Medievalista, 26 | 2019, « Número 26 » [En Ligne], Mis En Ligne Le 11 Mai 2019, Consulté Le 28 Septembre 2020

Medievalista Online

26 | 2019 Número 26

Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/medievalista/2271 DOI : 10.4000/medievalista.2271 ISSN : 1646-740X

Éditeur Instituto de Estudos Medievais - FCSH-UNL

Édition imprimée Date de publication : 1 juin 2019

Référence électronique Medievalista, 26 | 2019, « Número 26 » [En ligne], mis en ligne le 11 mai 2019, consulté le 28 septembre 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/medievalista/2271 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/ medievalista.2271

Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 28 septembre 2020.

Mediavalista está licenciado com uma Licença Creative Commons - Atribuição-NãoComercial 4.0 Internacional. 1

SOMMAIRE

Os Estudos Medievais em Portugal: Dever de Qualidade e Direito de Cidadania A Redacção

Destaque

The momentum of studies of 11th- to early 13th-century polychrome wood sculptures in Europe Lucretia Kargère

Artigos

Romanesque polychrome wood sculptures in Italy: towards a Corpus and a comparative analysis of the data from art-historical and technical studies Grazia Maria Fachechi et Susanna Bracci

Wooden sculpture in Romanesque Iberian Peninsula: a wide and attractive panorama. Lines of research Jordi Camps i Sòria

Twelfth and early thirteenth century polychromy at the northernmost edge of Europe: past analyses and future research Kaja Kollandsrud et Unn Plahter

New research findings on 11th-early 13th-century polychrome wood sculpture at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels Emmanuelle Mercier

The triumphal cross of the cathedral of Nevers: painting technique and examination Nadia Bertoni Cren et Stéphane Cren

Etudes menées sur les sculptures d'Auvergne en bois polychromé Marie-Blanche Potte, Dominique Faunières, Agnès Blossier et Lucretia Kargère

Recensões

Antoine Desemberg, L’honneur des universitaires au Moyen Âge: Étude d’imaginaire social Rui M. Rocha

Diana Pelaz Flores, Rituales líquidos. El significado del agua en el ceremonial de la corte de Castilla (ss. XIV-XV) Víctor Muñoz Gómez

Johnni Langer (Org.), Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking Leandro Vilar Oliveira

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Apresentação de Teses

Tese de doutoramento em História, apresentada à Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2018. Orientação dos Professores Manuel Núñez Rodríguez e David Chao Castro Espacios e Imágenes en el reino de Galicia (1075-1112). Persistencias y reforma. Tese de doutoramento em História, apresentada à Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2018. Orientação dos Professores Manuel Núñez Rodríguez e David Chao Castro Javier Castiñeiras López

Tese de doutoramento em História, apresentada à Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Maio de 2018. Orientação da Professora Doutora Paula Pinto Costa Pedro Álvares Seco: a retroprojeção da memória da Ordem de Cristo no século XVI Tese de doutoramento em História, apresentada à Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Maio de 2018. Orientação da Professora Doutora Paula Pinto Costa Joana Lencart

Dissertação de Mestrado em História Medieval apresentada na Universidade de Évora, Dezembro de 2018. Orientação da Professora Hermínia Vasconcelos Vilar As representações do saber. Uma visão dos letrados nas crónicas portuguesas tardomedievais. Dissertação de Mestrado em História Medieval apresentada na Universidade de Évora, Dezembro de 2018. Orientação da Professora Hermínia Vasconcelos Vilar José Manuel Simões

Varia

Motivations in medieval war: a comparative approach between two territorial peripheries (Iberia and Baltic) – Porto, 1 de abril de 2019 Paula Pinto Costa

Workshop Investigar em Idade Média VI - Projetos de Investigação: realidades e possibilidades, organizado em parceria pelo Instituto de Estudos Medievais e pelo CITCEM – Centro de Investigação Transdisciplinar “Cultura, Espaço e Memória”, Lisboa, NOVA FCSH, 8 de fevereiro de 2019 Mário Farelo

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Os Estudos Medievais em Portugal: Dever de Qualidade e Direito de Cidadania

A Redacção

1 O Instituto de Estudos Medievais realizou de 13 a 15 de Dezembro de 2017 o colóquio “Medieval Europe in Motion. The Middle Ages: a Global Context”. Com ele os organizadores pretenderam juntar académicos em torno de uma das linhas do projecto estratégico do IEM: “People and Knowledge in Motion: Medieval Portugal in Trans- European Networks”, de forma a discutir e reavaliar a investigação ligada à mobilidade, circulação de modelos e fenómenos globais na Idade Média.

2 Este quarto colóquio subordinado à referida temática geral teve uma secção que se centrou nas esculturas românicas de madeira policromada na Europa, abordando o estado da questão e os fundamentos para investigações futuras. Os textos que fazem parte deste número da revista reflectem a preocupação dos investigadores com o estudo destas esculturas, de forma a chamar a atenção para a importância da policromia em obras que nos aparecem hoje como uma pálida imagem da sua realidade original. Um trabalho interdisciplinar de historiadores, historiadores da arte, conservadores e instituições que têm estas peças à sua guarda mostra a importância do estudo material para uma abordagem à escultura medieva e permite imprimir rigor às propostas dos investigadores que vão no sentido de uma pesquisa interdisciplinar que divulgue os seus saberes. A constituição de um corpus, de bases de dados digitais e de análises laboratoriais permite não só a identificação de materiais, da degradação de cores, de repintes, mas também detectar ou pôr em causa origens, cronologias e modelos anteriormente estabelecidos. Além disso, todos os autores são unânimes em referir a necessidade de procurar reconstituir os contextos originais para que foram criadas as esculturas, pois só desse modo se poderá compreender o percurso das obras e a importância das trocas culturais que lhes estão associadas.

3 A Medievalista vem assim dar visibilidade a uma temática ainda pouco explorada, mas cujos resultados apresentados por especialistas de reconhecido mérito dão um importante contributo para o conhecimento global das obras, da circulação de modelos

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e de artistas, mas que também reúnem material para a sua preservação e restauro. Como muito bem refere Lucretia Kargère no “Destaque” deste número da nossa revista, “os exames técnicos de esculturas de madeira policromada facilitam uma melhor compreensão da sua aparência original como imagens devocionais, onde a policromia cumpriu um papel crítico, seja pelo uso simbólico de justaposições de cores ou pela criação de superfícies deslumbrantes para inspirar o culto”.

4 O dossier temático foi organizado por Lucretia Kargère, especialista em restauro do Cloisters do Metropolitan Museum of Art, de Nova Iorque, de acordo com a proposta apresentada por Alicia Miguélez Cavero à Redacção da Medievalista, que de imediato a aceitou, pelo que aqui deixamos um público agradecimento a ambas. A originalidade e mesmo o carácter pioneiro de vários dos estudos que integram o dossier, a colaboração de grandes especialistas estrangeiros em escultura românica de madeira policromada e a amável anuência para a publicação destes seus textos constituem um imenso orgulho para a Medievalista, apostada como está em promover a difusão do medievalismo nas suas múltiplas vertentes, como expressão de uma efectiva internacionalização que não se confunde com adesões provincianas a qualquer império linguístico.

5 Além dos referidos trabalhos incluídos na secção dos “Artigos” e devidamente apresentados no “Destaque”, contamos com as habituais secções. Assim, publicam-se “Recensões” da autoria de Rui Rocha sobre um livro de Antoine Desemberg que estuda o imaginário social dos universitários medievais; de Victor Muñoz Gómez sobre a obra de Diana Pelaz Flores dedicada aos rituais líquidos no cerimonial da corte castelhana no final da Idade Média; e uma terceira recensão de Leandro Vilar Oliveira sobre a recente edição brasileira de um dicionário de história e cultura viking organizado por Johnni Langer. Na “Apresentação de Teses” contamos com os contributos de Javier Castiñeiras López sobre espaços e imagens na Galiza entre o final do século XI e o início do seguinte, de Joana Lencart sobre Pedro Álvares Seco e a memória da Ordem de Cristo, e de José Manuel Simões sobre a visão dos letrados na cronística tardomedieval portuguesa. Finalmente, na “Varia”, Paula Pinto Costa informa acerca do Encontro sobre Estudos de História Militar realizado no Porto e Mário Farelo faz o balanço da sexta edição do workshop “Investigar na Idade Média”.

6 Fiel ao seu propósito de garantir diversidade e exigência nos trabalhos publicados, a Medievalista não se tem furtado a tudo fazer, na medida das suas capacidades, para cumprir um “dever de qualidade” que tem sido constante para alargar a sua difusão e reconhecimento entre os estudiosos da Idade Média – da sua história, da sua arte, da sua literatura, da sua arqueologia, enfim, de todas as suas manifestações. O crescente número de colaborações que vamos recebendo quer de investigadores nacionais quer de estrangeiros, a vontade de publicar na nossa revista por parte de autores que são grandes autoridades internacionais nas respectivas áreas de especialidade, as apreciações positivas de que vamos tendo notícia são para nós como que um atestado do cumprimento desse nosso “dever de qualidade”.

7 Quando se aproxima a fase de divulgação, pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, dos resultados da avaliação dos Centros de Investigação nacionais – com o consequente financiamento – consideramos não ser abusivo reclamar o integral “Direito de Cidadania” para os estudos medievais e para a única Unidade de Investigação que no nosso país se dedica em exclusivo a esta área de investigação, o Instituto de Estudos Medievais. Esse direito que reivindicamos para podermos prosseguir no cumprimento dos nossos deveres face a crescentes exigências em custos humanos e financeiros

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deverá passar, terá mesmo de passar, por um financiamento que permita uma maior profissionalização da nossa revista, a fim de garantir a sua adequação formal às apertadas normas das plataformas de indexação de publicações periódicas de carácter científico. Esse é um dos grandes desafios com que a Medievalista se confronta.

8 Por isso queremos continuar a assumir o dever de qualidade. Mas também com o que julgamos ser o nosso pleno “direito de cidadania” no seio da comunidade historiográfica e científica de Portugal.

9 PS: Com este número termina a colaboração gráfica que Ricardo Naito prestou à Medievalista ao longo dos últimos anos. Sem ele, que não sendo medievalista se deixou “contaminar” pela nossa “peste”, a revista não seria o que é hoje. Com rigor e bom gosto gráfico, com compreensão para os apertos da Redacção e do Secretariado, nunca nos deixou ficar mal. E a Medievalista foi sempre editada no dia exacto para o lançamento de cada número. Além do reconhecimento e da gratidão, só lhe podemos desejar o maior sucesso nos novos projectos profissionais a que se irá dedicar.

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Destaque

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The momentum of studies of 11th- to early 13th-century polychrome wood sculptures in Europe

Lucretia Kargère

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 16 de abril de 2019

1 The publication of this volume, a product of the 4th international Medieval conference, “Medieval Europe in Motion, the Middle Ages: a Global Context” is a welcome opportunity to increase the momentum of study of 11th- to early 13th-century polychrome wood sculptures in Europe. While research on contemporaneous monumental stone sculptures and the distinctly smaller ivory statues has been widely disseminated, the inventory, stylistic and typological interrelation, as well as chronological classification of polychrome wooden sculptures, lag far behind. The scope for this body of research remains purposefully imprecise, as the time window for these sculptures is ill defined. While the term “Romanesque” usually encompasses sculptures produced anywhere around 1000 with a terminal date equally indistinct around 1200, it may also include sculptures retaining earlier qualities into the 11th century, or a “Romanesque” character well into the early 13th century, depending on regions. The definition of Romanesque, while intrinsically inadequate, needs to remain broad to facilitate discussion, and inversely the study of sculptures requires increased precision to establish new perspectives1.

2 Polychrome wood sculptures have remained a challenge to past and present scholars, as they are inherently in poor state of condition and rarely reflect their former original splendor. The era’s artistic production is also incomplete as many such sculptures have been lost. Painted wood, especially when three dimensional, is characteristically unstable, prone to deterioration from insect attacks, environmental fluctuations, fire, and past restorations including overpainting or paint removal as related to changes in

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devotional practices or taste. Lightweight and easily transported, few of these sculptures retain their original architectural and liturgical context, with many without precise origin, now relocated in other parishes, museums or private collections.

3 This collection of essays represents the work of a number of specialists in Europe, both art historians and conservators, who are engaged in the study of medieval sculptures. While Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Norway are represented, not every country with an important tradition of medieval wood sculpture could participate, although mentioned in many articles. Each author demonstrates an extensive knowledge of the subjects’ historiography, but mostly focuses on direct observation of the physical objects, using scientific methods of examination to answer questions of original construction, carving techniques, and painting methods. Besides art historical theories and stylistic analysis, most authors address the questions of dating and relative chronology, employing dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating (14C), combined with stratigraphic analysis of the paint. For example, the Burgundian Christ de Nevers studied by Nadia Bertoni-Cren dated in the past to the early 13th century partly because of the naturalism of its anatomy, is now thought to be a late 12th-century sculpture. Similarly, Emmanuelle Mercier questions the relative chronology of a number of sculptures from the late 10th through the 13th centuries, with for example the Tancrémont Crucifix dated in the past to around 1100 and now identified by 14C as the oldest sculpture in the round in Belgium with a dating around 1000. Other important discoveries are the 14C validation by Potte et alii of the Christ de Saint Flour, a sculpture long suspected of post- medieval facture, to the late 12th or early 13th centuries. Finally, recent analysis has confirmed a late 12th-century date to two rare crosses supporting their Crucifix, the Nevers cross in Burgundy (Bertoni-Cren) and the Montsalvy cross in Auvergne (Potte et alii). Jordi Camps widens the questions of dating and classification by frequent comparisons of the Spanish polychrome wood sculptures to other artistic media, including goldsmith or enamel works, small ivory figures, monumental stone sculptures as well as murals or paintings.

