{Romanesque Art [continued (20)]}[6th March 1991]

[Redbook8:313-314][19910306:0930w]{Romanesque Art [continued (20)]}[6th March 1991]

19910306:0930

[continued]

‘Probably the most celebrated font of the period is of bronze. It was originally in Notre-Dame-aux-Fonts at Liège (now in in St. Barthélémy’s), commissioned by Abbot Hellinus (1107-18) and is the work of Renier de Huy. Although almost contemporary with the portable altars of Roger of Helmarshausen, it represents a very different style. Roger’s work is linear and dynamic, and the figures are covered by the arbitrary lines of the draperies. In contrast, Renier’s figures are modelled in high relief; their draperies are are soft, the expressions gentle, and the movements and gestures natural. The difference between these two styles is fundamental to the understanding of the stylistic development of 12^th-century art. Roger’s style is thoroughly Romanesque, though its sources may be, at least in part, Byzantine. Renier’s style, on the other hand, is basically Classical,* even if it was formed without a deep personal knowledge of classical art by the artist. Classical forms could have been transmitted by a series of Carolingian and Ottonian intermediaries, and those were already present in the Mosan region in the 11^th century in manuscript painting and ivory carvings. Thus, Renier’s style was not as unexpected as it may appear at first sight.

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*{cf [[Redbook8:280][19910221:1142i]{Byzantine Art [continued (5):] The 12^th century Byzantine “Renaissance”}[21st February 1991],] 280

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(on 12^th Century Byzantine ‘Renaissance’)}

**[– Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4:583-4]

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