the Sung and Yuan and Ming Dynasties but "in the style of Han" or
"Chou"
or
rarely does a or
a
Lohan
"Wei" are numerous. Yet only Kuan-Yin or a tomb guardian substantially reflect
the glories
the popular and exquisite carvings in jade. Most distinctive of the Chinese ivories in Western museums are figures, often of old men, shaped to preserve substantially the outline of the tusk; that
but slightly
cut.
is,
The
with the indentations effectiveness
of
pieces arises from the resulting slender
the styli-
Seated Kiian-Yi7i. Porcelain. Early Ch'ing.
Buckingham
Collection,
Art Institute of Chicago
Kuan-Yin. Porcelain. Late iMing Seattle Art Museum
Old Men.
Museum
Ivory.
Ming. Metropolitan
of Art; Royal Ontario
Museum
CHINA zation
and
ized old
fluent channeling.
man
The
standard-
of these pieces, representing the
dignity and serenity of the aged,
is
some-
times called the god of longevity.
Porcelain figures became a standard prod-
and the hundreds of known examples are pleasing and distinctive. The \drtues here are grace and the fitness of the creamy white ware to its sentimental-symbolic subject matter. The figure is most often the Kuan- Yin, now become a feminine deit)% and as comidolized in the Far East as the is
in
the
West.
Chicago and Seattle are
The
objects
shown
intricate
ivory
carvings
in
Ma-
The examples
at
typical.
in the facing illustra-
—arouse our wonder more ing, too,
was
carried on, both in
in relief,
throughout the world.
The
account
that artisans
may
were
best
still
end with the truth
occasionally, in objects
such as stone seal-handles and jade figures, capturing a
little
of the magic of early Chi-
nese animal sculpture.
Shang and Ming. Some
massing and exquisite
of the most ingenious
workmanWoodcarvthe round
for their
and the spread and the ornateness of the fretwork screens and panels, the hiah-relief carvings on beam and balustrade, and the melodramatic figures in the temples, pagodas, and palaces of Peking are known and
and have sentimental appeal but cannot compare with the profound works produced in the twenty-five centuries between tions are prett)'
relief— mar-
velously cut fans and screens and box panels
ship than for artistic originality.
uct,
monly donna
and
225
A
composition such as
the appealing Horse in white jade affords us
something of the old delight in rhythmic finish.
Horse. Jade. Ch'ing. Kang Hsi period, 1662—1722. Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902
9:
Korea and Japan:
The Spread of Buddhist Sculpture
I KOREA'S
location
on a peninsula point-
actual
models
of
Buddhist
sculpture
into
ing southward from the Manchurian main-
Japan, and from this beginning the whole
land toward the westernmost islands of Japan
monumental
was
a factor in the spread of sculptural art in
the
Far East.
In
the
period
of
the
Han
art of the
Japanese was
to flower.
who
Racially the Koreans were Siberians
had
from
settled in the peninsula as refugees
They
Dynasty the Chinese Empire had expanded to embrace both lower Manchuria and Korea. Korean art was destined, in the centuries im-
the war-torn states of upper China.
mediately following, to be a brilliant reflection
Japanese. Their social and cultural customs
of Chinese
and
art.
Korean
Wine
artists
in
turn took
per-
sisted physically as a distinctive people, differ-
ing both
from the Chinese and from the
institutions
were those of China (includ-
vessel, tomb figure. Clay. Possibly 4th century a.d. Kyungju, South Korea. National Museum, Seoul
KOREA AND JAPAN ing ancestor-worship and spirit-worship, edu-
fifth
tide
and
money,
cash
system,
cational
the
were full in the of Buddhist ardor that was then sweeping sixth centuries they
The Korean
the Chinese Empire.
Buddha and
the
In
etc.)-
statues of
made
Bodhisattvas
at
that
currents
The
arts.
begins with
from Korea
kingdom both the knowledge of Buddhism and the tradition of Buddhist sculpture. Korean art is competent, craftsmanlike, and pleasing, but most of it is derivative. While island
sculpture tery
is
particularly
The
among
noticeable
the field in
is
please
their arts, pot-
which the Koreans more discriminating
collectors.
porcelains were developed with original-
and rivaled the Chinese products. There were three phases in Korean
The
sculpture,
first,
from a tomb, imagination. in
and
The
second phase,
dependence upon China
for
method.
still
In
this
an
indicates
Bodhisattva in bronze,
a
sculp-
a local type of mortuary
illustrated in a terra-cotta piece
is
there
inventive
as instanced
illustrates
the
both subject and persist
vaguely
some traits inherited from the Greeks through the Romans, developed idiomatically by the sculptors of Gandhara, absorbed into the main body of Indian Buddhist art, carried to the Chinese, and handed on by them to the
The
Koreans. relief
in
third phase
panels from the
is
illustrated in the
Temple
of Sok-kul-am
South Korea, where the Korean sculptors
known Lung Men Caves and other Chinese and endowed their work with a
departed somewhat from the models as in the
shrines
serenity
and
lifelikeness not
encountered be-
introduction
in a.d. 552,
and the cultural
ideals
Korea from the Buddhist
China
of
Japan
Buddhism
of
determined
Japanese
practice for centuries.
Although the
tide of
Buddhism swept over
Japan from outside, transforming worship and that the Japanese
art, it is clear
who were
trained artisans
had previously work with
able to
and understand the immigrant Korean sculptors, and in time to make the traditional Buddhist sculpture their own in a personal and national way. There is a primitive Japanese sculpture which goes back to the later Neolithic
In a period
era.
known
as
Jomon
a
and anthropomorphic techniques were made in
figures in potter's
considerable numbers.
and
fifth
oped
a
Later,
form of sculpture
Haniwa.
It
folk
and
art,
in
centuries, the Japanese
had
devel-
known
as
in appearance a primitive or
is
recently for
in clay,
the fourth
it
has been widely celebrated sirtiple
its
virtues
and a naive
individuality.
The Haniwa compositions were generally tomb figures; again China is paralleled, though there is no stylistic connection with Chinese.
the
The Haniwa
figures,
seldom
more than three feet high, were set outside the burial mounds, usually on cylinders built as reinforcement of the mounds, whereas the Chinese clay ladies, dancers, and musicians were interred inside with their owner. The may have been the same: to relieve the
origin
loneliness of the afterlife by providing loved
amusing companions at the tomb, mercimanufactured in clay so that the originals might stay alive— though once ser\'ants, or
fully
fore.
entertainers,
Owing
the
special sort of pottery
it)'
tural art.
philosophies, religions,
real story of the art of
through
sculptors
annexed. But in the sixth century, in one of they passed on to the
new
tions introduced
and
derived
quieter periods,
when
interchange with the nearby continental na-
from the mainland figures. The Koreans were harried by the nearby Japanese, were sometimes conquered and had their land the
commerce. Between periods of
of
withdrawal, however, there were times
time and in the T'ang era are hardly distinguishable
227
to
their
geographic position,
the
withdrew from contacts with the mainland and from contamination bv the world island people of Japan sometimes for long periods
and horses had been buried with
their masters.
The new Buddhist
religion
was not im-
mediately established; political factions fought for
and against
it
until Prince
Shotoku Taishi
^^/,?^-^-^,^-^ Triad
\vith
Buddha. By Tori.
became Regent to the Empress Suiko and gave official encouragement to the building of monasteries and temples. However uncertain and delayed official acceptance may have been, the Buddhist art style was established by the importation of Korean images and by
The name of
the arrival in Japan of sculptor-monks.
period was
known
as
Suiko from the
a.d. 613. Horiuji
Temple, Nara
and taught with
emphasis that a
special
spirit
inhabited every person, phenomenon, or object.
While not a particularly exacting reShinto had its ritual and reached into
ligion,
every home, since every piece of furniture
and cooking or washing with a
utensil
was endowed
an
unquestioning
spirit.
There
also
developed
and obedience
an emperor whose
the Empress (reigning from 593 to 628), or Asuka, from the name of the district in which
patriotism
the culture formed, in Yamato.
dating from feudal times, led to dominance
Shinto had been the distinctive religion of the Japanese.
It
was
a mosaic of beliefs
which
included nature-worship and ancestor-worship
spirit
to
A
was the sun-goddess.
by the samurai or military tured onlv a few of the
caste
class.
arts,
system,
Shinto nur-
most notably the
formalized no drama and the minor sculp-
KOREA AND JAPAN tural art that provided
remained
Shinto
masks
the
for the
ofBcial
no
rehgion
of
Japan until 1945, even though the showier rehgious monuments of the country had been for
more than
thirteen centuries the Buddhist
and the Buddhist
monasteries,
the
priests
most active workers in sculpture. Buddhism opened new vistas of universal spirituality, self-giving, and compassion. But the individual was still surrounded by those thousands of minor spirits, and he had no reason to give up the main beliefs and observances of
The
horizon was widened as was
art
re-
and the Japanese went the Biiddhas and Bodhisatt-
perception,
ligious
to creation of
vas in
who
did
much
wood
or bronze to celebrate the
Bud-
dha Sakyamuni. They learned to provide the vehicle by which the devotee might be stimulated
spiritual
to
mood
into the
contemplation or be led
of quiet peace, the token on
earth of nirvana.
Because the islands lacked workable stone, the sculptors turned to wood, of
which there
was a plentiful supply, and they learned to work bronze. In Japan too, as in China, statues of life size or over were built up in
The
appreciation
increase
to
229
pioneer scholar-writer
a
of
Japanese sculpture in America and England, wrote in
The Enduring
Art of Jafan that
means
"possession of the mysteries of a craft
nothing
and
than a power over nature gods
less
Japan's sculpture
extraordinary
and
man who
creates a priest out of the
trols it."
power
to
understand
priest's business.
Throughout is
nature
man
inner
with an image sufficiently true is
con-
evidence of an
is
to transmit the spirit of
world the priest-sculptor
Shinto.
on
Langdon Warner,
actors.
along
to nature.
It
the Buddhist
found, and Bud-
and
dhist sculpture attains spiritual quietude
repose more fully than any other.
One in
of the waves of influence from China,
the period of the T'ang emperors
(a.d.
618-907), brought a modification of the im-
which is implicit in monumental sculpture. Ch'an
personality or aloofness early Japanese
Buddhism had turned the Chinese product toward humanism and simplification, and temporarily at least toward realism. Ch'an or
Zen Buddhism
in Japan brought in a gradual toward lifelikeness in portraiture, and
drift
(from the Taoist element especially) an ease and methods of cut-
in both pose of subject
tree, a species of
ting or modeling. In later centuries, as sculp-
both countries. But the
ture entered fields other than the religious,
Japanese genius found noblest expression in
some of the stiffer poses came back into At the same time the craftsmanship began a centuries-long decline, ending in a
lacquer.
lacquer or lac
sumac, was native the
medium
to
of wood.
fashion.
For thirteen centuries the Japanese have
and protected the early wooden and the wooden temples and monasteries in which many of them are housed. While a few centuries of wars or a few decades of religious intolerance have obtreasured
rather slick sort of stylization.
masterpieces
The earliest two historic periods, the Suiko and the Nara, were comprised in slightly less than two hundred and fifty years and produced the best of which Japanese artists were capable. The Suiko period ended within
literated
most of the images in wood in the
rest of the civilized
succeeded
in
world, the Japanese have
preserving
a
major heritage.
Their wooden figures form the world's most successful
achievement of sculpture in the
medium. The African body of sculptures in wood, which is equally craftsmanlike and aesthetically
form of rose to a
Africans.
as
appealing,
creation,
is
also
a
ritual
but the Japanese figures
monumcntality seldom attained by
a century, in a.d. 646.
In the late seventh
century art flowered anew, in what as the
The
Nara
period,
which was
following period
is
known
is
to last to 794.
known
as the
Heian,
from a word meaning "Capital of Peace," referring to the
new
capital,
Kyoto. Despite
successful repetitions of traditional types, the
time
is
somehow an unexciting
circumstances fresh
should
modes of
have
expression.
one.
given
New
rise
Buddhism
to
ex-
KOREA AND JAPAN
230
panded with the rise of mystical sects, and the court and nobles strove to lift the arts to new creative levels. But the golden age was past. Sculpture lost its simplicity and somedignity, although
thing of
its
liveliness
and outward decorative
The
it
acquired a grace.
Heian period (or Heian II, as it is sometimes referred to) was also called the Fujiwara period. The Kamapart of the
latter
kura period (from
about a return
1186
1392) brought Curiously
to
to older standards.
enough, the destruction of some of the great Buddhist temples at Nara occasioned the renaissance.
Tokyo.
Government-approved publications list and dates of the historical
compile the
periods thus:
Asuka period (or Suiko) Nara period Fleian period
I
Heian period
II
(sometimes Fujiwara)
Kamakura period Muromachi period
Momoyama
period
552-646 646-794 794-897
897-1186 1186-1392 1392-1568 1568-1615
Yedo period
1615-1867
Modern
1867-to date
period
Leading sculptors were brought
together and were set the task of producing
images "as fine as the ones destroyed."
It
turned out that they did not possess the genius necessar)' to the conception and execution of statues as magnificent as the Biiddhas
and Bodhisattvas
of the eighth century, but
they did develop a school of woodcarving that excelled in realistic portraiture.
After
Kamakura
the
came
period
the
Muromachi, from 1392 to 1568, to 161 5, and the Yedo to 1867. But by any profound standard the history of Japanese sculpture had all but ended in the then the
Momoyama
thirteenth or at latest the fourteenth century.
The
late
and
sometimes
Kamakura
interesting
portraits are
an
illustrate
extraordinary
combination of realism and schematization.
Zen Buddhism tendency
retained
suppress
to
none
the
of
personality,
early
and en-
couraged the production of images of saints
and
priests.
acters
From
portraying religious char-
the sculptors began
noblemen and
From tieth
commemorate
to
warriors.
the seventeenth to the early twen-
century
monumental
sculpture
is
mentioned in serious books about the art, and Japanese sculpture is known to most Western collectors and students in such small objects as masks, netsuke, and sword scarcely
and
guards, larger
in
ivory
tiny
with
masterpieces,
carvings.
rare
The
exceptions,
are to be seen only in the Buddhist monasteries,
or
national
occasionally
museums
at
at
one of the three Nara,
Kyoto,
or
Bodhisattva. Bronze. 7th century.
Sankoku, Korea. Fogg
Museum
of Art
n TH
E
Korea of the sixth centur)^ was
successful in art in
the fields culti-
all
vated by the Chinese of the era of the Six
There
Dynasties. the
fourth
wine
or in
vessel
are
some clay century,
fifth
of
form of
the
a
pieces from
which the warrior on
horseback, at the head of this chapter,
abstract sculpture.
curred
also
tombstones,
in
A
native development oc-
memorial lanterns and
the
which take simple form, then
blossom in incidental ornament
on stone
is an amusing example. But the commoner type of early Korean sculpture is so similar to the
wall coverings. Those at the
Chinese, as in the case of the bronze Bo-
which
dhisattva
All
opposite,
name
able to
the
that
only specialists are
types of statue
common
to
Buddhist centers of China under the
the
Wei
emperors are duplicated in the products of the Korean ciples
from
are
states.
The Buddha and
found in everv
colossal
stone
figures
his dis-
near
kul-am, is
Kyungju
in
part cave-shrine
tural structure,
slabs for
Temple
of Sok-
South
and part
Korea, architec-
form one of the noblest of the art
meccas in the Far
East.
Like the Chinese models (and similarly fluenced by Greco-Indian
sculpture),
in-
these
half-round figures, ascribed to a.d. 752, have dignity, amplitude,
size
and form,
also
to
diminutive
nately Korean.
The tomb guardians, both human and animal, abound, and relief sculpture is varied and spirited. The design of pagodas in Korea was original and might be considered as a sort of bronzes.
series of large figures cut
many Buddhist
the origin immediately.
as distinctive
found on the Celtic crosses of Ireland. Most worthy of attention, however, is a as that
Of the
a
special
the Neolithic figure
at
shown between
and
serenity.
They have
rounded grace which
the
is
in-
Jomon culture in Japan, Musee Guimet, Paris,
primitively decorated jars,
simpler than most and pleasing pre-Buddhist
is
is
one of the more
Jomon
products.
Teapot; figure; vase. Clay. Japanese, Jomon culture. Musee Guimet. QPhoto Giraudon^
232
KOREA AND JAPAN
Buddhist
figures. Stone, a.d.
752. Temple of Sok-kul-am, South Korea.
(_Photos courtesy National
Museum,
Seoul')
KOREA AND JAPAN
/
i
> I
\t'
«t>
;'
<
s ik^
V i
I
\ V
Temple of Sok-kul-am. QPhotos courtesy National Museum, Seoul~)
BocUiisattvas. Stone.
233
KOREA AND JAPAN
234
The Horse
of
the
Haniwa
primitive
or
shows surprising intuitional graces and an amusing mixture of formal short-cutfolk
art
ting
and
The image,
realistic detailing.
bronze Buddha from Seoul, a Korean is
an idiom reminiscent of the
in
carvings of the
Lung Men Caves
Wei
of the sixth
century and of the Chinese bronze statuettes
and seventh wooden Buddha of
of the sixth
the
centuries.
the
early
But with seventh
century from the Chuguji Temple there
is
a suggestion of a native Japanese modifica-
imported
tion of the clarity
were
style.
to characterize
several centuries following.
native
upon
sculptors a
and
Japanese work for
And, indeed, the
already
setting
out
course that would lead them to a
distinctive
ment.
were
Simplification
The
and magnificent national achievevery fine Buddha in wood, shown
Buddha. Bronze, gilded. Korean, Period of the Three Kingdoms, 7th century. National Museum, Seoul
Buddha, detail. Wood. 7th century. Chuguji Temple, Nara
KOREA AND JAPAN only in
here
detail,
said
is
to
235
have been
can'ed in Japan by Korean sculptors.
It
was
one of the images produced under the patronage of Prince Shotoku, in whose private chapel
it
stood.
The Buddha
in bronze, be-
low, indicates the direct descent of methods
(most
which
notably
the
scalloped
draperies)
are to be seen, less regularized, in the
Chinese Biiddhas of the Northern Prince Shotoku. the
work
artist in
It
Wei
pe-
with the memory of
riod. It is also associated
bears a date, 625, and
is
of the priest-sculptor Tori, a native
the second generation from an immi-
grant Korean carver.
As
early as the
first
half of the seventh
centur)' a national genius different
from the
Chinese was indicated especially in sculpture in wood.
grain knife.
The
Japanese craftsmen valued the
wood and the marks of The Buddha at Kyoto is cut with
of
directness
the
and smoothness of
to the native cypress used.
way
of slenderizing the
the
stylization proper
Not only
nique of the carving but the
the
the tech-
facial type
figure,
and a
fashionable
style, 6th century. QCourtesy Society for International Cultural Relations, Tokyo^
Horse. Clay. Japanese, Hanivva
Buddha. Bronze. Japanese, early 7th century. Horiuji Temple, Nara Buddha,
Wood. 7th century. Koryuji Temple, Kyoto
detail.
236
KOREA AND JAPAN for a considerable period after, proclaim that
the statue belongs to a national expression
from any other.
different
The Kwannon from (corresponding a
the Horiuji
more extreme example
style.
Temple
Chinese Kuan-Yin)
to the
Except for the nimbus, there
herence
to the reticent
is
of the slenderized is
ad-
carving and exquisite
formalization that best represent the Japanese
achievement.
The
flattened
and the
detail
repeated curvilinear rhythms are beautifully
manipulated,
without
detracting
from
the
sculptural "set" of the piece.
There
are
statuettes
to
statuettes
are
seventh-century
also
pieces in bronze
which range
the
colossal.
oversize
The
from
Buddhist
comparable with the Korean
and Chinese bronzes in
master-
in size
metal
of the figures
same period; but Japanese
the
achieved a distinctive variation.
The
detail
shown, of Yakushi, the god of healing (or the
healing
Buddha),
bronze triad about twice
central
figure
life-size, is
of
a
modeled
with perfect mastery of the bronze medium.
God of Healing, detail. Bronze, colossal. Early Nara period. Yakushiji Temple, Nara
Kwannon. Wood. 7th century. Horiuji Temple, Nara
KOREA AND JAPAN
Amida
(The mastery thorities
Triad. Buddhist shrine. Bronze. Late 7th century. Horiuji Temple,
is
assert
evident that some au-
After the late seventh century China was
under the influence of the T'ang emperors, and again there was interchange of ideas
countries
come from China or Korea, owning a longer tradition of metal
casting.)
The
must
have
surface,
the
massing,
smoothness of
the
avoidance of undercutting,
all
indicate comprehension of the special possibilities
method.
of It
bronze-casting a
is
work
of
sculptural
as
a
the
late
seventh
century.
the
central
next shown plicity
between China and Japan. The God Protector in unbaked clay (page 238) may conceivably indicate renewed discipleship to the Chinese masters. As written language, edumanners, and dress were changed, so
cation,
the
Chinese
style
in
sculpture
was re-em-
braced.
By comparison of
Nara
the craftsmen involved
so
that
237
and
whether the
a miniature work, the
figure
in
the
head
Amida Triad
equally a masterwork of sim-
is
subtlety. trinity
The
whole
piece,
of free-standing figures
or the exquisitely graceful complex of reliefs
on the shield metalwork and
at
a
the back,
is
a
miracle of
prime example of Oriental
mastery of abundant design.
The
clay
medium
has seldom been em-
ployed so skillfully in large images as in the case
of
this
treatment
of
over-life-size
the
figure.
draperies
is
The
crisp
especially
notable. The body is built up on a framework of wood, and there is an admixture of very small amounts of other substances: straw fiber, paper fiber, and mica, with the clay.
238
KOREA AND JAPAN
God
Protector. Clay. 8th century. Todaiji
Guardian King, detail. Clay. 8th century. Todaiji Temple, Nara
Temple, Nara
Guardian,
detail. Clay. 8th century. Shinya-Kushiji Temple, Nara
The
seated clay Bodhisattva (at the right)
even more obviously a
is
spired
by the Chinese
work,
reflective
artists
in-
of T'ang. Yet
the Japanese at this time, after three or four
generations of practice, had as patently de-
veloped
own
their
methods.
Nowhere
is
and overlife-size, and in dignified mien, more beautifully exemplified than in this and the illustramodeling in clay in
tion
facing
Originally the second statue
it.
was finished
near-life-size
in porcelain clay
but the colors have worn a
thousand years since
The
its
the
more than
creation.
Japanese originality of statement
many series The Japanese
seen too in the
up
and painted,
off in the
in temples.
common tomb
is
of guardians set
guardian, unlike
guardian of the Chinese,
is
usually an image of one of the Protectors of the Buddhist Faith or Kings of Heaven.
same frightening aspect both groups.
The
is
characteristic
so
many
There is
is
seldom
human
of
Japanese were perhaps the
greater masters in this ogreish
has the
Bodhisattva. Clay. Early 8th century. Horiuji Temple, Nara
The
mode. Seldom
visage been sculptured into
fearsome but engaging variations. a breath of realism here, too, that felt in
Naturalism
the Biiddhas
is
and Bodhisattvas.
also seen in the delineations
of the legendary disciples, as in the eighth-
century lacquer Disci-pie of
Buddha shown.
Disciple of Buddha. Lacquer. Late Nara period, 8th century. Kofukitji Temple, Nara
^ 1
Left:
The
Priest Ganjin, detail. Lacquer.
period, 8th century. Toshodaiji
Nara
Temple, Nara
KOREA AND JAPAN
240 There
are
many
of these disciples, the face of
each so individuahzed that they would appear to
be portraits from
life.
And
indeed portrait
the
statue
Kivannon.
and from later periods (though sometimes they were carved a century or two after the subject had died). But it is the dignity, the solemnity, the quiet power— and some unexplainable sculp tural revelation of inner majesty and other-
is
worldliness— that ties
above
all
lifts
this
the statues of the divini-
other categories. Something of
the majesty and remoteness can be seen in the
lacquer
Temple
at
Kwannon from
Nara. Perhaps a
the
little
Shorinji
more
It
known, on
is
ac-
count of the headdress, as the Eleven-headed
statues of the greatest Japanese teachers of the
Buddhist faith survive, from
can nevertheless rank with the
masterpieces of T'ang.
(A
miniature head
at the
very top
cut off in the photograph shown, without
loss to the
composition as a whole.)
Although the golden age of Japanese sculpture may be said to have ended by the opening of the ninth centur)', there were enough repetitions of the masterpieces of the seventh and eighth centuries to leaven the
mass of lacquer
New
reflective
Buddha
York,
is
and
at the
"light"
The Museum,
works.
Metropolitan
one of the exceptional monu-
ments—majestic, remote, serene.
artifi-
cial, in the repeated circlings of the draperies,
than the comparable works of the Chinese,
Buddha. Lacquer. Metropolitan
Kwann07i. Lacquer, over 8th century. Shorinji Temple, Nara
life size
Museum
of Art
KOREA AND JAPAN
A is
truer expression of the taste of the time
in a
famous
scries of apsaras or
heavenly
maidens and flying angels; in the decorative reliefs adorning architecture; and in elabora-
art of the
Heian period
has, in fact,
is
an aspect
The Heavenly Mu-
reminiscent of baroque. sician illustrated
instead a relief, from a
panel in a famous octagonal bronze lantern
Great Buddha
tion of headdress or aureoles; not to speak of
that
the semi-sculptural picturing on lacquer boxes
Hall at Todaiji.
and the engraving on mirrors. In the Byodo-in Temple at Uji in Kyoto there are fifty of the apsaras and angels, figures with flowing
the
wrought on pierced bronze insets. The sculptors Unkei and Kaikei
draperies, clouds, etc., apparently floating be-
pecially
fore the walls, enclosing a colossal gilded
dha
or
They able,
Bud-
entwined in the decorative aureole.
are, in a
but
far
small way, charming and agree-
from profound.
A good deal of the
241
before
stands
still
heavenly
six
known
illustrated
the
The
shows one of
detail
musicians
for portraiture.
demonstrate
The
period,
which opened
The
exceptional realistic
and
study of
and
full
asceticism.
It
and
Unkei,
possibly
Ascetic.
it
is
the
An Old
character
centur)'
An Old
in
are
are
piece,
es-
portraits
naturalness
the
aspect that was an ideal in the
century.
they
as
of
Kamakura
late
twelfth
Ascetic
is
an
painstakingly
of the feeling of old age
may be
as
late
as
mid-
ascribed to a follower of
Tankei.
Wood. Early
1
Unkei
himself.
3th century.
Sanjusangendo Temple, Kyoto
Heavenly Musician, detail of lantern panel. Bronze. 8th century. Todaiji Temple, Nara. QPhoto Asuka-en, Nara')
The Great Buddha.
Shigefusa. Wood. 14th century Meigetsuin Temple, Kamakura
Bronze. 13th century.
Kamakura
Guardian with Lantern. Wood. By Koben. a.d. 1215. Kofukuji Temple, Nara
KOREA AND JAPAN whom
Japanese
the
almost
revere
243
as
Michelangelo, car\'ed the portrait statue of
Buddhist disciple shown
the
to spread the gospel of
Buddha
in Japan. Exact
was then an aim, and
portraiture
achieved a
li\'ing,
the
right,
at
whose writings did much
great Indian Asanga,
Unkei
believable figure despite the
lapse of centuries since Asanga's time.
named Kobcn, who
a son of Unkei,
was
It
carved two Guardians with Lanterns for the
temple
which
in
the
The one shown
stands.
statue is
Asanga
of
t)^ical of religious
of the time: more human, more and understandable than the older images had been— even where the subject was mvthical. There is great vigor here, and complete knowledge of human anatomy and
figuring
natural
Whether such
posture.
natural
a
demon
equals the more restrained and majestic ones of the eighth centur)'
The
is
open
Buddha
Great
to question.
Kamakura
of
The
erected in the thirteenth centur\'. sal
almost
figure,
feet
fifty
in
was colos-
has
height,
long since been deprived by the elements of protecting temple;
its
jestic,
and
peace,
stands silent and ma-
illumination
Conceived
as
Buddha but
at
faith.
it
reminder of the solemnity,
lasting
a
a
of
the
Buddhist
monument honoring
same time to the Kamakura, The Great Buddha recaptures the largeness and the spiritual remoteness of sculpture of an the
the
glory of the communit)^ of
earlier time.
The portrait who lived in
Shigefusa, a feudal lord
of
the
thirteenth
was
centur)',
carved after his death. Sculpturally the representation of the
stiff
ward—this was the
brocaded robes carver's
awk-
is
counterpart
of
the ceremonial portrait-painting of the time
—but
the face
closure.
The
is
a
makes an excellent play;
but
marvel of character
dis-
sheer cutting of the upper body
this
sort
foil
to
the subtle facial
of simplification
was
lead to a rather slick schematization, as
many later portraits. The Amida Buddha from
to
illus-
trated in
century
is
sculpture
the
fifteenth
inserted as evidence that religious
was continuously produced,
and
Asanga. Wood. By Unkei. a.d. 1208. Kofukuji Temple, Nara
Amida Buddha. Bronze. 15th
century.
Detroit Institute of Arts
I
244
KOREA AND JAPAN
that occasionally the old ideals of an impersonal, formalized, art persisted.
and
spiritually
compelling
Nevertheless Japanese sculpture
had retrogressed— as did the Chinese and Hindu from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century— so that shallowly appealing works, such as cleverly streamlined outstanding exhibits from
portraits, are the
five
hundred years
rest,
that
little
the story
is
chiefly of small
wood
carved images in
terminated
the
cords
closing
beings,
and other
objects in daily life
or legend.
In
ivory
the
adroit
Japanese
made innumerable miniature liefs,
often
exquisitely
A
d'art.
and
re-
almost
great
deal
of their best sculptural effort, in recent cen-
guards bearing decorative patterns or anec-
flourished in the Suiko, Nara,
turies,
has gone into decorative
wood
eras.
carving
But nothing
has served to revive the creative
Masks; sword guards; ornaments. Wood; metal; metal with inlays. 16th- 18th centuries; recent. Victoria and Albert Museum
Ast0- ^-^y^
but
carved
in connection with architecture.
and the
craftsmen
statues
objects: the masks made for use in the no dramas, often characterful and carved with charming fluency and finish; the sword
dotal bits of relief, even landscapes;
or ivory
bags or
pouches, cleverly reproducing animals, flowers,
human
never important ohjets
of production.
For the
netsuke,
spirit
that
and Kamakura
lo: India: The Maturing of
the
Opulent Oriental Style
I
SCULPTURE
in India is one of the media for story-telling, and its theme is overwhelmingly religious. The densely popu-
lated land teems with temples
and shrines, and the buildings are encrusted with sculp tural works, which form a vast picturebook of popular religious tales.
old in
spiritual
Gautama came it
to
The Hindus were
wisdom when
the
Buddha
in the sixth centurv B.C.,
was the Buddhist
but
was destined inspire mankind's noblest achievement in faith that
the realm of devotional art in stone.