4 Camps further considers the question of work production for sculptors, with the possible existence of models or influential prototypes that may have disseminated throughout regions beyond specific artistic workshops, and even the importation of certain works from foreign lands. While technical similarities of polychrome wood sculptures throughout northern Europe seem to indicate shared artistic processes, materials and techniques identified on sculptures are not always mentioned in medieval treatises, suggesting an active process of oral transmission (Mercier). Despite this uniformity, there is still reason to argue that specific technical markers may be used to define regional workshops. Agnès Blossier and Dominique Faunières for example describe uncanny similarities of materials and techniques on a group of Auvergne crucifixes, clearly pointing to standardized production of a certain prototype by a local atelier (Potte et alii). The question of models and copies for Romanesque polychrome sculptures remains a difficult task to address, which will require rigorous and systematic examination of these objects (Kargère in Potte et alii)2.

5 The study of the technical aspects of polychrome wood sculptures also brings new data on the question of trades in artist’s materials and dissemination of techniques throughout Europe. Unn Plahter and Kaja Kollandsrud confirm the fluent visual vocabulary and material expression of Scandinavian polychrome sculptures, and their common language with those of the western continent, as well as the more distant art

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of Byzantium. The corpus of remarkably well-preserved Scandinavian sculptures, along with the thoroughly studied Belgian examples, confirm an evolution in carving and painting techniques from the 12th to the 13th centuries, bracketed by earlier or later examples (Plahter/Kollandsrud; Mercier). For carving, the changes transpire in the choice of wood, crack prevention methods during the drying process, joining techniques, or selection of tools. With many gaps preventing a comprehensive documentation of painting techniques throughout Europe, an overview of the northern sculptures indicates a greater but not exclusive use of water miscible media in the 12th century, changing to a full exploitation of oil as a binder in the 13th century, the generally thicker grounds and greater use of glazes in the 13th century, and new pigment choices. For example, lapis lazuli extensively found in the 12th century is generally superseded by azurite in the 13th century; gold, rare in the 12th and usually imitated with glazed tin or silver leaf, becomes more available in the 13th century (Mercier; Plahter/Kollandsrud). The results, although showing clear trends, will benefit from comparison to painting techniques south of the Alps, as well as to individual case studies and research into workshop practice and regional specificity. Azurite for example has been identified on 12th- to early 13th-century sculptures, notably on the earliest layers of the Madonna di Acuto (Fachechi/Bracci), the Christ of Abbadia San Salvatore in Italy (Bertoni-Cren), the earliest layers of the Batlló Crucifix3 and the Burgundian Christ of Nevers (Bertoni-Cren).

6 Beyond results of technical analysis, this collection of essays represents a powerful proof that the breadth of research needed on this corpus of objects should be viewed as a cultural project, requiring the involvement of many different kinds of administrative and cross disciplinary entities. In Italy, very little technical information is available on Romanesque polychrome wood sculptures, as a number of them remain objects of cult in local chapels (Fachechi). Their study would require an interdisciplinary effort, starting with a persuasive message describing the importance of examining these objects on a technical level, with a shared methodology of approach following best standards of analysis. This alone will gain the cooperation of church officials and their parishioners, mayors, cultural governing entities (e.g. DRAC in France or Soprintendenza per I Beni culturali in Italy), along with the collaboration of universities, regional and national laboratories, as well as museums. Subsequently, it is with conferences such as the Lisbon Medieval meeting that progress is made in the understanding of these sculptures, where experts have the opportunity to share and debate results of examination.

7 The field is promising and much remains to be done, starting with a thorough cataloguing and documentation of sculptures, and proceeding with their methodological examination. New avenues of studies encompass archival research into the original provenance of these sculptures, their original architectural context, and active functions in the liturgy. Technical examinations of polychrome wood sculptures facilitate a better understanding of their original appearance as devotional images, where polychromy fulfilled a critical role, either by the symbolic use of color juxtapositions or by the creation of dazzling surfaces to inspire worship. Finally the stratigraphy of later painting campaigns and the presence or alteration of reliquary compartments are important indicators of the sculptures’ long material and devotional histories.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARRAL I ALTET, Xavier – Contre l’Art roman? Essai sur un passé réinventé. Paris: Fayard 2006.

BORLÉE, Denise; TERRIER ALIFERIS, Laurence (ed.) – Les modèles dans l’art du Moyen Âge (XIIe-XVe siècles). Turnhout: Brepols, 2018.

CAMPUZANO, Mireia; CARRERAS, Anna; COMELLA, Àngels; MASALLES, Àlex – “Noves aportacions per a l’estudi de la Majestat Batlló: identificació u caracterització de la policromia subjacent”. Bulletí MNAC 11 (2010) p. 13-31.

GABORIT, Jean-René – La sculpture romane. Paris: Hazan, 2010.

MAXWELL, Robert; AMBROSE, Kirk – Current directions in eleventh- and twelfth- century sculptures studies. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010.

NOTES

1. BARRAL I ALTET, Xavier – Contre l’Art roman? Essai sur un passé réinventé. Paris: Fayard 2006; MAXWELL, Robert; AMBROSE, Kirk – Current directions in eleventh- and twelfth- century sculptures studies. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010; GABORIT, Jean-René – La sculpture romane. Paris: Hazan, 2010. 2. BORLÉE, Denise; TERRIER ALIFERIS, Laurence (ed.) – Les modèles dans l’art du Moyen Âge (XIIe-XVe siècles). Turnhout: Brepols, 2018. 3. CAMPUZANO, Mireia; CARRERAS, Anna; COMELLA, Àngels; MASALLES, Àlex – “Noves aportacions per a l’estudi de la Majestat Batlló: identificació u caracterització de la policromia subjacent”. Bulletí MNAC 11 (2010) p. 25.

AUTHOR

LUCRETIA KARGÈRE

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA [email protected]

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Artigos

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Romanesque polychrome wood sculptures in Italy: towards a Corpus and a comparative analysis of the data from art-historical and technical studies Esculturas românicas de madeira policromada em Itália: para um corpus e uma análise comparativa a partir dos dados de estudos técnicos e de história da arte

Grazia Maria Fachechi and Susanna Bracci

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data de envio do artigo / Send for publication: 9 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

Introduction

1 The starting point for this study is an interdisciplinary research, supervised by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, and financed by The Getty Foundation, concerning the collection of sculptures preserved in the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia in Rome, and involving not only art historians from Universities but also scientists from the Italian National Research Council, in order to collect also information about materials and techniques1.

2 The Museum of Palazzo Venezia in Rome contains the most important collection of wood sculptures in Italy for variety and for quantity: almost two hundred pieces, even though only a tiny portion of these works (less than twenty) is on display in the Museum. The rest are in the warehouses of the Museum and were unknown to

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scholarship and to the public, until the publication of the catalogue of the entire collection, which includes technical entries for all the sculptures2, plus an on-line catalogue (in English, too)3. The collection is varied by chronology, ranging from the 12th to the 18 th century, and geographical origin, covering Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and more. This is because the collection comes mostly from a donation to Italy in 1933 from a couple of very rich American collectors, George and Henriette Wurts, who moved from Philadelphia to Rome, traveling and buying artworks all over Europe4. In the 2017 an exhibit in the Museum of Palazzo Venezia and in the Vittoriano in Rome was dedicated to them5.

3 Precisely because of this diversity, and since all the sculptures were examined by the same team and with the same methods (both stylistic analysis and technical-scientific investigation), this collection was perfect for a comparative study, in order to interconnect data concerning materials and technique with the cultural environment of the artists.

Methods of scientific examination

4 Identification of the wood species and construction was carried out through microscopic examination of thin sections, by the “Trees and Timber Institute of the Italian National Research Council-IVALSA CNR-Florence”. 130 micro samples were drawn from 93 sculptures, and a total of 11 timbers were identiﬁed. Lime and poplar are the most common timbers, present in more than one half of the identifications; the next most common woods are Swiss stone pine and walnut. These four timbers together make up 80% of the identifications.

5 The analysis of the results, combined with the geographical and cultural origin of the sculptures, demonstrated that in central-southern Germany limewood was preferred, in northern Europe (Lowlands around the Rhine delta) walnut and above all deciduous oak were favored, while the alpine sculptors used preferably Swiss pine wood. In Italy, poplar and lime were the first choice for wood carving. While the analytical results of this comparative study concerning the timbers were published6, the results of the analyses regarding polychromy have never been published.

6 For the characterization of the polychromies an integrated protocol was developed including both non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques to provide the required information and cover the broad spectrum of issues and materials present. The investigations were carried out in a sequence that would allow the optimization of the different phases based on the results obtained from time to time7. The statues under study were 22.

7 The first step was based on a non-invasive approach conducted directly in the Museum, thanks to portable instrumentation such as Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS)8 with the acquisition of 123 spectra and the documentation of the area analysed by digital optical microscopy (OM). Successively, X-ray fluorescence spectra (XRF)9 were acquired for a total of 53 areas10.

8 On the basis of the data collected in the first step, specific areas were chosen for taking one or two micro samples from some of the statues, in order to both clarify questions still open and to observe the stratigraphy. After taking it, the sample was further sampled in the laboratory under the microscope to obtain material to be analyzed by

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Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR)11 and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) 12 in particular for investigating the preparatory layer both in term of aggregate and binder. With the remaining sample a cross section was prepared and observed under the microscope with visible and UV light13. Furthermore, the cross section was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS)14.

Sculptures at the Palazzo Venezia: results of technical analysis

9 If we want to sum up, briefly15, in the sculptures of Palazzo Venezia we observe that, regarding the preparatory layer, together with the binder, gypsum is always used in the sculptures south of the Alps and either gypsum or calcium carbonate in the north of the Alps. The most frequent pigments are cinnabar and white lead, almost inevitable for the flesh tones, although in different doses; for example, the Germans show a preference for very pale faces, even going so far as to mix the white lead with the ocher. Azurite is rather frequent, used above all for the Virgin's mantle. In one case, it is applied on a black base, according to a procedure that we know applied more frequently in the Nordic area, probably aimed at intensifying the tone of the color16. Rare is the use of lapis lazuli, found, for example, in the guise of the figure of a king17. Also greens are present, but more difficult to identify in their components. We find also minium, for example, in the mantle of a Nursing Madonna18. Gilding, present in not rare cases, is made only in pure gold leaf, almost always applied over an orange bolus base. Very interesting is the case of a Christ between Saints Peter and Paul. These figures, originally polychrome, were then entirely gilded, with some pictorial effects, given by the use of boluses of different colors (yellow, red, black) that create various shades, and by a differentiated browning19. The silver leaf is rarer and exclusively found in the German sculptures.

10 Among the techniques of pictorial decoration, the estofado de oro is present in various Italian examples, which is another proof that in Italy there existed a long tradition of using polychromes “a sgraffito”, and that therefore these works are not necessarily an indication of Iberian influence. Sometimes we find lacquer. In one case, it serves to mark the trace of a tear that flows on the pale face of Our Lady of Sorrows20.

Madonna di Acuto

11 Among the sculptures in Palazzo Venezia, is the so-called Madonna di Acuto (fig. 1), one of the best-preserved Romanesque wood sculptures in Italy. Based on stylistic observations, scholars have been proposed various dates, from 1100 to 1220; the date currently proposed is between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century21. The Madonna di Acuto was originally preserved in a church in Acuto, a small town near Rome, then was moved to the Museum of Palazzo Venezia in 1920. In the literature, on the basis of stylistic criteria, it is attributed to a Central Italian sculptor, although Northern Italian and French (Auvergne) influences are also highlighted.

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Fig. 1 – Romanesque sculptor, Enthroned Madonna with Child, called Madonna di Acuto, 12th-13th century, polychrome wood, 107 x 45 x 24 cm, Roma, Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia.

Permission for reproduction obtained by the Soprintendenza SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della Città di Roma, 2011

12 The iconography is reminiscent of byzantine icons, specifically, the so-called Odigitria (meaning she who is pointing the Way); to be more precise, a pretty rare version in Rome of this type, representing the Virgin dexiokratousa (i.e. holding the Child on her right knee). The model for the Madonna di Acuto was probably the icon once preserved in the church of S. Nicola della Pescheria in Rome, stolen in 1988, dated back to the beginning of the 12th century (fig. 2) 22. They share not only the iconography, but palette, considering the original aspect of their polychromy, in the icon now covered by diverse pigments, in the Madonna di Acuto not entirely visible anymore, but still quite visible in some pictures from the ‘50s (fig. 3), and that we can digital reconstruct (fig. 4). This provides “food for thought” on how research on Romanesque polychrome wood sculpture can be disseminated to the public, and if the virtual reconstruction of lost polychromy is not only a tool of research but also a good method to make students and visitors of museums understand the original appearance of works of art changed over time, and the so-called “colour shift”, that means a change in colour quality of a sculpture as it originally appeared and as it is seen today; even though, we must indeed admit that we will never be able to reproduce their original state, which is definitively lost.

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Fig. 2 – Romanesque painter, Enthroned Madonna with Child, tempera on wood, 12th century, once preserved in the church of S. Nicola della Pescheria in Rome, stolen in 1988.

FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Sculture in legno. Roma: Gangemi, 2011

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Fig. 3 – Historical photograph of the Madonna di Acuto

CARLI, Enzo – La scultura lignea italiana. Milano, 1960

Fig. 4 – Digital reconstruction of the polychromy of the Madonna di Acuto

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13 The sculpture, which measures 107 cm high x 45 cm wide and only 24 cm deep, was made from walnut, considered all over Europe a precious wood thanks to its warm colour, medium to fine texture, and good workability. It is carved from a single piece of wood, as it is possible to see from the X-ray radiograph (fig. 5)23, that also shows an unidentified piece between the Madonna’s eyes. The back is deeply hollowed (fig. 6), as is common practice, with the removal of the core of the log, in order to minimize the formation of cracks. Both heads are conceived in the round.

Fig. 5 – X-ray radiograph of the Madonna di Acuto

Permission for reproduction obtained by the Archivio Laboratorio M.I.D.A., Roma, 2011.

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Fig. 6 – Back of the Madonna di Acuto

Permission for reproduction obtained by the Soprintendenza SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della Città di Roma, 2011.

