. Art in France. ver thecorpse upon her lap, a sombre tete-a-tete which sums up all the sorrowof the Passion. The Entombmentwas further a tragic spectaclewhich gave rich opportunities tothe artist: a corpse, the sumptuouscostumes of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, the attitudes and the mournful faces of the Virginand the Holy Women. These groups appear in many churches, I some among them of the most modest kind; very often theywere executed by country crafts-men, who carved the stonerather heavily, without any pre-tensions to elegance or correct-ness. Rarely admirable for theirskill, these
. Art in France. ver thecorpse upon her lap, a sombre tete-a-tete which sums up all the sorrowof the Passion. The Entombmentwas further a tragic spectaclewhich gave rich opportunities tothe artist: a corpse, the sumptuouscostumes of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, the attitudes and the mournful faces of the Virginand the Holy Women. These groups appear in many churches, I some among them of the most modest kind; very often theywere executed by country crafts-men, who carved the stonerather heavily, without any pre-tensions to elegance or correct-ness. Rarely admirable for theirskill, these works are alwaystouching in the pity that animatesthem. The naive and sorrowfulfigures are grouped solicitouslyround the dead, whose body isdimly seen in the background ofa low chapel, dark as a most famous of these Sepulchres are that at Solesmes (Fig. 325) and that by Ligier-Richier at Saint-Mihiel (Fig. 331). The Solesmes Entombment 157 FIG. 324. — THE MAGDALEN. FIGLKE OF THE SEPULCHRE AT FIG. 325.—SEPVLCHHE in 1111. \ ART IN FRANCE ■l . 1 Ttt ■.Iliffli: ilP^ ^ 1 FIG. 326.—THE CALVARY AT PLEYBEN. dates, no doubt, from the close of thefifteenth century, and shows morethan one pilaster in the Italian these borrowings are applied,not assimilated; the artisi hasjuxtaposed them boldly with theV lamboyant ornament. The figures,on the other hand, reveal no tracesof an-alien art. This entombmentis a tranquil scene; a certainplacidity, a kind of expressive im-potence, becomes an advantage tothe artist, and gives a peacefulmajesty to the drama. Italian art isprone to emphasise gesture till itverges on paroxysm. Here, on thecontrary, we have neither violencenor grimace; the holy women arenot convulsed by moral suffering, and the weight of the corpsehas not evoked attitudes of painful effort in the bearers. Therobust figures of Solesmes are akin to the minute personages Fouquetpainted so agreeably, if a little languidly. The fines
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernew, booksubjectart