Technicallv the
thousand
years
and
AIohenjo-Daxo
stor)'
earlier,
begins nearly two for
excavations
Chanhu-Daro
in
at
the
Indus and at Punjab have uncovered clay figurines and seals which are important in that thev indicate an advanced independent culture of the Indus Valley by the year 2500
Sind
district of the valley of the
Harappa
B.C.
in the
Because of the profusion of
seals,
it
would seem possible that the Sumerians who pushed into Mesopotamia possessed a com-
mon
anccstr)'
with the people of the Indus.
Miracle of the Drunken Elephant. Medallion. Stone. 2nd century a.d. Amaravati.
Government Museum, Madras
246
INDIA
India includes minorities of half a dozen
ethnic strains, from Negroid and Mongoloid to
Dravidian and Aryan types, but the cenruling
tral
as
element
commonly accepted
is
The
Ar)'0-Dravidian.
were
Dravidians
dominant when the Indo-European Aryans, and Greeks, poured down and northwestern passes the through
related to Persians
The
pressed the Dravidians into the south.
as the govern-
Aryans established themselves ing power, shaped the
made
their
common
Brahmins the only
religion,
and
priests;
they
developed a basically Aryan language— in form,
literary
Sanskrit— as
tongues of India. as
saw
they
To
the
protect their superiority,
invaders
the
it,
among
first
its
the caste system that persisted
established
down
the
to
twentieth centur)'. Neither upheavals caused
Hun
by the
centuries lasted
over
eleventh quests
invasions of the fifth and sixth
and
the
many
and
Moslem
invasions
nor
by the Moguls
the
especially
centuries,
twelfth,
that
again
the
of stone
were
monuments
columns upon which
These
inscribed.
are the
would appear to have had the simand elegance of Persian work, al-
sculpture plicity
though the
had native modifications.
pillars
During the
first
half of the second century
however, the indigenous idioms began
B.C.,
and from then on
reappear,
An
flourished.
art
exuberant
of the noblest faiths,
it
type
naturalness
the
Temple by
tolerated
in
of the sculpture
Sun
of the
the
Konarak in the and would not be
religious or civic authorities in
the West, and such scenes are occasionally
and
encountered elsewhere in India on religious
and temples. This decorative to
have
supposition
independent states— invasions and conquests before the British administration seldom in-
had developed a Aryan officials
volved more than a segment of the land and
large
a fraction of the people.
Sanchi, they had no choice but to
Aside from the Indus Valley culture, the earliest history of sculpture in India tells of
Alexander invaded
he left part of his army as settlers and administrators in the Ghandaran section of the country. Three in the fourth century B.C.
centuries
sculpture
later
a
development
met surviving Greek influence believed,
of
occurred where Buddhism
encountered
new
or, as is
influences
now from
sculptural
element came or
relics of
to
and
that
master caste
a
of
projects
Thus
as
at
a lush
when
initiated
Barhut and
and
call
in
tropical
be incorporated in the
architectural
is
The
inhabitants
early
"people's art"
people's sculptors.
stupas
these
that
is
style
Dravidian source.
a
federation of principalities— a mosaic of near-
four
sensual
on the walls of
at
district of Orissa is erotic
thought
classic
art
One
encourages asceticism
indulgence
of
Much
world.
shrines
or
of
and mystic contemplation and promises rewards of harmony and peace to those wise ones who progress beyond the dance of the senses, and at the same time it recognizes the
caste system. In a countr)'^ with a loose con-
When
to
a truly Indian
developed within the Hindu religion.
sixteenth centuries, were able to destroy the
outside influences.
first
The crowning
that can be dated.
con-
the fifteenth
in
number
great
his edicts
first
mounds enshrining
the Buddha.
The gateways be in the
style
at
of
Sanchi especially seem an
art
for
the
to
masses.
Thenceforward the innumerable temples were embellished with figures, panel groups, and festoons of foliation. A particular art form in ancient India was cliffy sculpture, a
and
rocky outcrop carved into a thousand figures,
clean Greek cutting are notable, especially
and pasand architectural pillars and vv'alls shaped from the monolithic mass. When the stupa at Barhut and the great
Rome. in
of
Greek
realism
the free-standing figures of the Buddha,
already in
Reflections
known
Ceylon by
in several parts of India
and
a.d. 200.
or the rock-cut temple, with rooms
sages carved out
In the third century B.C. Asoka proclaimed
stupa at Sanchi were built and decorated,
Buddhism as the state religion of India and commemorated the occasion by erecting a
though the illustrated stories were Buddhist, no image of the Buddha appeared. A sym-
IN DiA Sculptured gateway. Stone. C. 150 b.c. Sanchi. QPhoto Goloubev, courtesy Musee Guimet')
247
INDIA
248 bol
the
sufficed:
appeared,
tree
of
instead
The
following
is
and
therefore a shortened
the Master, in the episode of the enhghten-
not quite complete table of periods of Indian
ment; the wheel in the account of the
history.
first
sermon; or a lotus blossom; or footprints; or
But gradually the Buddha's injunction against the worship of images was forootten, and his own likeness became the
Prehistoric period:
Down
to
c.
3000
B.C.
a stupa.
Pre-Dravidian and Dravidian peoples.
central motive.
Sumerian and Egyptian beginnings, but more conservatively dated 2500-1500 B.C. Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and
duced
first
Whether
by
the
the image was intro-
Mathura
of
artists
or
Sarnath, or of some other center but faintly
touched by Hellenism, or by the sculptors Gandhara, seems still undetermined, of
though the date probably was the
first
cen-
Elie Faure eloquently described the Indian
temples and the sculptural style that derived
South in
tropical
de
"Everything
I'Art:
statue, everything
his
may
may
book Histoire
serve to carry a
swell into a figure—
the capitals, the pediments, the columns, the
upper stages of the pyramids, the balustrades,
Formidable horses,
groups
warriors,
grapes,
like
banisters
the
rise
human
eruptions
of
the
stairways.
of
and
steps,
fall— rearing
beings bodies
in
clusters
piled
one
as early as
recently at Kalibangan.
Aryans entered India, probably between
2000 and 1500 B.C., to become the dominating element of the population.
Pre-Maurya
tury of the Christian era.
from the
Indus Valley Cidture: Possibly
notable date
642-322
period:
Most
B.C.
when Alexander
327-323 Macedonian and Greek countrymen in Gandhara (which is mostly in Afghanistan) and the northwest area of is
B.C.,
the Great settled his
India.
Maurya period: 320-185 B.C. Andhra and Indo-Parthian
period:
Ap-
proximately 185 B.C. to A.D. 320.
Gupta
period: a.d. 320—600.
Medieval period and Decline:
a.d.
600
to
the seventeenth century.
over the other, trunks and branches that are
crowds sculptured by a single move." ment as if spouting from one matrix. sumhistorian French perceptive Thus the alive,
.
marized "the orgy of ornament" that
.
is
part of the Indian heritage in sculpture.
knew
one
He
but did not so tellingly dwell upon the
which drew some of its clarity and simplicity from the sculptors of the Gansoberer part,
dharan school. Because of sectional differences, and frequent dynastic changes, a complete chronology would be more confusing than helpful.
Flying Figures. Stone. 6th century. Aihole
.rjl
II
INDIAN
is nowhere surpassed charm and opulence. There
sculpture
in sensuous
are diverse major styles, but the oldest relics are of a civilization scantily represented
works
of
art.
The Indus
Valley
by
culture
more than a store of well-designed seals, a very few battered statuettes in stone, and the usual commonplace figurines in clay. The seals, of which hundreds have been found, are carved in ivory or stone, or (more rarely) modeled in terra-cotta. The examples illustrated, from the excavations at Mohenjo-Daro, are in steatite, a soft stone. The commonest type of design shows an animal on a more or less squared field, with
covered. tural
a line of hieroglyphs above.
and
indicate
In general the
to
It is likely that
many
The
Christ— still
lie
cities. The torso of known of the few
a
century
mals, clear
Dancing God
is
the best
Seals. Stone.
The
for
now
missing
and
Asokan columns feet in height,
the
are
pillars of the third
Em-
beautifully formalized ani-
bold, are perfectly fitted to
their decorative purpose.
The
six
surviving
are monoliths, forty to fifty
each with a decorated capital
and abacus surmounted by
a single
animal
figure, or, as in the first of the illustrations,
a
"multiple
first
stone statuettes so far dis-
feeling
bearing the edicts of the
B.C.,
peror Asoka.
inally at
buried in the Indus Valley
subtle
monuments
datable
first
Buddhist commemorative
significant relics of
the time— late in the third millennium before
with
be sockets for affixing of the
from the
an admirable sense of
along
head and limbs.
style
a competent craftsmanship.
distinguished by great sculp
is
mass and contour. Drilled holes are believed
yields hardly
seals
It
vigor,
animal."
preached.
The
The
pillar at Sarnath,
The
Rampurva
bull
is
multiple lion
is
where the Buddha from a pillar orig-
in Bihar.
details of relief medallions illustrated,
from the Buddhist stupa or shrine at Barhut, show the voluminous figures, the abundant detail, and the crowded composition which.
Indus Valley culture, 2500-1500 b.c. Mohenjo-Daro. National Museum, New Delhi
250
INDIA
Relief medallions. Stone. C.
150
b.c. Stupa, Barhut. Indian
Museum,
Calcutta.
QPhoto Goloubev, courtesy Musee Guimet')
Dancing God,
statuette.
Stone.
2400-2000
b.c.
Harappa, Punjab. National Museum,
New
Delhi
for
centuries,
were
to
characterize
Indian
Other decorated structures indicate that the opulent mode had then been established over a wide area. The next outstanding exhibit, the gates and pillars at relief
sculpture.
Sanchi, generally credited to the tury B.C.,
show
first
the style matured
and
cenex-
uberantly manifested.
The
vigor,
the richness, the ver)' volume
of this outpouring of sculpture usually ap-
pears
overpowering
any chosen
panel
to
Westerners.
illustrates
a
Almost
remarkable
mastery of plastic design and extraordinary craftsmanship
in
cutting.
This ornamental
more important than the structure it adorns. Supremely showy, at times extravagant and gaudy, it nevertheless maintains a standard of splendor and opulence sculpture
is
Asokan column and capital figures. Stone. 3rd century B.C. Sarnath (afcove); Rampurva (fceZoiv, right^; Lauriya Nandangarh. Sarnath Museum; National Museum, New Delhi; in situ. {Photos by Archaeological Survey of India^
'A-' -.-it
km l^^'v^-^
25 2
INDIA
ll
Facing page: Panels from gateway. Stone. 1st century b.c. Sanchi
Detail of gateway. Stone. 1st
century B.C., Sanchi
253
INDIA
which is most characteristic of the Indian and Indonesian contribution to sculpture. In the nineteenth century Ruskin and, indeed, most authorities considered it so barbaric and so physical that
was relegated to the ethnomuseums. Now,
it
ogical rather than the fine-arts
when
are
tastes
Hellenic,
rigidly
less
sensuous Oriental
st^'le
the
recognized as one
is
of the major achievements within the history
There
innumerable on pillars, that show how the female body became standard-
of creative sculpture.
are
figures in the panel groups, or
ized in early Indian
art,
small of waist, gen-
erously full in breast and
Museum
torso at the
though somewhat battered, may point better than the more
duced
pillar
The
thigh.
fine
of Fine Arts in Boston, illustrate the
commonly
repro-
n)Tnphs from Mathura.
The Indian stj'le may have been formed in the Maurya period but the
fully flood
came only in the Andhra which belong the masterpieces of Sanchi and the relief from Amaravati shown at the beginning of this chapter (though the sculpture of the Barhut stupa and some
of typical products period, to
parts at Sanchi are of earlier date).
The
Wead. from Mathura, with
and heavy
ized curls
Andhra is
features,
or the succeeding
in line with the
The
Gupta
its
formal-
of the late period.
It
voluminous composition
and heavy richness of ments.
is
earlier native
chapter-opening
monu-
illustration,
medallion from the stupa at Amaravati,
a
illu-
strates
the legend of the drunken elephant
and
a relief that could not
is
other than Indian.
and
its gates,
The
be mistaken as
railing of the stupa,
supported nearly 17,000 square
feet of reliefs.
The
stone figure of the
Buddha now
Kansas City obviously departs from the tions.
signals
It
style,"
a
austere.
the
in
illustrated
style
It
Western
is
nobly
preceding
illustra-
India's
"second
at
serene
and
almost
Indian, with a suggestion of
classicism
and there purity and restraint. draperies,
four
arrival
at
style
in is
the handling of the a general air of classic
Similarly,
Buddha so
far
fourth-century
the
(at right) illustrated
is
different
Head
of
from anything
from Middle Indian
art.
For three hundred years nothing had been
produced in Europe
and
as solidly sculptural
as subtly beautiful as this.
But
in the
Bud-
whether in India or in Afghanistan, Greek manner had been preserved, and
dhist East,
the
continued from the time of Christ's birth to the tenth century.
though
classic,
The
appear
serenity
to
be
a
and calm,
Buddhist
in-
fluence rather than Greek.
The two heads next shown are of types commonly found in the Gandharan country. They are so numerous in smaller size that it is
inferred that molds were sometimes used
for duplication.
Sculptor-monks believed that
merit was earned
when images
of the
Buddha
were multiplied. The great number of detached heads in the
museums
is
partly ex-
Buddha. Stone. Gupta, 5th century. Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Torso of a Yaksi. Stone. 100-50 B.C. Sanchi Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Head. Stone. 2nd-5th centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum
Mathura
INDIA
Head
of
Buddha. Stucco. Gandharan, 4th century. City Art Museum,
Head of Buddha. Clay with gesso. 7th-10th centuries. Gandharan. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Head
of
St.
25
5
Louis
Buddha. Stucco. 5th century. Hadda. Victoria and Albert Museum
25 6
INDIA Buddha. Stone. Gupta, 5th century. Mathura Museiim. QCoiirtesy Musee Guimet)
plained by the fact that bodies often were
Cv
modeled in impermanent materials and collapsed during the following centuries. (But some heads were obviously made for hastily
mounting on walls.) There is a range of Gandharan heads
may be
and endowed with the serenity
ized
Buddha. Occasional
Head
ing
that
described as the Apollo type spiritualof the
such as the smil-
pieces,
of a Devata, indicate less serious
intention.
The
Buddha
full-length
in stone (at left)
unmistakably Indian, a representative work
is
of the
centur)^
fifth
The Western type of
Gupta
the
in
period.
influence has been absorbed.
Buddha
A
been established,
figure has
with incidental Hellenic features, which in
Cambodian,
its
Javanese,
and
Chinese,
Japanese interpretations provides the largest treasury of exalted statues devoted to a single
many
subject. In India, at
centers, the paral-
abundant sculpture, of
art of luxuriously
lel
swelling forms and sinuous line, was being
emergence of the solemn,
practiced; but the
awe-compelling Buddha was the main feature of the period.
The
figure, as
it
was absorbed
into Indian iconography in the fifth century,
has
the
of
left
little
naturalistic
Greek
Apollo, though some of the minor sculptural
idioms
marked
are
by experts
as
Greco-
Roman.
The
early sculpture
entirely hibits
in
exceptionally
But from the
is
almost
(but rarely) in stucco.
century there were master-
fifth
pieces in metal.
from India
with the Gandharan ex-
stone,
The Buddha
at
Birmingham
shows the simplification and calm dignity of the stone
Buddhas
of Sarnath translated into
metal. This over-life-size figure
not bronze, and a
core
of
clay,
it
is
sand,
figures in smaller size
Head
cast in
is
cinders,
etc.
Bronze
became more common.
of a Devata. Stucco. 4th century.
Kurgan, Turkestan.
of copper,
two layers over
Museum
Tash
of Fine Arts, Boston
INDIA
25
7
Buddha
Delivering His First Sermon. Stone. 5th century. Sarnath. Sarnath Museum
Asoka had established Buddhism as the and sent missions to introduce the cult in neighboring and allied countries. His son visited Ceylon, and the island adopted Buddhism and has continued, unlike India, to be overwhelmingly national religion in India
Buddhist.
The
remains of the ancient
Anuradhapura,
include
specimens of the Indian sculpture.
several
Gallery,
Buddha
a
styles
of
Sinhalese
type
is
most
dignity and clarity of the stand-
ing figures are qualities transmitted in course
Buddha. Copper. 5th century. Bengal.
Birmingham Museum and Art
The
capital,
remarkable
diverse
Among them
version of the austere notable.
many
England
of time to
Cambodia and Java
also.
Buddha. Stone,
colossal.
3rd or 4th century. Anuradhapura
The colossal seated Buddha of Anuradhapura is one of the most impressive monuments in the East. The simplicity, the bulk, rhythms reinforce the human
and the
plastic
serenity
and the cosmic
statue
designed
There
is
are
to
stillness
which the
evoke in the worshiper.
companion
figures less well pre-
many
Ceylon
developed the ample,
also
rated style, as
is
deco-
seen in such a fragment as
the voluptuous Coit-ple on a guardstone end-
ing a balustrade
at
248
of
Anuradhapura. Flying
Figures
On
page
from
a
relief
temple
at
Aihole in southern India, where
similar
figures
is
illustrate
the
a
mature Gupta
style.
The
treasures of that ancient city have counter-
many
centuries in temple sculpture, whether
parts at the later capital, Polonnaruva.
Buddhist, Jainist, or Hindu.
served at Anuradhapura; and
of the
Buddhist Figures. Stone, over
life size.
(_Photo courtesy
m^^X
sensuous note was dominant for
C. 200. Anuradhapura, Ceylon.
Musee Guimet')
INDIA At
Ellora in the
Deccan the outstanding
hewn complete from The Hindu sculptures were
temple, the Kailasa, was
rock
a
mass.
carved in a mixed fashion, with dominating figures in the round,
and some engaged
ures and areas in low relief. strated,
The
scene
fig-
illu-
Siva and Parvati on the Motintain,
At the edge
of a lake near
259
Anuradhapura huge
the sculptors of Ceylon transformed a
mass of rock into a devotional sculptured composition. But the most amazing example of such car\'ing
is
on
a cliff, or rather
an
upthrust rock wall, in the complex of monolithic
temples and cave shrines at Mamal-
t)'pical
lapuram in eastern South India. The rock mass, some thirty feet high and one hundred
gally
feet long,
with
Havana
the
Earth-Shaker
Below,
is
of the intensely vigorous and prodiabundant compositions. There are both Buddhist and Jainist rock-cut shrines at Ellora, profusely sculptured, and at Badami there are cave temples with similarly sumptu-
ous rupestrian
The
Siva
at
Elephanta
is
a cave
famous for its splendid reliefs and the Three-Headed Mahadeva. The cave
shrine for
temple as an entity can be studied as early as the third centur)' B.C.,
but in the
examples the display of sculpture
earliest is
com-
paratively meager.
Anuradhapura. QPhoto Goloiibev, courtesy Musee Guimet')
Hindu legend
life-size
of the Descent
(See following page.) elephants afford some focus
in the confusion of figures, but the effect
is
However, many of the separate groups in relief, and certain processions of figures, are effective and even masterly. The animals are especially charming, more nadisordered.
turalistic
carved,
Couple. Stone. 5th-8th centuries.
the
illustrate
of the Ganges.
The
art.
Temple
was car\'ed with hundreds of figmen, nymphs, and animals, to
ures of gods,
Siva
than
is
usual in India, but sheerly
with perfect understanding of the
Parvati on the Mountain, with Ravana the Earth-Shaker. Mid-eighth century. Rock-cut Kailasa Temple, Ellora
and
Detail of cli£E sculpture. Early 7th century.
Mamallapuram
The Descent of the Ganges, detail, cliff sculpture. Early 7th century. Mamallapuram. QCourtesy Musee Guimet")
-Tit-
'tX:
F
'^
:^V If^
^1<
WS^ %:
¥^^
< »— HkZ^7
'f>^:i^!^i
'^
."•^ 1
*i
INDIA medium— as may be
lithic
of the
two deer and the
The
Three-Headed Mahadeva. 8th century. Rock-cut temple at Elephanta. CCourtesy Musee Guimet')
tortoise.
of the Kandarya Khajuraho serves to how the unruly elements in the
detailed
picture
Mahadeva Temple illustrate
seen in the detail
at
sculpture could be brought into subjection to architecture.
Building logic had almost
dis-
appeared, but the inset traceried panels and the half-contained figures are unusually interesting.
Back
(See following page.) in the fifth century, the beautifully
simplified,
rather
severe
image had become bronze
(page
The
statuettes.
263, larger
illustration)
Buddha is
beside
it
identified
as a fifth- or sixth-century
of
Buddha
common among
The example
lower
in Indo-China but
style
fairly
at is
261
Boston typical.
was found by scholars
product of Indian
Detail of cliff sculpture.
Mamallapuram
262
INDIA
Kandarya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho. C. 1000
m Bodhisattva, Bronze. 8th century. Ceylon.
Museum
'9m.
^^Ss*-*..-
Buddha. Bronze. Gupta, 5th-6th centuries.
Found
in
Annam.
(Courtesy Musee Guitnet^
Buddha. Bronze. Gupta, 5th-6th centuries.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
of Fine Arts, Boston
INDIA
264
craftsmen, and
is
thus an example of Gupta
workmanship.
The tradition was continued The fluidity of pose of the
times.
centurv Sinhalese Bodhisattva the
way
in
There
great
are
numbers of the bronze museums, with a
(or copper) figures in the
which the
is
in medieval little
eighth-
indicative of
Ceylon
sculptors of
matched or foreshadowed the developments of mainland art. It is in line with the early medieval style
known
as Pallava.
The
purity
certain
medieval
style.
of
feeling
Much
famous Rajrani Temple tuous
style,
from the tan
the
at Orissa
is
early
in volup-
the stone figures of
as
British
Museum
from
of the sculpture at the
Museum and
nymphs
the Metropoli-
clearly demonstrate.
Despite the spirituality and austere ideal-
Parvati shows traces of the classic treatment
ism of true Hinduism, the popular deities
of drapery, but the general aspect
are dualistic,
medieval
piece,
is
of a late
foreshadowing the coming
wantonness.
imagery they become
decadence. (Below, at right.) Panel figures. Stone. llth-12th centuries. Orissa. British Museum; Metropolitan
and occasionally they express an
understandable
less
In
and
popular
less
remote,
Parvati. Bronze. C. 900. South India.
Cora Timken Burnett Collection,
Museum
of
Art
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
INDIA less
and
less s\Tnbolic.
superbly
with a
virile
Bow
In the end they appear
sculptural, as in the
Rama
But they are a great any divinity that could be
illustrated.
from
distance
and
imagined by a Christian or a Moslem or a Buddhist of the
By
this
decorative.
The
pre-
preceding piece,
The
later
notable.
is
Hindu
sculptors were
more
terested in precise adjustment of attitude
sculptural
entity.
In
in-
and
than in a massive
the
late
Medieval
period and in the decadent period to follow,
deities that illustrate the rest of the
the lithic element virtually disappeared; and
reflect
is
Ceylon continued
mainland tendencies in sculpture,
and the Yoiithfid Saint shown is reminiscent of South Indian or Dravidian expression, if
Rama
more obviously
largely the
story of Indian sculpture. to
little
cision of pose in the bronze here, as in the
in symbolic appurtenances
strict sect.
time Buddhism in India had been
in a centuries-long decline. It
Hindu
a
265
with a Bow. Copper. 12th century. South India. Victoria and Albert Museum
in
the
bronzes
that
represent
the
best
in
Indian achievement after the twelfth century,
refinements assume importance rather
than largeness and dignity. Even so satisfying Youthful Saint. Bronze. Ceylon. 12th-l 3th centuries.
Colombo Museum
a statuette as the seated a
toward
little
Uma, which
reverts
classic repose, gains part of its
from the piling up of decorative and lacks the quiet dignity of the
effectiveness accessories,
bronzes of the golden age. the
In
North,
especially
in
and
Bihar
Bengal, a different kind of omateness was cultivated
at
this
time,
demonstrated in a
long series of high-relief plaques or stelae dedicated to the sun-god Surya, or occasionally to Siva.
The
plastic unity often suffered,
and
as in the Siva-Sakti
Siirya shown.
They
are typically crowded, perhaps typically over-
loaded.
The
st)'le
of cutting
is
hardened, as
if
the cancers of stone had attempted to approxi-
mate the properties of sculpture in metal. Often the crowded-in masks, flowers, scrolls, and minor figures are marvelous, both compositionally and as skillful carving. The SivaSakti
is,
of course, profoundly symbolic, each
detail contributing to the
The
sculptors
of
meaning.
Nepal, the country
to
the northwest of Bihar and Bengal, with a
Uma. Copper. 12th-14th centuries. South India.
Museum Left: Siva-Sakti. Stone.
10th century. Bengal. British
of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum
Right: Surya, the Sun-God. Stone. 12th century. Bengal. Victoria
and Albert Museum
267
INDIA history
and
bound up
a people inextricably
with those of India, but generally independent, developed an attractive variation of the
Hindu
or
Buddhist-Hindu
art.
The
statuettes
Tara, a goddess in both the
Buddhist pantheons— in the
Hindu and latter as
the
mother
wisdom and therefore, bv associMother of Buddha. Statuettes of simi-
of mystic ation,
of bronze
and copper often combined sheer, modeled masses and elaborated dec-
lar
prettily
have been brought from Tibet, where sculp-
orative
accessories.
sometimes led
to
The
the bronze floriation. illustrated
co\ering.
is
t\'pical.
The
decorators'
instinct
the insetting of jewels in
The
copper Lokesvara
Traces remain of a gold
six-armed figure
tation of the beneficent
is
a manifes-
Dhyani Bodhisattva
worshiped in Nepal.
A
later in date, is the
was strongly influenced by the Nepalese,
not produced by immigrant craftsmen and
their descendants.
Nepalese
art,
in turn,
was
influenced by contact with both Tibet and
China.
The
deities
Parvati,
Uma, and
Kali
(all
manifestations of the Spouse of Siva) reflect
second copper figure, very similar in
idiom though
ture if
nature, but generally less accomplished,
image of
Lokesrara. Copper, gilded. C. 12th century. Nepal. Whittemore Collection, Cleveland Museum of Art
the
vine
three triad:
responsibilities
creation,
of
the
Hindu
preservation,
and
di-
de-
Avalokita. Cast copper, gilded, inset with jewels. C. 16th century. Tibet or Nepal. Victoria and Albert Museum
268
INDIA
X
Tara. Copper, gilded, inset with jewels. Nepalese-Tibetan, probably 16th century. Victoria and Albert
Museum
INDIA Kali
struction.
the
is
269
goddess-manifestation
and bloody horrors. The Kali -nHth Cymbals, despite
of evil, destruction,
example here.
the scarecrow face and the haglike skinniness of limb, achieves a truly rhythmic sculptural
movement.
A
favorite subject
bronzes
is
among
South Indian
late
Siva represented as Nataraja or
Lord of the Dance, one of the thousand
Hindu
manifestations of the supreme
Usually
the
dancing figure
surrounded by a
circle of fire,
on
a dwarf.
to
two of the hands,
headdress, ples;
and standing
Often the halo of flame, attached
is
to the hair,
and
however,
Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Siva as Lord of the Dance. Bronze 16th- 17th centuries. South India. Philadelphia Museum of Art
*--^^^--^^'
to the
missing from surviving examthe
precise
movement and
balance of the figures are remarkable. Kali with Cymbals. Bronze. 14th century.
deity.
four-armed,
is
270
INDIA
The
second example illustrated of Siva as
Lord of the Dance is a richer decorative unity, and it illustrates almost scientifically a frequently forgotten truth about sculptural composition—that
although basically an art of
related masses, sculpture implies space carv^ed out,
and an ordered relationship
surrounding space. Here the
of solids
artist
and
has out-
lined a circular space, and implied a spherical space,
and he has brought
alive both solids
and spaces in a composition full of movement. The significance
brated
that this
the
Siva dancing joyously, to
figure
is
set in
motion the pulse of
is
equili-
of
life in
everything
and physical. Great numbers of bronze statuettes were produced after 1600, but the best were copies of earlier styles; the mass comprised crude spiritual
trade pieces.
The museum
such as the Lakshmi
Siva as Lord of the Dance. Bronze. South India. Royal Ontario
pieces of later date,
illustrated, are notable
Museum
more enjoyably conveyed hundred or a thousand years earher. In the Western world, appreciation of Indian sculpture has been delayed almost as if it were as strange as the arts of the South as reflecting merits five
The
Seas.
classically trained
European, hold-
ing to Greek standards of a simple, clear, idealistic art,
the
human
and puritanically figure
was
where
reticent
concerned,
closed his eyes to the gorgeous
if
simply
sometimes
sensual display existent in the lithic and metal arts of India. Fortunately, in
the mid-twenti-
eth century appreciation has widened as the
has weakened. Even in Western ideals of logic and discipline have been relaxed and the temples and shrines have been widely enjoyed. The buildings, of which the frames often seem to be obscured under cascades and torrents of
Greek
influence
architecture.
sculpture, are seen
to
be consistent and in
the spirit of the national culture. illustration
is
of
The
final
two gopurams, the temple Lakshmi. Bronze. 16th-17th centimes. South India. Musee Guimet. QGiraudon photo')
Aiyanar. Bronze. Victoria and Albert
Museum
272
INDIA
gateways that are characteristic features oF so
many
of the sacred cities of South India.
Hardly buildings or
Gopurams
shelters in the orthodox
at
sense,
they are signs and expressions of a
national ethos, of a distinctive religious fulfillment.
Meenakshi Temple, Madura. (Government of India
official photo')
ii:The Flowering in Southeast Asia: Cambodia y Siam^ Java
I
THE back
history of art in Southeast Asia goes
to
the
fifth
century
rather in the seventh the
a.d.,
but
it
was
and eighth centuries,
time of the achievements at Mamalla-
puram,
Burma,
Siam,
Cambodia,
dominantly religious ticed widely.
Laos,
Champa,
which was preand Buddhist was prac-
Sumatra, and Java, and
The Hindu
art
culture also sent out
and flourished
and Elephanta, that the Indian style of art was fully embraced. When the Emperor Asoka had consolidated his empire he grew tired of war and turned to religion. He was personally converted to Buddhism and sent missionaries abroad. Eventually
middle Java before the eighth centurv. The artists were evangelists and created figures
Buddhism became
then ruled also in Siam (Thailand), created a
Ellora,
the dominant religion in
its
missionaries
Cambodia and
to glorify
especially
gods and
The Khmers,
in
for a time in
western
and
saints.
people of Cambodia,
The Buddha Receives the Rohe of the Monks, relief. Stone. Buddhist, 8th-9th centuries. Borobudur Temple, Java. {Musee Guimet photo^
who
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
274
distinctive style of East Asian art as early as
suffused with the spirit of Hinduism, and
the seventh century, a style that culminated
the craftsmanship of the Indo-Chinese peo-
in a classic period lasting from a.d. 900 to
ple
an extension of Indian
is
They developed both a Buddhist and a Hindu art. The superbly sculptured heads brought to distant art museums have become identified especially as examples of the Khmer They afford a revelation of a basic stA'le.
day Vietnam.