Polychromy

14 Let’s focus now on the polychromy of the Madonna di Acuto.

15 In fig. 7 all the analyzed areas are reported with a progressive number and an initial indicating the technique applied. All these analyses have been conducted in situ in the museum. In fig. 8 some detailed pictures of the surfaces, taken with the digital optical microscope, are reported. Summing up the results, all the red areas are realized with cinnabar. The FORS spectrum corresponds very well to the reference one, while in the XRF spectrum the signals of mercury (Hg) are very evident. The calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) are likely to derive from the preparatory layer (fig. 9). Flesh tones are realized with white (lead white) and variable amounts of cinnabar to impart more or less pinkish tones to the flesh. Light blue areas, such as the dress of the Madonna, are realized with azurite. The FORS spectrum corresponds very well to the reference one, while in the XRF spectrum the signal of copper (Cu) are the most intense (fig. 10).

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Fig. 7 – Madonna di Acuto. Areas analyzed with FORS (black dots), with XRF (green dots) and areas documented with digital optical microscopy (blue dots).

The white dots are the areas chosen for sampling. © Bracci, ICVBC-CNR, 2011.

Fig. 8 – Detailed pictures of the surfaces: a) green on the left arm of the child (1md); b) red on the left knees of Madonna (3md); c) blue of the mantle (6md); d) gilding on the mantle of the child (9md).

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Fig. 9 – (a) FORS spectrum of area (1) of the red mantle of the Madonna (red line) compared to the reference spectrum of cinnabar (black line). (b) XRF spectrum of the same area on the mantle, where signals of mercury (Hg) are evident.

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Fig. 10 – (a) FORS spectrum of area (10) of the blue dress of the Madonna (blue line) compared to the reference spectrum of azurite (black line). (b) XRF spectrum of the same area on the dress where signals of copper (Cu) are evident.

16 Green areas, such as the sleeve of the child’s dress, are realized by using a copper based

green pigment mixed with some yellow (most likely orpiment, As2S3). In addition, thanks to the non-invasiveness of the techniques it was also possible to analyze the supposed gems on the Madonna’s chest and on the child’s sleeve (fig. 11). The blue gem on the Madonna’s chest is probably sodium based glass, most likely discolored with iron and stabilized with calcium oxide, slightly opaque due to antimony and lead based

compound (likely lead antimoniate, Pb2Sb2O7). Color is due to the presence of Co (II) which is well highlighted by FORS. The presence of cobalt, even in small quantities, gives the intense blue tonality of glass. The position of the three absorption bands of Cobalt confirms the soda rich glass24,25. The green gem is probably a sodium based glass, partly opacified with tin oxide (SnO) antimony and lead based compound (likely lead

antimoniate, Pb2Sb2O7). The chromophore imparting the green color is copper Cu (II) identified by one broad absorption band centered around 750 nm at in the FORS spectrum. From these data it is possible to conclude that those there were always supposed to be gems are not gems but glass.

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Fig. 11 – (a) FORS spectrum of blue gem on the chest of the Madonna, where the signal of Co(II) are evident. (b) FORS spectrum of green gem on the sleeve of the child, where the signal of Cu(II) are evident.

17 In order to clarify some still open questions that could not be solved with data obtained using non-invasive techniques, two samples were taken and analyzed in the laboratory. Here we report the data about the sample 1p taken from the knee of the child corresponding to a supposed re-gilded area. The data obtained show an original stratigraphy in contact with the wood composed of a preparatory layer made of

gypsum (calcium sulphate dehydrated, CaSO4 2H2O) mixed with animal glue on which a thin layer of red bole was applied for the adhesion of the pure gold leaf (few fragments left).

18 Above this, a new preparatory layer, different from the original one, very thick, is

present. This new preparatory layer is composed by calcite (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), silica and animal glue. A very thin layer of bole is the preparatory layer for a new pure gold leaf (even this layer is not continuous) (fig. 12).

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Fig. 12 – Cross section of the sample taken from the gilded mantle of the child (left knee of the child) observed under the optical microscope and image of the cross section in backscattered electrons acquired in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

State of research and future endeavors

19 It would be very useful to compare the results on the investigation on the polychromy of the Madonna di Acuto with the results of the investigation on polychromy of other Romanesque Madonnas from the Lazio region with the same stylistic features: the so- called Madonna di Costantinopoli (Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore at Alatri, FR)26, and the very damaged Madonna di S. Maria della Valle at Subiaco (RM)27, and the Madonna of the Santuario di Santa Maria at Vico nel Lazio (FR)28. But none of them were ever analyzed from the technical standpoint. Only the Madonna di Guadagnolo (near Rome), called the Mentorella or the Vulturella, very similar to the Madonna di Acuto, was investigated for remains of its polychromy; but the results are not that useful since the traces of the original colors are very few, specifically in the flesh tones, and some gold for the mantle and for the dress of the Madonna29.

20 In Italy, not much attention is paid to polychromy of wood sculpture, above all from the Middle Ages and most of all from the Romanesque period. The sculptures of this era continue to be investigated by traditional methods, stylistic and more rarely iconographical (which includes sometimes the mere description of the colors)30. Only in the case of restoration’s treatment, often carried out before an exhibition, curators of Museums and restorers publish the results of technical investigations31.

21 So, we have to admit that, even though the technical study of European Romanesque polychrome wood sculpture has developed considerably in the last several decades,

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published scholarship on the materials and techniques of Italian Romanesque polychrome wood sculpture is still scant, and this topic is still a relatively small field.

22 Nevertheless, the topic is far from insignificant, but, on the contrary, very important not only to underscore the sophistication of these works of art and the high quality of craftsmanship in the Romanesque era, but also to better understand the cultural context of these works. That is why we decided to launch an interdisciplinary research- project entitled “Romanesque polychrome wood sculptures in Italy: towards a Corpus and a comparative analysis of the data from art-historical and technical studies”, just started at the University of Urbino32.

23 The idea is, firstly, to understand the state of the question, secondly, to create a digital database, collecting all data we have about Romanesque wood sculpture in Italy (never collected until now), from both historical (i.e. chronology, original provenance/ settings, iconography) and technical analysis, creating a data entry form, adding images of each sculpture, and finally trying to interpret them and, of course, sharing the results. Some of the data and images can be obtained from the databases of the MiBACT (Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism), CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference), ICCD (Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation), ISCR (Italian Institute for Conservation and Restoration), OPD (Opificio delle Pietre Dure), and private restoration laboratories. The most important source of information (even though it is discontinuous information) is, in any case, the literature on this subject.

24 In this research project special attention is given to polychromy, meaning the intersection of materials, technique, iconography, symbolism of colors. The aim is to detect similarities or differences regarding the use of color in various regions in Italy from the iconographic-iconological and technical standpoint, for cognitive and educational purposes, and the reason for the use of a specific color in a specific sculpture, chosen certainly not by chance but intentionally.

25 For now, the research is focusing only on Madonnas, considering those dated earlier than 1265 and still preserved in religious building and in public collections in Italy, and then it will be considering other subjects. Unfortunately, the first results of this initial research confirm our first impression: we have information about polychromy just for a small group of Madonnas in Italy. For instance, looking at the central-southern Italy, the Madonnas of S. Giovanni at Castelli (TE)33, Carsoli (now in the Museo d’Arte Sacra della Marsica, AQ)34, Collegiata at Arpino (FR)35, the so-called “Sipontina” (now in the Cathedral of Mandredonia, FG)36, the so-called Santa Maria Inelice (in S. Biagio at Rapolla, PZ)37, the Madonnas of the Santuari of Viggiano38, Seminara (RC)39, Tindari40, Museo Civico at Recanati (MC)41, SS. Pietro e Paolo at Pescasseroli (AQ)42, Museo Civico at Gubbio (PG)43, and some others, non that many, considering that the number of Romanesque polychrome wood Madonnas in Italy are no fewer, at the very least, than one hundred. In the last three Romanesque Madonnas we mentioned, restorers and scientists found azurite, just as we did in the Madonna di Acuto, which seems to be the earliest of the four works. This is a very interesting and relevant result, since, as we know, azurite was rarely used in wooden sculpture before the middle of the 13th century44. On the contrary, azurite was used in stone sculptures throughout the Middle Ages. For example, it was found in the west lunette of the Baptistery of Parma, sculptured by Benedetto Antelami at the beginning of the 13th century45, and even in a very old artwork, the altar of Ratchis in Cividale del Friuli, which dates back to the 8th

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century46. Now, since sculptors used azurite in stone before the middle of the 13th century, even in the Early Middle Ages, why shouldn’t they have used it in wood sculpture too? So, if the Madonna di Acuto can't be dated later than 1220 for stylistic reasons, and the analysis says that the polychromy we see is original, we must conclude that in Italy azurite, used in stone sculpture, was also used in some Romanesque Madonnas, starting, on the bases of our current knowledge, with the Madonna di Acuto.

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NOTES

1. Whereas the study presented here is the result of a joint project undertaken by both the authors who signed the paper, sections 1, 3, 4, 6 are the work of Grazia Maria Fachechi, sections 2, 5 are the work of Susanna Bracci. 2. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Sculture in legno. Roma: Gangemi, 2011. 3. http://museopalazzovenezia.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/125/progetto-getty-foundation- catalogo-delle-sculture 4. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – “George Washington Wurts, Henriette Tower, una collezione di curiosità e opere d’arte e una villa magnificent, the handsomest ever bestowed on Rome”. in PERINI FOLESANI, Giovanna; AMBROSINI MASSARI, Anna Maria (ed.) – Riflessi del collezionismo tra bilanci critici e nuovi contributi. Reflections on/of Art Collecting, between Critical assessments and New Contribution. Atti del Convegno (Urbino 2013). Firenze: Olschki, 2014, pp. 321-329. 5. PELLEGRINI, Emanuele – Voglia d’Italia: il collezionismo internazionale nella Roma del Vittoriano. Napoli: Arte’m, 2017, in particular FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – “I Wurts e Roma: arte, mondanità e potere”, pp. 110-121.

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6. MACCHIONI, Nicola; FACHECHI, Grazia Maria; LAZZERI, Simona; SOZZI, Lorena – “Timber species and provenances of wooden sculpture. Information from the collections of the National Museum of Palazzo di Venezia”. Journal Cultural Heritage 16 (2015), pp. 57-64. 7. PINNA, Daniela; GALEOTTI, Monica; MAZZEO, Rocco – Scientific Examination for the Investigation of Paintings: A Handbook for Conservators Restorers. Firenze: Centro Di, 2010. 8. BACCI, Mauro – “UV-VIS-NIR, FT-IR, FORS Spectroscopies, in Modern Analytical Methods”. in CILIBERTO, Enrico; SPOTO, Gilberto (ed.) – Art and Archaeology. Chemical Analysis: A Series of Monographs on Analytical Chemistry and Its Applications. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000, pp 321-361. BACCI, Mauro; BOSELLI, Lara; PICOLLO, Marcello; RADICATI, Bruno – “Ultraviolet, Visible, Near Infrared Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS)”. in PINNA, Daniela; GALEOTTI, Monica; MAZZEO, Rocco (ed.) – Scientific Examination for the Investigation of Paintings. A Handbook for Conservator-restorers. Firenze: Centro Di, 2009, pp. 197-203. 9. SECCARONI, Claudio; MOIOLI, Pietro – Fluorescenza X, Prontuario per l’analisi XRF portatile applicata a superfici policrome. Firenze: Nardini, 2004; SHUGAR, Aaron N; MASS, Jennifer L. (ed.) – Handheld XRF for Art and Archeology. Studies in Archeological Science 3. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2012. 10. The XRF spectra were acquired by Claudio Falcucci (MIDA Laboratory, Roma) in correspondence of the areas already analyzed with FORS technique. 11. DERRICK, Michelle R; STULIK, Dusan; LANDRY, James M. (ed.) – “Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation Science”. in Scientific Tools for Conservation. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999. 12. CORBEIL, Marie-Claudie – “Application of X-ray diffraction in conservation science and archeometry”. Advances in X-ray analyses 47 (2004) pp. 18-29. 13. BRACCI, Susanna – “Cross section microanalysis using UV/VIS microscopy”. in DE JONGH, Ingeborg et al. (ed.) – Authentication in Art - A handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art. The Hague: Authentication in Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 76-77. 14. SCHREINER, Manfred; MELCHER, Michael; UHLIR, Katharina – “Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis: application in the field of cultural heritage”. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 387 (2007) 3, pp. 737-747. PINNA, Daniela – “Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS or EDX)”. in DE JONGH, Ingeborg et al. (ed.) – Authentication in Art…, pp. 52-53, 2018. 15. For some more details, see: FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale..., p. 46. 16. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale..., pp. 82-83, cat. 10. 17. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale…, pp. 124-125, cat. 60. 18. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale…, pp. 78-79, cat. 5. 19. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale…, pp. 100-105, cat. 32.

F0 20. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale BC , pp. 117-118, cat. 51. 21. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – Museo Nazionale… pp. 71-74, cat. 1. 22. FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – “Di legno e d’oro, d’azzurrite e di cinabro: la romanica Madonna di Acuto e il suo statuto di oggetto di transizione”. in CAPPELLETTI, Francesca et al. (ed.) – Le due Muse. Scritti d’arte, collezionismo e letteratura in onore di Ranieri Varese. Ancona: Il lavoro editoriale, 2012, pp. 216-227. 23. It was carried out by Claudio Falcucci (MIDA Laboratory in Rome). 24. CEGLIA, Andrea et al. – “Cobalt absorption bands for the differentiation of historical Na and Ca/K rich glass”. Surface and Interface Analysis 44 (2012) 2, pp. 219-226. 25. FORNACELLI Cristina et al. – “The role of different network modifying cations on the speciation of the Co2+ complex in silicates and implication in the investigation of historical glasses”. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 188 (2018), pp. 507–515. 26. SALVADORI, Eugenia – La Madonna di Costantinopoli in Alatri. Alatri: Tofani, 2016.

