Île-de- France vers 1140 Tête d'un vieillard de l'Apocalypse / profil droit /

Île-de- France
vers 1140

Tête d'un vieillard de l'Apocalypse
Provenant de la troisième voussure de droite, à la première rangée du portait de la basilique de Saint-Denis
Pierre calcaire
H. : 0,24 m. ; L. : 0,15 m. ; Pr. : 0,16 m.

Fragment du portail central de la façade occidentale de l'église abbatiale de Saint-Denis, dont le tympan représente le Jugement dernier. Cette scène est encadrée d’anges placés dans la voussure interne, tandis que les trois voussures externes abritent des vieillards de l'Apocalypse.
Versement des Chantiers de Saint-Denis, 1881
Département des Sculptures
R.F. 516
Head of an Elder of the Apocalypse
France Saint-Denis ca. 1140 Abbey Church of Saint-Denis center portal of west facade Limestone
According to the vision revealed to John of Patmos, the Second coming of Christ is witnessed by twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse, who wear crowns and carry harps and golden vials (Apo 4.4 5.8). This powerfull head from Saint-Denis originally belonged to one of the Elders in the three outer archivolts of the center portal of the west facade, who accompany the Christ of the second coming enthroned in the tympanum. But in the outermost archivolt, a vine representating the tree of Jesse frames each figure, thereby making reference to the ancestors of Christ and to his royal linaeage springing from the root of Jesse ( Isaiah 11.1), thus conflating the imagery of the Elders with that of the kings and patriarchs of the Old Testament.
In about 1137, Abbot Suger (1081 - 1151) undertook to enlage the Carolingian church of Saint-Denis first by extending it to the west. The innovative triple portals of Suger's western extension, consecrated on June 9, 1140, initiated a series of Early gothic "portails royaux" with entrances flanked by statue-columns.
At Saint-Denis, the jambs, tympana, and archivolts of the portal contained a sculptural program of great sophistication and complexity, each part contributing to a unified statement. All of the heads in the portal were mutilated or knocked off during the French Revolution and the figures were badly damaged.
When the workshop at the abbey was disbanded in 1881, this head was one of three from the archivolts sent to the Musée du Louvre, Paris. It belonged to the first Eldern in the third archivolt on the right.
Some reworking has modified the right eye, and most of the crown was cut away, yet vestiges of jeweles and beadings survive along the lower edge. The monumental, abstract style of the head lookes back to the stylisation of the Romanesque period. Adding to the stark power of the elongated face, flat bands representin eylids or sockets emphasize the outsised, bulging eyballs. Parallel striations define the straight shoulder-length hair, the slightlly drooping mustache, and the wavy beard, which is razor cut along the cheeks. Below the lower lip overlapping the beard and centered on the chin, are two locks terminating in outward curls that provide an elegant embellishment.
The heads on a mid-twelfth century Mosan baptismal font (cat no 39) possibly from the vicinity of Masstricht, provide close comparison with this Elder. Although somewhat more stark, the heads on th font ( wihch is carved of an extremely hard, dark, calciferour stone) are equally powerfull in conception. Like the Elder, they have low foreheads, curiously large, protruding eyes with the bands and hair, mustaches, and beards articulated by deep, parallel sometimes stiff striations of a facial type reminescent of those seen in contemporaty metalwork, the heads on the font when compared with this head reinforce the idea that metalwork influenced the sculptors working in stone at Saint-Denis. Since Abbot Suger specifically mentionned bringing several goldsmiths from Lotharingia (modern, Lorraine), it is possible he also summoned stone carvers from the Rhine-Meuse region.

In : Set in stone / The face in mediaval sculpture by Charles T; Litttle pg. 78 / MET
books.google.fr/books?id=8eD1Noek1yYC&pg=PA50&lpg...

Taken on: July 16, 2013

Sets appears in: • still life

Groups appears in: • Sculpture • stone faces more » • Escultura antigua / Ancient sculpture • Medieval architecture and art • Monasteries of Medieval Christendom • FRANCE MEDIEVALE • Moyen Âge – Middle Ages • Spirituality & Art « less

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