[Gothic Art (3) [continued (13):]] European art c[irca] 1350-1420 [continued] [15th March 1991]

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‘The general character of this half-century is one of synthesis leading to what is commonly called the International Gothic style. This was mainly a court, aristocratic style promoted in Paris, Prague, London and Milan. Its artists exploited the grace and elegance of France combined with the realistic tricks learned from the Italians. In much of this, there seems to have been a real interchange of ideas; the resulting rapprochement of style offers a European phenomenon of interest and rarity. The like was not to be seen again until the 17^th century, when Europe once more achieved an international style following the inspiration of the Italian Renaissance and the art of Antiquity.’

– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4: 614]

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[Gothic Art (3) [continued (12):]] European art c[irca] 1350-1420 [15th March 1991]

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‘European art c[irca] 1350-1420. European art of the second half of the 14^th century has received extremely varied treatment at the hands of historians. It is the half century of moral, political and economic crisis following the Black Death in the middle years of the century. Various attempts have been made to demonstrate the presence of moral and political uncertainty and, indeed, also class distinctions and struggles in the form of art produced. Even attempts to show that the plague seriously interrupted the production of art are unconvincing.’

– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 614

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[Gothic Art (3) [continued (11):]] (Italian Gothic Art to c[irca] 1350[ce] [continued]) [15th March 1991]

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‘The change is from the stylization and decorative patterns of an art still dominated by Byzantine traditions to something in which lifelike qualities were accepted as desirable. Given the preceding developments in the North and the example set by the Tuscan sculptors, the fact that this happened at all is not surprising. The models available to the painter, however, produced a development towards realism that achieved a scale quite different from anything that had happened in the North. It is still not clear how far the impulse towards the particular sort of change came from Constantinople itself, and how far it was stimulated by the study of late antique frescoes on the basilicas of Rome. The result, however, was a new appreciation of the role of light* and linear perspective in the manipulation of space, and a new vocabulary of gesture and expression in the human figure.’

**

*{cf [[Redbook8:317-318][19910313:1000]{[Gothic Art (2):] The Discovery of Light (2), Space and Expression}[13th March 1991],] 317,

[(probably) [Redbook8:336-337][19910315:1000t][Gothic Art (2)(continued (39))][15th March 1991],] 336}

**– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 612

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[Gothic Art (3) [continued (10):]] (Italian Gothic Art to c[irca] 1350[ce]) [15th March 1991]

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(Italian Gothic Art to c[irca] 1350[ce])

‘It is interesting and reminiscent of Nicholas of Verdun, that Nicola [Pisano (fl. 1258-78]* should have gone to Classical art when evolving a realistic sculptural style; and, as with Nicholas of Verdun, his later sculpture is less Classical than his earlier work and in many details more like Northern Gothic.’

**

*[Square brackets per ms, indicating insertion in ms]

**– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 610

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[Gothic Art (3) [continued (9):]] Saint Denis [15th March 1991]

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[The Encyclopaedia Britannica entry ‘Saint Denis’, which includes a summary description of the abbey church and its history and importance, is photocopied in the ms here but is not reproduced in the ts. It includes the following text: ‘The church is of the utmost importance in the history of architecture, being the first major edifice marking the transition from Romanesque to the Gothic style and serving as a model for most of the late 12th-century French cathedrals, including Chartres and Senlis.’ (E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 10:315)]

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[Gothic Art (3) [continued (8):]] English Manuscript Painting c[irca] 1280-1350 [15th March 1991]

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‘English Manuscript Painting c[irca] 1280-1350

‘By any standards, the late 13^th century and the first half of the 14^th must count as one of the golden ages of English painting and figurative design. Works of the highest quality survive in all manner of different media, including manuscripts, panel-painting, stained glass, and needlework. The various media are interrealated, and together offer a beautifully complete pattern of artistic production.