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27. LUDOVISI, Alessia – “Madonne lignee laziali del Duecento. Il caso della Vergine di Subiaco”. in FIDANZA, Giovan Battista (ed.) – L’arte del legno in Italia. Esperienze ed indagini a confronto. Perugia: Quattroemme, 2006, pp. 159-168. 28. TOMEI, Natale – “La Madonna lignea è tornata a Vico nel Lazio”. Terra nostra 34 (1995), pp. 9-11. 29. TOESCA, Ilaria – “Madonna con Bambino”. in Attività della Soprintendenza alle Gallerie del Lazio. Roma: Soprintendenza Gallerie Lazio, 1967, p. 11. 30. CURZI, Gaetano – “La diffusione delle Sedes Sapientiae. Questioni cronologiche tra Toscana, Umbria, Lazio e Abruzzo nei secoli XII e XIII”. Studi Medievali e Moderni 15 (2011), pp. 19-43. 31. For an overview, see: TONINI, Francesca – La scultura lignea – Tecniche e restauro. Manuale per allievi restauratori. Padova: Il Prato, 2015. 32. VASTANO, Agnese; CUZZOLIN, Silva – “La Madonna col Bambino del Museo Diocesano di Recanati”. in IACOBINI, Antonio; FACHECHI, Grazia Maria (ed.) – Legni marchigiani. Urbino: Quattroventi, 2001, pp. 21-38. 33. ARBACE, Lucia – Antiche Madonne d’Abruzzo. Dipinti e sculture lignee medioevali dal Castello dell’Aquila. Torino: Allemandi, 2010, pp. 40-42. 34. BAGNOLI, Alessandro; BARTALINI, Roberto – Madonna col Bambino. in BAGNOLI, Alessandro; BARTALINI, Roberto (ed.) – Scultura dipinta. Maestri di legname e pittori a Siena 1250-1450. Firenze: Centro Di, 1987, pp. 16-17. 35. ACCONCI, Alessandra – “La Madonna della Civita di Arpino. Intervento di manutenzione conservativa del gruppo ligneo policromo nella collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta ad Arpino, Frosinone”. Kermes 27 (2014), pp. 41-57. 36. VAN DER WERF, Inez; LAVIANO, Rocco; SABBATINI, Luigia – “Indagini archeometriche sulle Madonne lignee dal volto bruno nei santuari della Puglia e della Basilicata”. in GROPPO, Lalla; GIRARDI, Oliviero (ed.) – Nigra sum. Culti, santuari e immagini delle Madonne Nera d’Europa. Atti del convegno internazionale (Santuario e Sacro Monte di Oropa, Santuario e Sacro Monte di Crea, 2010). Ponzano Monferrato: Atlas, 2012, pp. 49-54. 37. VENTUROLI, Paolo; CASCIARO, Raffaele (ed.) – Scultura lignea in Basilicata. Torino: Allemandi, 2004, pp. 130-131. 38. VAN DER WERF, Inez; LAVIANO, Rocco; SABBATINI, Luigia – “Indagini archeometriche sulle Madonne lignee dal volto bruno nei santuari della Puglia e della Basilicata”. in GROPPO, Lalla; GIRARDI, Oliviero (ed.) – Nigra sum…, pp. 49-54. 39. DE CHIRICO, Fabio – La Madonna dei poveri di Seminara: il culto, la storia, il restauro. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2011. 40. FAZIO, Giuseppe – La Madonna di Tindari e le Vergini nere medievali. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2012, pp. 40-55.

F0 41. VASTANO, Agnese; CUZZOLIN, Silva – “La Madonna col Bambino BC ”, pp. 21-38.

F0 42. ACCONCI, Alessandra – “La Madonna della Civita di ArpinoBC ”, pp. 47-59. 43. SPERANZA, Laura – “La scultura lignea policroma. Ricerche e modelli operativi di restauro”. Le antologie di OPD restauro 3 (2007), pp. 253-264. 44. A rare case of use of azurite in the XII century wood sculpture is discussed in BERTONI CREN, Nadia; CREN, Stéphane – “Note dal restauro del crocefisso di San Salvatore”. in PREZZOLINI, Carlo (ed.) – Il crocifisso di Abbadia San Salvatore. Montepulciano: Thesan & Turan, 2010, pp. 33-41. 45. PINNA, Daniela – “Casi di policromia nella scultura medievale in Emilia”. in ANDREUCCETTI, Paola Antonella, LAZZARESCHI CERVELLI, Iacopo (ed.) – Il colore nel Medioevo. Arte simbolo tecnica. Pietra e colore: conoscenza, conservazione e restauro della policromia. Lucca: Istituto storico lucchese, 2009, pp. 103-109, particolarly p. 105. 46. CHINELLATO, Laura – Arte longobarda in Friuli. L’ara di Ratchis a Cividale: la ricerca e la riscoperta delle policromie. Udine: Forum, 2016, especially pp. 148-149.

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ABSTRACTS

The most important and rich collection of wooden sculptures in Italy is conserved at the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia in Rome. Some years ago, the study of this collection was carried out by the University of Urbino in collaboration with the Institute for Conservation and Valorization in Florence (ICVBC-CNR) thanks to funding by the Getty Foundation. This was an extraordinary opportunity for interdisciplinary research, between art history and technical-material scientific analysis, concerning the almost two hundred works preserved there, of different dating and provenance. Among them is the so-called Madonna di Acuto, one of the most fascinating wooden sculptures of the Romanesque period in Italy, remarkable for its stylistic quality and state of preservation. And it is precisely the interest aroused by this Madonna at the origin of a new research project, just started by the same team, dedicated to the polychrome sculpture of the Romanesque era in Italy; a subject that is still little frequented by scholars. The aim is to collect data concerning the historical-artistic and technical-material aspects, with particular attention to polychromy, and to create a digital database, to verify if, between the 11th and the third quarter of the 13th century, existed a “typical behaviors" by the masters of lumber operating in a specific geographical area. This will help to establish the relationship, which was certainly created, between the nature of pigments, iconography, and symbolism of colors.

A mais importante e rica colecção de esculturas de madeira em Itália encontra-se conservada no Museu Nacional do Palazzo Veneza em Roma. Há alguns anos, o estudo desta colecção foi levado a cabo pela Universidade de Urbino em colaboração com o Instituto de Conservação e Valorização em Florença (ICVBC-CNR), graças a um financiamento por parte da Getty Foundation. Tratou-se de uma extraordinária oportunidade de investigação interdisciplinar, entre história da arte e análise científica técnico-material, sobre as quase duzentas peças aí preservadas, com datas e proveniências diversas. Entre elas, encontra-se a chamada Madonna di Acuto, uma das esculturas de madeira mais fascinantes do período românico em Itália, notável pela sua qualidade estilística e pelo seu estado de preservação. E é precisamente o interesse suscitado por esta Madonna que está na origem de um novo projeto de pesquisa, iniciado pela mesma equipa, dedicado à escultura policromada na era românica em Itália; um tema que continua a ser pouco visitado pelos académicos. O objectivo é reunir dados sobre aspectos histórico-artísticos e técnico-materiais, com particular atenção à policromia, e criar uma base de dados digital, para verificar se, entre o século XI e o terceiro quarto do século XIII, existiam “comportamentos típicos” por parte dos mestres das madeiras a operar numa área geográfica específica. Isto ajudará a estabelecer a relação, que certamente se criou, entre a natureza dos pigmentos, iconografia e simbolismo das cores.

INDEX

Keywords: Museum of Palazzo Venezia in Rome, Madonna di Acuto, Romanesque Italian wood sculpture, Digital database, Interdisciplinary research Palavras-chave: Museu do Palazzo Venezia em Roma, Madonna di Acuto, Escultura românica italiana em madeira, Base de dados digital, Pesquisa interdisciplinar

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AUTHORS

GRAZIA MARIA FACHECHI

School of Humanities, Arts, Philosophy – Department of Humanities, University of Urbino, 61029, Urbino, Italy [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2995-496X

SUSANNA BRACCI

Institute for the Conservation and Promotion of Cultural Heritage, Italian National Research Council, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino-Florence, Italy [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6775-1966

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Wooden sculpture in Romanesque Iberian Peninsula: a wide and attractive panorama. Lines of research Escultura de madeira na Península Ibérica românica: um panorama vasto e atrativo. Linhas de investigação

Jordi Camps i Sòria

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 21 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

1 In the Romanesque period, polychrome wood sculpture in the Hispanic kingdoms and counties presents an extraordinary variety of types and styles. This is reflected in the examples that are still worshipped in their original place, and in the huge number of works conserved in museums and private collections whose provenance is not always known. Thus, images of the Virgin Mary, different types of Crucifixes, whole or fragmentary groups of the Crucifixion or the Descent from the Cross, images of saints or of Christ enthroned and other kinds of statuettes, make up a rich and, at the same time, complex panorama. We must not forget, moreover, that production in wood covered other types of objects, items of furniture, some associated with the altar (frontals, edicules or retrotabula, baldachins) and the presbytery as a whole (seats, lecterns, and so on), objects that could also be worked in other materials (stone) or covered with metal.

2 Classifying and contextualizing them is made difficult by various factors, largely depending on the long history of the objects that have survived. Firstly, it is virtually impossible to reconstruct their original site, associated with an architectural and

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liturgical context that we can only evoke hypothetically through indirect sources or by comparison with other examples (fig. 1). Secondly, it is difficult to get an idea of the original “Romanesque” appearance of the works, given the successive transformations that they have logically undergone over the centuries, due to renovations, adaptations or restorations resulting from their continued use. We are paradoxically fortunate that it is precisely an object’s rich and eventful history that has enabled us to contemplate it today, still a challenge for contemporary scholars. Finally, one has to bear in mind the scarcity of records to supply us with evidence for dating and classification. We have very little information regarding their dating, authorship and patronage, although there are some significant points of reference.

Fig. 1 – Cruciﬁx of Alquézar (Aragon), second half of the 12th century, polychromed wood, Colegiata de Santa María de Alquézar.

3 Previously, too, we want to delimit chronologically the works and the groups that we will deal with within the margins that place us during the 12th century and, approximately, the first half of the 13th century, including those that fit within the art of 1200. As usual, this may be a conventionalism, but we stand in line with what generally considers historiography on the subject in relation to the Hispanic world, although in other European areas the beginning of Gothic art had place in the middle of the 12th century.

Overview

4 Despite various general and monographic studies, interest in wood sculpture was slow to develop if we compare it to the number of chapters devoted to architecture,

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monumental sculpture, painting or even the metal arts. Although typological or compositional comparison with the exceptional ivory carvings of León has been a recurring feature, it was not until Arthur Kingsley Porter’s great book, published in 1928, that the speciality we are considering here was significantly tackled1. Despite that, important studies like those by Camps Cazorla2 or Gómez-Moreno 3, from the 1930s, barely touch on it or ignore it altogether, although they do not overlook ivory carving.

5 Eventually, the first large-scale effort of systematization appeared with the great work by Josep Gudiol i Ricart in the volume of the collection Ars Hispaniae dedicated to painting and statues, ivories included, which appeared in 19504. This was the first attempt at classification by regions, schools or workshops and types in the Hispanic context, which would be revised in the corrected edition of the volume in 1980, which we should regard as a second book on the subject5. It is still an unavoidable historiographical point of reference in any study or research work to do with wood sculpture. Later, and at the same time as specific studies of works, types and territorial contexts intensified, one must bear in mind how the cataloguing of the works in museums, including the American ones, made it possible to reconfigure a wide panorama. These fruits were gathered in the general studies by authors such as Joaquín Yarza or Isidro G. Bango, among others6. Despite that, other works heavily characterized by the importance of black and white photography do not grant woodcarving the importance it deserves7. In this respect, it is important to remember that in the failed attempt at an exhibition of Medieval Hispanic Art in the early 1990s, reflected in a brilliant catalogue, some productions, not many, were taken into account, especially from the Catalan context8. At the same time, contributions by regions or by types have become more noticeable, such as those by Manuel Trens9, Rafael Bastardes10, Celina Llarás11, Clara Fernández-Ladreda12, Minerva Sáenz13, María José Martínez14, Sergio Pérez and Rubén Fernández15, and Tim Heilbronner16, among many others. The studies made since these dates have stressed their liturgical role and their inclusion with the church’s architectural context and spaces, as in authors like Francesca Español17, Gerardo Boto18 and Marc Sureda 19. Lately, a long list of them is being compiled, volume by volume, in the ambitious Enciclopedia del Románico, which provides a solid basis for future studies and classifications20. For decades now, the role of the consolidations, restorations and technical and material studies of works has been gaining ground thanks to the improvement in the techniques and the means of analysing the wood, the polychromy, and so on, just as it has been developing for decades everywhere, outside the Iberian Peninsula21.

6 One aspect of study in which we must move forward is the apparent absence of three- dimensional carvings in wood before the 12th century, despite the existence of some examples in certain points of Europe well known. It is strange that in the case of existence, no example has been preserved, as in the case of evorary, with the exceptional Crucifix of Fernando and Sancha in León. In fact, the parallelism between the date of this masterpiece (1063) is interesting with the first document that could allude to a statue in Catalonia, specifically in Estamariu (1063-1064), next to La Seu d'Urgell, such as Sansterre and Henriet have observed in one of their works22.

7 Museums, because of their need to conserve, study and publish their works, have also tackled the problems of the origin and the condition of images in wood. In this case, there may be other problems, particularly the action of some excessive restorations, or

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also the not always unintentional confusion relative to the true origin of some works, seeing as many of them are of unknown provenance. The review of the documentation, the photographic material and the collections themselves has continued to provide new information and to introduce significant rectifications. Thus, by way of example, a Christ from a Descent from the Cross, traditionally considered to be from Catalonia, actually comes from a building in Asturias, since the base came from a private collection in Cangas de Narcea23 (fig. 2). However, some recent experiences open the door to future discoveries: thanks to a photograph taken in situ in 1917, it was possible to attribute a crucifix that had previously been of unknown provenance to Santa Maria de Cap d’Aran. More significant is the case of another Christ, in this case a Majesty, attributed for decades to a church near Ripoll; thanks to two photographs taken in the early twentieth century, we were able to certify that it came from the church of Sant Miquel de Prats, in Andorra24. To all this we may add yet another factor, the rigidity derived from the traditional division into artistic disciplines that has not always led to the creation and comparison of data obtained from the study of works similar to one another from the technical or material point of view. In this respect, the consideration of panel painted items of furniture ought to be especially useful, so significant in many ways with regard to the classification of objects carved in wood, as we shall see below.