Buddhist principle concerning peace of mind
the Polynesians.
on earth and eventual rest in the bliss of Nirvana. As the classic period came to its end there were, of course, variations and influences owing to dynastic changes and pres-
heavy stonelike quality.
conquer Champa, along the coast of presenta
Siamese
The Thais had
identical.
Chinese
the
art,
affinities
with
but, in the period of assimilation
and Thai subservience, the Indian and Cambodian influence prevailed.
It
identify early Siamese works. called the
Mon
style,
is
not easy to
What may be who
developed it
was
more
primitive, with a
It
of special in-
is
many
because
pieces
suggest a link between further Indian art and the art of the
Mayans
in Central America.
culture of western and central
Java before the eighth century, allied espe-
with the Pallava culture of South India,
cially is
represented by few surviving monuments.
The
monument
is
the temple-complex of Borobudur, which
is
greatest existing Jav^anese
Buddhist. ustrades,
It consists of
terraces, stupas, bal-
and niches with
The two
after the people
Burma
It is
terest for archaeologists
The Hindu
began as early as the Camdevelopment was at first
art
and
The Champans had
the Indian tradition, but
in
style
modified by contacts with the Chinese and
sure of successful invaders.
bodian
skills.
After Cambodia, the Siamese went on to
1200.
statues.
religions imported
from India are
and, by infiltration
often strangely mixed in Southeast Asia. In
southeast, in Siam, prevailed until the tenth
many cases the two faiths persisted at the same court. The ruling classes in the several kingdoms were often Hindu. But the Hindus, even in India, incorporated the Buddha and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara
settled in part of
century.
After their invasions of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries,
from the north
made
the
Thais,
who became
Mongolians
the true Siamese,
their concerted stand in the thirteenth
century against the Khmers
southern Siam.
who
In the fourteenth and
teenth centuries the Thais conquered
fif-
Cam-
Khmer civilization. Angkor Thom, built about the
bodia and destroyed the
The
city of
end of the ninth century, and the temple of Angkor Vat became lost in the jungle and the ruins were discovered only in the late nineteenth century. The mature Siamese style is especially fifteenth
the product of the thirteenth centuries,
into their pantheon.
ruled over
to
though many appealing
Late in the ninth century the Javanese wrested
central
from
and Brahma. The center of
the
Sailendra
Sumatra.
cultural activity
1000, and Chandi Kidal, Chandi Djago near Malang, and the mausoleum temple of King Erlanga
passed
at
to
east
Belahan
Java before a.d.
were
built.
In
the
fifteenth
century Java was taken over by the Moslems,
works were
and
teenth
portantly
to be produced also in the sixand seventeenth centuries. Siamese, Cambodian, and Javanese art products are
Java
who had come from
Buddhism then gave way to Hinduism and the next group of temples celebrated Siva, Vishnu, rulers
figurative sculpture has never
revived,
folk art surviving.
only
been im-
woodcarving
as
a
II
TH A.D.
E
Cambodian
style ap-
century
peared in the sixth or seventh century
in their
The
recognizable
relics
from those centuries include
such proficient sculpture
Head
of
Buddha and
as
the two standing figures,
Harihara and Female Figure. is
reminiscent of
sculpturally
akin
statues of China.
The
Hindu to
the pre-Khmer
the
The
stone head
types but earliest
it
is
also
Buddhist
(See page 277.)
full-length figures are similarly remi-
niscent of Indian sculpture, but by the seventh
Head
of
Buddha. Clay.
Mon
Khmer craftsmen had become masters own right. There is a liveliness here,
an aesthetic into
line
that brings the figures
vitality,
with
the
simple,
Old Kingdom Egypt and
Wei
Period.
It
is
is
timeless
China
worth noting
cately yet fully each
rangement
of
art
how
deli-
garment and hair
indicated,
without
of
the
in
ar-
detracting
from the massiveness and unity of the figure: how minor enrichment is added without sacrificing the integrity of the block.
type, 6th-7th centuries. Prapatom. National
Museum, Bangkok
276
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
The Buddha now progress
made
at Seattle indicates the
the
in
seventh
and eighth
No
centuries toward a national, classic type. less
simple than the preceding figures,
brows
approaches
lips are
The
idioms.
wide and
the
of
line
horizontal
Above
full.
bears,
marks of certain
especially in the head, the crystallizing
it
all, it
the
eye-
and
the
possesses
Head
of
Buddha from
the Sachs Collection, which dates from the
height of the classic period, there
is
a
wonder-
Here again Buddhism, a state-
ful expression of peace of soul. is
a fixing of the spirit of
ment
like
the Indians, developed
Hindu and a Buddhist art, but it was to the Hindu gods that the greatest monuments were erected, not without concessions to Buddhist iconography.
The mag-
Angkor Thorn and Angkor Vat (meaning "capital city" and "capital nificent ruins of
temple") comprise one of the most impressive
landmarks in the advance of Eastern sculp-
a serenity of spirit.
In the fragmentary
The Khmers, both a
in terms of art, of the felicity of in-
undation in Nirvana.
They
are rivaled in opulence
and Indian temple
Sinhalese,
Javan,
At Angkor there bridges,
there
palaces,
are
and the
among
is
a
the
areas.
complex of gateways, and terraces, and
temples,
miles of walls
ornamented with
figures or carved in abstract or floral themes.
Female Figure. Stone. 7th century. Cambodia.
Musee Guimet. QGiraiidon
ture.
prevalence of masterpieces only
photo')
Harihara. Stone. Early 7th century. Phnoyn Penh Museum. (Photo Musee Guimet, courtesy Tel)
Head
of
Buddha. Stone. Pre-Khmer,
6th century.
Phnom Penh Museum
Buddha. Stone. Mon-Cambodian centiuries. Fuller Collection,
Head
type,
Seattle Art
6th-7th
Museum
of Buddha. Stone. Khmer. 9th century. Cambodia. Fogg Museum of Art, Meta and Paul J. Sachs Collection
c3
:^<5^^i 0-;
-^^
£
.^
a -V
Procession of Troops before the King, mural
QGiraudon photo from
Frieze of
relief. Stone.
Angkor Vat.
replica")
Dancing Apsaras. Stone. 12th century. Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom. From Replica in Musee Guimet
THE FLOWERING While
the profounder relics of
culture
show
affinity
Indo-Khmer
with the austere type of
ample evidence at Indian is Angkor Vat that the Khmers had also fallen heir to the mastery of the abundant decorative image,
mode.
The
there
impression
is
less
turbulent,
fecund and and Elephanta; but at Angkor there are relief scenes and surrounding ornamentation which occupy acres.
and the piled-up
illogical,
than
Some appear entire
display
at
figures are less
is
at
The
an extraordinarily high
level of narrative representation tive
and decora-
embellishment.
The
frozen into superb rhythmic friezes. is
subject-matter
nominally religious,
but the sculptors devote considerable attention to the apsaras or
dancing nymphs,
who
combine ample physical loveliness with their saintly function. As they appear at both Angkor Vat and Angkor Thom, they are captivating creatures, and sometimes they are
There
and every variation from half-emergent, dominating figure to
the murals,
a single,
vast battle scenes— which are, indeed,
among
the most animated in the history of plastic art.
The
superbly
sculptured
heads,
statues at the original temple sites,
brought
distant
to
art
of the
Khmer
style.
from
have been
museums, and they
have become identified especially
The
as
examples
calm, the serenity,
the sweetness are to be found in a multitude of examples.
is
279
every degree of low relief and high relief
among
Ellora
in the details illustrated.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
IN
The
lithic quality is consistently
maintained, and the fineness of the cutting is
remarkable.
comprise acteristics,
a
of
Decorative mural panel with Apsara. Stone. Khmer,
and
true
with
hands.
reflects the
mind on
1 1
is
these
heads
standardized
char-
that
but each one has come alive in
the sculptor's entity
It
type,
Each
is
a
sculptural
Buddhist ideal of peace
earth and rest in the bliss of
th century.
Angkor Thom, Musee Guintet
Head of Buddha.
Stone.
Khmer. Lopburi, Siam. Collection of Reginald Le May, Tunhridge Wells
Head
Head
of Buddha. Stone. Collection of C. T. Loo
Khmer, 12th century.
of Buddha. Stone. 12th century. Prah-Khan Temple, East Cambodia. Musee Guimet. QGiraudon photo")
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Nirvana.
The example
shown
lection,
May
Le
in the
opposite,
col-
a masterpiece in
is
The Head
The Head
tive simplicity.
of Biiddlia beside
for a new mannerism The Head of Buddha at
Museum Khmer
(page 282)
being in wood.
relics,
the most beautiful surviving
The Mon-Gupta has Indian
from Gupta st)'le
Buddha
art,
one of
is
pieces.
and
in
is
descent
direct
art.
and Head
the
Mon
style,
Khmer
As an example
Head
India,
of
the
counted
of a Bodhisattva. Stone.
the
Mon
which
Pala
Khmer,
still,
sculpture.
Siam,
south
in
particularly,
that
art
of
the
was
little
more than
a
contemporary Cambodian.
The two
substantially cation:
mouth
the is
are different only in that
one
pure Khmer, while the other
like
Khmer, with some eyebrows
less
wide,
definitely
the
is
racial modifi-
meet,
the
cheeks are often
puffed to give the face a more oval outline. style
Siamese
12th-13th centuries. Musee Guimet
in bronze.
Heads of Buddha ascribed to the eleventh and twelfth centuries are barely distinguishable from the examples uncovered at Angkor seems
in
is
of
the
workers, mixing with the Khmer,
produced
Vat.
influence has been slight.
northern
At Lopburi
of
work
of Art. It
at
Seated on a Serpent of the
much Buddhist
of so
in
one characterized by excepthe other a
Law now
adjoining illustration, a figure timelessly
Buddha
of
the
statue
epitomizes the ideal of serenity characteristic
The Mask
clay (page 275) are rare early examples of
tional subtlety,
The Buddha
unusual
the
is
Museum
Metropolitan
variation
an example of the
is
Siamese
in stucco
It
among
stone head from Lopburi
attributes,
of
of sharp
the Fogg
exceptional
is
fluent
its
and
cutting
Mon
a primi-
to
of a later type, interesting for
ridging.
Musee
of a Bodhisattva from the
Guimet, below, marks a return
is
there
Mon
by Khmer or
affected
little
influence,
Buddha Expounding
every sense.
it
parently
281
but
from ap-
Again the Buddhist sweetness and peace are apparent.
Head of Buddha. Stone. Khmer, 12th-13th centuries. Musee Guimet
Head
of Buddha.
Wood
with traces of gilt. 12th- 13th centuries. Fogg Museum of Art
Head of Buddha. Stone. Mon-Gupta type. Lopburi, Siam. Collection of Reginald Le May
Mask
of
Buddha. Stucco. Mon,
6th-7th centuries. Prapatom. Collection of Reginald Le May
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
283
Buddha Expounding the Law. Bronze. Mon-Gupta, 9th-10th centuries. Devaravati. Metropolitan
Upper
Museum
of Art, Fletcher
left:
Buddha Seated on Khmer style.
a Serpent. Stone.
Collection of Reginald
Le May
Head of Buddha. Stone. Mon. Siam. British Museum
Fund
1
It
sometimes claimed
is
that
the
name
Siam should not be applied before the invasion from the north, which gathered force in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and reached its peak in the thirteenth. Only late in this period was a thoroughly typical Siamese
st)'le
first
marked.
It
then presents
from the Khmer. For example, in the bronze Head of Buddha (below, right) the nose has become long and thin, the eyebrows are arched, the mouth is more delicate and the head ovoid. The squared face, leveled brows, and full lips of the Cambodian heads are gone. a facial type considerably different
The
bronzes, in particular,
now
a
attain
refinement seldom equaled in the history of sculpture,
an elegance sustained with great
The
subtlety.
small
figures
with very careful attention
are
graceful,
to attitude.
It is
not unusual to find a detached hand
played
in
a
museum
as
a
masterpiece
dis-
of
Buddha. Bronze. Sukotai Period, 13th-14th centuries.
sculptural expressiveness.
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
Head
Head of Buddha. Stone. 14th century. Lopburi. Detroit Institute of Arts
of Buddha. Bronze, gilded. Ayrudhya type, 15th-16th centuries. Collection of Reginald Le May
»*^,
»-
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
A
characteristic
285
Siamese type of head in
stone has protruding eyes, long turned-down
and Hps noticeably upturned at the The monumental lithic element is beautifully displayed in the example at the nose,
*f
corners.
Detroit Institute of Arts (on facing page),
't
hR^^
one of many sur\'iving heads in museums and private collections. Other vari-
which
is
ations
are
illustrated
heads, two in the
Montreal. the
The two
refinement
latively,
Le
in
a
May
series
«.
-^
« 4
.-'
r
.-»
^^
j-^ j» J
three
one
and
one
elegance:
at
super-
in a smooth, suave stylization;
top idiom goes back to the
Khmer
The
at
India.
'
in bronze display again
other in a decorative composition.
to
of
collection,
Yaai.»,
*- 1.
stone
head
The
the
flame-
period and
Montreal
is
monumental and commanding and is a late variation of the Buddha type. Here again the artist seems to draw upon spiritual philosophy for aid in his craftsmanship.
Below and upper right: Heads of Buddha. Bronze. Thai. Collection of Reginald Le May
1
Head
of Buddha. Stone. Thai-Lopburi type, 14th century. Art Association of Montreal
A'.'>.
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
286 The is
illustrations
final
statuettes.
The one
from Siam are of
evidence indicates direct importation of the
Hanoi Museum
art with settlers from India. As Hindus amalgamated with other peoples, with substantial Mongolian elements from
the
in
dated by authorities as late as the seven-
teenth
or
possibly
the eighteenth
Though unmistakably Thai,
it
century. in
reverts
feeling to the art of India of the classic or
Gupta
The
period.
Siva Seated
t)^ical of the
is
from
Champa and
of the characteristic device of playing areas of rich
is
heavy conventionalization and
minor
ornament against simplified and
bold masses.
One
occurred
during
medieval
the
centuries. In the island of Java the simplified,
austere image of the
the
narrative
relief
Buddha art
lived again,
arrived
at
precedented lavishness of display. of
early
the
the north but with a possible admixture of
Hinduism and Buddhism, along with Indian religious art, were unreservedly adopted. Almost the oldest— and certainly the greatPolynesians, the Indian religions,
est—Javanese
development are vague,
Siva Seated. Stone. 9th century. Champa. Collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt, Switzerland
an
The but
and unlines
the
monument
plex of Borobudur, which earlier relics
other flowering of the Indian style of
sculpture
sculptural
had been
the temple-com-
is
is
Buddhist, where
Sivaist.
The
dynasty
under which Borobudur was erected had
pushed
in
count the
from Sumatra, and some authorities true
Javanese
art
a
later
type,
more sensuous, and therefore more Indonesian and akin to the Polynesian. But Borobudur is so overwhelming in its extent and its wealth of sculpture that later developsofter,
Buddha, statuettes. Bronze. 14th— 15th centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum. Right: 17th century. Hanoi Museum. Left:
CMusee Guimet
photo")
Head
Museum ments in the
island,
of Buddha. Stone. 8th century. Borobudur. of Asiatic Art, Amsterdam, Van der Mandele Gift
even though more truly
native, sink into comparative insignificance.
The temple
least three miles
devoted to panels crammed
with narrative sculpture.
strictly a
The
building, but a coating of terraced pavements
tached
and walls over an
Western museums (often
at
Borobudur artificially
is
not
shaped
hill,
with
an almost unbelievable number of turreted shrines
disposed
geometrically
around
crowning stupa. There are gateways, forms,
niches,
plat-
and mural carving, with
Seated Buddha. Stone. 9th century. Borobudur, Central Java
a
at
amples
which
de-
displayed
in
large seated Biiddhas, of
heads
Javanese
of
numbered
frequently
are
505.
The
as
Head
of
only ex-
probably
sculpture),
generally high standard
attained in cutting the statues
the examples shown.
the
The
is
attested in
stone figures are
Buddha. Stone. 8th or 9th century. Borobudur. British
i:
Museum
Borobudur Temple. Total height 100
8th-9th centuries.
feet.
COfficial photo, Republic of Indonesia')
at
time
this
Buddha inner
subtly
less
modeled, and the
face generally lacks the reflection of
superbly displayed in the
bliss so
bodian
examples;
models
of
but
religious
they
are
Cam-
impressive
iconography.
All
the
figures are in the traditional attitudes of the
Buddha, such
The marvel
as in meditation or preaching.
of marv'els at
Borobudur
superb series of mural illustrations of
from the Buddhist a
narrative
much
been
classics.
Nowhere
displayed
ambition and mastery.
tomb walls
are
comparison;
the
sculptured
cliffs
pale
with
The
is
the
but
else has
quite
so
Eg)^tian
and unsculptural
in
Indian temple murals and
and unique
at
shown are representative and some of the happy groupings of protagonists and minor characters. The first shows the Buddha in meditation under the tree, like a rock amid the allurements of the episodes
temptresses of Mara.
The
second
is
a
panel
both
In
horses.
treatment, little
less
more graphic and sculptural,
The
outstanding.
ship
is
For a freer
detailed
next
the
The
two
first
typical of the
st)'le.
balanced
the
cases
and
panels
a
are
in itself a tour-de-
force in rock-carved illustration. illustrations
The human
(Page 290.) more are
Java, as well as the customs
have
figures
an almost voluptuous grace, and the
flora of
and costumes of
the people are represented in conventionalized detail.
The
Java of Borobudur (and of one earlier
important temple, Candi
Mendut) was
a part
of a Sumatran-Javanese empire, that of the
The Buddha
Sailendra kings.
Worcester)
a single
is
in bronze (at
example
the sculpture of Sumatra, and
remind
illustrate
central female
secondary figures are notable.
are perhaps as extensive
nearly two thousand "leaves."
The
and
its
flanking figures, and trees, elephant,
figure,
stories
Borobudur there is sculptural discipline and unity of impression. The panels appear on the walls flanking the terraces, and if laid out in sequence would form a storybook several miles in length, with as elaborate,
equally well composed, with
us
of
the
to represent
may
widespread
embraced in the and Indonesia and
sculptural art
Indochina
ser\'e
heritage relices
the
other lands which were influenced by culture. is
The
recaptured
lingering beauty of in
this
statuette,
to
of
from
several
Hindu
Gupta but
manifestation shaped by a local culture.
in
art a
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
289
^gintir rii^L
Stories of the
Buddha,
Buddhist Story,
relief panels,
relief panel. Stone.
iitone.
'
""=«^i./;
Borobudur. QCoiirtesy Musee Guimet)
Borobudur. QPhoto Victoria and Albert Museum')
N 'Ili fii^M MiW 'iiti^'-'l^ji^^ i
'' -
i
wi
-'J>
i ii^'
1%' ^^•^^^k-?
,«i;tf*%
IN'"
?*;*
I
'liWi wi \
The
reproduction from the temple of
first
Siva at
Prambanan
dent of
Rama drawing
to
hand
gain the
in Java
the
shows the
bow and
of Sita,
inci-
Djanaka would be
of it
conceive of a happier illustration
difficult to
of this story
from the Ramayana. The second,
with a battered central stone showing Vishnu
on the serpent,
is
notable for the compositions
on the side stones: Garuda, the sun-bird, and a cluster of attending gods. Next is an incident of the monkeys and the sea creatures,
to
illustrate
method,
relief
draftsman's
in
an
a
somewhat amusing
exceptional
The
technique.
sculptor-
final
scene,
and dynamic, tending toward sculpture in the round, marks a step toward the melodramatic action and the crowded mise- en- scene that were to characterize Javathough
vital
nese sculpture in the period of decadence.
was
this excessively vigorous
that prevailed
Gradually
and crowded
It
style
from the tenth century onward. the
reliefs
take
and angular ornamentalism
on
of the
the
flat
Wayang Buddha. Bronze. Sumatran, 9th century. Negapatam. Worcester Art Museum
Stories of the
Buddha,
relief panels. Stone.
Borobudur.
(^Official
photo. Republic of Indonesia')
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Panels from the Siva Temple, Prambanan. Stone. CCourtesy Musee Guimet^. Top: Story of Rama and Sita, detail. Center: Story from "Ramayana," detail. Bottom: Scene froju the "Ramayana," detail
291
292
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
^| ^IH v^^l >
^^r
1
I-
1
1ll 1
l-i c
^flH^
^^1
^d^S
w 1
E
'
/
i2
fk
^
*^ Fountain or downspout. Majapahit Period, 14th century. East Java. Majakerta Museum CCourtesy Musee Guimet)
Scenes from the "Ramayana,"
detail. Stone.
"*•-:
'
|_
Avalokitesvara. Bronze. C. 14th century.
Golden Monastery, Patan, Nepal. CCourtesy Asia House, New York')
Siva temple, Pramhanan. QCourtesy
Musee Guimet')
THE FLOWERING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA puppets, but without the rich expressixeness
ally
in
uniquely spirited
those
of
there
actors.
Occasion-
an example of figure-modeling
is
which the garlands and
traceries
enhance
293
Buddhist Monk, a typical work of the East Javanese school. frontation, first,
The two
exhibits,
that the sculpture of Central
fundamentally
con-
in
emphasize two underlying
facts:
and South-
the sculptural effect, as in the fountain piece
eastern Asia
or gargoyle illustrated.
examples from India and Nepal, or from the
is
alike,
so that
there
Golden Lands, whether Burma, Cambodia,
were sculptors in Further India who were masters of the art (as the illustrations from
or Java, cannot be mistaken as creations from
Even
at
that
Siam show).
A
late
date,
however,
graphic lesson can be read
in the reproductions here of a subtly beautiful
Avalokitesvara,
fourteenth
a
product of Nepal of the
century,
Head
and,
the
Head
of
of a Buddhist Moitk. Stone.
a
any other part of the world; and second, that within this unity the differences are so
marked, the originality this
Head
of a
Monk,
is
so inherent,
that
for instance, could not
be guessed as other than Javanese.
Candi Scvvu. ^Courtesy Mtisee Guiinet')
12: Early Christian Sculpture: Coptic J Byzantine
I
THE
nothing as
and the gospel stories of Christ and the saints, became standard, whether the tombs were designed in Rome, Gaul, or centers in the East.
and scratchings in the Rome, which were hidden from
Christian art were the Coptic style in Egypt
beginnings of Christian
art
developed
Roman
within the tottering framework of the
Empire, but in sculpture there
is
early as the frescoes
catacombs of official eyes.
On
the later
however, the Christian religious significance,
Roman
such
sarcophagi,
could read a
initiate
as the parable of
the strayed sheep in the figure of a shepherd
Emperor Constantine
the
Byzantine
under
at
had been fully was Oriental mysticism
cultural center, Alexandria,
but
legalized the
it
rather than
Greek
after
three
Christianity
its
persecution,
that
the
Bible
termined aesthetic expression.
centuries
of
in
could be safely incorporated into the
sarcophagus compositions.
Then
the favorite
became its
emperor's
the
313,
religion
which
early
Constantinople. Egypt, as represented by
fiellenized,
It
style,
in
influence
focused
a.d.
Christian
stories
and
developments
distinctive
was not
carrying a sheep on his shoulders. until the
Two
logic
essential
that afforded early
character
The
and
Coptic style developed in Egypt, close spiritual
sources
of
Christian
to the
monasticism,
incidents, such as Daniel in the lions' den,
but elements similar to the Coptic were
the stories of Jonah, of David and Goliath,
appear
later in
Byzantine works.
Peacocks Drinking, building stone. Byzantine, 7th century. Venice. State
Museum,
Berlin
QGiraudon photo')
de-
pro\incial
to
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
The Miracle
The Byzantine
at
Cana. Ivory. Coptic, 6th century. Victoria and Albert
was
st)'le
being through the fusion of
and
Eastern, flowering, spirit life
was
Hellenic
its
brought
into
Roman, Near
elements.
The
re-
Oriental terms, of the Greek
in
burgeoning aesthetic
allied to the
of the Christian religious communities in
and Syria, and in Conbecame the capital of the Christian world. A minor influence was the Egypt,
Palestine,
stantinople
of
art
when
it
northern
the
or
barbarian
people,
be more fully integrated much Romanesque style. Sculpture was not a foremost art in early
which was later, in
to
the
Christian times. Indeed, nothing in the entire
range of Coptic or Byzantine art in stone
matched the
glories
of
Byzantine architec-
and frescoes. As the ancient Roman Empire became a slackly organized ture,
mosaics,
Christian
empire,
295
Museum
sculpture
deteriorated
to
and hardly more than auxiliary art. Apart from a few exceptional works, monumental expression was lacking from a secondary
the
second
the
to
ninth
centuries.
The
surviving relics consist of ivory plaques or
marble
coffins in
Near Eastern in
or
the
Roman and
then the
There were reliefs metals, such as plaques for book covers, ritual platters, and a multitude of architec-
tural details
tradition.
such as decorated
capitals. Slabs
of various types were carved in low relief in ivor)%
wood, or stone, and were
Greece
in
and
Constantinople.
common But
the
church or palace of monumental proportions
was
sheathed
at
with
colorful
mosaics
or
and sculpture enriched the buildings only a few points. The influence of Persia
frescoes,
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
296
and Mesopotamia, where building art leaned but lightly upon sculpture for embellishment,
years.
seen in the architecture of Santa Sophia
Rome
is
church in Constantinople, constructed in
a.d.
There were one
fourteen-foot bronze
the
as
Valentinian Italy,
which
two major monuments,
or
now
I,
figure
of
Barletta in southern
at
illustrates the survival of
Roman
portraiture into the latter half of the fourth
century.
It
however,
is,
sculpturally clumsy.
once
melted
for
The arms and use
awkwardly replaced period. There is also
in
in
and were were
nondescript legs
and
bells
Renaissance
the
a group of four figures
in stone, set into a corner of the Treasury of St.
Mark's Cathedral in Venice.
interest
historians
to
ascribed to the
of
end of the
It is
of great
because
art
it
third century
is
and
yet already exhibits the essential characterof the Byzantine style:
istics
a total lack of
many
for
Theodoric the Goth became ruler of in
but
493,
Romans had been Egyptian
532-537-
such
and Roman elements
barbarian
barbarians
as
monasticism was intro-
Christian
duced into
well
as
Christianized long since.
by
Benedict (480-544) Subiaco and Monte Cassino, and a net-
at
work
Italy
St.
Benedictine monasteries began
of
to
spread over Europe under a rule encouraging the
arts.
The the
early Byzantine style prevailed
from
The
sixth
third
century pieces
the fifth centuries.
to
is
the period
and the climax,
the
of
great master-
group of buildings
at
the famous throne of
church and the
as seen in the
of Santa Sophia in Constantinople
Ravenna. In sculpture
Maximian
at
Ravenna,
sheathed with ivory plaques, belongs
to this
period. After three centuries of lesser activity,
during which
the
iconoclast
wars stopped
production for a time, there was a renaissance
Many
Greek (or Roman) naturalness, an attempt at rhythmic composition, and addition of rich
in the mid-ninth century.
patterning in every available area.
wealth and prosperity. There was a further
busts in the
Roman
Portrait
tradition soon sink to
A
almost unbelievable ineptness.
an
very few
heads, showing signs of a more truly Eastern
approach,
such
as
Oaks (page 303),
The
the are
one
and
vivid.
only consistent triumph of portraiture
in these times
is
on the
the
time
Rome
fell
Near
the period of decadence
many
East,
Eastern
art,
barbarian
in-
vaders in 410, a vast part of the empire had been ruled (or wasted in wars) under mixed
the
came
of
in the
characteristics
with the Romanesque
Many
Byzantine
plaques, book covers,
to
period
of
as seen in the Byzantine master-
pieces, fused
West.
of
or pyx, were portable
faces or in the historical portraits of the
By
When
and occasionally
late compositions.
of the finest
this
renaissance in the twelfth century.
in idealized heads
coins,
on the ivory plaques, either
and
at
attractive
Dumbarton
were carved during
ivories
objects
art of the
such
as
and the circular box and were circulated in
countries from the eastern Mediterranean to
the British Isles, and in turn they affected Western Christian art. The Byzantine Empire
lasted
fell to
technically until
the Turks in 1453.
Constantinople
II
TH
E
ivory with Scenes from the
Testament
Roman
affinities.
compositions
suggest
with
classic
narrative
New
an Early Christian piece,
is
While a
panels,
the story-telling
legacy there
from are
a
the
new
vividness and vigor that can be counted only as Eastern.
As
in so
many
ivories of the early
period, there are touches of Oriental pattern-
Scenes from the State
New
Museum,
ing and the over-all design
is
rhythmic and
The
two parts of the plaque (matched here from two museums) show also the typical fullness and roundness of each
opulent.
figure,
against
uncluttered
generally
back-
grounds.
The two The Story
plaques Miracles of Christ and of
Joseph,
also
Testament. Ivory. Italian, 5th century. Berlin; Louvre. (^Giraudon photo^
labeled
Early
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
298
Christian or Latin, influence.
The
first
Miracles of Christ. Ivory. C. 5th century. Victoria and Albert Museum
show even more Eastern places the rounded
fig-
ures against backgrounds entirely traced over
with patterning. In the other, although the
workmanship again
somewhat clumsy,
is
exceptional
richment.
The
deeplv pierced
feeling
animals to
for
there
surface
and the
is
en-
foliation,
produce sparkling
light-
and-shade, are Oriental in feeling. Here the classic
West and
East have met in a
the
new
plastically
inventive
fusion, in the style
called Byzantine.
As Byzantine
architecture developed,
the
columns in the Christian churches were often capped with sculptured compositions.
The
Story of Joseph. Ivory. C. 5th century.
Treasury of Sens Cathedral. QGiraudon photo')
ra^.
'Vlis^A.«Wi,'^''
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE These range from the
abstract
(very
hke
Islamic designs, in the later periods) through
compositions
semi-abstract
and on
ation,
to
based
on
fully figurative types
with
tian icon
museum
the
at
Ravenna, and, in
with animals,
rhythmic
whelmed
France.