‘The period is best seen as one in which a number of individual artists with their workshops responded in various highly personal ways to the style associated with the royal court and abbey at Westminster. Important in the exposition of that style is the Psalter begun for Edward I’s son, Alphonso, shortly before his death in 1284 (the Alphonso Psalter; British library, London). This has much in common with contemporary French art, particularly in the delicacy of the figure drawing and painting. But the vitality and variety of the border decoration go far beyond anything in contemporary Parisian work, and it was in the development of this particular potential that many of the subsequent manuscripts excelled.’

– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 608

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{[Gothic Art (3) [continued (7)]] Saintly Kings [continued (7)]}[15th March 1991]

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'These importations [from Italy to France]* were of great consequence because they launched northern painting, in the wake of the Italians, in the pursuit of realistic pictorial space. The advance was gradual, and, once again, the pressure of tradition and, presumably, ideas of pictorial decorum were always important, but the change of direction is clearly perceptible.’

**

*[Square brackets per ms, indicating insertion in ms]

**– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 607

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{[Gothic Art (3) [continued (6)]] Saintly Kings [continued (6)]}[15th March 1991]

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‘The position of Louis [IX, King of France] in this development* is central because we know he began to build up a library of books specially executed for himself. Another early example of this style*is an Evangelary executed for the Sainte Chapelle (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; MSS. Lat. 8892 & 17326); a further example is a Psalter done for his sister Isabella of France (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; MS. 300). Moreover, the center for the further development of this style* remained in Paris, and one of its subsequent exponents known by name is Master Honoré, an artist who worked for Louis IX’s grandson, Philip the Fair (1285-1314). Honoré’s documented career belongs to the late 13^th century; and while his painting has much in common with the so-called St. Louis style, he managed by modeling his drapery into white highlights to give it a bulk and solidity previously lacking.

The discovery of light** as a pictorial factor should, from every point of view, have European significance and it is a teasing problem that its discovery is evident at about the same time in Italy in the painting of Pietro Cavallini (c[irca] 1250-1330).*** This could be early evidence of stylistic influence of Italy on northern Gothic art, but the firm testimony of dated work is unfortunately lacking.’

****

*[See last previous ts entry]

**↑(

[In the ms this arrow has a slight rightward curve centred on its own centre, probably referring to the upward arc around G~]

***{ref [[Redbook8:317-318][19910313:1000]{[Gothic Art (2):] The Discovery of Light (2), Space and Expression}[13th March 1991],] 317}

****– ibid [Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4]: 605-607

Phew!

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{[Gothic Art (3) [continued (5)]] Saintly Kings [continued (5)]}[15th March 1991]

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‘Around 1250, Parisian court painting acquired many of the characteristics of the sculptural style of the Joseph Master and the sculpture of the Sainte Chapelle. Almost all traces of the “muldenstil”* finally disappeared, and was replaced by a type of “broad-fold” drapery, soft and voluminous, which hangs rather than clings, and which tends to fall in the V-shaped folds already familiar in sculpture. At the same time, figures tend to become daintier, and faces in particular lose the roundness and substance of previous work and become somewhat pallid essays in minute virtuoso penmanship. All these features are visible in a Psalter done for Louis IX himself (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; MS. Lat. 10525) and in a number of other books executed in Paris around this time.

**

*[See [Redbook8:314][19910307:1718]{Gothic Art}[7th March 1991]]

**[– ibid (Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4: 605-607)]

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{[Gothic Art (3) [continued (4)]] Saintly Kings [continued (4)]}[15th March 1991]

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‘These tombs were intensely personal memorials, and predictably heraldry – as an organised system virtually a creation of the 13^th century – played an important part. Louis IX’s monuments included sarcophagi some of which were decorated with small figures, traditionally called “weeper-figures” and intended to remind the spectator of the relatives of the dead person. But the most striking piece of personalisation, which became common from now on, lay in the treatment of the effigy itself. Here half a century of experiment in facial characterisation bore fruit in the endowment of effigies with “portrait” faces. In many cases, of course, there is no evidence that the face is a real portrait, but often a face displays distinct characterisation aimed at making it look different from other faces, and so unique. Ultimately (towards the end of the 14^th century) evidence indicates that artists could and did take death masks.

*

*[– ibid (Encylopaedia of Visual Art 4: 605-607)]

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