Fig. 2 – Cruciﬁx from a Descent from the Cross (Asturias?), last quarter of the 12th Century, polychromed wood, 180 x 165 x 42 cm, Museu Frederic Marès, Barcelona, MFMB 650, Museu Frederic Marès.

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In the shadow of the sumptuary arts

8 The hypotheses that have given primacy to three-dimensional works, carved from a block of wood and covered with precious metal, are extremely well known and have been discussed at length. Thus, images in wood polychromed in tempera would be a less sumptuous, more inexpensive version than the former. Their genesis has to do, depending on the area, with the recovery of volume as a means of depicting holy images. I cannot go into detail here on these matters, on the appearance of the earliest European examples of rather monumental three-dimensional images and the ideological undercurrent opposed to them in the early Middle Ages, subjects that have been dealt with at length by historians25. Occasionally too, typological or even stylistic similarities have been observed between small metal objects and productions on a monumental scale. In the case of Hispania, one only has to turn one’s gaze towards some images that have been related to the crucifixes from León carved in ivory. This is the case with the Crucifixion scene from Corullón (Museo de León)26, whose features have been regarded as influenced by some ivory productions, such as the Evangeliary of Queen Felicia27. Some authors like Gómez-Moreno, Gudiol and Estella have stressed the similarities between the images of Christ on the Cross, on the configuration of the perizonium and of the anatomical features. Curiously, on the other hand, more recently it has been suggested that the group from León was an imported work (a question that I shall deal with below in reference to other works). Whatever the case, this link between sumptuary works and monumental carving is one of the leitmotivs of the historiography, as is also the case with other famous Hispanic ivories such as the Christ of Nicodemus, from the Holy Chamber in Oviedo, or the one from San Juan de Ortega (Burgos, Museo del Retablo)28. The question, now, is to consider to what extent some of these emblematic works, destined for privileged centres, might have become a prestigious model followed in other fields.

9 Thus, with respect to the images of the Virgin with the Child, it is essential to reconsider the role of works such as the Virgin of Irache29, the one in Pamplona Cathedral, the Virgen de la Vega in Salamanca Cathedral30 (fig. 3), or the one in Toledo Cathedral, the latter thought to have been made in Navarre31, as archetypes or as models of examples carved in wood and simply polychromed. A similar problem arises with the image from Girona Cathedral, which was covered in sheet silver – according to some traces of nails found in Mary’s back – and which was in fact applied to a refined, precise woodcarving32 (fig. 4). For centuries it must have been one of the liturgical ornaments on the high altar in the cathedral of Santa Maria, but apparently it did not leave much of a mark on examples from the surrounding area. From a historiographical point of view, the quality of its carving has thrown up the paradox that the image has been dealt with more in works about sculpture than in those dedicated to precious metalwork. Indeed, with the odd exception its importance does not seem to be in keeping with its influence on other examples. The idea of a prestigious model or example is probably not always meant to coincide in an iconographical, compositional and stylistic reflection, as is the case in other images.

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Fig. 3 – Virgen de la Vega, Salamanca, ca. 1200, Gilt-cupper alloy, champlevé enamel, and cabochons and wood core, 72 cm, Old Cathedral, Salamanca

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Fig. 4 – Virgin of Girona Cathedral (Catalonia), Girona, second third of the 12th century, wood carving (formerly covered with silver), 44 x 15 x 12,5 cm, Capítol de la catedral de Girona, 10

Styles and types

10 As I said earlier, the first attempts at classifying woodcarvings were based on criteria of style and type, something that in Catalonia, for example, has made it possible to establish a certain relative chronology and to structure much of the panorama, despite the difficulties arising from so much variety. We shall see some of these cases below, such as the Virgins from La Cerdanya, in the Pyrenees.

11 But typological similarities relative to the composition, the arrangement of the clothing or the attributes do not always correspond to stylistic similarities. I feel that this is the case with a series of carvings of the Virgin with the Child grouped together in Aragon around the type called “of Jaca”, that Clara Fernández-Ladreda has studied33. The most important piece, due to where it was found, is the image from Albay (Jacetania), which has been compared to a work of unknown provenance conserved in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (fig. 5), next to the Mianos and Lastiesas, among others. Despite the evident similarities in the fall of the creases and in the crowns, I believe that the works must be associated with different workshops. In my opinion, the carving in the MNAC can also be made to agree with ligneous and stone sculptures from Castile and León, and with works from the Germanic world datable to about 1230, if we consider the elegant way in which the creases in Mary’s tunic fall, giving the group a certain solemnity and a monumental feel.

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Fig. 5 – Virgin. Unknown provenance, ca. 1230, wood carving with traces of polychromy in tempera, 79 x 33,5 x 29 cm (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, MNAC 003924)

12 With regard to the images of Christ on the Cross it is important for example to refer to the Crucifix from Santa Clara de Astudillo (near Palencia), dated to the second half of the twelfth century, which belongs to one of the most frequent types in the groups of Christ on the Cross, dressed in the perizonium. With different variations, we observe similar cases in Italy, France, and elsewhere. Examples of this type are conserved from Galicia to Catalonia, always showing different variations with respect to the clothing, the attributes, the position of the arms or the head and, needless to say, the style. The original cross has very often not survived. In fact, in Catalonia it presents us with a choice apparently halfway between the Majesties and the numerous cases of Christus Patiens. To go back to the carving from Astudillo, it is an expression of the dual nature of Christ (divine, human), marked by a solemn expression, the head richly crowned, with his eyes open. From a stylistic point of view, associations have been established with ivory carving, specifically the image of Christ from the reliquary diptych of Bishop Gundisalvo of Oviedo (c. 1162-1174). The details of the cross or of Christ’s crown, among other things, show that some of these images were decorated and treated in an attempt to reflect a certain splendour, as was seen more forcefully in works covered with precious metal, as I mentioned above. Beyond the possible association with works in other materials and formats, the image from Palencia has also been compared typologically to other crucifixes like those from Ourense Cathedral (Galicia), the Cristo de los Carboneros from San Cristóbal in Salamanca 34, or, especially, the one from Santervás de Campos (Valladolid)35 (fig. 6). Notwithstanding this, I believe that due to their appearance some of these works come from other workshops. But only a

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restoration and a detailed analysis of these carvings would make it possible to confirm my suspicions, the result of direct observation.

Fig 6 – Cruciﬁx from Santervás de Campos (Castile), second half of the 12th century, polychromed wood, 200 cm

Fundación Santa María la Real/P.L. Huerta (permission for reproduction obtained by the autor 08/05/2019).

13 Another type of order aspect should be revised: we refer to the so-called Calvary groups and their evolution. Firstly, the formula was adopted to place small-scale figures of Mary and Saint John attached to the crossbar of the cross (which coexist with the adoption of the painted figure). Later on, it evolved into a monumental development, with the figures located apart from Christ and exempt, which we fully consider of the Gothic period, as we can see in two sizes of Asturian origin preserved in the museum of Cleveland36.

The workshops and the coordinated production of objects for worship and furniture

14 Another aspect that has been considered by historians is that of the workshops, understood as centres of production from which types were disseminated. At the same time, works would be distributed to other centres, monastery churches and parish churches, and so on. They would be centres following general guidelines covering different types of production, on both a technical and a typological level. In the case of Catalonia the workshops of the monastery of Ripoll and the cathedral of La Seu d’Urgell have been studied very closely, centres that were also distinguished by their scriptoria, by ambitious constructions and by a special dedication to liturgical furniture (altar

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tables, baldachin tables, etc.). In the case of the circles of the Ripoll Workshop, the similarities between various works of different types and techniques are undeniable. On one hand, the connections are evident between the reliefs on the doorway and the execution of the applied statuettes of the altar frontal from the old parish church of Sant Pere37, attached to the monastic site (fig. 7). The arrangement of the ligneous Maiestas Domini might even agree with the image of the Dream of Solomon in the large stone group. In other cases, as in the Majesty from Sant Joan les Fonts (Museu d’Art de Girona)38, the rough imitation of the carving’s features with respect to the Maiestas Domini on the doorway in Ripoll is combined with a more accomplished reproduction of geometrical and floral motifs on painted frontals originating from the same workshop, like the one from Sant Martí de Puigbò39.

Fig. 7 – Altar frontal from Sant Pere de Ripoll (Catalonia), second third of the 12th century, polychromed wood, 101 x 186 x 23 cm, Museu Episcopal de Vic, MEV

15 The style and the repertoires of Ripoll were developed in monumental groups and images in the surrounding area, as happened in Vic and Besalú. The trends do not always correspond to dissemination from an easily recognizable great centre, something that has entailed the invention of names that in actual fact never performed this role. It is the case with the so-called Erill Workshop, around which are grouped works that traditional historiography has granted an excessive role in a group or a place. This hypothetical workshop is distinguished by the groups of the Descent from the Cross located between the Boí and Aran valleys, in the Catalan Pyrenees. The most complete group, after which it is named, is the one from the parish church of Santa Eulàlia in Erill la Vall. Now split between the Museu Episcopal de Vic and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya40, it is composed of seven figures, something that distinguishes the Catalan groups from all those known in Europe in the Romanesque period (fig. 8). It is unquestionably a group of notable quality, which excels in the abstract simplification of the physical features, the gestures and the clothes of the figures. But the work that most definitely stands out in this workshop is the famous Christ of Mijaran, an extraordinary torso that is the only vestige, with the hand of

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Joseph of Arimathea incorporated on its left-hand side41. As you will remember, conditions in the Aran valley are very different to those in the Ribagorça and Boí valleys. Geographically north-facing, in the Middle Ages it depended on the Occitan bishopric of Saint-Bertrand de Comminges. Despite its enormous power, it is feasible to think that in this region or further north in Languedoc there might have been other groups, now lost, acting as models or points of reference.

Fig. 8 – Descent from the Cross from Erill la Vall (Catalonia), second half of the 12th century (?), wood with traces of polychromy, Dimas, 131 x 31 x 50 cm; Virgin Mary, 144 x 40 cm; Joseph of Arimathea, 134 x 68 x 27 cm; Christ, 147 x 126 x 41 cm; Nicodemus, 155 x 58 x 44 cm; Saint John, 144 x 40; Gestas, 136 x 33 x 59 cm, MEV 4229 (Dimes, Josep d’Arimatea, Crist, Nicodem, Gestes) i MNAC/MAC 3917 (Virgin Mary), 3918 (Saint John).

16 This series of works also enables us to open up another field of discussion. Some authors have linked these carvings from Ribagorça and Aran to other examples from Upper Aragon. Especially notable is the Christ from San Pedro de Siresa, a carving that was discovered in 1995 and which had originally been in the centre of a group of the Descent from the Cross42 (fig. 9). Some authors have tried to establish a direct link between this magnificent carving, also linked to a Descent from the Cross, and the works from Boí and Aran43. The Christ from San Mamés de Asín has also been included in this group44. On the other hand, the Crucifix from the collegiate church of Alquezar45 is in my opinion more remote. In any case, we must ask ourselves to what extent the compositional and iconographical similarities between some of these works correspond to the inclusion in common guidelines, general trends or working methods, rather than to possible direct links between sculptors and workshops. Similar problems have been posed in other techniques, as in the case of some important mural painting circles active between Catalonia and Aragon. I believe this to be one of the key points when classifying and dating works and associating them with a particular artistic circle. In

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any case, this observation would not be contradictory with the possible impact of an image that might have acted as a model, as a reference for a whole series of images belonging to an extensive geographical context.

Fig. 9 – Cruciﬁx from a Descent from the Cross of San Pedro de Siresa (Aragón), second half of the 12th century, polychromed wood, 208 x 53 x 31 cm, San Pedro de Siresa Church, Fundación Santa María la Real/E. Hasta

Permission for reproduction obtained by the autor 02/11/2018.

Foreign sculptors? Imported works?

17 The importation of works has always been accepted for certain types of art objects, of different types. An example that is beyond doubt, for example, is that of the production of enamels from Limoges that spread to many parts of Europe. Beyond the problematic dissemination of the workshop at Silos46, the presence of countless examples in the Hispanic world is undoubted. From other cultural and political provenances, we are all sufficiently aware of the huge amount of products that, whether through trade, diplomacy or warfare, arrived from the East, the Islamic world or, particularly, Al- Andalus. However, and despite the fact that some authors have dealt with the hypothesis of importation for some examples of woodcarving, this is an option that I believe has been barely considered and accepted, occasionally as an alternative to the hypothesis of the arrival of a foreign sculptor or artist. One of the most notable examples is the Virgin of Puentedura (Burgos), studied by Ara Gil and Martínez, which is thought to have a probable French origin47 (fig. 10). Indeed, it has been said that the repetitive and refined treatment of the creases in the clothing recalls those in sculptures from the Île-de-France, and more specifically from the Portail Royal in Chartres Cathedral, something that would enable us to justify production in a

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workshop in that region. In the context of Portugal the hypothesis has been considered of a foreign origin for the Christ of Bouças (Matosinhos), given the similarities with examples from Burgundy and from elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula, such as Palencia, Aragon and Catalonia48.

Fig. 10 – Virgin from Puentedura (Castile), second half of the 12th century, polychromed wood. 108 x 46 x 32 cm, Museu Frederic Marès, MFM 1408, Museu Frederic Marès

Guillem F-H (permission for reproduction obtained by the autor 06/11/2018).

18 If we turn to the Catalan context, we may suspect a similar phenomenon in the case of a group of images of the Virgin that emerged around the bishopric of La Seu d’Urgell towards the last quarter of the twelfth century, which corresponds to the same stylistic and partly iconographical conception. Lately, some authors such as Tim Heilbronner have interpreted these images as the symbol of Mary as a priestess, to judge by her clothing49. Of the ones conserved, the most outstanding piece in the group is the Virgin of Ger (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) 50 (fig. 11), which presents considerable stylistic similarities with the image of the Angel from a Visitatio Sepulchri from Cologne51. If we accept a direct link between the Catalan Virgin and the angel from Cologne, we have to consider how it came about.

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Fig. 11 – Virgin from Ger (Catalonia), ca. 1180, polychromed wood, 52,5 x 20,5 x 14,5 cm, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, MNAC 65550.