Late
The
mastery in sculpture had been
best expressed in the sarcophagi of the
first
wholly
composition
There
had
all
but
pyx
Florence
at
the
over-
Eastern detail. is
in If
its it
the
reveals
a slightly different way.
in
nevertheless
Pyx. Ivory. 5th century. National Museum, Florence. QGiraudon photo^
Capitals. Stone. Byzantine. 6th-7th centuries. Above: Museum, Ravenna. (^Anderson photo"). Belo^v. Church of S. Michele, Pavia. (Alinari photo)
one
possible to find
classic realism of statement.
little
transition
wealth of classic
it is
to Chris-
piece. In
century Oriental decoration and Oriental
in place
still
the
motives
Good Shepherd. By
both Jonah and the
Church of San Michele in Pavia, Italy. There is in the latter composition more than a hint of the Romanesque style that was to succeed the Byzantine in Italy and
contrast, a capital
in
Roman
and Christian genre
of the panels (page 301)
fifth
and was com-
in the third
progression
the
centuries
pleted from purely
figures. Illustrated are a near-abstract capital,
in
fourth
But
centuries.
flori-
knotted animals or conventionalized biblical
now
and second
299
exuberance
It
and
lacks logical order
is
its it
wonderfully alive and vibrant.
are ivories
that juxtapose a story-
300
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE and
telling composition
and the two
decorative panel,
a
traditions can
The
not quite fused.
be detected,
still
didactic figures in the
ivory at Liverpool have been
composed
into
a rhythmic group. In the figures of the top
and
panel,
also
below, there
which was Byzantine
One
the
animals of the scene
the special rounding of forms
is
persist
to
as
a hallmark of the
style.
of the most instructive examples
famous
bishop's
Ravenna,
throne
of
with
sheathed
is
the
Maximian
at
representational
and running borders of ornament.
panels
Though
the
figure
have
panels
didactic
Roman
traits,
and the
aesthetic sensibility of the East. Like
all
else has the
new freedom
most of the accomplished ivory of so early time
(the sixth century),
it
was
until
a
re-
cently credited to the studios of Alexandria.
Later attributions are to other centers.
Byzantine style was in
The
full tide over a vast
by the mid-sixth century. A new had evolved, and centers of manufacture existed on three continents. territory
way
of design
The Coptic composition in the Louvre showing a god, a horse, and a crocodile, has hardly more than a heavy manner, a lithic beauty, and direct statement to link it with earlier
Egyptian work.
It is
transformed, by
workmen imbued with
Eastern feeling, into
No
Greek in the classic no Roman, could
a decorative entity. tradition,
and
certainly
have rendered the two animals Throne of Maximian. Ivory over
vi'ood.
6th century. Archepiscopal Palace, Ravenna.
QAnderson photo')
at
once so
unreal and so alive, or the whole composition so
compact and
Early Christian sarcophagus. Stone. 3rd-4th centuries. Vatican
so decorative.
Museum, Rome. QBrogi
photo")
— EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE .^^^^^^^w-^^^^
V.---;
w^t.-j^''?:
^
J^^
century. Liverpool
Museum. QGiraudon
A God
oil
301
photo')
a Horse. Stone. Coptic. Egypt. Louvre. QGiraudon photo)
Early Christian sarcophagus. Stone. 3rd-4th centuries. Church of S. Maria Antiqiia, Rome. QBrogi photo)
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
302 It is
the frank decorativeness of Coptic art
that sets
it
Egyptian
soil;
from earher developments on
off
and indeed the majority
museums
Coptic sculptures in the
and not
stractly decorative
They comprise and
of the
are
ab-
figurative at
all.
floriated capitals, rich friezes,
all-over-patterned panels.
But the Copts
could treat figure compositions without losing the play of light and areas,
producing
shadow upon patterned
luxuriant
designs.
The
stone relief from Greece, with animals and birds,
pressed
how
shows itself
Byzantine
this
somewhat
art.
It
ornamentalism
represents the florid aspect
Cana (page 295)
fluent
Greece. Louvre. QGiraudon photo')
of
there are the full
the
Byzantine
style.
and
The
counterpoint, and the hair
is
mentalized— not in the
Roman manner,
late
frankly orna-
but in patterning that heightens by contrast the
Even
smooth modeling of face the wine jars are disposed
and
figure.
rhythmic
for
counterplay. Yet the Christian story-theme
is
served.
The of
silver
Cyprus,
plate, is
a
a
part of the Treasure
reminder
further
mixed nature of the sculptural the
formative
The
centuries
of
the
art
of
the
during
Byzantine
David and Goliath is told explicitly in three scenes, in the manner of Hellenistic Rome rather than in the sumptuous Persian manner. But there is enough
style.
Relief. Stone. Byzantine. 9th or 10th century.
figures
drapery ends are composed into ornamental
ex-
later in the course of
of the Byzantine style.
In the ivory panel illustrating the Miracle at
story of
ornamentalism draperies,
on the
and
shields,
in
the
treatment
especially
in
the
of
the
patterning
echoed in the stippling of the
towers, to indicate the meeting of the two traditions.
The
Story of David
and
Goliath. Silver.
6th century. From the Treasure of Cyprus. Metropolitan Museum of Art
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
Portrait head. Stone. Dumbarton Oaks Collection
The had
Portrait head. Stone. Coptic,
6th-7th centuries. Louvre
never fully
Byzantine
artists
Roman
portraiture
Ravenna,
Byzantine
Byzantium.
at
so degenerated that there could
be no
strong influence from that direction, and by the eighth century the iconoclast
movement
within the Eastern Church had put a serious
check upon trait
were working in Rome. In
art of portraiture in stone
developed
all
The few
figurative art.
por-
heads that survive are marked by
complete
understanding
necessarily
a
grave
which one seldom
in-
anatomy— not
of
fault,
but
a
303
fault
for
finds compensation in su-
had predominated
art
by
for three centuries, as witnessed especially
the
monuments and
architectural
mosaics.
There was no notable sculpture other than the
carved
beautifully
laced
ornament,
with
capitals
comparable
Coptic Egypt and of Byzantium after a.d.
sance,
inter-
those
to
itself.
of Just
800 there occurred a minor renaiswith the religious and
associated
cultural
advance in Europe under Charle-
perior plastic sensibility or striking sculptural
magne's patronage, and there are groups of
aliveness.
illuminations
The head lection
is
in
something of an exception;
striated treatment of
though
Dumbarton Oaks Col-
the
the
beard and hair
contrast
of
is
unbroken surfaces
with beard and hair so heavily ridged cally Eastern.
The head
indeterminate date, Phoenicia,
Roman By
and
is
has
the
novel,
in the
thought
some
is
Louvre to
typiis
of
be from
affinity
with
art.
the end of the eighth century Greco-
and
ivories
the
of
period,
catalogued by scholars as "Ada" (from the
name
of
Charlemagne's
"School of
sister),
Reims," and so on. In the early tenth and the
eleventh centuries,
new wave
of
at
a
time
when
a
Orientalism had swept over
the Eastern studios,
there
termining renaissance in the
was
a
more
West known
deas
the Ottonian (or Orthonian), which led on to
Romanesque and
belong
to that style.
is
considered by some to
304
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
In both periods of revival the general expression
Byzantine or Byzantesque. (Ire-
is
land alone then clung
to Celtic
and was
ac-
complishing the chief flowering of the Barbarian
style
in
imported
Justinian
Theodoric
sculpture.)
and
architects
and
artisans
to design and build churches and palaces at Ravenna in the sixth century, and Charlemagne's architects sent to Ravenna for models and materials for the new capital at Aachen in the eighth and ninth centuries,
from the East
while the Ottonian kings simply revivified the
st)'le
ivories
The
early Ottonian
especially spirited
and dramatic.
closest at
are
hand.
Objects in ivory in a wide range of design
and subject
are
shown on
this
and the
fol-
lowing pages. They are probably of the tenth
and eleventh
centuries, except those
marked
and the panel of the Veroli its several faces, shows lively treatment of Christian and pagan themes, strangely mixed together. It is of
workmanship and it affords an inway in which artists full of enthusiasm for their medium, with superb exquisite
stance of the
technical
mastery,
written
misunderstood the
often
and
texts
the
painted
miniatures
which were their chief sources of inspiration. In one panel Europa and the Bull usurp the place of Achan amid the Israelites hurling stones.
As the Church had been the only shape any
sort
and
national
of unity
racial
elements, so art became
now an appanage of power. The thematic from the
life
Testament
with
Christ
the
the ecclesiastic ruling materials
were taken
of Jesus or of Mary, or from
Old in
force to
from the confused
in
stories.
majesty
Cluny Museum,
The
Crucifixion,
and other is
a
scenes,
particularly
Carolingian,
beautiful example of the story-telling type.
Casket, which, on
It is
of Charlemagne's time.
The
central leaf of a triptych illustrating
Christ crowning the Emperor Romanus IV
Panel with fantastic subjects. Ivory. Byzantine, 9th-10th centuries. Formerly Collection de Vasselot, Paris. QGiraudon photo")
Veroli Casket. Ivory over wood. Byzantine, 9th century. Victoria
and Albert Museum
and Empress Eudocia is of special interest union of Church and state. It is equally an index to the artistic methods
in indicating the
of the Byzantine craftsmen.
The Madonna
and Child ivith Samts in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection is a work in the mature Byzantine manner, showing slenderized figures though without losing the idiomatic rounding of forms.
The Christ in Majesty is a distinctive German variation. That the Orient was again asserting attested
itself
by the
in
the
Western
studios
is
spirited symbolic animals at
the base of the design, these being the symbols of
Mark and Luke. The Crucifixion at Museum, which borders on ex-
the British
Madonna and Child with
Saints, Ivory.
Dumbarton Oaks
Collection
Christ Crowning Crucifixion from book cover. Ivory. French, Carolingian. Cluny Museum. QGiraudon photo")
Romanus IV and Eudocia.
Ivory. Byzantine, llth century.
Bihliotheque Nationale, Paris. QGiraudon photo')
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
306
pressionistic
distortion,
nevertheless
exhibits
an expert sense of space design and a pleasing counterpoint. vigor
It
of
Ottonian
the
illustrates
process
in
transformation
Romanesque dynamism. The freedom and variety
into
of treatment in
Byzantine ivories can be explained by the great
territor)-^
over
which
the
from Africa and Asia
spread,
France and western Germany, so barian.
The
under a
it
is
lately bar-
t)'pically
ornate
dome
its
is
or
canopy
so frankly
general richness of effect that
surprising to find each figure, in
might
easily
composition,
had
northern
Crucifixion with other scenes,
supported by pierced columns, Oriental in
style
to
what
be a cluttered and confused set
out
with
decision
and
clarity.
In contrast, there are reliefs that pile scene Christ in Majesty. Ivory. Ottonian. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Crucifixion. Ivory. British
Museum
Crucifixion. Ivory. lOth-llth centuries.
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE upon
scene, employing,
times,
at
307
ure
two
or
rather
upon
to
dominate
the
of
scores
supernumeraries, depending not upon a design,
fig-
but
a tapestry-hke distribution of ele-
ments, with a flowing rhythm which unobtrusively holds the composition together.
Munich
panel from a bookbinding at pleasing
unconventional
if
National plicit
and
The cifixion
Museum fluid,
in Zurich,
and indeed
is
a
now at
is
a
The
example.
panel illustrating Psalm XXVII,
The
at the
once ex-
masterpiece.
ivory leaf at Zurich showing the Cru-
and Deposition
conventional
work.
is
a
more sober and
The upper
panel
illu-
strates beautifully the art of space-filling, in
Illustration for
Psalm XXVII.
Ivory. French,
Carolingian, 9th century. National Museum, Zurich
Crucifixion and Related Scenes, panel from a bookbinding. Ivor)'. lOth-llth centuries. State Library, Munich. QCourtesy Archiv fiir Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)
and Deposition. Museum, Zurich.
Crucifixion
National
Ivory. 10th century. (_Giraiidon -photo')
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
308
which the Byzantine
incomparably
carvers
surpassed the Classical Greeks.
The
relative
sizes of the figures are interesting, as is the
turned, It
tion
is
by the two
served
function
winged
religious
the devo-
stress
emotion expressed in
the Carolingian and Ottonian ivory panels.
They were produced during one
of the su-
preme periods of Christian mysticism and worship, and something of the divine awareness and the reverence of the spiritual pilgrim breathes from these miniature devotional works. They were often made as portable altars or as insets for the bindings of
Bibles
or
for
psalters,
or
religious
works
adorning
reli-
Notable
The
relief
from southern
Italy
too.
portable
Gladiators
While Barbarian and
played
their
part
in
Irish
influences
forming the impulse
were potent currents from Italy too. There the Lombards had already developed which pointed toward the variation a Romanesque style. A panel treating the old theme of animalthere
combat, below,
is
typically
Byzantine.
The
Adoration of the Kings, an English piece, demonstrates how fully the Oriental manner
had penetrated even westward of the European continent. Coptic and Byzantine art had developed within the Church. There was a third source of medieval Christian sculpture,
quaries.
metal
ings.
that led to the metal-casting at Hildesheim,
half-figures.
hardly necessary to
and the
inward-
little
or Germano-Byzantine examples were more often plates adorning bookbind-
Byzantine
diptych.
were made in of Christ Enthroned is and is one leaf of a
The
and Lions.
important
Frankish-
Ivory. Byzantine.
Hermitage, Leningrad. (Giraudon Photo")
seemingly alien: the barbarian works of the itinerant peoples.
chapter
we
At the beginning of a new
turn to the art of the successive
waves of Wanderers.
Adoration of the Kings. Ivory. English, II th century. Victoria and Albert Museum
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
Christ Enthroned, with Symbols of the Evangelists, leaf of diptych. Metal. Treasure of Cathedral of Lucera, Apulia, Italy. (^Alinari photo")
309
^.
H
-V
'
"^v'
h
_gMs
1
3:
European Christian Sculpture: BarhariaUj Romanesque^ Gothic
I
MIGRATORY
had no cities and and so the Barbarian sculpture of the North achieved even less monumental expression than did Byzantine sculpture. The t)'pical invention was in jewelry, weapons, and horse trappings; especially in metalwork studded with enamels built
or
traced
signs.
tribes
no churches or
over
with
palaces,
enriching
graved
de-
Like the Scyths, the Celts and the
manship, but they produced objects that are marvels of spirited design.
Through more than art
the
to
Greco-Roman
flourishing,
millennium the barthen
tradition. In the
overcome, just
as,
the
way
of
waning,
end they were
after sacking
Rome
again
and again, they were absorbed into a new empire which was Christian and most de-
Gauls, the Franks and the Goths and the
pendent
Lombards concentrated on miniature
From
crafts-
a
barians opposed their Indo-Germanic
Gargoyles. Stone. 12th century. Notre
upon Byzantium
for
its
the centuries of opposition
Dame
de Paris.
(ND
photo")
culture.
there
re-
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
311
Roman
main rich remnants of Barbarian art; and in the end it was the spirited free design and
cessive barbarian invasions modified
ornamental richness in the Northern
Christianity was the great catalyst in the Dark Ages and Middle Ages. The barbarians who arrived in Central and Western Europe
that transformed
Roman and
Byzantine
into the glorious expression of
style arts
Romanesque.
art
almost beyond recognition.
The Romans had pushed their way northward, spreading Roman civilization through-
were anti-Christian
out Western Europe. Paris of the third cen-
opportunistic leaders, they sometimes drifted
tury was Gallic-Roman, but the
coming
of
the Franks in the fourth and fifth centuries
added
to
the
Germanic element. The
suc-
But
as
as
well
minority groups,
as
anti-Roman.
with shrewd and
and sometimes fervently religion. It marked a history when Clovis, King
into acceptance of,
espoused,
the
new
turning-point in
Fibulae and ornaments. Bronze. Art of the wandering peoples. Albania, Austria, Switzerland, etc. St. Germain Museum; Cernuschi Museum; National
Museum, Zurich
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
312
Franks, the
of the
who had been bowed
his
first
truly
converted
to
Christianity,
head in the Church of
St.
Etienne
is
stor\'
the
late
ele\'enth
of artisan guilds that
century,
Celtic,
The count
for.
names
of
early decades of Gothic that the Christian
notably
art
a
worked
to
more personal
With
produce the
fabric of the cathedrals.
extraordinary production
had been absorbed into the expressionistic Romanesque st)'le. It was in the Romanesque centuries and the and Prankish
Gallic,
of the building of the cathedrals
well known, and especially the emergence
immensely complex
in Paris.
By
The
French king,
art,
is
more
of
sculpture,
difficult to
ac-
few exceptions, even the the sculptors are unrecorded. Most a
at
Gislebertus signed his name at Autun and has been credited with much of the work there between 1125 and 1135.
no other time so glorious. The cathedrals of Chartres, Amiens, Reims, and Paris are among the most inspired buildings erected by men; the English cathedrals are hardly less
Three centuries later Nicolas Gerhaert of Leyden was chiseling sculptures for Strasbourg Cathedral and left a unique signature in a stone self-portrait. But the artists who
spirit art.
most richlv and most truly inspired
The
noble.
story of Christian architecture
is
In spite of seven or eight centuries
and vandalism, the sculpture in the cathedrals and churches of the Middle Ages remains the one supreme exhibit in the West
of wars
to
compare with the
art
that flourished in
Persia, India, and China.
The Royal
Portal, Cathedral of
created
James
at
the
St.
Peter
Moissac,
at
the
St.
Compostela, and the Old Testament
figures of the
Royal Portal
at Chartres,
who
covered with statues the portal recesses and facades of practically
and often
their choirs
all
the great cathedrals,
and other
Notre Dame, Chartres. lMid-12th century.
(ND
areas within
photo')
The
Tympanum as well, at Paris
Salisbury, Burgos
few— these
Last Judgment, detail. Stone. 12th century. of Cathedral of St. Lazare, Autun. QGiraudon photo')
and Reims, Strasbourg and and Leon, to name but a
are anonjonous.
Barbarian art
is
safet)'
known through
the minor
pins for their clothing, and
harness ornaments and sword-guards. Their style
of
served in
curling, its
twisting
pure form in
was prethe Irish and the shapes
Scandinavian national expressions. in
France the
the revelations of Christ, or takes account of the sources
The
upon which
the early Christian
Fathers drew, such as the myster)'-religions of
Greece, of Asia, of Eg)'pt, the old Palestinian
was from
trend
and
Platonism,
learning,
Spiritual
st}'le
the portrayal of animals.
reads Christian history
unfolding of man's understanding of
classic
Mithraism,
the
intellectualism
and
materialism toward the spiritual
was absorbed into the Romanesque. Thousands of capitals on columns in the Romanesque churches of Europe exhibit in their sculpture the spirit of the Indo-Germanic invaders— especially in But
Whether one today as the
sculpture the migrants brought with them,
such as
storybook of religious legend and instruction.
expressionistic
or distorting element in the larger sculptural
spiritual
artist
cept as a
discounts
art
turns
means
image formed
as
life.
of communication, a
The
body.
away from nature result
aesthetic contemplation. as far as exact
the
of spiritual
Nature
is
ex-
an
to
and
discounted
measurements and
lines
and
Romanesque marks supreme instance in the West of emo-
masses
are
concerned.
investiture at Vezelay, Moissac, or the early
the
doorways
tional or spiritual attainment in sculpture.
When
at
Chartres has a similar origin.
Romanesque
fully
Classically trained historians in the nine-
developed, the prodigious feats of medieval
teenth century found no excuse for the de-
and sculpture were accomchurchmen, architects, and whether working in stained glass or had a single vision of the unified
formations of surface realism, and especially
the
style
became
architecture plished. artists,
stone,
cathedral,
The
awe-inspiringly simple in
gineering, amazingly adorned on All
worked
for their
God
to
its
its
en-
surfaces.
provide a vast
human and animal figRomanesque works at such centers Moissac, Vezelay, and Autun. They glori-
the unnaturalness of ures,
as
fied
in
the Gothic as the supreme art of the
medieval opinion,
centuries.
however,
the
In art
twentieth-century of
the
eleventh
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
314
and twelfth centuries
is
considered more cre-
ative. It
cept that of Paris, were in process of build-
At Amiens, Chartres, Reims, Sens, they had been started in the Romanesque style but became Gothic in the course of construction. Notre Dame de Paris was a little later,
ing.
remains only
to
add dates
for the e\ents
was being carWestern Europe over a period of 1300 years. The Gauls had spread over France in the fourth and third centuries B.C. Although Gallic France was put under Roman rule by Julius Caesar in 58-51 B.C., of this period. Barbarian art ried into
begun in 11 60, a date sometimes given for the emergence of the Gothic style. This was the time of the decay of feudalism and the rise of town communes and the
the barbarian incursions continued for cen-
powerful
and culminated in the Frankish invasion of the third and fourth centuries. Celtic culture had pushed as far as Ireland in 400 B.C. The old Celtic art lived on for another twelve hundred years, in its purest
ism and the
turies after
form, in the Irish goldwork, stone sculptured
and manuscripts (as in the famous Book of Kells, of the eighth centur)0. Romanesque architecture developed over an indeterminate period. Romanesque sculp-
crosses,
ture,
however, matured only in
the
early
eleventh century and was dominant for the following two hundred years.
It
was
trans-
formed into Gothic about the year 1200. The architectural metamorphosis can be ascribed centur)',
approximately
to
for
the
earliest
the
mid-twelfth
combination
of
Romanesque vaulting with the pointed arch is commemorated in accounts of the building of the Cathedral of
Aquitaine,
shown
then
St.
Queen
Denis. Eleanor of of
France,
the "new" by Suger in 1144. The great cathedrals,
was
style in the cathedral choir
ex-
state; of first
the beginnings of capital-
emergence of a bourgeoisie.
The Church, without seeming trol
to relax con-
men's minds, was admitting into
over
life new disruptive and divisive was permitting changes in civil organization, education, and even ecclesiastical philosophy that were to lead to separation of Church and state, and to post-medieval intellectualism and materialism. The universities became centers of learning in a new sense. The transformation of Romanesque art
everyday forces,
into Gothic has
Church
polity
its
perfect parallel within the
and the Church teaching,
in
the triumph of the Scholastics over the pro-
ponents faith.
of
The
Christian
early logic
and
and
mysticism
clarity of St.
Thomas
Aquinas and the science of Roger Bacon were replacing the mystic self-giving and the revelatory outpouring of St. tional
and
fore a
new
spiritual
Bernard.
Emo-
expression retreated be-
confidence in
reality, a
new
de-
votion to the non-abstract.
But the sculptors remained Romanesqueminded until well into the thirteenth century. As Gothic realism and Gothic grace took over in sculpture, the old expressionism
died in France.
It
survived fitfully in Spain
and the Spanish colonies until some centuries later.
Broadly speaking, the years be-
tween about 1200 and
1500 in European
sculptural history were substantially Gothic.
II
BARBARIAN name from
which
art,
rivalry
takes
its
with Greco-Roman
("barbarian" meaning "foreign"),
art
classic
its
Macedonia and Iberia. Here is descent,
and
Ireland, the Baltic Sea visual
evidence of lines of
among people
known
Celts,
as
flourished before the centuries of the organi-
Franks, Goths, and Anglo-Saxons, from
zation of the Christian Church. It precedes
mote ancestors
and
parallels the Early Christian art of the
foregoing chapter. it
the
as
chief
Its
spirit
and drive mark
forerunner of the
creative
monuments of Romanesque art. Except for the monumental Celtic crosses and some of the Viking figureheads,
its
works are small:
usable jewelry such as fibulae, and harness accessories,
The
sword guards, and
illustrations
showing
orna-
re-
where
the animal art had developed a thousand or
more
years before Christ.
The
st)'le
or expression
is
limited, as
is
the
means: laboriously worked metal, quite com-
monly inset with enamel or colored stone, and embossed or engraved. Geometric or vaguely zoomorphic ornament is standard over the entire territory.
coins. fibulae,
in the steppe country',
outline
The
and mass, suggests
a
total design, in
Scythian con-
ments, and animals indicate both the wide
nection or perhaps connection with a late
and the na-
development of Scythian such as Sarmatian. The fish and the birds and the ornamental
diffusion of the Barbarian style
ture of Iron
Age
art as a
continuation of an
The animals, and the fibulae and ornaments that suggest animals without
Asian tradition. recognizably legs,
are
depicting
from
districts
the as
first
group of
illustrations,
with
depressions once filled with enamels (page
body,
or
311), and formalized animals, mostly from
separated
as
Central
head, far
fibula of the
Europe,
above
and
opposite,
are
Animals and Animal Abstraction. Bronze; gold. Celtic, Avaric, 9th century B.c.-6th century a.d. Switzerland; England; France; Albania. Metropolitan Museum of Art Caboie, left and center'); British Museum (_above, top right); Art Museum, Princeton University (_abore, lower right, and facing page, left); National Museum, Zurich (^facing page, right)
reminiscent
indeed
country
(The
art.
of
bird
steppe-
work
with wings spread
when
the
from Asia.) The bordered
old
in gold
of the
first
century
a.d.,
at
the time
the Emperor Claudius was initiating successful invasion
of the islands;
the
first
a perfect example. In the European fibulae
and
the sparse ornamental ridgings along the
and brooches the animal form
back and the concave ears are idioms in
is
rather
than
stated.
The
griflfin
spirit
is
is
implied
the beast
of
ornaments of the time.
The
survives in decorative rather than figurative
pin of bronze wire
compositions.
pin type, but the general form of
The Boar (page
315, top right)
is
a British
traced back
is
an
many
brooch or safety
Irish variation of the
through the
it
La Tene
Brooches and fibulae. Bronze; silvered bronze. Celtic, various dates. Tessin, Switzerland; Ireland; England; France. National Museum, Zurich; British Museum; Louvre; Victoria and Albert Museum
can be Periods
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE and through civilizations
western
Ilallstatt
The
Asia.
the
to
brooch
bronze), with animal heads
geometric pattern,
penannular
best
t)'pe
but closely related
to
(in
but
all
typical
is
Bronze Age
Europe and north-
Eastern
of
silvered
in
British
Museum,
steppe-art
so
ancestry,
The
fourth centur)'.
to
to
of
Merovech,
reservoir
Altai-Iran.
bronzes.)
The
suggesting
type of Barbarian art best
the
known
in panels
of Oriental-looking interlaced ornament set into architecture.
The most in
a
important phase of Christian Barbarian
purely
style
art
produced the
rarer
towering Celtic stone crosses of Ireland and the borderland of Scotland and Northumber-
territory
a
itself
and the
land.
Elsewhere the barbarian
rulers,
when
converted to Christianity, had called in late
Roman and to
adorn
their
especially
Byzantine craftsmen
persons,
their
churches,
as
their
palaces,
and
Theodoric had done
Charlemagne was doing
at
Luristan
Ravenna, and
when
they are
about the time
uncommonly
graceful
was at its peak. During the darkest period of the struggles of barbarians and Romans, the Irish had be-
illustrations
Celtic animals,
of
elegant.
Indeed, despite miles of exhibits uncouth and fumbling as works of art, in naturalhistory museums, the best of Gallic-Celtic
Beak-flagon, with detail. Bronze. 4th century. British Museum
Celtic,
of
be of the
wandering peoples, to the upper Eurasia and back (An early example will be
free of ornament, are
and even
Salian
art,
in
found among the
king
Irish
centuries of the racial
Merovingian, from the legendar)'
Franks and grandfather of King Clovis, a
beak-flagon form
can be traced back over the
art
as
figure
illustrate
phase of Celtic and are said
\ital.
phase of Prankish
the
to
the
and Scandi-
directly
on
leads
known
animals on a pair of beak-flagons in
the British their
It
the
navian design. (At bottom of facing page.)
The
sculpture comprises a style brilliant and
of
lost in
Celtic,
known
317
as
when
at
the Irish monastic art
Burial crosses. Stone. Celtic,
come
the foremost conservators of Christian
10th century. Ireland
c.
times of St. Patrick.
The ornamental
panels
learning and of the arts of the scriptoria.
portray the beasts of the earlier Celtic
They founded famous monasteries as far away as Fulda in Germany and St. Gall in Switzerland, and were known at St. Denis
dition est
approximations of the Scythian
else
they luxuriate in
and
England. They jealously guarded their
tra-
spirals
this
the Irish illuminated manuscripts.
surviving
crosses,
cemeteries,
are
still
in numberless
generally in the form of a
Celtic cross, with a ring encircling the inter-
arms and
section of
monument
is
mented with positions.
The
shaft.
Each
face of the
divided into panels and ornafigure
groups or other com-
figures are those of the
Testament or Christian
tradition
and
ornament
Old
and some-
become unfavorably known
down
the
The
Celtic art can be traced.
Isles
known
in
from the great
also
Eastern reservoir to which
conquerors
or
on endless
built
interlacings, as better
The Norsemen were
sculptural expression.
distinctive
The
and they emerged with
stvle
terns of abstract
style;
the fascinating pat-
in France, and, of course, in Scotland
ditional
tra-
and represent them in one of the bold-
as
creators
of
Vikings had
marauders and
the coasts of the British
and along the
rivers
of
France,
and
through the European-Mediterranean water-
way
as far as Sicily.
To
the Irish they were
sometimes neighbors, but
as pirates
and
in-
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE vaders they carried booty, including
How
away
great quantities of
many examples
oF Irish
art.
imported pieces affected native
far the
319
adorned with figureheads, though these were mostly patterned over until the light
play of
vital
and shade became more important than
The
Scandinavian industry can only be guessed.
the beasts portrayed.
emerged in Scandinavia a of sculpture, dated from the seventh to type
upon study the interlacings, the endless spirals, and the abstract leaf motives of Irish Celtic decoration. The wood carving on the door of a church at Urnes in Norway,
In any
the
case, there
eleventh
sister
art
to
centuries,
that
is
patently
a
the geometric and zoomorphic
sculpture of Eire
The prows
of
and Saxon England. the
Viking
ships
Stern-post of a Viking ship. Wood. C. 800. The Oseberg Find. Historical Museum, Oslo
mixing vaguely were
near-geometric pat-
terns yield
animalcsque
motives
with
one of the few surviving masterpieces in the style. It is beautiful and
abstraction,
is
The
modem
and, though recut in
vital,
apparently has
none of the
lost
artist-craftsmen
handsomely
trated bronze clasp
The
legions of
it
Iceland contributed
of
Northern
to the
times,
original elan.
below
Rome
style.
is
The
illus-
typical.
brought
civil
organi-
and Roman luxuries and arts to the new territories of Gaul and Britain. Such architectural masterpieces as the Pont du Gard and the temple known as the Maison Carree at Nimes were produced, but, on the whole, provincial Roman art in Western Europe was mediocre. As Roman power colzation
lapsed, the
Roman
style
somewhat influenced
the barbarians of France in a variation as
known
Gallo-Roman. Rare examples of architec-
tural
sculpture uncovered on walls of early
churches in southwest France represent the best of the style,
which
is
heavy and more
Clasp. Bronze. Icelandic, lOth-llth centuries.
