Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège
The baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège is a
History
The Liège font was commissioned after 1107 and completed by 1118 for the church of Notre-Dame-aux-Fonts ("
Renier de Huy
The font was traditionally attributed to
The only other work generally agreed to be by the same master as the font is a small bronze crucifix (Schnütgen Museum, Cologne);[10] another in Brussels has many similarities.[11] A censer in similar style is attributed to Renier or a follower by many.[12]
Style and origin
The figures on the font are in very high relief, and have a remarkable classicism of style; so much so that it has also been suggested that it was in fact made in Constantinople,[13] or by Greeks in Rome about 1000. Other explanations attribute the classicism to close Byzantine influence,[14] though as Honour and Fleming point out, "In bodily proportions, poses, gestures and garments, they recall Classical models far beyond Byzantine, Carolingian, or even Early Christian art"; they suggest the artist might have seen ancient Greek sculptures in Constantinople when on the First Crusade.[15] Other writers explain the style as emerging from older Mosan and Carolingian traditions, with recent Byzantine influence, and prefiguring Gothic figure style.[16] The idealized figures are modelled in rounded forms; several nude figures are present, and one is seen from behind in a three-quarters view, a sophisticated classical pose.
Art-historical argument over the origin of the font has been vigorous and sometimes acrimonious, and in recent decades mostly conducted in French. However most art historians continue to accept the traditional Mosan attribution, and relate the style to the other works mentioned above.
Description
The basin is 91 centimetres (36 in) across at the top, tapering slightly towards the base, and is variously described as of
- John the Baptist preaching to four figures, the last on the right in full military gear; followed by a fig tree.[25]
- John baptising two neophytes, with two further figures to the right, who probably represent the two disciples John told to follow Jesus (John 1:35–37). As often in Early Medieval art, the attempt to convey the
- The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, a commonly represented scene, again with the water piling up like a mound. Jesus is beardless and young, as is also typical. The angel to the right of Jesus has his hands veiled with a cloth, a mark of respect in Eastern liturgy, though it may also simply represent a cloth ready for Jesus to dry himself with. An olive tree follows.[27]
- Acts 10), with a sponsor or godfather. The Hand of God appears from above to signal approval.[28]
- Saint apocryphal writings such as the account of John's life by the Pseudo-Abdias.[29]
Except for the last two the scenes are separated by trees which are stylised in typical Romanesque fashion, but whose leaf shapes are all different.
The baptismal font in the little village of
Notes
- ^ Beckwith, 178. See Xhayet and Halleux, 123, note 17 for a fuller account of the status of the church and its priest.
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 21 (quotes chronicle) and 122–123
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 21 and 123 and Liège City Tourism
- ^ Rousseaux, Henry (1907), "Les fonts baptismaux de Saint Barthélémy à Liège", Bulletin des Musées Royaux d'arts décoratifs et industriels (in French), Bruxelles, pp. 58–60
- ^ See old photos on Commons
- ^ Liège City Tourism
- ^ Beckwith, 178
- ^ Oxford
- ^ Beckwith, 178. The Getty Union Artist Names List has him active until 1144 [1]
- ^ Lasko, 181
- ^ Illustrated in Xhayet and Halleux, before p. 129
- ^ Lasko
- ^ Oxford
- ^ Henderson (1967), 46, Gombrich and others
- ^ Honour & Fleming, 288 online text. See also Beckwith, 178–179
- ^ Beckwith, 178–179, Henderson (1967), 46–48
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 117, 199
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 101–103; see also note 19 on p. 124, and Liège City Tourism
- ^ Colman and Lhoist-Colman, 2003.
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 99–101, who do not accept this theory.
- ^ The two terms for copper alloys have some overlap.
- ^ 1 Kings 7:23–7:27; this feature is today typical of fonts in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- ^ See the continuous diagram at Xhayet and Halleux, 124; the scenes are covered in great detail in the pages following; also Calkins, 128
- ^ "Linear graphic of Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church (official website)". Picture. ASBL "Art et Histoire - Saint-Barthélemy - Liège". Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-01-20. (in French)
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 124-6
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 126-9
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 129–131
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 131-32
- ^ Cartlidge and Elliott, 195; for a full account in French see Xhayet and Halleux, 199ff, and 132-33.
- ^ See the comparison at Xhayet and Halleux, 127, where each is identified as respectively fig, vine, olive and palm.
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 94–98 give the texts. These are a number of hexameters of Leonine verse, the upper ones explaining the relief scenes while the lower one explains the oxen: "By the twelve oxen is shown the forma [type] of pastors, through the example of whose apostolic life, full of grace, and their elevated office, the citizens are purified, and the spirit of these waters refreshes the holy city" (approximate translation)
- ^ St Peter baptising an unspecified figure is shown on an ivory book cover of c. 900 in Florence, in a similar composition which also has a layperson to the right of the font, holding textiles (the naked catchumen's clothes, or a towel) which veil his hands in a similar way to the angel in the Baptism of Jesus scene here. Lasko, plate 63
- ^ Xhayet and Halleux, 133, and 122 on their dispute. See also Henderson (1977), 229
References
- Beckwith, John. Early Medieval Art: Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, Thames & Hudson, 1964 (rev. 1969), ISBN 0-500-20019-X
- Calkins, Robert G.; Monuments of Medieval Art, Dutton, 1979, ISBN 0-525-47561-3
- Cartlidge, David R. and Elliott, James Keith, Art and the Christian Apocrypha, Routledge, 2001,
- Colman, Pierre; Lhoist-Colman, Berthe (2003), Les fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélemy à Liège - Chef-d'oeuvre sans pareil et noeud de controverses (in French), Académie Royale de Belgique, ISBN 2-8031-0189-0
- Henderson, George. Gothic Art, 1967, Penguin, ISBN 0-14-020806-2
- Henderson, George. Early Medieval Art, 1972, rev. 1977, Penguin.
- ISBN 0-333-37185-2
- Kleiner, Fred S., Christin J. Mamiya, and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004
- Lasko, Peter, Ars Sacra, Penguin History of Art (now Yale)
- Martinot, L.; Tricherini, P.; Guillaume, J. (1997). "Le rôle des méthodes de laboratoire dans la recherche de la provenance de dinanderies médiévales. Application aux fonts baptismaux de Tirlemont, aux chandeliers des abbayes de Postel et de Parc des Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles et aux fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélemy à Liège". Académie Royale de Belgique. Bulletin de la Classe des Beaux-Arts (in French). 8: 19–36.
- City of Liège Tourism, with good feature, and a bibliography of recent scholarship in French. Accessed 10 Jan. 2010
- "Oxford": Rainer of Huy: The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Accessed 10 Jan. 2010, [2]
- Swarzenski, Hanns. Monuments of Romanesque Art; The Art of Church Treasures in North-Western Europe, ISBN 0-571-10588-2
- Xhayet, Geneviève and Halleux, Robert (eds), Études sur les fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélémy à Liège, Editions du CEFAL, 2006, ISBN 2-87130-212-X, 9782871302124 google books
External links
- "Detailed picture gallery of Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church of Liège". Picture Library. Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium's Artistic Heritage. Retrieved 2010-01-20.[permanent dead link] (in French)
- "Picture gallery of Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church (official website)". Picture Library. ASBL "Art et Histoire - Saint-Barthélemy - Liège". Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2010-01-20. (in French)