19 If we could ever demonstrate this attractive hypothesis, we would be on a similar level to that of the group of Virgins covered in metal located between the Auvergne and Catalonia. It includes the images from Châteauneuf-les-Bains (Puy-de-Dôme), Saint- Chély-d’Apcher, in Prunières (Lozère), Saint-Georges de Baroilles (Loire) (Musée du Louvre), the Virgin of Victory, in Santa Maria de Tuir (Roussillon) (fig. 12), that of Plandogau (Pallars) (Museu Frederic Marès) and one last example, now lost, that was once in the collection of Carles Vallin (Barcelona)52. Let us concentrate on the image in Tuir (Roussillon). Covered with lead and tin sheet, with traces of gilt, it presents a relatively habitual composition: Mary appears seated on a throne, of wood with traces of polychromy, with the Child sitting in the middle. One of the most significant details of the group is the closed Carolingian-style crown, as well as the inscription, MATER DEI, that runs around the front of the plinth. In fact, such a homogenous series poses one of the questions most discussed with respect to the centres of production of images and the dissemination of certain types. In this respect, it is interesting to observe that despite the homogeneity of this group, covering a wide geographical area, there are also clear differences between each example: technical, compositional, and qualitative too. Images like those from Châteauneuf-les-Bains or the one from Baroilles, however, clearly show the dissemination of a type over a wide area, which can probably be explained by the exemplary nature of a model or prototype, by the role played by historic Marian pilgrimage routes, or simply by the importation of objects. In this respect, the hypothesis according to which a point of reference for these works could have been the lost image from a Marian centre as important as Le Puy is also very intriguing53.

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Fig. 12 – Vierge de la Victoire (Roussillon), ca. 1200, lead mixed with tin (with traces of gilding) and wood core, 54 cm, in Sainte-Marie de la Victoire Church, Thuir (Roussillon)

Jordi Camps

20 Apart from the images for worship, another exceptional case of an object carved in wood is that of the faldstool from Roda d’Isàvena, known as the “Chair of Saint Raymond”, unfortunately stolen and cut up in 1979 by René Alphonse Van der Berge, known as Erik le Belge54. The pieces, in a scissor structure, are worked with a great feeling for detail and refinement, comparable to that of the metal arts. Due to its exceptional nature in the Hispanic context, the hypothesis has also been established that it could be an imported work, probably from northern Europe.

Interdisciplinary research: some examples

21 Collaboration between institutions and interdisciplinary research between art historians or museum and heritage conservators and restorers has generated, and must continue to generate, very interesting results, always in accordance with the state of development of each of the subjects and the analysis techniques. The research has made it possible to learn about the images’ long history, in some cases the discovery of deposits of relics, and to scrutinize the layers and the nature of the examples’ pigments and agglutinants. In 1952, the work on a carving of a Suffering Christ (Christus Patiens) in the then Museu d’Art de Catalunya made it possible to discover the cavity in it, with packets of relics wrapped in pieces of fabric – some from Al-Andalus – and fragments of parchment. This supplied a most valuable datum, the consecration of the image in 1147, besides the verification of the relics, and a restoration, in the sixteenth century55. In the late twentieth century works by the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Centre for Movable

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Assets led to a similar discovery: it made it possible to date the image of the Virgin from the great Benedictine monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès to 1218, made by order of Abbot Ramon de Banyeres56.

22 Research work and discoveries of this kind have gradually been taking place. Thus, in 1988 the Virgin from Astorga Cathedral was worked upon, and this led to the discovery of a reliquary in the form of a niche in the image’s back. This case, moreover, throws up the possibility that an original layer of polychromy may have been covered later by a thin sheet of silver57.

23 It is interesting to cite in detail another example relating to the work of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, where since the beginning of this century we have been trying to maintain an interdisciplinary line of work addressed to the study of woodcarving that is slowly producing significant results.

24 One of the most outstanding images of Romanesque carving in Catalonia is without doubt the Majestat Batlló, named after the owner who donated it to the museum. It represents the type of the Majesty, understood as an expression of the Christus triumphans comparable to the Volto Santo in Lucca, Tuscany58. Apart from the excellent sculptural quality of the carving, the image stands out because much of the polychromy has survived. The object’s outward appearance was revealed as a result of the cleaning that was done after it entered the museum in 191459. After several subsequent interventions that made its consolidation possible, it was studied between 2007 and 2010. This enabled us to analyse the different types of wood and to analyse the polychromy in detail. The investigation confirmed the presence of a first layer covered by the one now visible, something that we had already sensed thanks to some lacunas in the external one (fig. 13-14).

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Fig. 13 – Majestat Batlló. (Catalonia), mid. 12th century, polychromed wood, 94 x 96 x 17 cm (Christ), 156 x 120 x 4 cm (cross), Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. MNAC 15937.

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Fig. 14 – Majestat Batlló. Hypothetical reconstruction of the first layer of polychromy (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya)

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Foto: Calveras, Mérida, Sagristà

25 The pigments used include minerals used relatively frequently, such as lead white for white, haematites, vermillion or cinnabar for red, aerinite for blue, for which azurite was also used. The second layer of polychromy, applied without preliminary preparation, is characterized by the predominance of red and blue, on both the figure and the cross. In this case, the use of lapis lazuli for certain areas of blue is noticeable. The decoration of the bottom edge of the tunic corresponds to the first stage of colour application. A special mention is warranted by the motifs on the neck, the cuffs and the belt of the tunic; the grey and worn appearance is due to the application of tin sheet, something that gave the work a rather luxurious appearance, with the reflection of the mecca gilt. Generally speaking, one has to point out the refined technique in the superimposition of the layers of primer and the pigments, and the use of cinnabar, azurite or lapis lazuli, which were obtained through trade, and which indicate a profound mastery of the techniques of the period. This may suggest that it is a work associated with an important centre and a powerful patron.

26 It is difficult to decide upon the chronological distance between the two layers of polychromy. Firstly, it is necessary to point out the accuracy that was maintained with respect to the compositional scheme, of both the Crucifix and the cross. The traces of inscriptions on the back have yet to be studied, but it is important to point out that the second inscription on the front is longer in length in the second layer, although its meaning is the same. This change leads me to think that the carving was moved to a different place, which could have involved a difference in height. This would explain why all the symbolic aspects of the piece survived despite the colour change. The change could have more to do with the new building in which it was placed and to some

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event that could have made it necessary to modify it. In any case, these are hypotheses that are difficult to confirm.

27 Lately also, work has been done on an image identified as a Saint John the Evangelist, kept in the museum in Vilafranca, not far from Barcelona60. Its origin is unknown, but it presents all the stylistic traits and some technical similarities to the works from the Boí and Aran valleys that we saw earlier. During the restoration process, on the back at shoulder height evidence was discovered of sockets that must almost certainly have been where wings were attached. This contribution to the work’s initial appearance forced me to reconsider the identification of the work61. A Virgin has also been restored whose historic appearance has been partially recovered, with the peculiarity that the inclined position of the Child leads one to conclude that the image was associated with a group that was very probably part of an Epiphany context62.

Study avenues for the future

28 In this essay I have had to give priority to the aspects relative to the formal configuration of the woodcarving, trying to cover all the components associated with its production. No less important, however, have been the contributions made so far pertaining to the location and the interaction of the images in the vicinity of the altar and the presbytery63, their function in worship and their integration in liturgical theatre64 (fig. 15), their role as containers of relics in some cases65, and the development of devotion. It is also important to bear in mind the stories or legends associated with their distant origin or to miraculous interventions, many of which, but not all, correspond to the Middle Ages66. In this respect, their connection is notable in battles or with events in which, according to the literary and documentary sources, the ruler, often the king, played a large part67. On all these fronts, historiography has made substantial progress over the last two decades. I find myself obliged, however, to leave the broad and developed treatment of these subjects for future occasions.

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Fig. 15 – Cristo de los Gascones, 13th century, polychromed wood, 182 x 70 cm, San Justo de Segovia Church (Castile)

Jordi Camps

29 In another order of things, we have very little information about promoters and artists, although the consideration of different foreign cases, like that of the Presbyter Martinus Madonna68, from Central Italy, may be illustrative and may supply intriguing clues. This work, dated 1199, confronts us with the scant number of Hispanic examples that can be dated with any degree of precision. This aspect, important when classifying works, groups and regional peculiarities with justification, opens up another aspect of the study of woodcarving: that of discerning clearly between the examples that actually correspond to a date from the Romanesque period from those that are later. This task, which involves not only the researchers but also the agents of the spread of innovation in research, has a long way to go in the field of study, but also in that of the institutions responsible for the conservation of the works. At the present time, the reality is that numerous general or monographic publications, as well as catalogues, continue to include objects that belong to later periods in the “Romanesque” sections69. The creation of a critical corpus like the one that has been carried out in other spheres70 could represent a step forward in this task.

30 As I have been suggesting throughout this essay, and despite the fact that much very meritorious work has been undertaken, many systematic technical studies are still needed, analyses of the works that may help to supply data about their original appearance and about the changes they have undergone throughout history. With these it will thus be feasible to cross-reference the data obtained from different works, areas, types, variants and periods. Let us not forget that the images were placed in a context, with its structures and furniture (beams, frontals, edicules or tabernacles, baldachins, etc.), which have almost completely disappeared. Only this way will it be possible for new data to appear, if they exist, to tell us whether, as is still believed, corporeal images emerged somewhat later than in other Romanesque regions, or if it is

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necessary to consider the existence of examples, lost and/or replaced, before the second half of the twelfth century.

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SANSTERRE, Jean-Marie; HENRIET, Patrick – “De l’inanimis imago à l’omagem mui bella: méfiance à l’égard des images et essor de leur culte dans l’Espagne médiévale (VII-XIII siècle)”. Edad Media. Revista de historia, 10, 2009, pp. 37-92.

SCHMITT, Jean-Claude – Le Corps des images: essais sur la culture visuelle au Moyen Âge. Paris: Gallimard, 2002.

SIMON, David L. – “Romanesque Art in American Collections XXI. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Part I. Spain”. Gesta, 23, 1984, pp. 145-159.

SUBES, Marie-Pasquine – “Le Christ de Mijaran et ses liens avec la sculpture romane d’Erill la Vall et de Ripoll”. Quaderns del Museu Episcopal de Vic, IV, Vic, 2010, pp. 9-30.

SUREDA i JUBANY, Marc – “Les lieux de la Vierge. Notes de topo-liturgie mariale en Catalogne (XIe-XVe siècles)”. in MATHON, Jean-Bernard (dir.) – Romanes et Gothiques. Vierges à l’Enfant restaurées des Pyrénées Orientales. Perpignan, Chapelle Notre-Dame des Anges du 15 septembre au 17 décembre 2011. Perpignan: Éd. Silvana, 2011, p. 39-69.

TOMAN, Rolk (ed.) – El románico. Arquitectura-escultura-pintura. Köln: Könemann, 1996.

TRENS, Manuel – Les majestats catalanes. Barcelona: Ed. Alpha, 1966 (Monumentae Cataloniae, XIII).

VALLE LAFUENTE, Carla del – “A L’entorn de la creu. Nous plantejaments en la imatgeria romànica de la Val d’Aran”. Síntesi. Quaderns dels Seminaris de Besalú, 2, 2014, pp. 129-144.

VARELA FERNANDES, Carla – "PATHOS – the bodies of Christ on the Cross. Rhetoricof suffering in wooden sculpture found in Portugal, twelfth-fourteenth centuries. A few examples". RIHA Journal 0078 (28 November 2013), URL: http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2013/2013-oct-dec/ fernandes-christ.

VÉLEZ, Pilar (dir.) – Museu Frederic Marès. Guia. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Institut de Cultura, 2011.

WIRTH, Jean – L'Image à l'époque romane. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1999.

YARZA, Joaquín – Arte y arquitectura en España, 500-1250. Madrid: Cátedra, 1979.

YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Cristo de Nicodemus”. in De Limoges a Silos. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2001, pp. 171-172.

YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Las imágenes hispanas de la Virgen y Limoges”. in De Limoges a Silos. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2001, pp. 196-207.

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YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Virgen de las Batallas”. in De Limoges a Silos. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2001, pp. 217-221.

YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón – “Sillas, coros y cátedras medievales: notas sobre su ubicación y funciones”. in HUERTA, Pedro Luis (coord.) – Mobiliario y ajuar litúrgico de las iglesias románicas. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, 2011, pp. 107-148.

NOTES

1. PORTER, Arthur K. – Spanish Romanesque Sculpture. Florence: Pantheon; Paris: The Pegasus Press, 1928. 2. CAMPS CAZORLA, Emilio – El arte románico en España. Madrid: Labor, 1935. 3. GÓMEZ-MORENO, Manuel – El arte románico español. Esquema de un libro. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Históricos, 1934, p. 26, pl. XXX. In any case, the attempts at comparison between the ivories and the wood, are interesting, how it approximates the Calvary of Corullón with the book- cover of Queen Felicia (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) (p. 26, pl. XXX). 4. COOK, Walter William Spencer; GUDIOL RICART, José – Pintura e imaginería románicas (Ars Hispaniae, VI). Madrid: Ed. Plus Ultra, 1950, pp. 279-389.