National
Museum, Reykjavik
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
320
Norse woodcarving. Possibly 10th century. Doorway of church transferred from earlier building
at
Urnes, Norway,
They were
massive than Byzantine or the Romanesque
of Byzantium.
was to follow later. The figure panel shown is thought to have been transferred to a niche on a church at St. Astier, in the Dordogne, from an earlier building. Scholars
another line by the Celts, the Gauls, and the
that
believe
illustrates a local transformation of
it
insensitive
Roman imaging
into a distinctive,
frankly decorative native mode. Perhaps ten centuries later, Breton folk art style
vival
which looks of
the
like a late
seventeenth century.
tals
but direct sur-
Gallo-Roman, unlike the
Gothic expression of
Some
embodied a
authorities
and other
its
own
late
time, about the
(Facing page, above.)
would mark
details
in
certain capi-
the early French
churches as purest Barbarian, possible only to
descendants of the creators of the Asian
The
inherited through
Vikings, and had gone through tortuous and
confusing permutations. These are animals
by one road or another, from
transmitted,
without
Altai-Iran,
loss
of
spiritedness
or
change of emphasis. In the West
significant
they are encountered oftenest in the churches of Provence
and of Southwest and Central
France.
Those who named the Romanesque thought of
mance
as
a
countries,
Roman and seems
it
to
acter of
reflowering,
of
classic
qualities
culture.
in
style
the
inherent
Roin
But now there
be more reason to identify the char-
it
as rising
tine sources.
The
from barbarian and Bvzanmysticism of
it
is
Eastern
Lurs and
to the
and Northern, and the outward expressionism, with frequent reliance upon exaggeration and distortion, is totally foreign to
Sassanian Persians and to the mature
artists
Roman
animal
and
style.
beasts are at once
dynamic
decorative, originally Scythian or Indo-
Iranian,
known
alike to the
ideals.
Yet the
classical
decorative
Gard and upon
ornaments are embedded in complexes
at
Gilles
St.
Trophime
St.
in Aries,
in
and
essentially Roman arches are superimposed on the facades at Poitiers and at Angouleme. The figures on these churches, nevertheless,
could not by any stretch of imagination be linked with the classic, and the added patterning
The
richest Oriental.
is
truth
may
be that the architectural mode of Romanesque design grew logically out of experi-
ment
Roman
with
builders
forms
,
but
that
the
sought their sculptural adornment
from other sources.
Whatever Romanesque
the
the
roots,
sculpture
is
flowering
of
one of the most art. The Rome and from
magnificent in the records of the crossing
of
the East
is
like
vividly illustrated in the tapestry-
fagade
Poitiers.
from
currents
of
Notre
The complex
foliage in the capital
Dame figures
Grande at and opulent
la
from Angouleme Cathe-
emphasize the non-classical
dral
sufficiently
Head
of Christ, detail of Calvaire. 16th-17th cenPleyben, Brittany. QPhoto by Jean Roubier")
turies.
Figure panel. Stone. Gallo-Roman.
Church of
St. Astier,
Dordogne
Capital with animals. Stone.
Romanesque. France. QBuIloz
photo')
322
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE nature of certain of the sculptural detail set into the architectural fabric of early
Roman-
esque design.
The appearance
of the
Romanesque
style
marks the great revival of the building
which had known
in France,
mental
expression
since
pleted the last provincial
and
As was
arenas.
to
of
little
the
arts
monu-
Romans com-
temples,
theaters,
be expected, some of
up from Italy, where had been followed by early Christian basilicas and by such monuments as the Byzantine churches at Ravenna the
influence
Roman
crept
architecture
and some northern
related Italy,
monuments
too,
the
eleventh century, had created a version of If
works Capital.
Stone.
Sicily.
In
first
tentative
Romanesque.
there
is
not the magnificent show of
LomTuscany (despite fascinating Pistoia and Parma and elsewhere),
Romanesque bardy
in
Lombards, by the
sculpture in the cities of
and at
Romanesque, llth-12th century.
Cathedral of Angouleme. ^Archives Roget-V 101161")
Fagade of Church of Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers. 11th- 12th century. ^Archives Roget-Viollet')
!';>
Germans
the Italian
with one of the
new at
The
style.
are yet to be credited
earliest contributions to the
stone
reliefs
Modena, Verona, and
relief
on cathedrals
Ferrara,
and the
panels on the bronze doors (of later
date)
Cathedral
Pisa
of
and
Benevento
Cathedral, present sometimes competent and crisp relief scenes, more and nearer the full round than similar Byzantine reliefs had been. (Benevento, in southern Italy, had been a Lombard duchy from the sixth to the eleventh
often
beautifully
sculptural
centuries.)
The as
Prankish Germans at the same time,
mentioned
in
an
earlier
chapter,
had
created or fostered fresh idioms as the Ot-
tonian School matured, especially at Hildes-
heim, where the style of the cathedral doors is
reminiscent of the Byzantine-Romanesque
found
in Italy.
Ottonian
the
figures,
In the ivory reliefs the late
sculptural
changes,
the
slenderer
asymmetrical compositions,
the
more dramatic presentation of the story element, and a certain twisting, even tortured Detail of door of Pisa Cathedral. Bronze. Pisano. 12th century. (_Alinari photo')
Bonanno
Detail of door of Benevento Cathedral. Bronze. 12th century. CAlinari photo')
'M:
^^
Z^.
G)
Ck\\CA\^C^\\CA\
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
324
mark the more aspirThere is a new
quality entering into the drawing,
from Byzantine into
transition
ing and
vital
The
art.
drama, for exaggerated action.
relish for
on
carvers of portable ivories carried
trade
their
language of
a
throughout
the
and
eleventh
twelfth centuries, the approximate period of
Romanesque
The
ascendancy.
of
a
Spanish diptych, showing Bihlical Scenes,
at
leaf
Museum
combines Byzanand ornamentalism with the new dramatic statement by means of exaggerated gesture, forced action, and a degree of distortion not to recur in Europe the Metropolitan
rhythmic
tine
design
before twentieth-century expressionism.
The
workers in metal also reflected the
transition,
especially
Crucifixion on
little
Metropolitan
enamelers.
the
bookbinding
a
Museum,
In
the
at
the
the Byzantine round-
ing of forms survives but
is
modified by exag-
gerations that give alertness and fuller plastic life
to
the
figures.
medallion (which tered
reliquary
at
strates the artist's
still
Bihlical Scene, leaf of a diptych, detail. Ivory. Romanesque, llth-12th centuries. Spain.
eleventh-century
Metropolitan
attached to a bat-
Conques) likewise
Museum
of Art
illu-
training in Byzantine dis-
and his attempt to more emotional and dynamic mode of
ciplined find a
is
The
craftsmanship,
expression.
Medallion on Reliquary of Begon. 11th century. Treasure of Church of Sainte-Foy, Conques, France. QGiraudon photo")
Crucifixion, on a boolc cover. Ivory, metals, jewels. Romanesque, 11th century. Spain.
and
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
James,
St.
relief.
Romanesque, llth-12th
Stone.
centuries. Spain.
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
But
return
to
mainstream,
the
to
Christian reUgion enjoyed one of glorious
the
in
revivals
the
most
its
eleventh
century.
There occurred then an unparalleled
out-
pouring of works of aesthetic creation, that record on innumerable portals and in
left its
the
tympanums
of
and
Moissac,
Vezelay,
Chartres, and on the facades and naves of so
many
lesser
and
cathedrals
churches
of
France.
The
figure of Christ in the ambulatory of
Sernin at Toulouse, at right, too solidly
St.
monumental and too roundly chiseled to be called Romanesque, is yet a focal point in a church architecturally in the aspect of the figure
is
The
later style.
Oriental and Byzantine.
In Spain the Oriental tradition was even reinforced by
stronger,
the
Moors.
Compostela
disputes
honor of being the
ment
of
with
earliest
Romanesque
of
contribution
the
The Church
St.
St.
James
Sernin
of at
the
outstanding monu-
building,
and
it
is
adorned with a greater wealth of transitional sculpture.
moment
The
relief
of
St.
James
at
of the Transfiguration, above,
is
the in-
Christ in a Mandorla. Stone. ByzantineRomanesque. Choir of Church of St. Sernin, Toulouse. QPhoto by Noel le Boyer")
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
326
deed more magnificent than any contemporary French
masterpiece
This early Romanesque
piece.
the
of
is
decade of the
final
eleventh century or the early twelfth.
There
are
innumerable
the
Spanish churches that show inspired sculpat
Compostela many
figures in high relief are
worthy companion
tural
invention,
and
But
pieces to the St. James. that the
new
style
found expression
in
mode
an unmistakable
Madeleine
at
fluence
that
the dynamic
of design crystallized as
style.
its
in France
an amazing number of
Vezelay
tium has made
was
swept over the land and
cathedrals and churches; expressionist
it
In the it
is
Church
clear that
contribution but
has largely passed.
There
Central portal of Church of
S.
areas
and
borders
of
enchanting
these are incidental to an exhibit of figure
sculpture of sheerest creativeness, consistent in
capitals
terned
medallions and beast-and-flower capitals, but
of St.
Byzanits
are
in-
pat-
stylization,
and extraordinary
plastic
sensi-
bility.
This art,
is
the morning of European Christian
the time of vision and aspiration and in-
spired craftsmanship. Sustained by the Christian
philosophy, by an inspiring mysticism,
and by
a
wholehearted dedication
the service of
masterpieces of devotional the
spirit
of
to
work
in
God, the sculptors produced Christianity
As growth of marked a revolt
art.
against the violence and materialism into which the Roman world had sunk, so Christian art might be read as a reaction from the
Madeleine, Vezelay. llth-12th centuries.
(ND
photo")
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE naturalism and materialism of late Greek and
in the First
Empire, was
Roman
monument
of
art.
At Vezelay, Autun, and Moissac the "unnatural" phase of Christian sculptural art
supremely
Despite
illustrated.
arrangement of
cated
the
is
compli-
the
tympanum,
the
composition at Vezelay holds together perfectly, constituting, as
may
be seen from the
In
below).
is
scene from the Last Judg-
tympanum
at
Autun (page 313)
an example of the most exaggerated
tion. It indicates
both likenesses
ations in the style in neighboring ties,
styliza-
and
to
vari-
communi-
both near Cluny. At Cluny
itself
the
The French
movement
tan
the
figures,
and
its
of St. Peter at
Moissac affords as near a complete range of
clasts
detailed
relief
Church
the
Romanesque sculpture
nave.
The
isolated
its
cloister capitals,
illustration, a fitting portal to the impressive
ment on
as the richest
Romanesque design in France. tympanum, its porches with story
its
scenes,
known
327
who
in
as
can be found (see
Revolution and the Puri-
England
let
loose
icono-
did a stupendous job of smashing
and
denuding churches of their and painted wealth. Moissac is far to the southwest, but on the Burgundian "pilgrim road" to Spanish shrines. Here the "idols"
sculptural
extreme stylization gerations,
is
evident, but the exag-
even the deformities, are
less strik-
abbey church, which was largely destroyed
Biblical Scenes, detail. Porch of
TrTT%cm>
Church
of St. Peter, Moissac. QPhoto hy Jean Roubier')
/e^yy^^TiTf^ni fT»^%^>^ynri r^ -\v '^^ -O i
^M
•
c^
CS;
-^ -^ ^^
I
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
328
One of the characteristics which separate Romanesque from Gothic sculpture is the respect shown by the earHer artists for the whole architectonic composition. They
dom
obscured a structural line or impaired
They could however,
a boundary. a
on a
figure
relief
extraordinary
jamb
introduce
jamb with At Moissac the
or a
pillar
effectiveness.
among the most notable isoknown to Romanesque sculpture.
figures are
lated reliefs
The
sel-
St.
Peter illustrated
is
in the
nel of the style— elongated
main chan-
and forced
an extreme gesturing pose, carved purest
manner (with
accentuating the long
St. Peter.
Stone.
lightly lines,
Church of
QGirandon photo')
in
into
the
repeated folds
and relieved by
St. Peter,
Moissac.
rich
but restricted patterning), with special
intentness displayed in the face, above hands less expressive. Even the key is decorative. Mention has been made of the eccentric-
no
ities,
not
to
say
the
wild
Autun. These ran not only
tions but to the depiction of
tures
distortions,
to stylistic
at
deforma-
abnormal
crea-
such as human-headed monsters and
monster-headed humans, or two beasts with
To
one head. purposes
of
create horror
the
sculptors
of the
the
of
time;
on the
added to Judgment at Autun the admonition,
Gislebertus
Last
was one
his
signature
"Let these terrors frighten their lives
on earth in
sin."
those St.
who
live
Bernard of
Angel. Stone. 12th century. Within a porch at St. Gilles du Gard. QPhoto by Noel le Boyer')
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE the greatest churchman of the whose one purpose was to bring men
Clairvaux, age,
into consciousness of God's presence, abhorred
the sculptured horrors
them
as
pagan and
and protested against alien
disturbances
of
Christian calm. (See page 313.)
To
and even subject-matter standard along the pilgrim road. In Provence the style became more exuberant, and this may be attributed to the continual traffic and influence along the littoral from Italy and by sea from the Orient through Marseilles.
the north the church-builders borrowed
them without so much distortion. At Aulnay, where the north portal of the transept is a model of restrained but rich Romanesque design, the arch over the outermost columns bears thirtvfour of the monstrous car\'ings, which seem here to have little more than a decorative purpose. Each capital and each semicircular unnatural animals but portrayed
the
329
At Aries and in St. Gilles-du-Gard the and sculptors composed scenes in which the Apostles and Church Fathers, with traces of Roman, Byzantesque, and Romanesque ways of imaging, consort with unreal Oriental beasts, Lombard variety, amid panels of patterning that strangely oscillate between architects
the doorway. In the central part of France,
and Roman styles. Corinthian and acanthus borders, the lions of the Lombard porches, friezes crowded with figures in the southwest Romanesque style— all were
Auvergne and westward, such adaptations of the Romanesque style developed.
integrated, local language of sculpture.
panel
is
The
vital,
as
is
the horizontal frieze of
school of the south, sometimes called
the School of Languedoc, with the Cluniac or
Burgundian
truer
countr\'
had
provided
the
Romanesque sculpture Romanesque archiwhile Auvergne and the central-west and Provence drew upon methods
pattern
(though not tecture);
School, of
so fully of
Doorway
of
Church
of
St.
the Byzantine
capitals
incorporated into a rich,
if
not very well-
Some
of the single figures at St. Gilles, moreover, like
some of the
Aries, indicate a
mental effect.
along
capitals in
with
The Angel
feeling
at left,
stylistically, is arrestingly
Bv
the
the cloisters at
mature sense of the monufor
decorative
not to be identified
handsome.
mid-twelfth century the
Peter, Aulnay. (_Photo Roget-VioUet')
V
Roman-
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
330 esque
had spread over a great deal of
style
France and notable monuments were being
Normandy (where the had been among the inventors of Romanesque rib vaulting), and in the He de France. The more eccentric and angular of the peculiarities evident at Moissac and Vezelay were modified in the north, so that erected in Brittany, in builders
at Chartres there
the
dynamism
vigor and
enough
is little to
though the
realist;
of
the
distress the
survive,
together with
seen
as
st)'lization,
eye of
Romanesque
t)'pical
in
the
slenderized figures and the schematic treat-
ment
of draperies
and
hair, to
mark
parts of
the decoration as pre-Gothic.
The way sculptors
decorate
in
which the
utilized
the
columns or
late
slender
pilasters,
Romanesque figures
without
to dis-
turbing architectural lines,
is
Romanesque
Byzantium
heritage from
is still
evident in the patches of rich ornamentation,
soon to be suppressed by sculptors devoted to naturalism,
and the gesture and the
alert
pose are typical.
The
cathedral at Chartres most nobly
lustrates
esque
to
the whole transition from
il-
Roman-
Gothic (with some unfortunate post-
Gothic "improvements").
The
sculpture
of
must be dated close to 1 1 50, while other parts of the church and decorations belong to the late twelfth century and the west fagade
the
thirteenth.
The
typical
Romanesque
respect for the architectural line
is
observed
in the west or Royal Portal, as seen in the
main portal of the Church of St. Trophime, Aries. Southern Romanesque. QGiraiidon photo')
Detail of the
especially well
by the Christ on the trumeau at the church of St. Loup de Naud. Here the
illustrated
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE on trumeau. Church of QPhoto by Jean Rouhier')
Christ,
St.
Loup de Naud.
photograph on page
312.
(It
331
necessary
is
only to look at page 340 in order to realize
how
the later sculptors spilled their figures
beyond the implied architectonic ing a statue a display in
motive
in
each
Portal,
flanking
figures
on a
carved
mak-
limits,
rather than a
and
preconceived
a
The
fabric.)
itself
controlled
Royal
the
are
pillar-stone,
among the most impressive in the late Romanesque restrained style. The utterly stylized figures seen in close-up (in the photo-
graph on the following page), with folded draperies
mark
the
in
Burgundian
old
tradition,
and
a high point in sculpture serving
intensifying architectural appeal.
At the time of the Norman invasion the Romanesque builders carried their art to England.
The new
rulers
were inspired
to erect
churches as large and majestic as those of
They
France. ers,
them religious leadand masons; and thus Roman-
took with
engineers,
esque became the standard
monuments as Durham, and
style
for
such
the cathedrals at Canterbury,
The Romanesque name
Ely.
has generally been discarded in England in
"Norman."
favor of
Architecturally, there first
from the
Durham
the
style as
was
little
known
structure
change
in France.
at
At
has generally heavy
round arches, and— first step toward the Gothic— rib vaulting over the nave and aisles. Ely Cathedral outwardly re-
columns
tains
in the nave,
more of the Romanesque appearance.
At many
of the cathedrals— Salisbury, York,
Canterbury, Lincoln, Worcester, Wells— the
outward aspect to
is
Gothic, owing to change
the pointed style during construction, or
to later additions.
In the English cathedrals the art of sculpture
was
well served than at Aries or
less
Moissac or Chartres. Romanesque carving as
known
in
France
is
surprisingly scarce
incidental in the magnificent cathedrals
abbey churches. English
Norman
and and
sculpture,
and appealing by reason of elements surviving from an antenevertheless,
cedent native
is
interesting
style.
u
\ ^?*
i^M V
L
m ^(L^a^Xf
J
Zri
P
j|
^
^ N^-™-^ T
y>feid — ^e*^
-•
1
•
• »i •(•l^TTi
gii^^, ^•^ •'•^^ "^^
>r iT^lnrrr .,m^.i:^^
'
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE The
Celtic crosses, best
known
333
in Ireland,
found occasionally in the counties of the West and North of England. After the Celts are
had been the Saxons, brinoing an
there
closely related to that of earlier
(The next
Peoples.
Danes, had
little
invasion,
effect
art
Wandering that
of
the
upon Anglo-Saxon
art.)
In a church at Kilpeck in Herefordshire there are figures
seem
to
Celtic
and Anglo-Saxon
that recall the dition
The
and panels of ornament that
be descended directly from the old
of
the
art,
Romanesque
and other
French pilgrimage churches.
detail illustrated, a section of a
column suggests
figures
expressionist tra-
or shaft flanking the
double
church doorway,
an origin in the interlacing oma-
Facing page: Detail of Royal Portal, Chartres. (ND photo')
Decorative panel. Stone. 8th century. Eashy Abbey, Yorkshire. Victoria
and Albert Museum
Warrior, detail from door shaft. Stone. 12th century. Church of St. Mary ami Kilpeck, Herefordshire. (Photo by Jean Roubier)
St.
David,
334
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE ment and the attenuated figuring familiar in Irish and Scandinavian sculpture of the preceding centuries. Dated c. 1160, it is an excepexample of English Norman sculpture
tional
enlivened by lingering Iro-Celtic
spirit.
A
de-
from Easby Abbey in Yorkshows a fragment of a decorative panel
tailed illustration
shire
of earlier date
than the imported Norman,
but with the vigorous carving, rich patterning,
and carelessness of nature that characthe
terize
Romanesque
style.
It
is
a sort of
sculpture rooted in the Celtic style but modified
in
Saxon
the
following Germanic or Anglo-
centuries,
and perfectly
fitted for fusion
with twelfth-century Norman. In the
number
of
Norman
cathedrals of
monumental
England
a
sculptural designs are
known. At Chichester in the choir aisle are two large panels of patched-together stones bearing scenes picturing Christ meeting with
Mary and Martha and
the Raising of Lazarus.
These ambitious and rather crowded
Head
of Christ, detail of a Crucifixion. Bronze.
German, 11th century. Abbey Church, Werden an derRuhr. {Archiv fur Kunst and Geschichte, Berlin)
The Lion
reliefs
of Brunswick. Bronze. 1166. Burgplatz, Brunswick, Germany. (_Archiv fiir Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)
Head
of Christ, detail of Crucifix at top of facing page. National Museum, Nuremberg. CArchiv fUr Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin')
Wood. German, 11th century. National Museum, Nuremberg Crucifix.
however, from a certain clumsiness in
suffer,
the carving. Salisbury Cathedral and Wells
Cathedral western
are
two of several
but
fagades
having with
embellished
richly
sculptured figures— 350 at Wells; but the
rangement
is
unimaginative,
generally
ar-
in
mechanically repeated niches, and the qualthe individual car\'ings
ity of
top
sional
Norman doorways
handsome
panum
Romanesque
early it is
true that the
in pre-Conquest
Occa-
level.
survive, such as the
Prior's Portal at Ely,
seemingly in
not at the
is
Romanesque (or Gothic)
direct
with a tym-
line
of Southern
from the
France. But
Norman builders, whether Normandy or in England,
put less stress on sculptural adornment and more on purely architectural invention. And in England the Reformation iconoclasts destroyed or defaced most of the "idols" they
could reach.
What
is left is
hardly more than
monuments and portals mentioned. The real treasures, Romanesque or Gothic, the few
consist of fonts, tomb figures, capitals, and what would be beam-ends if we were talking of wooden buildings. The capital illustrated
Capital. Stone. Early 12th century. Cantcrhiir} Cathedral. (Photo by ]can Roiibicr)
from Canterbury Cathedral, with its composition of a griffin and a serpent,
spirited is
char-
acteristic.
There and
crucifixes in
metal
monuments in Germany, Romanesque architecture; wood and a multitude of
are prime
especially of early
works have survived that are
in the pre-Gothic expressionist vein.
fully
One
of
the most distinctive works of the eleventh
century, marking the early
Bvzantine sculptural fixion in the
art, is
abbey church
Ruhr. (The head
This striking and,
is
morning of at
Werden an
illustrated
to
some
post-
the bronze Cruci-
der
on page 334.)
eyes, distressingly
stylized interpretation of Christ
on the Tree
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
336 is
a
product of the Saxon School, which was
some of the finest bronzecasting of the Middle Ages. The Lion of Brunsioick is another example from this accomplished school. Hardly since Etruscan art faded into Roman had such a spirited beast been cast in Europe; it is the only free-standing Romanesque survival in monumental size. Among the Romanesque relics in wood, responsible
the
for
German
are particularly fine,
crucifixes
marked with an expressiveness and wholly different from the Byzantine on one hand and the Gothic on the other. The Crucifix at Nuremberg is especially notable. The body is characteristic of a school of woodcutters of upper Germany. The statue is thev are
although the body is hardly less summary and symbolic than the extreme German ex-
amples of a century
earlier, the face
is
livingly
(The head is on this page, far left.) The Romanesque style lived on in Spain long dramatic.
Gothic in France, and
after the transition to
in Mexico and in South America yields examples to the nineteenth century. The Prophet shown is a
Spanish
colonial
art
Spanish work of the fifteenth century, and the treatment of the eyes and brows, and the
general heavy ridging for dramatic light-and-
shade are Romanesque mannerisms.
The bronze work of the transitional period was even more varied, and even after 1200 the candlesticks, and especially the aqua-
perhaps the outstanding masterpiece of the
manili, were apt to exhibit
German
frank distortion, and the fancifulness belong-
school
expressionist
the
of
late
eleventh and the early twelfth centuries.
The of the
toward
head, shown separately, Romanesque woodcarvers
marks
lifelike
statement.
The
prisingly natural, with just the
formalization the
transition
of
ing
a trend
Germany
face
is
sur-
change from
and generalization from Romanesque
that to
spells
Gothic
painted wooden crucifix at the Metro-
politan
the vigor, the
invention,
with
some
Byzantine ornamentalism. This development occurred
Northern
first
in
Italy,
Germany, France,
and
later
England,
in
and
Flanders.
The
illustration of the
horseman and two
candleholders shows three examples in the
Louvre and exhibits strikingly different modes
sculpture.
A
Romanesque
to
all
Museum
t)'pe.
Again
Head
of Christ.
it is
illustrates a
a late
Wood,
common Spanish
example of the
painted. Spanish,
12th century. Metropolitan
Museum
of Art
style:
of formalization.
and
it
artist's
is
clear
The
style
was
still
distorted,
from each example that the
intention was not to represent nature
Prophet, detail. Wood. Spanish, 15th century. Ridgexvay Collection, Paris. QGiraudon photo")
A Horseman and two candleholders. Bronze. Flemish; Italian; German. llth-12th centuries Louvre. QGiraiidon photo')
but to create
self-sufficient
The
of a knight on
statuette
artistic
entities.
horseback
is
and is supposedly Italian. The rather lumpy primitivism of the sculptural method oldest
is
extraordinarily effective.
on the Flemish.
left
is
The
a
The
commoner
candleholder
type,
probably
frank conventionalization,
as
seen especially in the horse's haunches and tail
in
and
in the virile, curving lines, survived
the metalworkers' studios as late as the
fifteenth century.
The
candleholder on the
right
might be of
a time
when Byzantine
art
was first giving way before the more dramatic Romanesque, but it has also been accorded a considerably later date.
The aquamanile
in
polished bronze,
be-
low, a fauceted vessel representing a Horse,
now
at
Cluny
the
connection beak-flagons;
with
the
Museum, style
of
suggests
the
a
Celtic
and from the Scythians survives
the art of imposing one animal, in the handle,
upon another
Horse. Aquamanile. Bronze. Flemish, 15th century. Cluny
of a totally different kind.
Museum,
Paris. (^Alinari photo')
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
338
Naturalism began art,
and
for
a
time
to
take over Christian
new reahsm was
the
column statues to the column width no longer holds, as in the beautifully stylized of the
conditioned by imagination and by a hnger-
figures
ing ideahsm. But late Gothic sculpture was
tendency
to illustrate a
melancholy descent from
architectural
carving,
tegrity
fitting
from architectonic
and disciplined group expression,
into a
parade of occasional pieces, each effectively "real"
sentimentally engaging or clever,
or
With spirit,
the
first
outpouring
of
the
new
Gothic sculpture bounds forward on a
grand and disciplined scale, lit up with a new and perceptive interest in the phenomenal
world.
The
logic
that
cathedrals of Paris, Amiens,
renders
the
and Reims three
of the most superbly knit buildings of the
to
excrescences
various
that
is
a
dull
the edges of the structural courses. But at this stage these
may be
taken as merely signs of
the exuberance of artists intoxicated with a ease.
The tendency
in keeping
and laudable and the
newly gained freedom and to realism,
when
but without framework.
and there
the west portal,
of
too,
is
gives us the sensitive faces
it
dignified figures seen in the illustrations of
Chartres.
(Facing and page 341.)
In the best of these figures there
is
still
the boldness and telling dramatic posing of
Romanesque
design,
but the expressionistic
deformations are gone.
The
treatment of hair
ages transforms
and beards, halfway between the old heavy and formalized ridging and the careful four-
destroying
teenth-century curls,
sense of
north
Romanesque carving without emotional richness and the architectural fitness. At Chartres the the
and the south porches are glorious and
displays of the blending of architectural
sculptural
fabrication.
The
strict
limitation
Figures in North Portal, Cathedral of Notre
is
a typical transitional
method (though naturalism in representing the hair, as understood by the Florentine sculptors of the mid-Renaissance, never did interest
Dame,
the Gothic carvers).
Chartres. 12th century.
C^D
Naturalism as
photo")
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
339
a pen'ading interest in the surrounding world as
it
looks claims the artist increasingly, so
and fauna of France begin to be documented in stone, and litde humaninterest touches, and even anecdotal or biothat the flora
graphical
trivia,
are
introduced
among
the
impressive representations of God, Christ, the prophets, and the angels.
Chief of the technical changes was the of the figure from the background.
lifting
While
relief-carving did not disappear, figures
were oftener worked in the round, whether left slightly engaged or set out in total in-
dependence of column or wall. At first the Thomist passion for order and clarit}% still operative at the level of architect and masterbuilder, restrained the sculptor who wished
make
to
the
a
spirit,
showpiece of his
statue.
Indeed,
and specifically the guild operated to harmonize the sculptures
group
and stained
spirit,
glass
with the cathedral's archi-
tecture.
Each of the rigidly upright, attenuated on the pillars of the Royal Portal at
figures
Chartres (page 332) bespeaks care for the member. In the
integrity of the architectural illustration
one
may
Cathedral the statue of
see St.
how
at
Sens
Stephen on the
St.
John the
Baptist. Stone.
12th century. North Portal, Chartres.
QHouvet photo')
Isaiah
and Jeremiah.
Stone.
North Portal, Chartres. QPhoto hy Jean Rouhier')
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
340
trumeau of the central doorway accords with
figure,
the architect's intention but
wings, and other accessories without regard
little
indulges in
a
more spread than was permitted at The Madonna on the portal of the
Chartres.
Dame
north transept of Notre
become
a
work
of art in her
and the
pillar lines
are obscured,
integrity
no longer served.
Some
is
in Paris has
own
the
right:
structural
to a
that
which medieval sculpture came
of age,
and
disposal
free
of
cramping framework. Others the
structure
loss is
draperies,
feel certain
magnificent cathedral
the
to
greater than the gain:
architectonic fabric
is
rent.
that the
After a.d.
1200
the single face or figure held the interest.
Notre
observers consider this the point at
and the
(i
Dame
in Paris
160-1225) so that
classically
was its
built early
and the
simple,
enough
west fagade remains portal
sculpture
they praise the increased freedom of group-
(comparatively dull as restored in the nine-
ing, the greater naturalness of the individual
teenth century)
St.
Madonna, trumeau North
Portal,
Notre
figure. Late
Dame
13th century.
de Paris
is
laid into
the fabric per-
Stephen, trumeau figure. Stone. 12th century. Central portal of Cathedral of Sens. (Photo by Jean Rouhier')
Apostles. Stone. South Portal; Chartre
QGiraudon photo
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
342 fectly.
and
The
gargoyles are an added feature,
the best of the sculptural exhibit,
are
vigorous,
and
fanciful,
essentially
(Shown on page
310.)
some of the
story-telling
realistic
later
lithic.
