EUROPEAN SCULPTURE FROM MICHAEL ANGELO TO CANOVA.
Not only Italian artists attempted to follow the great sculptor of
Italy, but those of other nations flocked to Rome, and whatever ideas
they may have had before reaching that city they seemed to lose them all
and to aim simply at one thing--to be Michaelangeloesque.
GIOVANNI DA BOLOGNA (1529-1608) was born in Douai, in Flanders, and was
called Il Fiammingo for this reason. Giovanni was intended for a notary
by his father, who planned his education with that end in view; but the
boy's passion for sculpture was so great that the father was obliged to
yield to it, and placed him under the instruction of a sculptor named
Beuch, who had studied in Italy. Later Giovanni went to Rome, and
finally settled in Florence, where his most important works remain.
He was an imitator of Michael Angelo, and one of his best imitators; but
when his works are compared with those of the great master, or with the
masterpieces of the fifteenth century, we see a decline in them. In
religious subjects Giovanni was not at home; his most successful works
were those which represented sentiment or abstract ideas, because on
them he could lavish his skill in execution, and use ornaments that did
not suit the simplicity of religious subjects. In the Loggia de' Lanzi,
at Florence, there are two groups by him, the Rape of the Sabines and
Hercules and Nessus. In the Piazza della Signoria is his excellent
statue of Duke Cosmo I., and in the Uffizi Gallery a bronze statue of
Mercury. The Rape of the Sabines is his masterpiece, and the Mercury is
one of the best works of its kind since the days of classic art. It is
the favorite Mercury of the world, and has been frequently copied. It is
seen in many galleries and collections in its original size, and a small
copy is much used in private houses. (Fig. 109.)
Giovanni was especially happy in his designs for fountains, and that
which he erected in Bologna, in 1564, in front of the Palazzo Pubblico,
is a splendid work of this kind. The statue of Neptune at its summit is
stately and free in its action; the children are charming and life-like,
and the Sirens at the base give an harmonious finish and complete the
outline with easy grace.
He also erected a magnificent fountain in the island of the Boboli
Gardens. In the Palazzo Vecchio is a marble group by Giovanni
representing Virtue conquering Vice. At Petraja there is a beautiful
Venus crowning a fountain remarkable for grace and delicacy, and, all in
all, his works prove him to have been the best sculptor of his own time.
Tuscany may claim him and be proud of him, for he was far more her son
than that of his native Flanders.
Giovanni da Bologna was far less successful in reliefs than in statues,
as may be seen in the bronze gates to the Cathedral of Pisa, which he
made in the last years of his life. In his character this master was
attractive and much beloved by his friends. One of them wrote of him:
"The best fellow in the world, not in the least covetous, as he shows by
his poverty; filled with a love of glory, and ambitious of rivalling
Michael Angelo."
Giovanni decorated a chapel in the Church of the Annunziata with several
reliefs in bronze and with a crucifix; he not only wished to be buried
here himself, as he was, but he also desired to provide a place of
burial for any of his countrymen who might die in Florence. The chapel
is called that of the Madonna del Soccorso.
[Illustration: FIG. 109.--MERCURY. _By Giovanni da Bologna._]
The decline of sculpture in Italy at this period makes its study so
unpromising that it is a pleasure to turn to France, where the works of
JEAN GOUJON show that he had the true idea of sculpture in relief. From
1555 to 1562 this sculptor was employed on the works at the Louvre, and
during the massacre of St. Bartholomew he was shot while on a scaffold
quietly working at a bas-relief on that palace.
Goujon was an architect as well as a sculptor, and also a medal
engraver, as is shown by the curious and rare medal which he made for
Catherine de' Medici. Many of his works are preserved in different parts
of France, and some bas-reliefs in the Museum of the Louvre are
excellent specimens of his style.
One also sees in France many works by GERMAIN PILON, who died in 1590.
He executed the monument to Francis I., and took a part in that of Henry
II. and Catherine de' Medici at the Church of St. Denis. He was the
sculptor of the group of the three Graces in the Louvre, which formerly
bore an urn containing the heart of Henry II., and was in the Church of
the Celestines.
But the sculptors of France at this time are not of such interest as to
hold our attention long. There was a certain amount of spirit in their
decorations of palaces and tombs, but there were no men of great genius,
and no splendid works upon which we can dwell with pleasure or profit.