F0 5. COOK, Walter William Spencer; GUDIOL RICART, José – Pintura e imaginería románicas BC , pp. 263-355. 6. YARZA, Joaquín – Arte y arquitectura en España, 500-1250. Madrid: Cátedra, 1979; BANGO TORVISO, Isidro G., El Románico en España. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1992. 7. DURLIAT, Marcel – El arte románico en España, Barcelona: Juventud, 1964. The most significant case is that of the publications of Zodiaque, published in Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-vire, and his collection "la nuit des temps", with the volumes ordered according to regional criteria. 8. O’NEILL, John P. (ed.) – The Art of Medieval Spain, a.d. 500-1200. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, cat. 102, p. 222-223, cat. 137, p. 282, cat. 139, pp. 284-286, cat. 164-168, pp. 316-324. 9. TRENS, Manuel – Les majestats catalanes, Barcelona: Ed. Alpha, 1966 (Monumentae Cataloniae, XIII). 10. BASTARDES i PARERA, Rafael – Les talles romàniques del Sant Crist a Catalunya. Barcelona: Artestudi, 1978. 11. LLARÁS i USÓN, Celina – “La talla”. in Catalunya Romànica, XXVII. Barcelona: Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1998, pp. 117-126. 12. FERNÁNDEZ-LADREDA, Clara – Imaginería medieval mariana. Pamplona: Gobierno de Navarra, Departamento de Educación y Cultura, 1988. 13. SÁENZ NAVARRO, Minerva – Imaginería románica en La Rioja. Tallas de Cristo crucificado y de la Virgen con el Niño. Logroño: Gobierno de La Rioja. Instituto de Estudios Riojanos, 2005. 14. MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, M. José, “Imaginería romànica”, Arte Antiguo y Medieval en la Ribera del Duero. Biblioteca. Estudio e Investigación, 16, 2001, pp. 193-210. 15. PÉREZ MARTÍN, Sergio; FERNÁNDEZ MATEOS, Rubén – La imaginería medieval en Zamora (siglos XII-XVI). Zamora: Instituto de Estudios Zamoranos “Florián de Ocampo”, Centro de Estudios Beneventanos “Ledo del Pozo”, 2015, pp. 21-44. 16. HEILBRONNER, Tim – “The wooden ‘Chasuble Madonnas’ from Ger, Ix, Targasona and Talló. About the Iconography of Catalan Madonna statues in the Romanesque period”. Locus Amoenus, 9. Bellaterra, 2007-2008, p. 31-50; Ikonographie und zeitgenössische Funktionhölzerner Sitz madonnen im romanischen Katalonien. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovač, 2013. 17. ESPAÑOL, Francesca – “Los Descendimientos hispanos”. in SAPORI, Giovanna; TOSCANO, Bruno (ed.) – La Deposizione lignea in Europa: l'immagine, il culto, la forma. Perugia: Electa, Editori Umbri Associati, 2004, pp. 511-554.

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18. BOTO VARELA, Gerardo – “Sobre les persuasives imatges de culte. Encomis i escrutinis des de l’Edat Mitjana hispana”. in BOTO VARELA, Gerardo (ed.), Exposició. Imatges medievals de culte. Talles de la collecció El Conventet. Girona: Fundació caixa Girona, 2009, pp. 37-43. 19. SUREDA i JUBANY, Marc – “Les lieux de la Vierge. Notes de topo-liturgie mariale en Catalogne (XIe-XVe siècles)”. in MATHON, Jean-Bernard (dir.) – Romanes et Gothiques. Vierges à l’Enfant restaurées des Pyrénées Orientales. Perpignan, Chapelle Notre-Dame des Anges du 15 septembre au 17 décembre 2011. Perpignan: Éd. Silvana, 2011, p. 39-69. 20. GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel; PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.) – Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León. León. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, 2002-2018. 21. For example, CASCIO, Agnès; DESCHAMPS-TAN, Stéphanie; LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves – “La restauration du Christ Courajod. La luminosité d’une polychromie romane restaurée”, Techné, 39, 2014, pp. 52-59; KARGERE, Lucretia, RIZZO, Adriana – “Twelfth-Century French Polychrome Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Materials and Techniques”. Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science and Technology, 1, 2010, pp. 39-72, particularly pp. 59-61. 22. SANSTERRE, Jean-Marie; HENRIET, Patrick – “De l’inanimis imago à l’omagem mui bella: méfiance à l’égard des images et essor de leur culte dans l’Espagne médiévale (VII-XIII siècle)”. Edad Media. Revista de historia, 10, 2009, pp. 37-92. 23. BARRACHINA NAVARRO, Jaume – “Crist de Davallament”, “Obra romànica dispersa en colleccions no tractada fins ara. El colleccionisme a Catalunya”. in Catalunya Romànica, XXVI. Barcelona: Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1997, pp. 335-341, p. 357, n. 1; VÉLEZ, Pilar (dir.) – Museu Frederic Marès. Guia. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Institut de Cultura, 2011, pp. 36-37. 24. CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi – “Una aportació a la recuperació del romànic d'Andorra: la Majestat de Sant Miquel de Prats (Canillo)”. in RUIZ I QUESADA, Francesc (ed.) – Viatges a la bellesa, miscel·lània homenatge a Maria Rosa Manote i Clivilles, Retrotabulum Maior, 1. Barcelona, 2015, pp. 63-70. 25. BELTING, Hans – Image et culte: une histoire de l'image avant l'époque de l'art. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1998; WIRTH, Jean – L'Image à l'époque romane. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1999; SCHMITT, Jean- Claude – Le Corps des images: essais sur la culture visuelle au Moyen Âge. Paris: Gallimard, 2002. 26. GRAU LOBO, Luis A. – “Museo de León”. in GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel; PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.) – Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. León. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, 2002, pp. 602-614; especially pp. 609-610. 27. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [17.190.134 i 17.190.33]. 28. ESTELLA, Margarita M. – La escultura del marfil en España. Románica y gótica. Madrid: Editorial Nacional, 1984, pp. 59-60 and 70-74; YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Cristo de Nicodemus”. in De Limoges a Silos. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2001, pp. 171-172. 29. FERNÁNDEZ-LADREDA, Clara – Imaginería medieval..., pp. 41-94. 30. HERNADO GARRIDO, José Luis – “Imagen de la Virgen de la Vega”. in Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Salamanca..., pp. 285-287. 31. A significant synthesis of the images of the metal Virgin is in YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Las imágenes hispanas de la Virgen y Limoges”. in De Limoges a Silos…, pp. 196-207. 32. Museu del Tresor de la Catedral de Girona, inv. 10. LLARÁS I USÓN, Celina – “Marededéu”. in Catalunya Romànica, XXIII. Barcelona, 1988, pp. 151-152; ESPAÑOL, Francesca – “El escenario litúrgico de la catedral de Girona (s. XI-XV)”. Hortius Artium Medievalium, 11, 2005, pp. 213-232, especially pp. 218-220; CAMPS, Jordi – “Mare de Déu de la catedral de Girona” in CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel; CAMPS, Jordi; LORÉSLORÉS, Immaculada (ed.) – El romànic i la Mediterrània. Catalunya, Toulouse i Pisa. 1120-1180. Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2008, pp. 418-419. 33. FERNÁNDEZ-LADREDA, Clara – “Arquetipos y tallas derivadas en la imaginería. El ejemplo de las vírgenes aragonesas”. in Modelo, copia y evocación en el románico hispano. Aguilar de Campoo, 2016, pp. 173-191.

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34. HUERTA HUERTA, Pedro Luis – “Iglesia de San Cristóbal”. in Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Salamanca..., pp. 302-310, especially pp. 309-310. 35. SIMON, David L. – “Romanesque Art in American Collections XXI. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Part I. Spain”, Gesta, 23, 1984, pp. 145-159; MANN, Janice – “Crucifix”. in O’NEILL, John P. (ed.) – The Art of Medieval Spain… pp. 222-223. 36. DEL ALAMO, Constancio; VALDEZ DEL ALAMO, Elisabeth – “Mourning Virgin and saint John”. in GUILLERMAN, Dorothy (dir.) – Gothic Sculpture in America. II. The Museums of the Midwest. Turnhout: Brepols, 2001, pp. 353-355. 37. Museu Episcopal de Vic (inv. MEV 556). See DURAN-PORTA, Joan – “Frontal de Sant Pere de Ripoll”. in CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel; CAMPS, Jordi; LORÉSLORÉS, Immaculada (ed.) – El romànic i la Mediterrània…, pp. 392-393. 38. Museu d’Art de Girona (Museu Dicesà de Girona, 11). See, firstly, COOK, Walter William Spencer; GUDIOL RICART, José – Pintura e imaginería románicas (1950 edition), p. 305. 39. Museu Episcopal de Vic (MEV 9). See CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel; CAMPS, Jordi – “Figura pintada, imatge esculpida. Eclosió de la monumentalitat i diàleg entre les arts a Catalunya. 1120-1180”. El romànic i la Mediterrània..., pp.133-147, especially p. 142. 40. Museu Episcopal de Vic (MEV 1953) Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC 3917 i 3918). CAMPS, Jordi – Els grups d’escultura del davallament de la creu durant el romànic. De Mijaran i Erill al Santíssim Misteri de Sant Joan de les Abadesses. Barcelona: Amics del MNAC, 2010 (includes Spanish translation). 41. CAMPS, Jordi; DECTOT, Xavier – Sculptures du Val de Boi, Paris. Barcelona: Museé National du Moyen Âge, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2004; VALLE LAFUENTE, Carla del – “A L’entorn de la creu. Nous plantejaments en la imatgeria romànica de la Val d’Aran”. Síntesi. Quaderns dels Seminaris de Besalú, 2, 2014, pp. 129-144. 42. LACARRA DUCAY, María del Carmen – “El Cristo de San Pedro de Siresa (aproximación a su estudio)”. in Homenaje a Don Antonio Durán Gudiol. Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses, 1995, pp. 483-498. 43. SUBES, Marie-Pasquine – “Le Christ de Mijaran et ses liens avec la sculpture romane d’Erill la Vall et de Ripoll”. Quaderns del Museu Episcopal de Vic, IV, Vic, 2010, pp. 9-30. 44. ACÍN FANLO, José Luis – Arquitectura románica: siglos X-XI, XII y XIII. 5. Arte religioso de la Diócesis de Jaca (Iglesias Costa, Manuel; edición revisada y aumentada por Jose Luís Acin Fanlo y Enrique Calvera Nerín). Zaragoza, 2009, p. 90-91. 45. SUBES, Marie-Pasquine – “Le Christ de Mijaran...”, p. 16. 46. De Limoges a Silos… 47. ARA GIL, Clementina-Julia – “120. Mare de Déu amb el Nen”. Fons del Museu Frederic Marès/1. Catàleg d’escultura i pintura medievals. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, 1991, p. 183; MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, M. José – “Virgen con el Niño (Museo Frederic Marès, Barcelona)”. in GUINEA, Miguel Ángel; PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.) – Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León, Burgos, IV. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, 2002, p. 2485. 48. VARELA FERNANDES, Carla – "PATHOS – the bodies of Christ on the Cross. Rhetoricof suffering in wooden sculpture found in Portugal, twelfth-fourteenth centuries. A few examples". RIHA Journal 0078 (28 November 2013), URL: http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2013/2013-oct- dec/fernandes-christ 49. HEILBRONNER , Tim – “The wooden ‘Chasuble Madonnas’”...; ANGHEBEN, Marcello – “Les statues mariales catalanes et la progressive assimilation de la Vierge à l’enfant au prêtre officiant”. in BROUQUET, Sophie (éd.) – Sedes sapientiae. Vierges Noires, culte marial et pèlerinages en France méridionale. Toulouse: Presses universitaires du Midi, Méridiennes, 2017, pp. 19-45. 50. Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC 65503). See CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi, – “Imatge de la Mare de Déu de Ger”. in Prefiguració del Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Barcelona, 1992, p.

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149-150; CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi – “Wooden Sculpture”. in CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel; CAMPS, Jordi – Romanesque art in the MNAC collections. Barcelona, 2008, p. 137-163, especially pp. 140-142. 51. EUW, Anton von – “J. 32 Un ange assis”. in Rhin-Meuse: art el civilisation 800-1400: une exposition des Ministères belges de la culture française et de la culture néerlandaise du Schnütgen-Museum de la ville de Cologne. Bruxelles: Ministère de la Culture française; Cologne: Culture néerlandaise, 1972, p. 301; TOMAN, Rolk (ed.) – El románico. Arquitectura-escultura-pintura. Köln: Könemann, 1996, p. 353. 52. FORSYTH, Ilene H. – The Throne of Wisdom. Wood sculptures of the Madonna in Romanesque France. Princeton, 1972, pp. 179-180, fig. 124-125; CAMPS, Jordi – “74. Mare de Déu amb el Nen”. Fons del Museu Frederic Marès..., p. 143. 53. PONSICH, Pierre – “La Vierge de Thuir et les relations artistiques entre la région auvergnate et les pays catalans à l’époque préromane et romane”. Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, 25. Prades- Codalet, 1994, pp. 51-71. 54. LLARÁS I USÓN, Celina, in ADELL I GISBERT, Albert et alii – “Sant Vicenç de Roda”. in Catalunya Romànica, XVI, Barcelona, 1996, pp. 435-438; YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón – “Sillas, coros y cátedras medievales: notas sobre su ubicación y funciones”. in HUERTA, Pedro Luis (coord.) – Mobiliario y ajuar litúrgico de las iglesias románicas. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, 2011, pp. 107-148, especially pp. 115-116. 55. AINAUD DE LASARTE, Joan – “Un Crist romànic datat”. Butlletí de la Societat Catalana d’Estudis Històrics, II, 1953, pp. 341-344; AINAUD DE LASARTE, Joan – “La consagració dels Crists en creu”. Liturgica, 3, 1966, pp. 11-20. 56. FERRAN, Domènec – “136. Mare de Déu de Sant Cugat”. in Millenum. Història i Art de l’Església Catalana. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, 1989, pp. 194-195; FERRAN I LÓPEZ, Domènec; PLADEVALL I FONT, Antoni – “Sant Cugat del Vallès”. in Catalunya Romànica, vol. XVIII. Barcelona, 1991, pp. 184-186. 57. PÉREZ GIL, J. – “Virgen de la Majestad”. in Encrucijadas. Las Edades del Hombre, Catedral de Astorga. Astorga, 2000, n. 17, pp. 290-291. 58. TRENS, Manuel – Les majestats catalanes…; BASTARDES I PARERA, Rafael – Les talles romàniques… ; DURLIAT, Marcel – “La signification des Majestés catalanes”. Cahiers Archéologiques, 37, 1989, pp. 69-95; CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi – “Romanesque Majestats: A Typology of Christus Triumphans in Catalonia”. in MULLINS, Juliet, NÍ GHRÁDAIG, Jenifer; HAWTREE, Richard (ed.) – Envisioning Christ on the Cross. Ireland and the early medieval West. Dublin: Four Court Press, 2013, pp. 234-247. 59. FOLCH I TORRES, Joaquim – “Una ‘Majestat’ romànica”. Gaseta de les Arts, 1, n. 4, 1928, pp. 1-2; CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi – “Majestat Batlló”. in Prefiguració del Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Barcelona, 1992, pp. 154-156; CAMPUZANO et alii – “Noves aportacions a l’estudi de la Majestat Batlló: identificació i caracterització de la policromia subjacent”. Butlletí del Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 11, 2011, pp. 13-31. 60. VINSEUM. Museu de les Cultures del Vi de Catalunya, inv. 3357 ( Manuel Trens collection). 61. CAMPS, Jordi; MIGUÉLEZ, Alicia – “Yo, Juan. La recuperación de una talla procedente del románico catalán”. Románico. Revista de Arte. Madrid: Amigos del Románico (AdR), núm. 21, diciembre 2015, pp. 26-33; CARRERAS, Anna; MESTRE, Mireia; ORIOLS, Núria – “Estudio técnico de una talla románica y proceso de restauración”. Románico…, pp. 34-43. 62. Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC 15926); See: http://blog.museunacional.cat/ recuperem-una-marededeu-romanica/ 63. SUREDA i JUBANY, Marc – “Les lieux de la Vierge…” 64. FORSYTH, Ilene H. – The Throne of Wisdom…, pp. 31-60; MARTÍNEZ DE AGUIRRE, Javier – “Aproximación iconográfica a la iglesia del Santo Sepulcro de Torres del Río”. in MELERO MONEO, M. Luisa; ESPAÑOL BERTRÁN, Francesca; ORRIOLS I ALSINA, Anna; RICO CAMPS, Daniel (ed.) – Imágenes y promotores en el arte medieval: miscelánea en homenaje a Joaquín Yarza Luaces. Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2001, pp. 153-165; CARRERO SANTAMARÍA,

