129. Andrea Pisano and Giotto di Bondone,
Tubal-Cain, the Blacksmith, 1334-1337.

Marble. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo,

Florence (Italy).

 

 

The statues of medieval Gothic courtly culture are even more removed from the rigid Romanesque style. The figures are extremely elongated; the strictly vertical folds emphasise the dominant vertical movement. The ponderation interrupts the straight form, gives it an elegant, lithe S-form and gives a dynamic impression. The French Late Gothic in particular is defined by courtly elegance. The plastic design of living, seemingly moving figures (due to the S-Line) is often very attractive, even though these figures may be less expressive as narrative elements.

 

Whatever independence sculpture had gained by the end of the Romanesque epoch, it lost again as Gothic building style progressed. Only recently liberated, sculpture became a servant to architecture, and had to submit to all its guidelines without consideration for the natural shape of the human body, yet it was supposed to breathe life into the stone, an ability which sculpture managed to retain during the Early Gothic. Gradually, however, the expression of the inner spirit froze into a conventional smile, even on faces that should express seriousness, or into a grimace that merely suggested life. In particular, the statues that adorned the portal walls had to succumb to architecture’s bent and curved lines. They resembled figures leaning to the left and the right, like flower stems swaying in the wind. For a long time this unnatural posture influenced not only sculpture, but also painting. Even an innovator like Albrecht Dürer was under its influence when he began his career. Naturally, the fashion of the time may have also contributed to this shape.