Claus Sluter – Innovator of 14th Century Sculptu
The Dutch Sculptor and Founder of Northern Figural Realism
Apr 26, 2009
Sluter's innovation is evident in the Champmol church portal figures. His sculpting method elevated portal statuary so that sculpture became as important as the church architecture itself. Traditional Gothic sculpture was a structural part of architecture and played a subsidiary role. Columns serving as structural support were often designed in the form of a human figure.
Free Portal Statuary
Sluter liberated his figures from the mass of the building by carving them almost entirely in the round. Instead of conventional relief carvings, his figures stood independently of the walls. The independence of figural elements allowed the illusion of interaction between the represented protagonists: the Duke Philip the Bold and his wife, the Duchess Margaret of Flanders kneel in prayer to the Virgin while their patron saints St John the Baptist and St Catherine plead with the Virgin for the ducal pair's entrance into Heaven, and the Virgin looks on to the Christ child.
Sculptural Realism and Expressionism
Sluter's realistic treatment of figures was another innovative aspect of his work. The physiological and psychological characterization takes his sculpture beyond stylized Gothic forms. Sluter's treatment of figures demonstrates his interest in individual character and individual human emotions.
Not only are the portraits of the Duke and Duchess believed to be their true likenesses but the faces of all the other figures are highly individualized. The bodies are anatomically convincing. The interplay of poses and gestures with the variety of lifelike facial expressions was unprecedented in statuary of its time. The Duke and Duchess seem to be focused in their prayer and humble before the Virgin. St John the Baptist and St Catherine are depicted as concerned, perhaps even anxious intermediaries. The Virgin bears an expression of serenity as she contemplates the pleading of the two saints.
Engineering of the Well of Moses
The Well of Moses is considered a great engineering project that required well-organized planning and execution on Sluter's part. The construction of the Great Cross presented a technical challenge in terms of its monumentality and its setting in a marshy field on which the Carthusian monastery of Champmol was built.
Sluter exploited the natural environment to the full to solve the technical problem of constructing on the wet soil. As a by product of this solution he managed to convey the symbolic meaning of the Well of Life.
The base of the monument ran as deep as 4 metres into the ground while the monument itself stood 11 metres above the ground. An iron rod ran along the whole length to reinforce the structure.To prevent the iron from rusting, the rod was saeled within the cross using lead. The hexagonal plinth on which the Old Testament prophets are set consisted of sets of stones ararnged in eight horizontal layers to enhance the stability.
Sluter also demonstrated his excellence as a master sculptor by his understanding of materials. Several different types of stone were used for the Great Cross. The selection was determined by the degree of carving of different sections as well as by their degree of exposure to the natural elements in an outdoor setting.
The most exposed figure of Christ was carved from the dense and strong but relatively easily workable stone from Tonnerre. All the other figures were carved from the Asnieres stone which was suitable for sculpting figures. However, the terrace on which the foot of the cross was set was carved from weather resistant stone form Ys.
Legacy
Sluter's progressive conception of figural sculpture was based on his return to monumental scale and an unprecedented degree of realism and expression of human emotion.
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