In Germany, too, while there was much activity in sculpture, and public
fountains and luxurious palaces and rich ornaments employed many
artists, yet there was no originality or freshness in these works, and
they fell below those of the past. Bronzes are still made at Nuremberg,
but they only serve to make one regret that they are so inferior to
those of earlier days; and nowhere in all Germany does any one artist
stand out and present a man to be studied in his works or remembered as
one of the gifted of the earth. And yet a list of the names of German
sculptors of this time would be very long, for all over the land
churches were being decorated, monuments built, and statues and
fountains erected.
In England the best sculpture of the sixteenth century was seen in the
portrait statues on monuments, and we find no great artists there of
whom to give an account.
[Illustration: FIG. 110.--RELIEF BY BERRUGUETE. _Valladolid._]
In Spain ALONSO BERRUGUETE (1480-1561), who was the most eminent artist
of his time, had introduced the Italian manner. He went to Italy about
1503, and studied in Rome and Florence during seventeen years. This was
at the time when Italian sculpture was at the height of its excellence;
and Berruguete returned to Spain filled with the purest and best
conceptions of what art should be, and the ends it should serve. He has
been called the Michael Angelo of Spain, because he was an architect,
painter, and sculptor.
Upon his return to Spain he was appointed painter and sculptor to
Charles V. Among his most celebrated works in sculpture are the reliefs
in the choir of the Cathedral at Toledo; the altar in the Church of San
Benito el Real at Valladolid (Fig. 110), for which he was paid
forty-four hundred ducats, and his sculptures in the Collegio Mayor at
Salamanca. His final work was a monument to the Cardinal and Grand
Inquisitor, Don Juan de Tavera, which is in the Church of the Hospital
of St. John at Toledo. The sarcophagus is ornamented by reliefs from the
story of John the Baptist, which are executed in an excellent manner,
simple and expressive.
Other Spanish sculptors were ESTEBAN JORDAN, an eminent wood-carver,
GREGORIO HERNANDEZ (1566-1636), who has been called "the sculptor of
religion." His works are so full of a spirit of devotion that they seem
to have been executed under an inspiration. Hernandez was very devout in
his life, and did many works of charity; he often provided decent burial
for the very poor who died without friends who could bury them.
Many of his works have been removed from the chapels for which they were
designed, and are now in the Museum of Valladolid, where they are not as
effective as when placed in their original positions. He is superior to
other Spanish sculptors in his representation of nude figures and in the
grandeur of his expression.
JUAN DE JUNI (died 1614) studied in Italy, and acquired much mannerism;
his works are seen in Valladolid.
JUAN MARTINEZ MONTANES (died 1650) was a famous sculptor, and excelled
in figures of children and cherubs. His conceptions had much beauty and
depth of feeling, and his draperies were most graceful; and to this
power of thinking out clearly and well the subject he wished to
represent he added the ability to do his work in an artistic manner, and
to give it an elegance of finish without taking away its strength. A
Conception by him, in the Cathedral of Seville, is a noble work, and in
the university church of the same city there is an altar which is one of
his important works. Other sculptures by Montanes are in the Museum of
Seville.
The great ALONSO CANO (1601-1667) was a pupil of Montanes in sculpture,
and, like so many other artists of his time, was a painter and architect
as well as a sculptor. His personal history is very peculiar. He was a
man of violent temper, and was often involved in serious quarrels. He
was obliged to flee from Granada to Madrid on account of a duel, and
when his wife was found murdered in her bed he was suspected of the
crime. In spite of all this he took priest's orders, and was appointed
to a canonry in the Cathedral of Granada; but on account of his temper
he was deprived of this office by the chapter of the cathedral. He was
so angry at this that he would do no more work for the cathedral.
He devoted the remainder of his life to religious and charitable works.
He gave away the money he earned as soon as he received it, and when he
had no money to give away he was in the habit of making drawings, which
he signed and marked with a suitable price; these he gave to the person
he desired to assist, and recommended some person to whom application to
buy the work could be made. After his death a large number of these
charitable works was collected.
He hated Jews with such hatred that he could not endure to look at one,
and many strange stories are told of him in connection with these
people.