Exceptional
too
is
sculpture, in
vein but cut with notable feeling for
stonelike effect
and
however,
Gothic character. (See below,
little
sensitive modeling. It has,
But
at
Amiens
it
is
the Gilded
(page 347) or the Beau Dieu, and
Madonna Reims
at
the Smiling Angel or the Virgin of the Visitation
life
the facade. Second, the in-
which
attract the eye.
At Reims the
sculpture serves two main purposes.
It
adds a
an Angel. Stone. Notre Dame de QGiraudon photo, Archives Roget-Viollet')
Adam and
Paris.
to
a rich play of light
dividual statues and certain groups present the Christian lessons.
cathedral
is
still,
religious story
casionally the
The
sculpture on each
of course, a picturebook of
and
pageant ordained figure or a
left.)
and
sense of profuse
and shadow
instruction, in a systematic
by the theologians.
artist's
mastery
lifts
Oc-
a face or
group above the inevitable routine
average of design and cutting; so that within a porch at of
Reims one comes upon such
masterpieces of the
new
a
row
realism as the
four figures of the Purification. Each superb statue
is
set
out to be studied and enjoyed for
Smiling Angel. Stone. 13th century. Portal of Cathedral of Reims
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE What was begun
343
Chartres, in the period between the adorn-
dream of a building grandly composed, simple, and richly adorned. These great
ment
monuments
its
patent
virtues.
and the adornment
of the west portal
north portal
at
(or perhaps
of
the
St.
Denis, in compositions destroyed during
earlier
at
the Revolution), ended in these high Gothic
profusion
of
sculpture
at
Reims
is
almost equaled in the porches at Chartres;
but Reims and Amiens
illustrate the
Small portal,
detail.
Gothic
of the
West might conceivably
be placed beside the lushest Indian temples or the ruins of Angkor Vat and Borobudur
and not seem sculpturally meager.
The
masterpieces. (Page 344.)
The
architect's
evolution
of
medieval
architecture,
Byzantine and Lombard into Romanesque,
and Romanesque into Gothic, was primarily dependent on the development of methods
13th century. Cathedral of Reims. QISID photo')
344 of
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
arching,
vaulting,
pointed arch,
the
and
ribbed
buttressing.
The
the
flying
buttress are basic to the Gothic style.
There
vault,
Beneath, the structure remained as as rightly adjusted, as ever. tive elements,
logical,
But the decora-
even the decorative sheathing,
further evolution, without basic structural
took on increased importance— as can be seen
change, after the high Gothic of Amiens and
in the illustration of the fagade at Strasbourg.
is
Reims,
say, after the year 1300.
The
daring
What
interests
us here
is
the use of inset
u'hich had raised the organism to unprece-
sculpture to enrich and accent the pointed
dented heights and
arches,
to a
way
marvelous structural
pinnacles,
and
At
Stras-
hardly as
much
traceries.
to pretty inventions in
bourg and Rouen there
the nature of lacelike screens and walls lost
figurative sculpture as at
Amiens and Reims,
in forests of beautiful tracery.
but
sculpturally
perfection gave
The
the
impression
Purification. Portal of Cathedral of
Reims
is
is
richer,
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE because the statues are bedded in a delicate fabric of
shaped architectural elements, which
themselves art in stone.
constitute
a
species
Beyond the middle
of
abstract
portal in the
345
ample evidence at Strasbourg that very great sculptors were employed during the cathedral building, as the vigorous and forthright heads
of St. Philip
be
and
St.
Stephen witness. These perhaps
German
or
west fagade of Strasbourg Cathedral, figura-
should
and architectural detail are tive distinguishable from each other. barely This is, of course, a lighter form of Gothic art, yet only an extreme purist would be likelv to call it decadent or overstrained. There is
Alsatian Gothic works rather than French.
sculpture
Facade of Cathedral of Strasbourg,
detail.
There of
labeled
are
as
signs of decadence in
the pretentious story
Cathedral, where a
scenes
tympanum
at
certain
Bourges
contains rows
of lively, even boisterous figures. In activeness
C. 1300.
(ND
photo, Archives Roget-V toilet')
St. Philip.
Stone.
Cathedral of Strasbourg. CPhoto by Jean Roubier')
Lower
left:
Virtue. Stone.
13th-14th centuries. Cathedral of Strasbourg. Musee de I'Oeuvre, Notre Dame, Strasbourg. (Tel photo")
St. Stephen. Stone. Cathedral of Strasbourg. (Photo by Jean Roubier')
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE and
they
eccentricity
347
reminiscent
are
Vezelay and Autun, but they lack the
and the engaging Romanesque masters.
ciplined grouping of the
A
stylization
which
contrasting phase of Gothic
more vigorous,
a
the
Semur
Church
Notre
Dame
in
Burgundy, and the
in
is
of
Burgundian school school of the
is
heavy, perhaps, and
trifle
earlier in feeling if not in date, is to at
of dis-
differs
be seen
Semur.
style of the
from that of the
He de France; here
it
has en-
tered a flamboyant phase.
Both Strasbourg and Rouen are sometimes
monuments
classed as
of flamboyant Gothic,
but the incidental sculpture hardly deserves the
to
The
description.
became
angels
smiling
even
cathedral,
during
the
thirteenth
century, but generally they lack dignity
Though
restraint.
charm,
surface inferior
to
the
Rouen fagade as
The Gilded Madonna. Mid-1 3th
century.
South Portal, Cathedral of Amiens. (Archives Photographiques)
Detail of
Notre
that
popular were copied from cathedral
so
is
Dame
they have an
as
works
of
Romanesque
and
irresistible
art
they
angels.
are
The
not as solemn and impressive or Chartres, but
it is
a tour-
de-force of graceful architectural draping.
The
course of the Gothic style in general
was marked by growing
tympanum. 14th century. Church
of Notre
Dame, Semur.
realism,
(ND
photo')
but from
Cathedral of Rouefu CPhoto hy Jean Detail of fagade. Flamboyant Gothic, 14th century.
RonhieO
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE the
century
mid-thirteenth
followed
there
some four hundred years of French sculpture that is hardly more than transiently appealing. trouble
was
destroyed
the
the
Basically
naturalism sculptural
superseded
old
the
opportunities
feeling
The new
block.
for
devotion
that
guild
to
the
for
individualism
and
spirit
disciplined
the
cooperative
expression.
The Rouen
maintained between design of the scene for
which to
its
figures
produce
facades
lacelike
Strasbourg
of
on the
late
and
Gothic ivory
sake and composition in
and
their setting are arranged
a flat, tapestry-like eff^ect.
The two
leaves of a diptych at Providence
tend to sacrifice
flatness,
more
fully in a larger space.
Single leaves could
change from Romanesque
Museum. Though
Gothic, to a more lifelike middle phase, and
on
to the glittering
flamboyant, can be traced
in the marvelously carved French ivory panels of the thirteenth
The
leaf of
Museum
is
and fourteenth
an ivory dipt}'ch
representative of the
religious stories
were presented.
centuries. at the
way
A
in
balance
Biblical Scenes, leaf of diptych. Ivory. Gothic, French, 14th century.
Cluny Museum,
Cluny which
Paris. (_Giraudon photo')
is
little
suggest
still
a sug-
be designed in a style, as is evi-
the accessories
and
it,
Cluny mark it as
a certain frank
Romanesque
the
Vividly contrasting
is
the Life of Christ
now
Albert
is
Crucifixion of the
Gothic, the vigor of distortion,
There
(Page 350.)
and architectural
firm, clear,
dent in the
early vigorous
and compartmentali-
zation, for the sake of presenting the story
plaques; and indeed the whole histor)^ of the to
illustrative
own
gestion of perspective.
are reflected
349
style.
a set of eight panels of
Museum. The
in the Victoria
and
lacy ornamentalism
is
obtained by the use of architectural tracery
and by the sharpening
of the figures so that
Scenes from the Life of Christ, leaf of diptych. Ivory. Italian, Milanese School, 15th century. National Gallery of Art, Washington
LI \\
:r>^ '/ jV'^IOVTtv
"III
mm m
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
350
Crucifixion. Ivory.
French, 14th-15th centuries.
Cluny Museum. CGiraudon they
fill
each panel without permitting the
eye to escape
to the
background.
ture craftsmanship here
ing
the
attained
photo')
heights the
in
to
is
The
which Gothic
fifteenth
minia-
marvelous, display-
century,
artistry
in
the
(Page 351.) Two further phases can be seen a group of ivories containing some graceful but not very important plaques devoted to pagan or lay
flamboyant
style.
:
themes, especially love-making, jousting, and hunting, and examples of religious picturing
even more attenuated and filmy than the panels
shown.
just
The
Scenes from
the
Life of Christ on a leaf of a diptych at the
National Gallery, Washington, are characteristically
and
lacy
ornate, and, like the pre-
ceding example, are in a pierced technique
which figures.
prominence
the
lends
peculiar
This
an Italian work of the Milanese
is
to
School of the fifteenth century. (Page 349.) After this technical virtuosity, a simple.
Biblical Scenes, diptych. Ivory. Gothic, French, 13th-14th centuries. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE and
vigorous,
utterly
of sculpture occurred tany, in the
351
genuine development
on French
same century.
important especially for
A
its
soil,
in Brit-
folk art arose,
religious
monu-
ments or "Calvaires" in stone. The two details shown, and one illustrated earlier with an example
Gallo-Roman art, suggest an method and perhaps a direct line descent, and show the strength and sculpof
affinity of
of
tural
soundness of
this
are parts of groups
more masterly
in
Breton
art.
The
figures
which unfortunately detail
are
than as integrated
compositions; but seldom are reverent attention
and
utter piety so perfectly expressed.
Christ of the Resurrection, detail of Calvaire. Stone. Breton, 16th-17th centuries. Pleyben, Brittany. QPhoto by Jean Roubier')
Life of Christ. Ivory.
French, 14th-15th centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE Passion, the life of the Virgin, such incidents
martyrdom of Thomas Becket, and so reliefs were much prized by devout Christians throughout the as the
on.
Since the alabaster
many were
breadth of Europe, a great
trans-
ported from England, and enough have survived to prove the quality and the originality of the products of the
Although partly for
Nottingham
alabaster,
its
like
jade,
school.
prized
is
and the translucent
texture
char-
nately,
were and painted. Time, perhaps fortuhas worn off most of the color. The
reliefs
are
acter of the stone, the English panels freely gilded
sculpturally notable for a sound
sense of space-composition, for dramatic disposition
Two
the
of
method
figures,
and
for
cutting
a
especially suited to the softish stone.
examples, a beautifully realized Christ
on the Cross and the surprisingly St.
indicate
Jiide,
a
real
stylized
mastery
in
the
medium.
The noted
heads
at
Strasbourg have already been
German, and there
as
impressive
statues
Naumberg, Romanesque expres-
and elsewhere. More of
German
sionism survives in
equally
are
Bamberg,
at
carving than in
French, and the Gothic style
is more rugged and often touched with distortion. The Head of King Stephen at Bamberg (part of an
one of the most expressive
Apostles, detail of Calvaire. Stone. Breton, 16th-17th centuries. Guimiliau, Brittany.
equestrian figure)
is
carvings
fourteenth
(Photo by Jean Roubier)
prime example of German workmanship.
of
the
Other heads
at
century,
Bamberg, such
as the
and
a
Head
of Elizabeth, are remarkable for their extra-
In
England,
second only
where
to those of
cathedrals
the
are
France in architectural
ordinary^ portrayal of
Teutonic types that have
persisted recognizably into a period six cen-
but the vigorous designing and
splendor, the iconoclasts destroyed almost the
turies later,
whole body of important religious sculpture. Fragmentary evidence indicates an original
the fluent cutting are perhaps the more signif-
rich
investiture
stonecarving
of
in
many
Gothic buildings or parts of buildings. But today
the
great
English
cathedrals
stand
almost denuded of their sculptural treasures.
During the fourteenth and turies
there
arose
a
school
Nottingham which specialized portable panels and portable baster, dealing
fifteenth cen-
of
carvers
in
in producing altars
in
ala-
with the usual subjects of the
icant achievement. It
has been said that
German
sculpture of
more emotional than the French. perhaps true in the sense that more
this period is
This
is
feeling appears in the faces, as in the Prophet Joel
in
St.
Peter's
Church
at
Hamburg
(page 354), but the word "emotion" demands some delimiting: German emotion is more
homely and more poignant— and often more exaggerated.
In
France,
too,
the
tone
of
Head
of King Stephen, detail of an equestrian German, 14th century. Bamberg Cathedral, Bavaria. (Archiv fiir Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)
Head
St.
Jude. Alabaster. English,
Nottingham School, 14th-15th centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum
German, 13th century. Bamberg Cathedral, Bavaria. Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin')
of Elizabeth. Stone.
statue. Stone.
QArchiv
fiir
Christ on the Cross. Alabaster. English, Nottingham School, 14th-15th centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum.
354
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
Head Church of
Altar,
of the Prophet Joel. Master Bertram. German, 1379. Hamburg. QArchiv fiir Kutist und Geschichte, Berlin')
St. Peter,
iconography had changed in the
Christian
and awe had sentimental interest and per-
leading
religious
Then
sculptors
in
late
Gothic
naivete blossomed again. Gothic
early Gothic centuries. Dignity
times.
given place to
though there is no other which the woodcarving of the Rhine valley, Bavaria, and the Tirol can be linked. The statuettes of Christ and John in which the sleeping John rests his head on the Savior's shoulder, his hand in Christ's hand, form a beautiful image even if sentimental.
sonal identification with
the Virgin or the
Where
Christ in Majesty
sufiFering
Christ.
might have been the central motive of a
tympanum
or
tragedy and
were
later
a
diptych
panel before,
the pathos of
the
the
Crucifixion
dwelt upon.
The Germans
succeeded the French
as the
sophistication fades, style to
The German
folk artists had, in general, an
innate
talent
carving
for
for
rhythmic massing before
natural effects.
There
They
wood.
in
remembered the block and indulged
a passion
tr)'ing to imitate
are examples of folk
sculpture that are a lasting delight, for their near-primitive directness of statement,
their
naively emotional approach, and their sound
They were produced from the sixteenth century on, until, by the sculptural composition.
end of the eighteenth century, realism had swept through and left of
weak
naturalistic groups
and
a
of
tide
a plethora
figures,
from
such centers as Nuremberg, Oberammergau,
and the Tirolean towns. But the detail from a Madonna and the Mary Kneeling (two centuries later in date) are typical of a style of sculpture too often overlooked in the histories
because
is
it
a
people's
art
and
a
people's expression.
The German folk much of the church
feeling
entered
naive story-scenes and quaint decorative ures Bishop Friedrich von Hohenlohe. Stone. German, school, c. 1352. Bamberg Cathedral, Bavaria. (Archiv fiir Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)
Wurzburger
Madonna,
detail. Wood. German-Swiss, Rhineland school. Historical Museum, Basel
into
sculpture too, so that
may be encountered
in
fig-
the churches,
especially the creches at Christmastime.
The
Riding
the
illustrated
figure
of
Christ
Mary Kneeling. Wood. German-Swiss, Rhineland school. Historical Museum, Basel
The Peasant Saint Nicholas von Flue, detail. Wood. Swiss, 15th century. Stans Museum. (Photo by Franz Schneider, Lucerne)
Christ Riding the Palmesel. Wood. Bavarian school, 15th century. Historical Museum, Basel
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE Pahnesel (the ceremonial
Sunday
ritual)
is
ass
of
Palm
the
in
portrait of
1487,
is
Nicholas von
an
Fliie,
extraordinary
who
died
example
of
homely, truthful carving by an anonjTnous
from the Swiss Unterwalden or the neighboring canton of Lucerne.
sculptor, apparently
The
subject,
known
also as
Brother Claus,
was born a peasant, became an inarticulate mystic and ascetic, and a hermit. But such was his innate honesty and his clear seeing that
he gave counsel
to
his fellow peasants
and later to the canton officials, high churchmen, and foreign noblemen who sought out hut and chapel in an Alpine Monumental, official German
his
course,
felt
Renaissance.
the
influence
of
inherited
from the Gothic but were well aware of new
a Bavarian piece.
Switzerland also has a long folk-art history.
The
who
group of German sculptors
357
the
a large extent their
baroque
of
Italian
style
than
to
Gothic.
In Flanders the power of
Burgundy was and the Gothic develop-
for a time supreme,
ment followed ters of art.
Most
of the
Gothic sculpture in the
at the
French cen-
monuments
Low
some vigorous and
gated
wood.
in
image of
St.
type,
The
of late
Countries
French grace and realism. There ever,
Many
closely that in France.
Flemish sculptors worked
figures
gorge. art had,
and fresh impulses from the south. To work is outside the commonly named styles, and there is confusion over it because it comes closer to an incipient
ideals
are,
strikinglv illustrated
reflect
how-
stylized
Flemish
an upstanding, elon-
James
is
quite
diff'erent
from
French
Veit Stoss was but one of a Paul. Wood. French, 15th century. Toulouse Museum, QGiraudon photo^
St.
James. Wood. Flemish. 16th century. Formerly Collection of Peers de Nieuberg, Briissels
St.
35S
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
Presumed
by Nicolas Gerhaert of Leyden. Stone. 1467. Miisee de VOeuvre, Notre Dame, Strasbourg
self-portrait
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE models.
Some
likeness
of
method may be
seen in the St. Paul at Toulouse.
The
mural-like
screens
Nicholas Gerhaert of Leyden was a Low Country sculptor who had gained experience in the Burgundian school and went as a master to Strasbourg. The unique self-portrait
of
tive
the
The
style.
sculptured
of
art
and choir screens
359
is
altar
the most distinc-
Hispanic developments in
altar
backing
at
Pilar at Saragossa, with Gothic tracery
Gothic niche
The
figures,
the
Neustra Senora de
and
produces a dazzling
ef-
shown was recovered from the rubble left by the iconoclast mobs when they desecrated the
dral of Seville
cathedral during the French Revolution.
the figure groups are less well submerged in
Spain,
French
where Byzantine, Moorish, and Romanesque currents had crossed,
was influenced also by Gothic art. The French churchmen who went into Spain as the Saracens withdrew included architects and sculptors. While there is no outstanding monu-
ment of Gothic design— as Romanesque in St. James
there
is
of
the
Compostela— the cathedrals at Burgos and Leon are interesting examples of the style, with some modifications in
panums and
the
the
of
features
flanking
such as tym-
figures
of
the
fect.
better-known reredos of the Catheis
inferior (as a
whole) because
the decorative screen. Flemish sculptors also specialized in devising intricately carved altar
screens in wood, and they developed a tradition in carving tiny scenes of the Passion or
the
life
of the Virgin, cut in
wooden
shells
hardly larger than walnuts.
The
Italians
started
their
adventure
in
Renaissance classicism long before the northern Gothic style had run
many
rated facades of effort
its
to
There are on the deco-
course.
statues of Gothic aspect
Milan Cathedral, but the
cover the cathedrals with pictorial
storybooks of Christianity extended only to a
portals.
The
Last Judgment, detail. Stone. Taqade of Cathedral of Orvieto, Italy
16th century. Altar area and reredos. Wood. Damian Forment. Early Church of Nuestra Senora de Pilar, Saragassa, Spain. (Photo courtesy Department of Photographs, Princeton University^
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
361
Stone. French, 15th century. of St. Fortunade, Correze.
St. Torttniata.
Church
(Giraudon photo)
few Italian cities. The illustration from Italy showing a part of the front of the cathedral at
many
Orvieto exhibits
of
the character-
of late Gothic art in France: a relish for
istics
naturalism in the accessories, shown here in the vine that grows from the base, branching
and the sense of
to divide the figure groups;
loosened composition in the grouping of the
The
figures.
classicists,
condemn Judgment here as Italy the theme had however,
the treatment of the Last
ugly and northern; in
generally been treated with restrained emotion
if
not sunny confidence.
It is
known
that
Lorenzo Maitani,
a Sienese architect-sculptor,
was
called to Orv'ieto in 1310 to supervise the planning of the cathedral, and then to work
on the sculptural adornments. But innumerable other sculptors came and went in the first half of the century. for ten years
In Touraine the chapel fagade at the Chateau of Amboise where the Italian Leo-
nardo da Vinci died in 1519, has the fragile of late flamboyant Gothic, and the
grace
sculpture
The
charming though
is
marks the end of the period of
as seen here,
great
a trifle playful.
separation of sculpture from architecture,
mural sculpture in central and northern
unmarked
Leonardo's
Europe.
thought
be in
to
this
The
now
restored.
lous
conversion
Chapel
tomb
of St.
is
Hubert,
story of Hubert's miracu-
is
graphicallv
told
the
in
sculptured panel o\'er the doors.
Claus Sluter of the school of Burgundy
is
considered a leader in the reforms that briefly of mannerism and soBurgundian school was known for vigorous facial expression and heavily folded and deeply undercut draperies.
stemmed the currents
phistication.
The
The
late
finest of the surviving
Fountain of the Prophets
Monastery it
fails
to
at
Champmol
integrate
architecture,
it is
monuments at the
is
most
the
near Dijon.
Though
the sculpture with the
notable for the massive and
expressive figures of the six prophets.
Moses
is
Carthusian
effective
and
is
The
generally con-
Moses, detail of Fountain of the Prophets. Claus Sluter. Burgundian School, 15th century. Champmol Monastery, near Dijon. (^Giraudon photo^
Portal of the chapel, Chateau of Amboise, Touraine, France. Late Gothic, 16th century.
(ND
photo}
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE
363
sidered the peak figure in
cover picturesque gargoyles which retain the
style,
robust realism of the early examples of the
the Burgundian which after this date— about 1405— was more successfully followed in Flanders and Holland than in France.
The charming
fifteenth-century head of St.
Fortunata was at one time counted as Gothic.
surmounts a reliquary in the Church of
It
St.
Fortunade in the town of that name in the
Rhone no
Valley.
The is
the
sensitive
work,
and
a
winged
Ox
of St. Luke. Decorative
the unnaturalness of
sculpture,
it
recaptures
and
dull
Ox
definitely
with animal sculpture and with
Upon
late
rest of
and often
churches or chateaux, the sculpture
ill-placed,
is
routine
one may
of St. Luke. Stone. French,
expression-
dis-
traditional
animal
something
spiritedness of the
of
northern peoples.
art
art.
The
next flower-
ing of sculpture had already begun in
And
interest in the Renaissance spirit,
in the formative years, as Italy
had shown
the Gothic.
1
Italy.
France and England showed almost the
same lack of
Burgundian school,
the
of
and
Gothic was a northern
even when the
in the
escapes
barian animals of early medieval European
or relaxed school.
grotesques.
it
and
strength, ruggedness,
in connection
somewhat
Romanesque
might have been produced at one of the ateliers of the French sculptors of the detente
more
is
ism and the distortion of the Celtic or Bar-
an isolated work, though
spirit persisted
it
Glaus Sluter, and although
it
The Gothic
another Burgundian
is
solidly sculptural,
spirit of
from pre-
final illustration
Renaissance France,
is
sweetness of the face
remarkable than
less
fluent cutting. It
Here, as a
style.
5th century. Louvre. QGiraudon photo")
in
14: The Renaissance:
From
the
Pisanos
Michelangelo
to
I I
N each visual art there
is
a difference,
it'
not
between two kinds of communicaone embodying expression of the inner
opposition, tion,
the other the visible appearances of the
spirit,
world. arts,
true,
Never was the transformation of the
from the
spiritually true to the physically
more completely accomplished than dur-
ing the Italian Renaissance. ized Italo-Byzantine
From
the formal-
and Romanesque
styles,
from the Sienese painters who so beautifully adapted the "unreal" medieval
and
especially
The Expulsion; Adam and Eve Church
style, to
the Florentines of the generation of
Masaccio, Brunelleschi, and Donatello, practicing hardly
there
later,
is
expression of
reasoned
and
more than one hundred years a full turn of the circle, from inner, mystical meaning to a "natural"
depiction
of
the
world.
In the earlier phases of the Renaissance,
however, the two
styles existed side
bv
side.
Nicola Pisano revitalized the Italian medieval st)'le
with
Roman
idioms and
Roman
at Work. Stone. Jacopo dclla Qucrcia. 15th century. of San Pctronio, Bologna. (^Anderson -photos')
natural-
THE RENAISSANCE ism in his pulpit
while his son
bas-reliefs;
Giovanni Pisano looked northward duce Gothic
sensitivity
to intro-
and Gothic second
meaning, and was abetted by Amolfo bio
Camand echoed by Orcagna and Nanni di di
the Lombard cities, and as far south as the Apulian and Calabrian towns. Truly Gothic
expression
from the thedral
rarer,
is
and
is
an exception,
ues including
had directed the course
and Germany and by
of art back to the clas-
seemed— an
inspired
Sienese,
Jacopo
it
della
late
the
to
many by
northern
breathes uneasily
it
Italian churches;
Banco. Even after Brunelleschi and Donatello sical—by a stroke epochal and heroic, as
365
though Milan Cainnumerable
its
stat-
sculptors from France
local masters converted st)'le.
exceptions
But,
aside, the transformation to reasonable, clear,
Quercia, continued to produce works of such
graceful sculpture in the classic tradition
grandeur and such
the great historic fact of early Renaissance
plastic sensibilitv that they
attach perfectly to the northern tradition.
But
in such
doors of Ghiberti, figures of Donatello,
works
and
the
in
Roman
classic lifelikeness prevailed,
committed
and
anti-classic
as the baptistry
neo-Grecian
pictorialism
and
and Europe was
to a revival of art
conforming
to
the appearances of the actual world. Italy
had never given
Romanesque
times.
The change might transfer
traiture of lay
hardly to be
figure,
ligious
found
at
Parma, Florence, and
Pistoia, in all
Pulpit. Stone. Nicola Pisano.
and
figure. It
is
to
portrayal
true that por-
men and women became
fash-
But sculpture remained primarily reand intent. Donatello, a key
ligious in subject
dis-
relics,
some minds imply a
ionable during the mid-period of the Renais-
tinguished from Byzantine at times, are to be
st)4e.
in
from religious imaging
of secular scene
sance.
in fully to the Gothic
is
cola
is
known
almost entirelv for his
re-
monuments. (The famed bust of Nida Uzzano in the Roman manner is al-
1266-68. Cathedral of Siena. ^Anderson
photo")
Dawti. Stone. Michelangelo. 1520—34. Medici Chapel, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. (^Alinari photo')
most the
sole exception.
The appeahng
are scarcely to be distinguished
futti
from angels
ture. It is that
a
and cherubs.) Even the fabulously popular
"truth" in the
works of the della Robbias are religious
all
subject-matter.
closing
years
When of
the
there
comes,
Renaissance,
in
in
the
the
one
chapels.
From
a worker in churches
and
the lovely Pieta of his youthful
in which he depicted himself as a stricken mourner over the crucified Christ, Michelangelo is religious and Christian. The Renaissance freed men's minds and opened the way
sculptural
new forms
of intellectual enlightenment,
still
was the
crucial motivating
force in artistic creation.
There
is
a
third fundamental fact about
the Renaissance in relation to the art of sculp-
Against
inner
the
to
above
these
illustrational,
outward
and
virtues,
Michelangelo pitted a passionate devotion
years to the stark Deposition of his old age,
but religion
as a creator rising
had become veracious,
graceful.
all
but
Donatello to the later della Robbias. Sculp-
he
of
art,
had been exalted by the outstanding sculptors from Nicola Pisano, Ghiberti, and ture
first
as
that
transcending genius of the era, Michelangelo, is
Michelangelo appeared not
crowning figure in the progression toward
central art,
elements
that
to
constitute
devotion to the integrity of the
stone block, to the living qualities of massive-
and majesty and power. He wrote— he was the greatest of the writing sculptors— that ness
a
work of
true sculpture, that
modeled, should retain so
is,
much
one
cut, not
of the form
of the stone block, should so avoid projections
and separation of downhill of
its
own
parts,
that
it
would
roll
weight. There one hears
THE RENAISSANCE the voice of the lover of the quarried block,
who
the giant cutter of stone,
way could
other
the artist
no
felt that in
endow
work
his
with the grandeur and the hint of eternity that are is
its
most precious
assets.
Michelangelo
a sculptor apart, mystical, contemplative, in
love with the stone.
Through
his feeling for
the basic, profound sculptural process, he
is
one with the archaic Greeks and the Indian, Chinese, and
The
Mayan
and the revival of the claswas essentially Italian in
of Latin literature sical
style It
spirit.
masters.
Renaissance in the sense of the rebirth
and the
in
art
developed out of the special nature rivalries of the Italian city-states,
and
many
367
the extension of the Italian spirit was
marked, especially in woodcarving, and in
Spain the tense
classic
religious
movement modified
realism
surviving
the in-
from
late
Gothic times. In Italy the end saw the perfecting
of the virtues of the gold-
smith Cellini, in
unparalleled
of the Renaissance period
numbers of was also a time when the Michelangelesque virtues were transformed into the rather empty dramatics of the mannerists, and the accomplishments of a few scholar-sculptors who carried on the tradition initiated by Donatello or hopelessly pretty mantelpiece bronzes. It
tried to imitate
Michelangelo. Sansovino,
who
out of dominance by a ruling class which
died in 1570, was the most successful, retain-
enormously expanded economic power and
ing a sense of the monumental while avoid-
commerce— and patronized
ing the bizarre effects of the mannerists.
less in the
arts.
Neverthe-
northern countries the Renaissance
changed the course of sculpture,
spirit
tardily.
style
the
did not fade until the end of the
teenth
if
In France the vitality of the Gothic
century,
and
there
was
no
fif-
great
French sculptor in the time of Donatello,
Luca
della Robbia,
and Michelangelo. In Ger-
those
who
Of
gained from the freedoms intro-
duced by mannerism, Giambologna, who
sur-
vived into the early years of the seventeenth century,
was most
notable.
His was, indeed,
name
in the era be-
tween Michelangelo and the Baroque style, Bernini.
initiator of the
the last world-famous
Death of the Virgin. Stone. Tilman Riemenschneider. German, 16th century. Cathedral of Wiirzburg. QArchiv fUr Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin}
II IF
the Renaissance style in sculpture
alistic,
clear,
is
and harmonious, there
nevertheless forerunners
who
re-
are
speak with an
Romanesque accent. Three illustrations show stages of the transformation from Lombard Romanesque, as
inherited Gothic or
seen in the bronze door at Pisa, through the
on the cathedral facade at Orand on to that landmark of sculptural
Gothic vieto,
reliefs
progress, the pulpit designed
by Nicola
sano for the baptistry at Pisa. Three of
columns arches
its
from the backs of lions in the Romanesque manner, and the
rise
Lombard pointed
Pi-
suggestions
retain style;
of
the
northern
but the major panels are
filled
with picture compositions resembling the basreliefs
of
ancient
torically this is
realism
known
and as
Roman
sarcophagi.
an epochal revival of
Nicola, though had come from Apulia,
pictorialism.