He loved his chisel better than his brush, and was accustomed to say
that when weary he carved for rest. One of his pupils expressed great
surprise at this, when Cano answered, "Blockhead, don't you perceive
that to create form and relief on a flat surface is a greater service
than to fashion one shape into another?"
The most beautiful sculpture by Cano which remains is a Virgin about a
foot high in the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Granada, where there are
several other statuettes by him. These are colored in a manner which the
Spaniards call "estofado;" it has the effect to soften the whole
appearance of the works, like an enamel. At the entrance of the choir of
the cathedral there are two colossal busts by Cano; they are grand
works, and are called Adam and Eve.
PEDRO ROLDAN (1624-1700), born at Seville, is an interesting sculptor
because of his work, and on account of his being the last one whose
manner was like that of Juni and Hernandez. His first celebrated work
was the high-altar in the chapel of the Biscayans in the Franciscan
convent. When the Caridad, or Hospital of Charity, was restored, Roldan
executed the last great work in painted sculpture; it was an immense
piece for the centre of the retablo of the high-altar of the church, and
represented the Entombment of Christ.
Seville abounds in his works, and he executed bas-reliefs in stone for
the exterior of the Cathedral at Jaen. He was so devoted to his art that
he felt every moment to be lost that was not spent in its service. He
married a lady of good family, and lived in the country; when obliged to
go to Seville he was accustomed to carry a lump of clay, and model from
it as he rode along. Roldan was not by any means the best of Spanish
sculptors, but he had great skill in the composition of his works, and
the draperies and all the details were carefully studied. His daughter,
Dona Luisa Roldan, studied sculpture under her father's instruction, and
became a good artist; he was accustomed to allow her to superintend her
studio and his pupils. She often aided him by her suggestions, and on
one occasion, when a statue that he had made was rejected, she pointed
out to him certain anatomical defects, which he remedied, and the whole
appearance of the work was so changed that it was thought to be new, and
was accepted for the place for which it had been ordered.
The works executed by Dona Luisa were principally small figures of the
Virgin, the Adoration of the Shepherds, and kindred subjects. Several of
these were presented to King Charles II., and he was so pleased by them
that he ordered a life-size statue of St. Michael for the Church of the
Escorial. She executed this to his satisfaction, and he then appointed
her sculptress in ordinary to the king. She died at Madrid in 1704,
surviving her father but four years. She left works in various convents
and churches.
In Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century a new era in
sculpture was inaugurated. Art was now required to serve the Church in
the way of appealing to sentiments and feeling in a far coarser and more
sensational a manner than formerly. Painting was suited to these
purposes far more than sculpture, and it had been raised to great
heights, in Spain, by Murillo, in the North by Rubens and his followers,
and in Italy by numerous masters.
Luebke says of this period: "All that was now demanded of art was effect
and feeling at any price. The one was attained through the other. A
passionate excitement pulsates throughout all artistic works; the ideal
repose of the former altar-pieces no longer satisfied. Longing,
devotional ardor, passionate rapture, enthusiastic ecstasy--these are
the aims of the new art. No longer the solemn dignity of the saint, but
the nervous visions of enraptured monks, are its ideal. It delights in
thrilling delineations of martyrdom, seeking to render such scenes as
effective and touching as possible. A desire for substantial power, a
political-religious tendency, had taken possession of art, and had
adapted it to its own objects. That, under such circumstances, painting
reaches a new and truly artistic importance may be traced above all to
the great masters who now cultivated the art, and still more to the tone
of the age, which promoted it in a rare measure.... The same spirit,
however, which imparted such genuine importance to painting produced the
ruin of sculpture. This epoch, more than any other, is a proof that the
greatest men of talent, appearing in a perverted age, are carried by
their very genius all the more certainly to ruin. All that, in a more
favorable period, would have raised them to be stars in the art
firmament, now made them fall like some _ignis fatuus_, the brilliant
light of which owes its illusory existence only to miasma. This striking
fact appears, at first sight, inexplicable; but it is easy to
understand, if we consider the different character of the two arts.
Plastic art had formerly emulated painting, and thus, especially in
relief, had suffered unmistakable injury to its own peculiar nature. At
that time, however, painting itself was full of architectural severity
and plastic nobleness of form. Now, when everything depended on striking
effect and speaking delineation of passionate emotions, it was compelled
to have recourse to naturalistic representation, to freer arrangements
and to more striking forms that emulated reality. If, however,
sculpture, which could not keep pace with its rival in the enamelled
coloring and mysterious charm of the _chiaro-oscuro_ which it brought
into the field, would, in anywise, do the same as painting, it was
compelled to plunge regardlessly into the same naturalism of forms and
into the same bold display of passion with which painting produced such
grand effects. And this sculpture did without the slightest scruple, and
in this lack of an artistic conscience its whole glory perished. It is
true in this passion for excited compositions an excess of splendid
works were produced; it is true immense resources were expended, and
able artists were employed; but such inner hollowness stares at us with
inanimate eye from the greater number of these works that we turn from
them with repugnance, and even often with disgust."
The artist who first met this new demand upon sculpture, and may be
called the founder of a new style, was GIOVANNI LORENZO BERNINI
(1598-1680), a very gifted man. When but ten years old this remarkable
genius was known as a prodigy in art, and it was at this early age that
his father took him to Rome. Pope Paul V. was soon interested in him,
and Cardinal Barberini assisted him in his studies; from this fortunate
beginning all through his life good fortune attended his steps. He lived
through the pontificate of nine popes, and was always in favor with the
reigning head of the Church. This gave him the opportunity to fill Rome
with his works, and he imprinted himself upon the art of the Eternal
City; no artist since the time of Michael Angelo held such sway, and
Bernini acquired his power easily, while the grand Michael Angelo was
disputed at every step, and fought a long, hard battle before he was
allowed to take the place which was so clearly his by right.
The fame of Bernini extended to other lands, and he was invited to
France, where he went when sixty-eight years old, accompanied by one of
his sons and a numerous retinue. He was loaded with favors, and received
large sums of money and many valuable presents. In Rome, too, he was
much favored; he held several church benefices, and his son was made a
Canon of Santa Maria Maggiore; and it was in this church that Bernini
was buried with great magnificence, as became his position and his
wealth, for he left the immense fortune of four hundred thousand Roman
crowns.
Bernini had great versatility of talent, a remarkable imagination and
power of conceiving his subjects clearly, and, more than all, he had
marvellous power of execution and compelling his marble to show forth
his thought. It has been said that marble was like wax or clay beneath
his hand. He was subject to no rules; indeed, he believed that an artist
must set aside all rules if he would excel. This sounds very
fascinating, but a study of Bernini's works will show that it is a
deceitful maxim. A man of small talent could do nothing in this way, and
even Bernini, who without doubt had great gifts, often failed to make up
in any way for the sins against rules of which he was guilty.
Westmacott, in his writing upon sculpture, says it would have been
better for art if Bernini had never lived; and it is true that in his
struggle for effect he was an injury rather than a benefit to the art of
his own day and the succeeding years.
The worst defect in the sculpture of Bernini is his treatment of the
human body. At times he exaggerates the muscular power beyond all
resemblance to nature, and again he seems to leave out all anatomy and
soften the body to a point that far exceeds possibility. This softness
is seen in his Apollo and Daphne, which shows the moment when she is
suddenly changed into a laurel-tree in order to escape the pursuit of
the young god. This group is in the Villa Borghese, at Rome; it was
executed when Bernini was but eighteen years old, and near the close of
his life he declared that he had made little progress after its
production.
But he reached the height of this objectionable manner in his
representation of the Rape of Proserpine, which is in the Villa
Ludovisi. The Pluto is a rough, repulsive man, with whom no association
of a god can be made, and the Proserpine is made a soulless, sensual
figure, so far from attractive in a pure sense that we are almost
willing that Pluto should carry her to some region from which she is not
likely to come back. At the same time we are sorry not to provide her
with an ointment for the blue marks which the big hands of Pluto are
making on her soft flesh. The plain truth is, that this work makes a low
and common thing of a subject which could be so treated as to be a
"thing of beauty" in a charming sense. (Fig. 111.)
[Illustration: FIG. 111.--RAPE OF PROSERPINE. _By Bernini._]
Bernini executed a statue of St. Bibiana for the church of that saint at
Rome, and one of St. Longinus in one of the niches to the dome of St.