Pisano,
Hisclassic
where he must have examined
hand was the first to introduce Roman naturalism into what had been till then Italian medieval art; the painters were still Italo-Byzantine, or Sienese the
exhumed
classical relics.
at first
He
"Primitives."
Between 1266 and 1268 Nicola Pisano and produced another famous pulpit, for the Cathedral of Siena. Romanesque lions were used as supports, but again the relief panels showed the sculptors' masterly abilitv in adapting Roman idioms to decorative and pictorial uses. (Illustrated on page 365.) his pupils
Giovanni Pisano, son of Nicola, tempered the over-literal
Roman
expression with a pic-
turesqueness and a sensitivity learned from
contemporary Gothic
practice.
His panels on
the pulpit at Pistoia are lively and dramatic
and naturallv composed. Single are
among
figures of his
the finest sculptures of the time.
Detail of door. Cathedral of Pisa. Bronze. Romanesque, 12th century. (Alinari photo). (See also page 323)
THE RENAISSANCE
Creation of
Man and
other scenes. Stone. Italian Gothic, 14th century.
Cathedral of Orvieto. (^Anderson photo") Pulpit. Stone. Nicola Pisano. Italian, 1260. Baptistry, Cathedral of Pisa. (^Anderson photo")
369
370
THE RENAISSANCE
Adoration of the Magi,
relief panel. Stone.
Nicola Pisano. Cathedral of Siena. QAnderson photo')
Birth of Christ, relief panel. Stone. Giovanni Pisano. QAlinari photo)
Church of San Andrea,
Pistoia.
Extreme Unction; Baptism. Stone.
Andrea Pisano. 13th-14th
Giovanni's pupil, nolfo di for a
centuries. Campanile, Cathedral of Florence. (^Alinari photos')
Andrea Pisano, with Ar-
Cambio and Andrea Orcagna,
while the tide toward classicism. Andrea
Pisano's
diamond-shaped
little
panels
set
excelled in both
arts,
retained Andrea Pisano's
Gothicism in the main features of the famous within
the
Michele, Florence.
The
tabernacle
Church
of
Or San
architectural forms of
Tower)
the tabernacle are Italianate Gothic, in the
Florence have more the feeling of vigorous
and lacy manner of Milan Cathedral, and the sculptural picturing is what an artist
into the cathedral campanile (Giotto's at
stayed
Romanesque
expression; but a larger set after
Giotto's designs,
from Andrea Pisano's
borrowed from Gothic
studio,
composition.
known for his but Andrea Orcagna, who also
Arnolfo di Cambio architecture,
realistic
is
better
light
who knew ward
the northern style but looked for-
to the
be expected
Nanni
di
triumph of neo-classicism might to
produce.
Banco was a sculptor who
Creation of Woman; Horse and Rider. Stone. Andrea Pisano and Giotto. 13th— 14th centuries. Campanile, Cathedral of Florence. QAlinari photos')
re-
THE RENAISSANCE
372
verted even more fully to late Gothic mannerthe prettily designed marble relief
isms in
over the Porta della Mandorla of the Florentine cathedral. vacit)',
eries late full
The
lightness of touch, the vi-
the sinuous grace of limbs and
drap
are attributes of sculpture during the
medieval period rather than during the Renaissance. (Facing page.)
The
Sienese sculptor Jacopo della Quercia
rose above all schools
was the very
Through
his
and
antithesis
all
influences.
of
a
He
neo-Roman.
emotional force, his dramatic
composing, and his sense of rhythmical plasorder he came closer to the anonymous Romanesque masters. His versions of the Madonna and Child suggest an influence from
tic
transmitted to us in a series of reliefs on the portal
the
of
Church
beautifully
so
sional
space,
youthful
ordered so
Michelangelo
tive plastic sense to
chelangelo, the works from della Quercia are
was
lithic
grandeur pro-
The
genius of Jacopo della Quercia
Madonna and
is
best
reported
is
that to
the
have
triumph
and humanly
his personal
brilliantly
with a
sculpture that
felt
interpretation of the Hel-
lenic ideal.
By
duced in Renaissance Europe.
three-dimen-
alive,
and 1378, assiduously studied the remains of ancient architecture and believed that they were reviving the spirit of the golden age of Greece, though instead they adapted the more pedestrian style of Rome. They were followed in their researches by Donatello, who sometimes copied Roman forms and mannerisms but possessed sufficient imagination and naclearly seen
ones with
in
been inspired by them. (Pages 364 and 373.) Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, born in 1377
Byzantine hieratic formalism. Except for the
last
within
plastically
products of the overwhelming genius of Mi-
almost the
San Petronio
of
Bologna. These are compositions so powerful,
the
first
decade of the
Florence had taken the lead,
quattrocento
artistically,
Child. Stone. Jacopo della Quercia. Sienese school, 14th-15th centuries. Louvre; Church of San Petronio, Bologna. QGiraudon, Alinari photos^
po-
and financially, among Italian cityThere were great projects for the glorification of the city, and none created more stir than a competition for the design litically,
states.
of
new bronze In a
tistry.
doors for the cathedral
trial
showed how he would panels
eight
leschi's design,
may be berti;
of
the
fill
one of the twenty-
doors.
preserved
still
Today Brunelat the Bargello,
considered superior to that of Ghi-
the sacrifice of Isaac
tically,
bap
piece each of sev'en sculptors
readably,
is
pictured
realis-
and with shrewd regard
to
the filling of architectural space. Ghiberti, on the other hand, produced a
somewhat con-
fused and lumpy, but episodically dramatic
and sentimental panel and won the commission to design the portals. There is no further record of sculpture by Brunelleschi, who beCreation of Man. Stone. Jacopo della Quercia. 1 5th century. Church of San Petronio, Bologna.
QAnderson photo}
Madonna Nanni
in a Mandorla, relief. Stone. Over Porta della Mandorla,
di Banco.
Cathedral of Florence. QAlinari photo}
374
THE RENAISSANCE
Doors of the baptistry, Cathedral of Florence. Bronze. Lorenzo Ghibcrti. 15th century, CAlinari photo')
THE RENAISSANCE came the Itahan
first
leader in the transformation of
from
architecture
mixed medievahsm
a
to a clear
and and harmonious hngering
neo-classic style.
The
was set in and the second, known as the Gates of Paradise, was completed in 1452. Lorenzo Ghiberti outgrew some of the depair of baptistn,' doors
first
ficiencies
revealed
Abraham
and
in
Isaac,
the
sketch-panel
and
certain
twent\'-eight compositions are clear
of
of
the
and
har-
moniously composed, within the limits of
delighted
millions
of
casual
observers.
The
truth
is
that these pictorial composi-
designed in a technique learned from
tions,
place in 1424,
have
panels
375
the painters of the era, with landscape vistas, perspective effects, foreshortening, and other attributes of the
new
realism, are essentially
Each design is a masterpiece of relief sculpture masquerading as painting. According to modern opinion, in the ten pictures on the "Gates of Paradise" Ghiberti unsculptural.
il-
proved himself a painter in bronze, without
But the "Paradise" series is more mature and more interesting because it marks the highest point reached in
elementary feeling for plastic relationships or
lustrational bas-relief.
make
the
West
the
work of painting, legibly and engagingly. up the idea of dividing the
in the effort to
sculpture do
Ghiberti gave
Up
1400 the Pisans, the Sienese, and had served the Florentines and had taught them, but then Florence became a cento
others
ter for locally
born sculptors,
of
whom
had imparted to the first doors (and an by Andrea Pisano) an effect of
He
every later Italian sculptor except Michelan-
small panels, a device
earlier pair
all-over
ornamentalism.
limited himself to
ten major panels and set out to
make each
a
gelo.
He
developed
a clearly stated, idealized,
masterpiece of miniature sculptural picturing.
and gracious
figuring,
and
He
that sweetly
embody
his
greatly pleased his patrons,
The
many
became world-famous. Donatello (1386— 1466) was the first of the very great Florentine sculptors, rising above his contemporaries and
door surface into that
many
the effects appropriate to his material.
Story of
Abraham
and
his
bronze
left a
dozen statues
vision— as well as
Solomon Receiving the Queen of Sheha
Panels on the baptistry doors. Cathedral of Florence. (_Anderson, Alinari photos')
masterpiece of natural movement, of camera-
eye observation and casual depiction.
Some of among his
the early works of Donatello are
The
best.
round, including a
Cathedral and a
series of statues in the
John
St.
St.
in the Florence
Mark and
a St.
George
Or San Michele, retain a massive later lost. The St. George, of 141 6,
executed for simplicity IS
one of the most appealing works of the
quattrocento, a perfect revelation of the sculptor's
vision
chivalry.
a niche
of
youthful
The Zuccone,
on
Giotto's
determination
and
or "Pumpkin-head," in
Tower,
is
an equally
strik-
ing creation, expressing a rugged realism at a
moment when
scending
The
the art
was in danger
of de-
to a pretty surface naturalism.
masterly modeling and clean chiseling
that characterize Donatello's early works can
be seen
also in the
Youthful
St.
John, a study
Nicola da Uzzano. Clay, painted. Donatello. 1428—30. National Museum, Bargello, Florence
such experiments
Uzzano, which re-creation
as is
the bust of Nicola da
Roman
of
a
perfect
naturahstic,
cruelly
interesting
as
candid portraiture; and the great equestrian
Monument
Gattamelata
at
Padua, on which
the noblv conceived and finely modeled head of the rider
He
is
one of the notable
produced
many
reliefs
features.
in
the exces-
sively painterly technique of the followers of
Ghiberti; those representing scenes from the
Passion on the pulpits of San Lorenzo, begun in his old age
and completed by
his assistants,
Bertoldo di Giovanni and Bartolommeo Bellano, are typically graphic, delicate, crowded,
and washy, hie played with oversweet Madonnas and cherubs and •putti in the manner that led to the sentimental art of the della
Robbias and the superficially graceful
reliefs
and of Agostino di Duccio. In panels such as the famous Annunciation at Santa Croce and the equally beloved frieze
of Desiderio
of the Cantoria in the
Museum
of the Flor-
entine cathedral, he related the figures with-
out
adequate
frieze,
with
its
sense
of
plastic
order.
The
jolly babes, is nevertheless a
Gattamelata Monument, detail. Bronze. 1444-50. Before Church of Sant' Antonio, Padua. (_Anderson photo') Donatello.
THE RENAISSANCE
377
'
-^r
Details from frieze of the Cantoria. Stone. Donatello, 1433-38. Museum of the Cathedral of Florence. QBrogi photo')
Ziiccone
(A Prophet).
1435-36. Campanile, Florence.
St.
Stone. Donatello. (_Alinari
photo)
George. Stone. Donatello. 1416. National Bargello, Florence. QAnderson photo)
Museum,
THE RENAISSANCE
378
every detail but so clearly the em-
realistic in
bodiment of that
it
a personal
and noble conception
transcends nature.
Though
sculptural grandeur
and the basic
"feeling for the stone" were going out of the
during the fifteenth century, Donatello
art
and
his followers
carved direcdy in the
still
marble and maintained the autographic tues that
were
when
lost
"sculptors"
vir-
began
be content with making clay models
to
for
by masons with pointing machines. For works in bronze the artist necessarily modeled in clay (or wax). Some authorities prefer Donatello's David transfer to the stone
to all his other
works. Despite the beautiful
modeling and the perfectly caught pose, too prett\' a
work
it is
stand comparison with
to
the St. George or the Youthful St. John. Ver-
David,
rochio's
here, suffers
though
it
matched
with
Donatello's
from some of the same
faults,
escapes the over-prettification of the
boy.
Andrea del Verrocchio produced few masterpieces,
but in the
final
seven years of his
1481-1488, he designed the
life,
monument
Bartolommeo Colleoni in Venice, which
to
surpassed his
rival's
equestrian work. Verroc-
and imon parade. It breathes strength, power, and human mastery. The excessive amount of dechio's statue
is
bued with the
consistent, well set,
feeling of the condottiere
tail—goldsmith's work, for most of these Flor-
entine sculptors were trained to goldsmithing as well as architecture, painting, stone-carv-
modeling, and casting— fails
ing,
from the
effect of vigor
and
to
detract
largeness.
Bernardo and Antonio Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano,
Mino da
Fiesole,
Francesco
Laurana, the della Robbias, and other lesser imitators of Donatello's pretty
works formed
within the Florentine school a group con-
cerned with the smaller sculptural virtues.
The
statues of the late quattrocento,
the
500s, cannot be judged
1
applied to della Ouercia or
up
most
of
sweet and sentimental.
No
test
shows
and of by the standards Michelangelo; any
them as rather body of works has
been more extravagantly praised.
Youthful
St. John. Stone. Donatello. 1434^0. National Museum, Bargello, Florence, CBrogi photo')
David. Bronze. Donatello. National Bargello, Florence. QAlinari photo")
Museum,
Bartolommeo CoUeoni. Bronze. Verrocchio. 1481-88. Piazza SS. Giovanni e Paoli, Venice.
CAnderson photo)
David. Bronze. Verrocchio. National Museum, Bargello, Florence. C^rogi photo)
da
Desiderio
Settignano
is
perhaps
the
best of this school of deUneators of the sweet
and the charming. He speciahzed in cherubs, young mothers, and pretty boys. But much can be forgiven
him— even
of the children— when
one
the frozen smiles sees the grace
the delicate restraint of the Bust of a
Woman
the
at
Bargello.
Here
and
Young
sculptural
suavity has done everything possible to represent to the observer the natural
an
charm
of
aristocratic girl. Desiderio's fault of a too
scrupulous detailing
is
character
and
revealed,
is
for flowing contour,
here
Inner
curbed.
a sensitive feeling
even for proportion and
mass.
The
Bust of a Little Boy in the National is a chubby, perky,
Gallery in Washington irresistible
immortalized.
child
when
But
Desiderio decorated tombs he was likely to destroy the architecture by the unrelated col-
and
lection of reliefs
Indeed statue
at
as
this
other
figures in the round.
time the feeling for the
than
passed. Agostino di
a
display
piece
Duccio learned
to
his graceful relief figures flat to the wall,
had keep
and
sometimes, as at Perugia, he disciplined his
sinuous
angels
into pleasing
Bust of a
trailing
fluttering
Bust of a Young Woman. Stone. Desiderio da Settignano. Mid- 15 th century. National
Museum,
Bargello, Florence. QAlinari photo')
draperies
mural decorations.
Little Boy. Stone.
Desiderio da Settignano. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Saint Bernardino in Glory, detail. Stone. Agostino di Duccio. C. 1460.
Fagade of Church of Bernardino, Perugia. (^Anderson photo)
S,
y^.S^'^'^ '''^^^f'***^^
^
"^
THE RENAISSANCE
381
Francesco Laurana, born in Dalmatia, was a roving sculptor
who
almost equaled Desi-
derio in suave portraiture, as
the appealing
A
Aragon
at
portrait,
Bust of a
Neapolitan
name
may be
Princess of the
Washington.
of
Another exquisite
Woman,
school,
seen in
House
with
is
ascribed to the
which
Laurana's
has been associated. Benedetto da Mai-
ano, sculptor of a famous pulpit at the Santa
Croce Church, Florence, critics
to
be superior
and others
is
held by some
Laurana, Desiderio,
of the Florentine school
of his portraiture torial
to
and
by reason
his reliefs in the pic-
style of Ghiberti.
Antonio
Pollaiuolo
introduced
and
melodra-
to do In general he desame for sculpture. the stroyed whatever traces of massiveness and quietude were left in the art. The oncefamed statuettes of Bertoldo di Giovanni
matic action into painting,
tried
today seem overactive and rather insensitive.
He had been a student of Donatello's and was an early teacher of Michelangelo. II Vecchietta— Lorenzo di Pietro of Siena— more successfully added a sort of nervous energy to his
modeling and preserved
Bust of a Woman. Stone. Neapolitan school, 15th century. Louvre. (^Alinari photo')
a total unity
while enlivening the surface appeal.
The Risen
Christ. Bronze. Lorenzo Vecchietta. 15th century. Church of Santa Maria delta Scala,
Siena. QAlinari photo')
A
"Princess of the House of Aragon. Stone. Francesco Laurana. Venetian school, 15th century. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of
Art,
Washington
THE RENAISSANCE
382
Since Luca della Robbia founded a family business for producing brighdy colored glazed plaques,
terra-cotta
many
so
of
have
these
appeared in and on the buildings of Florence that they
have constituted
a
kind of folk
art.
In the time of Donatello's triumphs, Luca
began
to
experiment in clay modeling in high
The
were painted white against a background painted blue, and the whole was glazed and fired. Shortly after, the common polychromed garlands of flowers and relief.
figures
appeared as borders, and there were
fruits
experiments in
less
the medallions,
simple color schemes in
his studios. Luca, the a
true
sculptor
tabernacle
lunettes,
and free-standing busts of
that
first
his
panels,
streamed from
della Robbia,
time,
versatile
was and
The phia,
a perfect example, in
The
details
the
of
Florence
near
sentiment,
from the
of flying angels
predella of the Altar of the
Church
at Philadel-
its
and beautiful surface composi-
naturalism, tion.
now
Virgin in Adoration,
is
Holy Cross
Madonna are among
dell'
the
in the
Impruneta best-known
works of Luca della Robbia. There are also a few independent glazed figures and freestanding groups from his hand.
Andrea, Luca's nephew, was brought into partnership
at
age of twenty-five, suc-
the
ceeded as head of the studio at forty-seven,
and
He
lived to be ninety.
turn
out countless
confusion
"della
trying
historians
of
thus was able to Robbias"— to the to
separate
Luca's designs from later and generally
less
His marble panels of singing cherubs made for the cantoria of the cathedral have been hardly less praised than Donatello's
competent works. Andrea too pleased an im-
more
orate.
skilled.
riotous,
though
less
distressingly cute,
Luca had a sensitive feeling for surface composition, and he designed panels filled with the most popular devotional subjects, the Virgin in Adoration, the Annunciation, the Resurrection, Angels, Cheruhs, and
style
which
is
tions
Bam-
rounded, and highly colored
purely pictorial.
but in general his composi-
public,
were a
The
singing children.
hini, in a pretty,
mense
more crowded and
little
altarpiece
with
the Virgin at Siena cessful of his designs.
is
the
elab-
Coronation
of
one of the most suc-
The
predella panels are
characteristic of the best period of full pictorialism,
achieved with a shrewd sense of
composition and a graceful naturalism. other
members
of the della
The
Robbia family
continued with the manufacture of colored
Virgin in Adoration. Faience. Luca della Robbia. Florentine, 15th century. Philadelphia MuseuTn of Art. QGiraudon photo')
Angels, detail. Faience. Luca della Robbia. Chapel of the Holy Cross, of the Madonna dell' Impruneta, near Florence. (^Alinari photo")
Church
Coronation of the Virgin. Faience. Andrea della Robbia. dell' Osservanza, Siena. C^rogi photo)
Church of the Convento
THE RENAISSANCE
384
ware through many decades, but the plaques after Luca and Andrea died were in-
of the Renaissance should have appeared at
made
the time
ferior.
weakest. Michelangelo was born nine years
Instead of the score of world-famous and
important sculptors produced by
and
Italy,
especially Florence, during the quattrocento,
the cinquecento produced but one. is
Not only
Michelangelo the outstanding sculptural
creator of Italy's also transcends
High Renaissance, but he
any other figure in the
his-
tory of the art in post-medieval times.
He
sometimes turbulent. But in
is
was a stormy individual, and his sculpture and painting are elemental, overpowering, and and profound
in the
art,
all
that
basic
in lithic grandeur,
in stonelike quietude, in the implication of spiritual
he
is
meaning and four-dimensional
order,
supreme.
It is difficult to
Battle of the Lapiths
why
the giant
and the Centaurs, high
Florentine sculpture
after Donatello died.
cio,
itself
was
His work matured long
after Verrocchio, Desiderio,
Agostino di Duc-
Laurana, and the other secondary mas-
had disappeared from the scene. Luca Robbia had gone, and his nephew Andrea was filling orders for "della Robbias" with diminishing invention and taste. Michelangelo was engaged as an apprentice sculptor for four years to the great Medicean patron of the arts, Lorenzo the Magnificent. Then he spent a season in Bologna, where he had leisure to study the sculptures of ters
della
Jacopo della Quercia, the only Italian (except for
the
fitted
understand
when
to
anonymous influence
Romanesque masters) profoundly so gifted a
sculptor.
relief panel. Stone.
Michelangelo. 1490-92.
Casa Buonarroti, Florence. QBrogi photo^
THE RENAISSANCE Certain of the very early works of Michelangelo exhibit those attributes of powerful
contained
movement and monumental
impressiveness so patent in the late figures.
Even
a
trial
piece, the relief of the Battle of
and the Centaurs, carved when he was eighteen years old, is imbued with elemental movement and plastic order. In two the Lapiths
David. Stone. Michelangelo. 1504.
Academy, Florence. QAlinari photo^
early single figures, a
385
Bacchus chiseled when
and the David San Miniato, the profounder feeling for plastic rhythms and monumental order is tempered by an apparent desire to conform he was no more than
a youth,
at
to
the tradition of Florentine neo-classic nat-
uralism.
The
early
side the unfinished
David is shown here be(and much later) David
David. Stone. Michelangelo. 1529. National Gallery, Bargello, Florence. QBrogi photo')
386
THE RENAISSANCE
Pietd. Stone. Michelangelo.
of the Bargello.
Rome was
The
carved
twenty-five years old,
monuments
1499-1500.
Pieta at St. Peter's in
before
and
is
the
artist
was
one of the great
Western world. Its realism is so far transcended by the sculptural ordering of masses and the symphonic interplay of line, of thrust and counterthrust rehgious
of the
St. Peter's Basilica,
Rome. QAlinari photo^
and containing contour, that one's eye reads the composition easily and agreeably, in a melodious language perfectly suited spiritual
and
tragic
to
the
message of the monu-
ment.
The tor
special dignity with
endowed even
which the
sculp-
the smallest piece of mar-
THE RENAISSANCE
Moses. Stone. Michelangelo. 1515. Church of San Pietro in Vincoli,
ble
is
inherent in
tomb
the
Moses,
the
central
Pope Juhus II in the Church of San Pietro in VincoH, Rome. The whole monument was to have been from the hand of the master, but after heartbreaking feature of the
delays, during
the
of
which he was forced
incomparable
frescoes
of
the
to
paint
Sistine
Chapel, which he regretted as an interruption of his
more beloved
labors in sculpture,
Michelangelo gave over the scheme artists.
for the
Two
to lesser
Slaves which he originally cut
tomb of Julius
II are in
the galleries
of the Louvre,
387
Rome
where they seem
other Renaissance sculpture.
to
dwarf
The Moses
is
an individualistic conception of the Lawgiver,
movement,
spe-
cific
in detail yet held within a unity.
The
man
is
rocklike yet vibrating with
sternly the instrument of
God, majesti-
cally portrayed.
From 1520
to
1534 Michelangelo labored
intermittently to put into effect the elaborate architectural
Medici
and sculptural scheme of the in the Church of San Florence. The one part nearest
Chapel
Lorenzo in
THE RENAISSANCE
Night. Stone. Michelangelo. Medici Chapel, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. QBrogi photo')
completion, the tomb of Lorenzo de' Aledici,
period
shows the figure of Lorenzo, known as The Thinker, over two figures symbohzing twihght and dawn. The three statues Hnk well
Jacopo della Quercia's works, are of a certain
and the unfortunate location of the fails to dim the sense of spiritual power and elemental grandeur flowing from these essentially living figures. The Daivn is illustrated on page 366 (and the T\inlight in the Introduction). On the tomb of Giuliano de' Medici, the matching figures are of Night and Day (the latter with the head not fully chiseled out of together,
group in an overbare room
the marble block). are
The
four symbolic figures
generally considered
sculptures inherited
the most masterly
by mankind from the
of
magnitude.
Renaissance.
the
They
have
a
These,
sheer
like
physical
and an appearance of contained, concentrated power that make a comparison with the marbles of the Athenian Parthenon largeness
inevitable.
The many
figure of
Night has been counted by
authorities
statue of the series. less
the
incomparably
great
But the Day appears no
magnificent, in spite of being unfinished.
conveys a sense of grandeur hardly surpassed in the history of art. Dawn might be It
compared with the Goddesses, the
llissos,
and
the other elemental figures of the Parthenon
pediment.
THE RENAISSANCE
389
Day. Stone. Michelangelo. Medici Chapel, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. QBrogi photo') (See illustrations on pages 5 and 366)
In
the
chapel
there
is
a
statue
of
Madonna and Child, endowed with human tenderness and the tragic pity these great works, final
of the four Prisoners at
or died.
Florence was hardly more than half worked
so
from the block and was intended for the tomb of Julius II. Just as the immediate suc-
beautifully carved into the Pieta. Apart from
Fiume, and a
The group
the
the
there are a fragmentary
work, a Deposition, in the
cessors of Michelangelo, the Florentine nerists,
were
to imitate certain
art— his large masses and
Cathedral at Florence, in which Michelan-
acteristics
of
gelo, nearing ninety years of age, surv'ivor of
emphatic
movement— without
one on the stormiest
symphonic
art,
lives
in
the annals of
portrayed himself as a mourner helping
to release Christ
from the Cross, thus
affirm-
ing his final mystical and passionate devotion to the Christ.
From
various periods in his career there
when, for examunstable patrons changed their minds.
are statues left half finished ple,
his
order,
man-
surface char-
so,
nearly
his
sense
of
hundred Rodin, was
four
years later, a great individualist,
enormous creative possibilities in a worked marble block, though he never quite achieved the magnificent power to see the
partially
of the Prisoners.
Raphael was
stirred
by the ambition
to
equal the one rival whose stature had over-
Prisoner. Stone. Michelangelo. National Museum, Bargello, Florence. QMannelli photo^
THE RENAISSANCE shadowed ture,
as
his
in
own, and he
painting,
lesque masterpieces. stone,
to
He
set
out in sculp
create
Michelange-
could not carve in
but he made sketches or models for
which Lorenzetto executed for the Chigi Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. At first glance the Jonah and the Elias seem like works of the master, being massive and superficially rhythmic. But the synthetic nature of the pieces soon becomes clear in the softening of the forms and a violation of feeling heroic figures of the prophets,
these da Vinci models.
(without a rider)
seum
in
One list
New
other
is
A
at the
391
very similar horse
Metropolitan
Mu-
York.
name should be included
of sculptors influenced
Jacopo Sansovino,
in the
by Michelangelo:
who had been
a pupil of
for the block.
Other imitators fared
less well, as
the
huge
malformations, not to say monstrosities, in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence especially
Baccio Bandinelli— more successful in works— erected the huge, tasteless Hercules and Cacus there and proved how easily sculptural largeness and power could be turned to uses of sensationalism and melodrama; while Bartolommeo Ammanati, with testify.
lesser
collaborators
who
included the very talented
Giambologna, contributed a distressing Foun-
Neptune that stands nearby. Andrea del Verrocchio had been Leonardo da Vinci's master, and the equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza over which Leo-
tain of
nardo labored so
many
years, only to see the
model destroyed before bronze, was an attempt
final
it
in
to
Colleoni
chio's
Monument.
could be cast rival
The
Verroccolossal
mock-up constructed by Leonardo and his assistants at the Sforza castello in Milan was extravagantly praised. There are several spirited small bronzes
approximating
to the surviv-
made by Leonardo for the Sforza and for a planned monument to Tri-
ing sketches statue
and each is claimed to be, in miniature, the Horse of Leonardo. One of these may well be cast from a sketch model, and others may be free copies, for several are outstandingly strong and rhythmic in comvulzio;
parison with the hundreds of weakly realistic statuettes
of
the
period
1
450-1 600.
The
bronze at Budapest, with a tiny rider mounted
on a
spirited stallion,
is
perhaps the
finest of
Madonna and
Child. Stone. Michelangelo.
Medici Chapel, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. (.Brogi photo}
1 Horse and Rider. Bronze. After Leonardo da Vinci. Early 16th century. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Apollo. Stone. Jacopo Sansovino. C. 1540. Logetta at the Base of the Campanile, Piazza San Marco, Venice. QAlinari photo^
Andrea Sansovino and took his surname. A good Sansovino may be an echo of the largeness and vigor of Michelangelo or a nearly
successful
monious
attempt
neo-classicism,
revive
to
in
as
har-
a
pleasing
the
campanile of San
figures of the loggetta of the
Marco, Venice. Baccio
de
Montelupo
was
Alessandro Vittoria, both of
than
older
Michelangelo but had been his student,
whom
had men-
as
are
tioned in the histories and are creditably repre-
sented in the churches. Baccio de Montelupo's St. Damian, beside Michelangelo's Madonna and Child in the Medici Chapel, does not too badly suffer in such stupendous company,
though there might have been collaborative help from the teacher.
The
specialists in small
bronzes were
to
the
forefront in sculptural history during the fol-
was
Benvenuto
lowing
half-century.
Cellini's
ambition to equal the greatest, but
his talents
It
remained only those of the
goldsmith. There
is
too
much
detail,
skillful
and
too
THE RENAISSANCE
Perseus.
Wax. Benvenuto
Cellini. C.
393
Perseus. Bronze. Benvenuto Cellini. C. 1550. Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, Florence. QAlinari photo)
1550.
Bargello, Florence. C^rogi photo')
much ornament, in almost ever)' one The work generally accepted
statues.
of his
sands of statuettes were turned out, as original
as his
pieces, very realistic
masterpiece, the bronze Perseus in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, tion,
and
but Cellini
shows
left a
this early version
this overelabora-
sketch-model in wax,
has the grace and vitality
of the larger figure without the distracting accessories, as
can be seen
when
the two versions
are pictured together.
The
schools of bronze-workers were
Florentine, Paduan, Venetian.
many:
Untold thou-
and softened and
in general; as imitations of the
devotion to Greece and least
trivial,
antique (for
Rome had
not in the
diminished); and as echoes of the recent
Florentine masters, from the powerful Michel-
angelo
to
the
graceful
Donatello
and the
pretty della Robbia pictorialists.
Giambologna, or John of Boulogne, who was born in 1524, when Michelangelo was at the height of his powers, and lived into the
THE RENAISSANCE
394
seventeenth century,
is
the best-known of the
producers of bronze mantelpiece
He
art.
was
a prolific sculptor in the large, too, but his heroic-sized statues in emulation of Michelan-
Ammannati
gelo and
There
are less successful.
are untold thousands of miniature replicas of
Mercury.
his Flying
and
naturalistic
Bather
in technique
it is
The
to the last detail.
perhaps a better work of
is
certainly
smooth
It is
down
and
art,
superior to hundreds of the genre
pieces surrounding
it
at the Bargello.
The small bronze was, of course, medium of Benvenuto Cellini.
the natural
Riccio
II
(Andrea Briosco), of the Paduan School; Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, as
I'Antico;
Pietro
Francesco
da
who,
Francavilla,
was an
who
is
better
known and
Sant'Agata;
like
Giambologna,
by adoption, were other
Italian only
successful producers.