Peter's; he also made the designs for the one hundred and sixty-two
statues in the colonnades of St. Peter's, and for the decorations of the
bridge of St. Angelo; in such works, almost without exception, he chose
some moment in the lives of the persons represented that called for a
striking attitude and gave an opportunity for an effect that is often
theatrical. As a mere decoration such statues have a certain value of an
inferior sort; but as works of art, as intellectual efforts, they are
worthless. However, this decorative effect, as it is seen on the facade
of the Lateran, where the figures stand out against the sky, or on the
bridge of St. Angelo, is not by any means to be despised; only we cannot
call a sculptor a great artist when he can do nothing finer than this.
Some of Bernini's works in which he shows intense suffering have more
genuine feeling, and are finer in artistic qualities. One of these is
Pieta, in the chapel of St. Andreas Corsini in the Lateran. But he
frequently goes beyond the bounds of good taste, as, for example, on the
monument to Pope Urban VIII., in St. Peter's, where he represents Death
with his bony hand writing the inscription on the panel; this is truly
terrible, and not less so is another Death upon the monument of
Alexander VII., raising the marble curtain before the entrance to the
vault, as if he were inviting one to walk in. Many objections can be
made to his draperies. He exaggerated the small curtains seen on some
ancient tombs until they were huge objects of ugliness; the drapery upon
his figures is so prominently treated that instead of being a minor
object it sometimes seems like the principal one; it no longer serves to
conceal forms, and at the same time show their grace and motion, but it
is inflated, fluttering, grotesque in form and quite absurd when
compared with statues in which it answers its true purpose.
Charles I. of England heard so much of Bernini that he desired to have a
statue of himself executed by this sculptor; three of Vandyck's
portraits of the king were sent to him, and the likeness of the statue
was so satisfactory to the monarch that he sent the artist six thousand
crowns and a ring worth as much more.
Bernini executed a colossal equestrian statue of Constantine for the
portico of St. Peter's; he made another of Louis XIV., which was changed
into a Marcus Curtius, and sent to Versailles. He also executed the
fountain in the Piazza Navona, at Rome, which is one of his exaggerated
works.
FRANCOIS DUQUESNOY (1594-1646) was born at Brussels, and was known in
Rome as Il Fiammingo. The Archduke Albert sent him to Rome to study, and
he was a contemporary of Bernini. When his patron died Duquesnoy was
left without means, and was forced to carve small figures in ivory for
his support. His figures of children, which were full of life and
child-like expression, became quite famous. An important work of his in
this way is the fountain of the Manneken-Pis, at Brussels.
His masterpiece is a colossal statue of St. Andrew in the Church of St.
Peter's; it occupied him five years, and is one of the best works of
modern art. His statue of St. Susanna in the Church of Santa Maria di
Loreto, in Rome, is simple and noble, and is much admired. Little is
known of this artist's life, and it is said that he was poisoned by his
brother when on his way to France.
There was a goodly company of sculptors following Bernini, but none
whose works or life was of sufficient importance or interest to demand
our attention here, and we will pass to the sculpture of France, where
the arts were less devoted to the service of the Church and more to the
uses of kings, princes, and noblemen. The court of France was devoted to
pomp and pleasure, and sculpture was used for the glorification of the
leaders in all its follies. In one sense this is more agreeable than the
art in Italy which we have been considering, for nothing can be more
disagreeable than a false religious sentiment in art; it is only when
the artist is filled with true devotion and feels deeply in his own soul
all that he tries to express in his work that religious representations
can appeal to us agreeably or benefit us by their influence.
SIMON GUILLAIN (1581-1658) is especially interesting as the sculptor of
the statue of Louis XIV. as a boy, which is in the Louvre; those of his
parents are also there; formerly they decorated the Pont au Change.
Other works by this master are in the same museum.
JACQUES SARRAZIN (1588-1660) is only known by his works, which are now
in the Louvre, of which a bronze bust of the Chancellor Pierre Seguier
is worthy of notice.
FRANCOIS ANGUIER (1604-1669) was born at Eu, in Normandy, and was the
son of a carpenter, who taught his son to carve in wood at an early age.
When still quite young Francois went to Paris to study, and later to
Rome. He became one of the first artists of his time in France, and was
a favorite of the king, Louis XIII., who made him keeper of the gallery
of antiquities, and gave him apartments in the Louvre. Most of his
important works were monuments to illustrious men. His copies of antique
sculptures were very fine.
MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) was a brother of the preceding, with whom he
studied until they both went to Rome. Michel remained there ten years,
and was employed with other artists in St. Peter's and in some palaces.
In 1651 he returned to Paris, and assisted Francois in the great work of
the tomb of the Duke de Montmorenci at Moulins.
Michel executed a statue of Louis XIII., which was cast in bronze. He
adorned the apartments of Queen Anne of Austria in the Louvre, and for
her executed the principal sculptures in the Church of Val de Grace; a
Nativity in this church is his best work. His sculptures are seen in
various churches, and he also executed statues of ancient gods and vases
for garden ornaments. He was a professor in the Academy of Arts in
Paris, and wrote lectures on sculpture.
FRANCOIS GIRARDON (1630-1715), born at Troyes, was a _protege_ of the
Chancellor Seguier. Louis XIV. gave him a pension, by which he was
enabled to study in Rome, and after his return to France the king gave
him many commissions. The monument to Cardinal Richelieu in the Church
of the Sorbonne is from the hand of this sculptor. Perhaps his
best-known work is the Rape of Proserpine at Versailles. He made an
equestrian statue of Louis XIV., which was destroyed in the Revolution;
a model of it in bronze is in the Louvre. His bust of Boileau is a
strong, fine work. Many of his sculptures were destroyed by the
revolutionists.
A devoted follower of Bernini was PIERRE PUGET (1622-1694). His works
are seen at the Louvre and at Versailles. His group of Milo of Crotona
endeavoring to free himself from the claws of the lion is full of life
and is natural, but the subject is too repulsive to be long examined;
his Perseus liberating Andromeda is more agreeable, and is noble in its
forms and animated in expression. His Alexander and Diogenes is in
relief, and is effective and picturesque.
ANTOINE COYSEVOX (1640-1720) was born at Lyons, and manifested his
artistic talent very early in life. Before he was seventeen years old he
had distinguished himself by a statue of the Virgin, and progressed
rapidly in his studies, which he made in Paris. In 1667 he was engaged
by Cardinal Furstenburg to go to Alsace to decorate his palace; this
occupied him four years. When he again went to Paris he became a very
eminent artist. He executed a statue of Louis XIV., and received a
commission from the province of Bretagne for an equestrian statue of the
same monarch.
Among his best works are the tomb of Cardinal Mazarin; the tomb of the
great Colbert in the Church of St. Eustache; the monument of Charles le
Brun in the Church of St. Nicolas; the statue of the great Conde; the
marble statue of Louis XIV., in the Church of Notre Dame, and others. In
the tomb of Mazarin he showed fine powers of construction and excellence
of design. The kneeling figure of the minister is a dignified statue and
well executed; the statues in bronze of Prudence, Peace, and Fidelity,
and the marble figures of Charity and Religion are each and all noble
works, and free to a remarkable degree from the mannerisms and faults of
his time.
NICOLAS COUSTOU (1658-1733) was a nephew and pupil of Coysevox. He took
the grand prize at Paris, and went to Rome to study when he was
twenty-three years old. He made many copies of the antique. After his
return to France he was much employed. His chief work was a colossal
representation of the Junction of the Seine and the Marne. He also made
for the city of Lyons a bronze statue representing the river Saone. Some
of his sculptures are in the Church of Notre Dame.
GUILLAUME COUSTOU (1678-1746), brother of Nicolas, also gained the grand
prize and went to Rome, and on his return made a fine reputation. Much
of his best work was for the gardens of Marly; he executed a bronze
statue of the Rhone at Lyons; a bas-relief of Christ with the Doctors,
at Versailles, and statues of Louis XIV. and Cardinal Dubois, in the
Museum of French Monuments.
JEAN BAPTISTE PIGALLE (1714-1785) is the last French sculptor of whom I
shall speak here. He was born in Paris, and gained his first fame by a
statue of Mercury; but his masterpiece was the tomb of Marshal Moritz of
Saxony, in the Church of St. Thomas, at Strasburg. The soldier is
represented in his own costume, just as he wore it in life, about to
enter a tomb, on one side of which stands a skeleton Death, and on the
other a mourning Hercules. A statue representing France tries to hold
him back, and a Genius attends on him with an inverted torch. There are
many accessories of military emblems and trophies. There have been
several engravings made from this tomb, the best part of which is the
figure of the Marshal.