Some
of the finest bronzes of the Renais-
sance period are medals. Restricted
to a
small
space within a geometrical outline, certain
The
and created ablest and
most original medalists date back
to the gen-
sculptors disciplined their talents
appropriate formal designs.
and Ghiberti. The medalNinfa is proof enough that
eration of Donatello lion-bust
of
Donatello (if the attribution
manage trait
a graceful
is
and pleasing
correct) could bas-relief por-
within a constricted outline.
contemporary,
known
as
Pisanello,
It
was
or Vittore
Antonio) Pisano, of Verona,
as
became the
known
II
his
(also
who
greatest of the medalists. Better
one of the most original painters of
the time, Pisanello specialized, as a sideline, in the commemorative medals.
many who
He
is
superior to
followed in his steps because he
kept his designs simple, formalized, and bold, within the small space at his disposal.
examples shown (page 396), made
The
for the
Estes and for Nicolo Picininno, are typical.
Matteo de' Pasti of Verona and, later, Benvenuto Cellini were outstanding in the field.
Flying Mercury. Bronze. Giambologna. 16th century. Bargello, Florence. (^Alinari photo')
Medallion with bust of Ninfa. Stone. Attributed to Donatello. Archaeological Museiim, Milan. QBrogi photo')
Bather. Bronze. Giambologna. 16th century. Bargello, Florence. CBrogi photo)
''''>..
Medals. Bronze. Benvenuto Cellini (left); Matteo de' Pasti (center and right). 15th-16th centuries. Bargello, Florence; Brera Gallery, Milan; Bihliotheque Nationale, Paris. (^Alinari photos)
396
THE RENAISSANCE
Medals. Bronze. Pisanello.
1
5th century. British
The most original and accomplished German sculptor of the period was Tilman Riemenschneider. The group scenes, such as
neo-classic
the Death of the Virgin at Wiirzburg Cathe-
who ended
and notably the altar panels, are well composed, and do not strain after the perspective vistas and other graphic effects in the Italian manner. Single figures are carved (in wood) with an instinct for the ordering of masses and the rhythmic play of contours.
ated the new.
dral (page 367),
Some
of the heads taken alone, out of the
context of the surrounding figures, are the
among
most pleasing sculptural works of the
time— about the end of the fifteenth century. Because Riemenschneider avoided the liter-
alism
Museum
and sentimentalism sculpture after
torians consider
him
in
typical
Italian
many
1450,
the Gothic line rather than
A
his-
a pre-Renaissance figure
transitional figure,
he
is
initi-
per-
haps the greatest North European sculptor of the period.
Certain works, not very important intrin-
become interesting as turning-points in Eve by Peter Vischer the Younger is a sign
sically, art.
of the triumph of Italian ideals north of the
Alps in the early
1
500s.
The nude
the realistic representation
current
of
Renaissance
show
subject and
that the full
neo-classicism
had
flowed over parts of Germany. Peter Vischer
the
Younger here proved himself the equal
of his Italian contemporaries in the art of the
small bronze. ure,
The
plastic integrity of the fig-
and the avoidance of
mentalism,
make
it
statuettes of the
self-conscious senti-
preferable to thousands of
kind.
known Vischer work,
In perhaps the best-
King Arthur at Innsbruck—a collaboration between father and son — overdetailing was allowed to destroy the unitv of the statue. But Peter Vischer the vounger remains a key figure in the transformation of German
the
time be-
art in the short
tween medieval practice and the entry of the baroque style. The bronze foundry of the Vischers at Nuremberg remained perhaps the most notable in Europe for twenty years after the deaths of the two Peters in 1528 and 1529.
From
the end of the fifteenth century the
French kings and transforming Italian
their
dreamed of and lodges into
their courtiers castles
Renaissance palaces, at
chateau country' of Touraine, then bleau,
and
finally
at
Versailles
first
at
in
the
Fontaine-
and
Eve. Bronze. Peter Vischer the Younger. German, c. 1500. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Paris.
Bernard of Wiirzburg. Wood. Riemenschneider. 16th century. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington St.
/^^ ^;
Early
1
St. John, detail. Wood. Riemenschneider. 6th century. Church of St. Nicolas, Kalkar.
(_Archives Roget-Viollet')
Crucifix. Iron, silvered. French, 17th century. Curtis Collection. QGiraudon photo")
Eve. Wood. Attributed to Riemenschneider. 16th century. Louvre. (^Giraudon photo")
Tomb
figure of Rene de Birague. Bronze. Germain Pilon. French, 16th century. Church of St. Catherine, Paris.
Louvre. CAlinari photo)
THE RENAISSANCE They imported
leading Italian
includ-
artists,
ing Francesco Laurana, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Benvenuto artists in
Cellini;
and
minor and the
a host of
painting, sculpture, music,
arts of the theater.
Among
died about 151
no works comparable
5, left
those of the secondary Italian masters. rather Jean
who
It
Goujon who, by midcentury,
to
was es-
tablished the native Renaissance style as the typical court art of France.
work
His one famous
Their treatment
and
logically
seen
is
more
affecting, both ideo-
aesthetically,
in
upon the Cross
at
than the Italian
Donatello's
famous Christ
Padua.
The fact that French Renaissance sculpture was not superlative did not prevent influence from Fontainebleau and Versailles reaching most of the courts of Europe. From the
late
seventeenth century every country north of
Foun-
the Alps emulated French styles and manner-
Each panel
repre-
isms.
sents symbolically, in pretty Italianate
one of the
manner,
rivers of France.
latter half of the sixteenth century.
of the Chancellor
Rene de Birague,
The
eflfigy
in bronze,
in the Louvre, has both originality
and
a
sensitive
would suggest
and beautiful
cruci-
that even in the seven-
teenth century the Gothic style remained pre-
dominant
in French,
tutors in the earlier period,
and the
Alonso Berruguete, had received his training in
His tomb of Cardinal Tavera
Italy.
at
Toledo, even though too decorative, possesses
power reminiscent
a hint of
of Michelangelo.
Spanish Renaissance sculpture developed into a forced style congruous with the overen-
certain massive integrity.
Innumerable
Spain fortunately had both Italian and
French
greatest of the Spanish transitional sculptors,
A more original and forceful sculptor was Germain Pilon, whose career fell within the
fixes
and
consists of the relief panels of the
tain of the Innocents, Paris.
now
tenderness
even touches of Romanesque expressionism.
realism
the French, Michel Colombe,
Gothic
retaining
practice,
399
German, and Flemish
crusted
architecture
known
as
Churriguer-
which inspired much of the Colonial Spanish architecture of Mexico and South America. Some sculpture, however, became esque,
Tomb of Cardinal Tavera. Stone. Alonso Berruguete. Spanish, 16th century. Hospital de Afuera, Toledo
THE RENAISSANCE
400
intensely realistic, like that of Pedro de
Mena The
in the middle of the seventeenth century.
painted wooden statues of the Spanish carvers of this time gained unity through the swathing
of head
and
and
figure in cowl
cassock,
and
touched a high point in sensitive naturalistic representation. Intense spiritual feeling
vealed in the faces. as
well
as
the
The
re-
is
smallness of the head
idealized,
almost Christlike
features in the figure of St. Francis in the
Toledo
Cathedral
even asceticism. lineation
is
The
suggests
unworldliness,
extreme delicacy of de-
notable also in the
Madonna
of
Sorrows in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
by Juan Martinez Montanes.
new world
American and devotional dedication crossed with native Amerindian and Mayan strains and produced some of In
the
of
Spain's
colonies this art of tender feeling
the most original and attractive of the
known
types of folk sculpture, as well as a great deal
of
disagreeably
realistic
treatment
tragic aspects of the Christ story.
sculpture was
common
of
the
Gruesome
in Spain, too, in the
Counter-Reformation period.
But the serious and appealing San Bruno
may remind us that extraordinarily fine details may be found in the altar screens, decorated portals
and incidental adornments
of
churches and monasteries. This masterly head is
at
the Carthusian convent of Miraflores
near Burgos.
St. Trancis. Wood. Pedro de Mena. Spanish, 17th century. Cathedral of Toledo. (L. L. photo')
Madonna
of Sorroivs.
San Bruno,
Wood,
detail.
painted. Juan Martinez Montanes. Spanish, 17th century. Victoria and Albert Museum
Wood,
painted.
Manuel
Pereira. Spanish, 17th century.
Cartuja de Miraflores, Burgos
'SR-]
15:
The South
Seas and
Negro
Africa:
^^ExotK^ Sculpture
I
THE carvings of the primitive peoples of the South Sea Islands and of Negro Africa have revealed profound sculptural values and
They were ethnographic museums in
unique decorative covered by the
stylization.
art
by the French and German
to
enjoyable
manifestations
the
on our maps. Some
revolutionaries of the early twentieth century,
and are now included in histories of sculpture. Open-minded observers, trained to respond to the values of form-organization and abstract creation, have penetrated beyond the strange-
basic
In the Pacific Ocean there are a thousand islands that appear as
artist-
of
sculptural emotion.
dis-
nineteenth century, were hailed as consum-
mate
ness
tor
no more than pinpoints
that are north of the equa-
and not geographically in the South Seas
have jdelded objects commonly included with
South Seas art, most notably the Hawaiian South from the equator are dotted the
Islands.
great
number
of inhabited islands, including
such fabled places Tahiti, Samoa,
Heads. Stone. Polynesian. Easter Island. (Fhoto courtesy American
as
the
and Easter
Museum
Marquesas, Island.
There
Fiji,
are
of Natural History')
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
New
also the great island masses of
Guinea,
masks represent
north of Australia, of which the eastern and
ritual properties
northeastern coasts are in Melanesia, and the
berty
New
the men's secret societies.
Zealand islands southeast of Australia,
The Maori art of New known, since the native style has been encouraged by the white settlers
which
are in Polynesia.
Zealand
well
is
The
after earlier suppression.
art of Easter Is-
rites, etc.,
The
spirits
and are ceremonial and
used in religious dances, pu-
by such
tribal organizations as
sculpture from the South Sea Islands
and from
tribal
Africa
primitive, for there
The
403
is
technically called
was no written
culture.
show an intuitive grasp of sculp fundamentals and are innocent of pur-
carvings
land, an eastern outpost of Polynesia, has also
tural
been celebrated by writers and widely played in museums.
on its own account, as can be seen in the following illustrations.
The
dis-
suit of natural imitation
territory of the Pacific tribes or nations,
main areasand Melanesia— although Australia and Tasmania are also in this
called Oceania, comprises three
Micronesia,
Polynesia,
geographical
region.
The Micronesian
area
northward of the hypothetical Oceanic Center, up toward Japan; Melanesia is southlies
New
westward, stretching from Fiji;
Guinea
and Polynesia occupies the
to
rest of the
islanded space, being a vast territory reaching
eastward
to
American Hawaiian
coast
Polynesia
Easter
Islands. is
Island
The
western boundary of
Fiji Islands to
Zealand.
In Africa there are tures
include the
roughly on a line drawn from the
Hawaiian Islands through the
New
to
South
the
off
and northward
many Negro
which have produced
and appealingly human
tribal cul-
strikingly st)'lized
carvings.
The
area of the differing cultures yields no
by which objects can be readily
vast
norm
classified,
but
native African statuettes, masks, or utensils
can be distinguished immediately from the products of American Indians or South Sea
The
Islanders.
utensils districts
impulse
to beautify
by means of carving in
Africa.
is
Spoons,
everyday
notable in
many
bobbins,
cups,
weapons, and weights are but a few of the objects
commonly enriched with
figurative
sculpture.
Within the African tribal expressions of
outstanding
style are
imaginative
skill,
such as
the Baluba, the Ashanti, and the Benin. divisions of
Negro
Two
non-utilitarian art are the
ancestral, or devotional,
and the ceremonial.
African sculptured figures are not sense of gods to be worshiped.
idols, in
Many
the Secret-society
of the
mask. Ivory. Warcga. Congo. Museum of Primitive Art
II
ALTHOUGH sculptures
it
from
"Hght," often being
may be
the
said
South
made from
Seas
that are
pith or bark
or the hghter woods, or from grasses, cloth, feathers, basketry, hair,
mental basis of the denser woods.
Amid
art
and is
shells, the
funda-
and the carved and
in stone
the intricately
beautifully decorative things there are important
examples
of
instinctively
lithic
rock
sculpture.
There
sians.
is
nothing light or fantastic in the
on page 402.
idols of the Polynesians are in general
monumental. They are heavier and
closer to
Statuette. Stone. Polynesian.
Statuette. Stone. Polynesian.
Whether
Marquesans
the small stone
tiki
the
of
or the five-ton images carved
by
the Easter Islanders, the Polynesian statues are characterized
by an
intuitive feeling for
masses in formal relationship and for simple
The two
large-eyed, squat-
shown above
are variations of a
melodic rhythms. figured images
type recognizable as Marquesan. cate
primitively simple stone figures
The
basic sculpture than are those of the Melane-
survival
of
primitive
They
indi-
feeling— direct,
vigorous statement and instinctive squaring of forms, relieved by only the barest detailing and
ornamentation. In the colossal stone idol from Easter
Marquesas Islands. Mtisec de I'Homme, Paris
Marquesas Islands. University Musciiniy Philadelphia
Is-
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA land— where surviving statues range up times human size and to a weight of tons— the main masses
to ten
almost barren fragment of the earth, but they
thirty
developed a surprising range of sculptural ex-
are hardly less compact,
pression.
though the edges are cut
crude colossi in stone, there are
rhythms are linear
more sharply and the effect. One of the wonis that stonecutting was
fully polished stylized
in
ders of Polynesian art
accomplished tools.
with
stone
instead
(In smaller work, tools of
of
metal
shell, or tools
incorporating a boar's tusk or a shark's tooth,
were sometimes used.) The Easter Islanders occupy a remote and
or even a rat's tooth,
405
Besides
elemental
the
wood with an almost
and rather
many
beauti-
images, fashioned in
sophisticated regard for
melodic line and flowing contour.
A
distinc-
tive type is illustrated in the ancestral figure
with
its
elliptical
masklike head, excrescent
ribs,
and
limbs (below).
Within Polynesia, excepting the art of sculpture
is
New
Zealand,
best represented thus
by three-dimensional statues and statuettes. Many relief carvings in wood from the Cook Islands
Idol. Stone, colossal. Polynesian. Easter Island. British Museum
and Samoa
are interesting for their
Ancestral figure. Wood. Easter Island. University Museum, Philadelphia
rich patterning,
and there are hair ornaments
canned in bone from the Marquesas Islands.
But the
and of decorative
art of rehef-cutting,
elaboration in the combined media of bas-relief and painting, will work of the natives of
by Guinea and of
best be illustrated
Nevi^
the Maoris. Idols,
ancestral images,
and
fetishistic fig-
ures found in the smaller Polynesian islands indicate a
common
acteristic
idioms
The
racial ancestry,
that
spell
illustrated larger-than-life
with a frightening mask presents
Woman is
a
war-god.
Fijian,
is
with char-
local
tradition.
wooden
figure
Hawaiian and
The
peaceful
re-
little
from an island on the fringe
of the Melanesian culture.
The
New Guinea in MelaHere the characterful face and the sheerly carved body contrast effectively with
is
Oracle figure. Wood. University
oracle figure
New Guinea.
Museum, Philadelphia
from the island of
nesia.
the ornamental screen.
(The
piece
is
twelve
Woman. Wood.
Fiji Islands.
National Museum, Washington. CCotirtesy
Museum
of
Modern
Art,
inches high.)
V^
>J'"C^«'», "V*
War-God. Wood. Hawaii. Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
New
York')
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
407
The sculptors among the Maoris of New Zealand had a distinctive native style and seldom concerned themselves with free-standing figures.
The
best of their art consisted of
richly carved relief patterns with incidental
human
forms,
embellishing the prows and
stem-boards of canoes, and the
pillars,
beams,
and window-frames of the great assembly-houses. These communal buildings functioned as combined men's clubhouses and holy arcana. The decorated weapons also are very fine, and minor objects in jade, especially the Hei-tiki, are exquisitely cut and polished, lintels,
often with bold yet sensitive sculptural feeling.
The
distinctive curvilinear style of design
illustrated in the
canoe prows.
The
two house art of the
lintels
Maoris indicates
a strong feeling for the contrast of
and
richly
main motive
embellished but subdued
Lintel.
is
and the Whale ivory; jade. Maori. University Museum, Philadelphia; Brooklyn Museum
Hei-Tikis.
relief,
Wood. Maori. New Zealand. Peabody Museum, Salem. ^Courtesy Museum of Modern Art, New Yorfe)
Canoe prow. Wood. Maori.
New Zealand.
American Museum of Natural History
408
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
New
Zealand.
British
Museum
Hei-Tikis. Greenstone. Maori. University Museum, Philadelphia; British
Museum
Lintel.
Wood. Maori.
Canoe prow. Wood. Maori. New Zealand. American Museum of Natural History
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA whereas,
in
general,
South Sea decorative
carving was rich in aimless patterning.
The
figures that stand out are, of course, stricdy
conventionalized,
mony with
if
not geometrized, in har-
the mathematically conceived
all-
Maori
of
flute or paddle, or
food bowl or
and
ceremonies,
socio-religious
it
doubtless had spiritual and totemic meanings.
For
elaboration and ultimate fantasy the South Sea Islanders are rivaled in the rest of the world only among the distantly related
Malayan
over design.
A
max
409
peoples, or those of Borneo, Bali,
and
Java.
is
The Melanesian style has affinity with elements in Indian and Sinhalese art, which
the fruit of an instinctive urge to create and
lends credence to the theory that the Pacific
toilet
box, lovingly carved with traditionally
significant
and patently
attractive designs,
made
way
be surrounded with beautiful objects.
tribes
The
best of the arts of Melanesia are to be
Indo-Chinese and Malayan peninsulas. Their
New Guinea and the nearby archipelagoes known as the Admiralty Islands, New Ireland and New Britain, the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. The gaudily exotic and colorfully fanciful, even grotesque nature of the designs, often in combined sculpture and painting, is matched occasionally by pieces that are simple, sober, and dignified. The departure from natural forms, the expres-
ethnic background of Indo-European, Dravid-
to
found on the immense island of
sionistic distortion,
does not preclude the carv-
ing of heads and masks as nearly the
wooden one from
New Britain.
realistic as
(Page 410.)
Among
masks the bark-cloth one below is gorgeously decorative and inhumanly grotesque,
more typical example. It is a property used by dramatic dancers at the cli-
and
is
the
Mask. Bark
cloth. Melanesian.
New
their
as
immigrants from the
ian,
and Mongolian
fied
with a Negroid element.
The
less elaborate
strains
was further modi-
masks of the Melanesians
include types nearer to basic sculpture and extraordinarily
interesting
approximations of the are
sometimes
and
human
near-abstract.
imaginative visage.
The
They
sculptor
began with the elements of the face but lowed
his aesthetic fancy to lead
visionary design
him
al-
off into
and decorative improvisation.
sometimes produced masks which are incomprehensible to us need not blind us to his amazing virtuosity in creating such effective analogues (at once sug-
That
his
imagination
gesting and denying the
human
visage) as
the elongated one on the following page.
Britain.
American Museum of Natural History
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
410
A
which featured a meet the chin or considered bv some ethnolopists
conventionalization
long hook nose curved in the breast
is
to
as representing a bird beak.
To
others
it is
a
proboscis very exaggerated
shown. terly
The
kind of carving,
different
The
survival of an elephant's trunk, in direct line
nesian
minor carving suggests a
the
Hindus and the Indonesians. In the
illu-
with
the
stration
a
highly
stylized
figure,
is
an
is
ut-
on a fan
handle, similar to the squat, large-eyed Poly-
from the well-known elephant-faced
idols of
and prominent,
fourth illustration here
idols.
different continent:
totem-pole
form of
racial
link
this
to
a
to the "native" races of
North America. Ancestor mask. Wood, clay, shell, and seeds, painted. latmul, recent. Sepik River area. New Guinea. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
m.
isri
^^^"^^
^^^<^1
Mask. Wood. Melanesian. New Britain. Chicago Museum of Natural History
Totemic carving, ivory fan handle. Polynesian. Marquesas Islands. University
Museum, Philadelphia
Figure with a proboscis or trunk. Wood. Melanesian. New Guinea. University Museum, Philadelphia
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA Decorative compositions such as the dance
and
shield
Trobriand
the
Islands
type
beautiful
prow ornament from of
particularly
illustrate
a
low-relief
carving,
with
and painting. The bird motive,
perforations
the beak,
especially
the
conventionalized
is
al-
most beyond recognition. It is
and
the social objectives
and the emotions and the sexual
taboos,
codes of the dark-skinned races in order to
enjoy
many
much
of
the
ever, after
respond purity
sculptured figures
carved
ornamentation.
some exposure
sometimes utensils,
the
of
repellent
even to
and
How-
to the strange
effigies,
masks,
Western-trained
and
and and
perceptions
aesthetic values of a remarkable a
master of fundamental sculptural design,
creating plastic works of an amazingly direct expressiveness.
He
compelling
intensity.
Negro, especially, reveals himself
The
as instinc-
Canoe prow ornament. Wood. Trobriand Guinea. Chicago
Museum
Islands, of Natural History
The
the
to
virtues
of his art are the basic ones of formal signifi-
cance and
lyric invention.
and
massive
primitive examples the stone effect.
When wood
an
essentially
is
three-dimensional is
art
of
In
solids.
implicit in the
became the medium, the
sense of the trunk as cylinder pervaded the design.
Only
a small
number
of major stone relics
from ancient times or ancient cultures
re-
mains, and the primitively heavy things
re-
semble those found
Sumer
at
comparable
or Egypt, or the
Amerindian
the two figurines
levels in
lands.
Of
shown from French Guinea,
only the second exhibits mannerisms, or ac-
complishments,
New
seldom succumbed
easy lure of naturalistic appeal.
African sculpture
necessary to understand something of
the religious impulses,
tive
411
uniquely
belonging
to
the
(Page 412, center and right.) Woodcarvings, on the other hand, display
Negro
artist.
a full mastery of plastic expressiveness.
Ceremonial dance Islands.
shield. Melanesian.
The
Trobriand
Newark Museum, Newark, New
Jersey
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
412
Ritual Figure, with arms raised in supplication,
the
is
a supremely simple work in which
meaning
is
conveyed directly and instan-
taneously. Sculptural form
enforce one
impression.
intellectually
knowing
unable
manipulated
were often
thus
Here body measurements have tionship
to
intensified.
directly.
little
human anatomy, but
gesture, the essential
meaning,
is
rela-
the
one
profoundly
The Standing Woman,
also
Bambara
no
the facing page, a
to
Sculptors of older,
civilizations
emotion
express
to
is
piece,
is
on less
summary and expressive. It and the Figure Holding a Bag (below, left), from the Bahuana, show a considerable advance as
human dimensions and sinand the Rhythm Pounder (page
transcriptions of gularities;
Figure Holding a Bag. Wood. Bahuana. Gabon. Matisse Gallery, New York
"Pierre
414) shows conspicuous mastery of human anatomy, with a marvelous study of facial expression.
The
headdress of
wood with
a hide
covering returns us to the simplest primitive expression, superbly direct
and packed with means are not ob-
feeling.
The
trusive.
In spite of the unrealistic features,
the
whole
expressionist
visage
is
understandable
and
soundly sculptural.
A the
familiar subject in African sculpture
woman
is
holding a bowl. In this group
one commonly finds the primitive directness and solidity, the carelessness of nature, the intensification
of a
single idea or emotion,
and the intuitive playing up of the material, wood, for its fullest sculptural appeal. The example in the British Museum is twenty inches high and representative of all these Figurines. Stone. African, Kissi.
French Guinea. Musee de I'Homnte, Paris
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA Ritual Figure. Wood. Warega. Congo. Collection of John P. Anderson,
Red Wing, Minnesota
Standing Brooklyn
Woman. Wood. Bambara. French Sudan Museum
413
414
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA Man QRhythm
Pounder^. Wood.
Senufo. Ivory Coast.
Museum
of Primitive Art
Headdress for dance. Wood, with hide. Ibibio. Nigeria.
Museum
of Primitive Art
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA The
qualities.
reduced
to
relatively long arms, the torso
the same thickness as the neck,
and the skimped and
arbitrarily
curved-in
legs are details in a process of shaping the
figure
to
scheme.
a
vigorous and weighty rhvthmic
To be
ornamentation,
Some
noted also scar
is
the one touch of
patterns
on the trunk.
authorities believe that the
many com-
415
From the Baluba tribe in the Congo there many carved stools, following a few gen-
are
which the seat is held up by a single figure or grouped figures. The same loving care is given to the cutting and eralized patterns, in
polishing of the figures in these utilitarian pieces as religious
is
evident in the religious or semi-
masks and ancestral
figures.
A
like-
which a woman holds a bowl constitute no more than a sort of genre art; but others regard them as offering figures,
stool-figures suggests
designed to be placed before the dwellings
the singlefigure composition and the double-
positions in
of
women
upon
Woman British
unable
to
work and dependent
charity.
with a Bowl. Wood. Baluba. Congo.
Museum
ness in the faces of large
numbers
continuing repetition of
a standard face. Yet, as
may be
figure stool illustrated, there interest in
Woman
of the
is
seen from
a wealth of
each separate object.
Supporting Seat. Wood. Baluba. Congo.
Collection of Congregation des Orphelins d'Auteuil, Paris. (^Courtesy Musee de I'Homme')
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA
416
The predominant as in the three
the
medium;
known
quality in
heads here,
is
the figures,
the feeling for
anonjTnous
artists
have
intuitively the susceptibility of
wood
the
to fluent cutting
and high
polish, appealing
trations.
from the standard figure in
purely serious
variation
An
in
may be
memory
amazing amount
of character has been infused into
the fetishes, as
found in the ivory fetishes of the Baluba and Bapende tribes in the Congo. Miniature masks as well as miniature figures were carved as little pocket-pieces or pendants
wood
have been carried
are said to
many
seen from the
some of the depictions seem
If
of
illus-
to
non-native eyes to border on caricature, the
to the touch.
A
and
of important ancestors.
is
Figures Supporting Seat.
sculptural
and
Through pression
types
is
virtues
are
nevertheless
expert.
the wide range of masks the ex-
conventional and impersonal.
and the materials
Wood. Warua. Congo. Museum
fiir
are
as
Volkerkiinde, Berlin
-ah*^i55«r>-z>*i
The
varied
as
Head. Congo. University
Museum, Philadelphia
Heads and figures: fetishes. Ivory. Baluba and Bapende. Congo. Museum of Science, Buffalo;
Museum
African Venus. Wood. Collection of Louis Carre, Paris. (^Courtesy
Museum
of
Modern
Art,
New
York')
Head. Wood ^vith metal. Fang. Gabon. Museum of Primitive Art
of Primitive Art
among there
the American Indians, and in general
an "abstraction" of the
is
face,
approaches the nonobjective. Deity sonal cally.
is
which imper-
and cannot be thought of naturalistiBut a mask symbol of divinity, to
endow
the wearer with deity during a dra-
matic dance or ceremony, recalls the only real
countenance known
to
human. There is no show element
the
audience,
the
in the masks.
In the carving, the creator follows a tradition
and endeavors
or custom
to please the
gods
or spirits. Yet the aesthetic values are real
and pure. The grasp
of the basic elements of
design, the relieving of
symmetry by
a slight
asymmetry, the knowing use of geometrical equivalents
for
the
individualized
human
and and hollow; above all, the rhythmic organization of the sculp tural masses— these are matters for wonder and delight. (See also page 403.) features, the effective reversal of positive
negative, or protuberance
Antelope mask. Wood, painted. Guro. Ivory Coast. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Mask. Wood. Guro. Ivory Coast. University
Museum, Philadelphia
Mask. Wood. Baule. Ivory Coast. University
Museum, Philadelphia
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA The tical
objects next illustrated are for prac-
bobbins
use,
Coast
Ivory
tribes.
among
originating
The rhythmic
the
contours
and, in the woman's head, the counterplay of
ornamental ridgings are admirable.
gazelle
of
and the antelope head
fanciful
French
design,
Sudan.
Tjiwara head,
is
ism noticeable in In
the
not
as
a fully mastered
fifteenth
primitive
in
in
kingdom Nigeria. to
traders brought civilization
back reports of Benin,
of
what
of the Bini people, in
The
is
the
now
Bini were sufficiently advanced
have a capital with broad avenues and
the
bronze heads, figures, and
by
the
difficult
reliefs
cire-ferdue
produced
process,
are
mostly scattered in European and American
art.
ex-
Bobbins: animal; human. Baule. Ivory Coast. Musee de I'Homme
Collection Louis Carre, Paris;
and
remarkable
sumptuously decorated public buildings. The remains of their art, including innumerable
manner-
century Portuguese
the
the
are examples
uncommon
Streamlining,
much
The
plorers
419
museums and
private collections.
Tjiwara, bobbin.
Wood. Bambara. French Sudan. Museum, Philadelphia
University
i
I
•
•
The two bronze heads illustrated are of common types. The Head of a Bini Girl indicates a departure of the Bini artists
extreme expressionism that
is
from the
standard over
most of Negro Africa; though, aside from the face, reahsm gives way before a strictly con-
The
ventionalized stylization.
Museum
in the is
It
typical of
may
fiir
second Head,
Volkerkunde
in Berlin,
an archaic period of Benin
date back to the fifteenth century.
so-called classical period that followed to
have been terminated
late
teenth century during terrible
in
art.
The
seems
:he seven-
civil
wars.
During the centuries of the greatest prosperity of Benin there was a school of ivorycarvers that turned out some of the most intricate and elaborate pieces known to the art, and many other crafts were practiced efficiently. The Leopard shown is an ivory piece studded with copper. The Lion, a work of the Dahomans, who lived to the west of the Bini in what is now a state in its own has achieved a considerable fame.
right,
It
was fabricated in territory where metal casting was hardly known, and has the appearance of a solid or hollow actually
silver piece,
whereas
shaped in wood with patches of
sheathing nailed on with silver
silver It is
it is
nails.
one of the rare African sculptures sug-
gesting Oriental influences, possibly from the
Chad
the northeast, where the mixed Negro and Arab. In population was
Head
of a Bini Girl. Bronze. Benin. Nigeria. British Museum
district
to
Lion. Silver over vpood. Dahomey. Formerly Ratton Collection. (^Courtesy Musee de I'Homme^
THE SOUTH SEAS AND NEGRO AFRICA Head. Bronze. Nigeria. Volkerhunde, Berlin. QCourtcsy Musee de IHomme')
Museum
fiir
Leopard. Ivory and copper. Benin. Nigeria. British
Museum
l?ak
4