Pigalle was a favorite with Mme. Pompadour, of whom he made a portrait
statue. She employed him to do many works for her. His best monument in
Paris is that of the Comte d'Harcourt, in the Church of Notre Dame.
In the Netherlands, as in Italy, the painting of the time had a great
effect upon sculpture, and it was full of energy, like the pictures of
the Rubens school; at the same time there remained traces of the
traditions of former days, and while a great change had come since the
days of Vischer, there was still a firm adherence to nature, and no
such affectations and mannerisms existed here as were seen in the works
of Bernini and his followers in Italy and France.
One of the ablest sculptors of his day was ARTHUR QUELLINUS, who was
born at Antwerp in 1607. He studied under Duquesnoy, and was especially
happy in his manner of imagining his subjects, and of avoiding the
imitation of others or a commonplace treatment of his own. The
magnificent Town Hall of Antwerp was commenced in 1648, and Quellinus
received the commission to decorate it with plastic works. His
sculptures are numerous, both on the interior and exterior of the
edifice. In the two pediments he introduced allegorical representations
of the power of the city of Antwerp, especially in her commerce. These
compositions are picturesque in their arrangement, but the treatment is
such as belongs to sculpture; in one of these a figure which represents
the city is enthroned like a queen, and is surrounded by fantastic
sea-gods, who offer their homage to her. (Fig. 112.)
[Illustration: FIG. 112.--CARYATIDE. _Quellinus._]
We cannot give a list of many detached works by Quellinus, but one of
the best of the old monuments in Berlin is attributed to him. It is the
tomb of Count Sparr in the Marienkirche.
At the present day Berlin is a city of much artistic importance, and the
beginning of its present architectural and sculptural prominence may be
dated at about the end of the seventeenth century, not quite two hundred
years ago. One of the most influential artists of that time was ANDREAS
SCHLUeTER (1662-1714), who was born in Hamburg. His father was a sculptor
of no prominence, but he took his son with him to Dantzig, where many
Netherlandish artists were employed upon the buildings being constructed
there. Andreas Schlueter was naturally gifted, and he devoted himself to
the study of both architecture and sculpture, at home and later in
Italy. Before he was thirty years old he was employed in important
affairs in Warsaw, and in 1694 he was summoned to Berlin, where he
executed the plastic ornaments of the Arsenal; the heads of the Dying
Warriors above the windows in the court-yard are remarkable works. They
are very fine when regarded only as excellent examples of good
sculpture, and they are very effective placed as they are, for they seem
to tell the whole tragic story of what a soldier's life and fate must
often be (Fig. 113).
[Illustration: FIG. 113.--HEADS OF DYING WARRIORS. _By Schlueter._]
[Illustration: FIG. 114.--THE GREAT ELECTOR. _By Schlueter._]
However, the masterpiece of this sculptor is the equestrian statue of
the Great Elector for the long bridge at Berlin, which was completed in
1703 (Fig. 114). Luebke says of this: "Although biassed as regards form
by the age which prescribed the Roman costume to ideal portraits of this
kind, the horseman on his mighty charger is conceived with so much
energy, he is filled with such power of will, he is so noble in bearing
and so steady in his course, that no other equestrian statue can be
compared with this in fiery majesty. Equally masterly is the
arrangement of the whole, especially the four chained slaves on the
base, in whom we gladly pardon a certain crowding of movements and
forms."
Schlueter also made a statue of the Elector Frederic III., which is now
in Koenigsberg. Besides his works in sculpture he was the architect of
the royal palaces at Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and Berlin, and there are
many sculptures by him at these places. When he was thus in an important
position and at the height of professional prosperity he met with a sad
misfortune, from the effects of which he never recovered. A chime of
bells had been purchased in Holland, and Schlueter was commissioned to
arrange an old tower for their reception. He carried it higher than it
had been, and was proceeding to finish it, when it threatened to fall,
and had to be pulled down. On account of this Schlueter was dismissed
from his position as court architect; and though his office of sculptor
was left to him his power was gone, and he was broken down in spirit. He
was called to St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and died soon after.
Now, the verdict of judges is that he was one of the greatest artists of
his age, and that his works, both in sculpture and architecture, belong
to the noblest productions of his century.