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Eduardo – “El Santo Sepulcro: imagen y funcionalidad espacial en la capilla dela iglesia de San Justo (Segovia)”. in Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 27, 1997, pp. 461-477. 65. GABORIT, Jean-René – “Vierges-reliquaires et reliques de la Vierge”. in BRETEL, Paul; ADROHER, Michel; CATAFAU, Aymat (dir.) – La Vierge dans les arts et les littératures du Moyen Âge. Actes du colloque de Perpignan du 17 au 19 octobre 2013. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2017, pp. 351-369; CAMPS I SÒRIA, Jordi – “Imágenes relicario de los siglos XII y XIII en Catalunya”. in VARELA FERNANDES, Carla, (coord.), Imagens e Liturgia na Idade Media (“Bens Culturais da Igreja”, 5). Lisboa, 2016, pp. 125-144. 66. See, for instance, the example of the Virgins on Montserrat and Ripoll, the last one disappeared (Catalonia): BARAUT, Cebrià – “Un recull de miracles de Santa Maria, procedent de Ripoll, i les Cantigues d’Alfons el Savi”. in Maria Ecclesia, Regina et Mirabilis, Scripta et Documenta, VI. Abadia de Montserrat: Ed. Estanislao M. Llopart 1956: pp. 127-60. 67. YARZA LUACES, Joaquín – “Virgen de las Batallas., in De Limoges a Silos…, pp. 217-221; BARRACHINA, Jaume – “Crist crucificat de Palma de Mallorca”. in Catalunya Romànica, XXVI…, pp. 359-360; BUESA CONDE, Domingo J. – La Virgen en el Reino de Aragón. Imágenes medievales. s.l.: Ibercaja, 1994, pp. 231-234. 68. Boden Museum, Berlin, inv. No. 29 (See NOCENTINI, Serena; REFICE, Paola (ed.) – Mater Amabilis. Madonne medievali della Diocesi d’Arezzo, Cortona e Sansepolcro. Firenze: ArtoutMachietto Editore, 2012). 69. A notable attempt at classification is the one carried out at the Museu Episcopal de Vic (BRACONS i CLAPÉS, Josep – Catàleg de l'escultura gòtica del Museu Episcopal de Vic. Vic: Patronat d' Estudis Ausonencs, 1983). 70. The catalogue tackles a region, administratively the Département des Pyrénées Orientales, which in the Romanesque period was in the Catalan context (MATHON, Jean-Bernard (dir.) – Romanes et Gothiques…)

ABSTRACTS

Romanesque polychromed wooden imagery in the Iberian Peninsula (12th-13th centuries) stands both as a valuable and complex heritage. Apart from some general lines that determine compositional and symbolic features, the local context, the liturgy, the artists or workshops and the influence of some prestigious models have created a highly attractive scenario. It is important to note that some statues that are preserved separately today may well be, from a broader perspective, part of larger ensembles of liturgical furniture. At the same time, the number of studies on technical and material aspects involving interdisciplinary work has increased. One of the questions that concern scholars the most is the spread of typology and stylistic trends. The influence of metal and precious metal works on tempered polychromed must be assessed. Other times, the spread of modalities confined to an area might well obey cult and pilgrimage reasons. Not all works, however, strictly follow one modality or another. Another hypothesis deals with the importation of some objects.

A imagística românica de madeira policromada na Península Ibérica (séculos XII-XII) representa uma herança que tem tanto de valioso como de complexo. Exceptuando algumas linhas gerais que determinam características composicionais e simbólicas, o contexto local, a liturgia, os artistas ou as oficinas e a influência de certos modelos prestigiados criaram um cenário

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altamente atrativo. É importante notar que algumas das estátuas que se encontram preservadas em separado actualmente podem muito bem fazer, numa perspectiva mais vasta, parte de conjuntos maiores de mobiliário litúrgico. Ao mesmo tempo, o número de estudos sobre aspectos técnicos e materiais que envolvem trabalho interdisciplinar tem aumentado. Uma das questões que mais preocupa os académicos é a disseminação das tendências tipológicas e estilísticas. A influência de trabalhos com metal e metais preciosos na policromia temperada deve ser avaliada. Outras vezes, a disseminação de modalidades confinadas a uma área poderá perfeitamente obedecer a motivos de culto e peregrinação. Porém, nem todos os trabalhos seguem estritamente uma modalidade ou outra. Outra hipótese prende-se com a importação de alguns objectos.

INDEX

Keywords: Sculpture, Wood, Polychromy, Iberian Peninsula, Workshops Palavras-chave: Escultura, Madeira, Policromia, Península Ibérica, Oficinas

AUTHOR

JORDI CAMPS I SÒRIA

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 08038, Barcelona, Spain [email protected]

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Twelfth and early thirteenth century polychromy at the northernmost edge of Europe: past analyses and future research Policromia nos séculos XII e início de XIII no extremo norte da Europa: análises passadas e pesquisa futura

Kaja Kollandsrud and Unn Plahter

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 20 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Acknowledgements We want to thank Dr. Jilleen Nadolny, Art Analysis & Research, London, Dr. Jeremy Hutchings, Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, Oslo, and professor emeritus Erla K. Hohler for their close reading and helpful suggestions to this paper.

Introduction

1 In the Middle Ages, it is clear that people, and with them, their ideas, knowledge, craftsmanship, artistic styles and traded materials travelled along the networks of Europe. The results of these cultural exchanges are evident in the objects that are preserved, but the greater picture of how these intimate cultural exchanges occurred

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in the production of Christian art is yet to be drawn. The medieval sculpture preserved in Norway includes objects thought to be of Norwegian manufacture, as well as imported works. The physical objects are our most important source material, as written evidence describing the commissioning and production of these objects is scarce.

2 This article will point out the work that has already been done in order to disseminate the published scholarship on the material preserved in Norway. The situation in Norway is rather similar to that in neighbouring Sweden, whose inheritance of medieval sculpture is likewise highly relevant in the discussion of the mechanisms of cultural influence in the north1. It focusses on the polychrome sculpture that pre-dates the mid-13th century; which shows a period marked by transition in the materiality and the painterly expression around 1225. The term materiality accords with James Elkin’s definition, as elements of the “‘purely’ and ‘merely’ physical or material… to making, the realm of art production” and the visual result2. Researchers of medieval art, principally art historians, have in recent years turned their attention to questions concerning the formative presence of materials and concepts of materiality in medieval culture. This has prompted a series of important publications3.

3 Polychrome sculptures dating from the 12th century with remarkably well-preserved original polychromy survive in Norway. Among these are several works that have never been overpainted. The oldest type of extant sculptures is the crucifix, which also survives in the largest numbers, followed by representations of the seated Virgin with Child. There is also a small group of representations of saints4. No independent freestanding panel paintings survive from the 12th century, although there are examples of sculpture with two-dimensional paintings on the cross. The resurrection scene of Adam on the lower member of the cross of the crucifix from Horg I (c. 1175-12005, fig. 1, 2) and the painted cross of unknown provenance (c. 1150-1200)6 are two such examples7. Thought early examples of two-dimensional paintings are few in the period before c. 1250. Valuable knowledge has been drawn from investigations in Norwegian group of frontals8. Therefore, a clear distinction between painting and sculpture is not stressed here.

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Fig. 1 – Cruciﬁx from Horg I, c. 1175-1200. Cross: 158 x 98 x ~2 cm. Figure: 74 x 67.5 x 9 cm. Inv. no. T 4646.

Photo © University Museum, Trondheim (NTNU)

Fig. 2 – Detail of the resurrection scene of Adam on the lower end of the cross stem.

Photo © University Museum, Trondheim (NTNU)

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Objects investigated

4 A catalogue on the majority of the sculpture from this period is written by Blindheim9. A statistical overview of the preserved sculpture dated to before 1350 has been presented by Kaja Kollandsrud10, and includes objects from former Norwegian territory that are now present-day Sweden (Härjedalen, Bohuslän). An overview of painting materials and their application identified in 12th- and 13th-century painting and sculptures has been published by Unn Plahter and revealed some clear trends in the painting techniques and appearances11.

5 The sculptures that have survived from before the mid-13th century are fewer in number and show less cohesion in the choice of materials than the more consistently produced group of objects that follows. The largest and most technically and stylistically cohesive group of medieval sculptures is dated to the second half of the 13th century. There are also 31 panel paintings, the frontals produced in Norway, which are dated between 1250 and 135012. These represent the largest coherent group of panel paintings in northern Europe.

6 Two sculpted frontals, with three-dimensional micro architecture framing scenes containing relief sculpture, are also preserved13. Since the painting and gilding techniques identified in the frontals and sculpture from the period are basically the same, the analyses of the two-dimensional panels represent an important reference for the three-dimensional sculpture and vice-versa. The same painters seem to have worked on panels and sculpture. The similar materials and painting techniques registered on sculpture and painting in a tabernacle supports this view14. There is no strong evidence for a distinct specialist craft of polychrome painters until the late 15th century15. In addition to published case studies, unpublished reports on individual sculptures are available in the museum archives, while other objects remain to be investigated.

7 Old Norse text are observed on strips of parchment across the joins in the wooden support of the frontals from Årdal II and Tresfjord, and are painted on the frontal from Nedstryn16. Runic inscriptions, cut with a knife into the wood surface, are found on his right arm, loincloth and leg of the crucifix from Lunder (c. 1250)17. These findings of Old Norse text and runes strongly indicate Norwegian origin.

8 According to Nigel Morgan, “there seems no reason to think that the art of Western Norway in this period was far behind developments in England and France, in view of the international economic, cultural and dynastic contacts of the Norwegian royal family resident in Bergen”18.

Norway’s relations

9 Scandinavia’s peripheral position in the north seems to be a minor obstacle for its cultural relations with Western Europe19. It is clear from the evidence examined that both the making and the perception of Catholic church art in medieval Norway was firmly rooted in the tradition of the old church fathers, fully in line with Christian paradigms found in the rest of Europe20. The Church and the religious orders functioned across national borders. Political and commercial alliances naturally led to

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the exchange of works of art and craftsmen, and with them moved stylistic impulses, materials and personal skills. A substantial number of artefacts bear evidence of continuous cultural exchange established through the movement of people, knowledge and cultural influences in the well-connected networks and organized wide-ranging trade. This cultural exchange had important consequences for the range of raw materials available to the artisan, and the interpretation of polychromy in a theological-philosophical perspective. As a seafaring nation facing the North Sea, Norway maintained a special relationship with Britain from an early date21. According to Øystein Ekroll, this relation was well-established in the period discussed here, while the Swedes, Danes and the Baltic seem to have had greater association with Lower Saxony and the Rhineland. Ildar Garipzanov points out how earlier historical research has tended to be anglophile in nature, and posits one of the reasons for this focus as a lack of knowledge among the researchers of the Eastern Church22.

10 Cultural exchange flourished within the eastern and southern regions of Europe and it is clearly demonstrated in the materiality of the diverse types of objects discussed here23. Norway and Western Europe had their closest contact with the art of Byzantium throughout the period between 1100 and 125024. Several examples of the mutual interchange of objects and ideas are discussed by Bosselmann-Ruickbie25. David Talbot Rice concludes that relations between Britain and the East Mediterranean World can be better understood when he interprets Byzantine in a wider sense26. Links between the origins of the painterly techniques in the northern arts and Byzantine tradition are numerous in the period discussed here, for example the use of a dark underpaint, as well as the use of lapis lazuli in the blue27. Winfield finds that Romanesque painting methods can, at least technically, be regarded as a simplified and adapted version of the Byzantine painting28. These views accord with 12th-century art in Norway, as the application of paint and design, made with contrasting colours, follow a similar system of layers as the Byzantine tradition.

11 Although this acknowledges the strength of stylistic influence, Ernst Kitzinger warned of not going as far in assuming direct communication, stating that “Byzantium is not a universal key”29. He stresses that this may have been a factor of some importance “as early as the year one thousand when the Ottonian style was reaching maturity in the West, and Constantinople was distilling the classical revivals of the ‘Macedonian renaissance’ a mature mediaeval style on its own.” Furthermore, he points to the phenomena of parallelism between the East and the West in this period, as currents of practice could branch off the mainstream and enter Western art, as distinct from and in addition to direct influences. Consistent parallel trends in the painterly techniques have been identified as characteristic for the group of 12th-century polychrome sculptures30. In Sweden, Peter Tångeberg has posited that the scarcity of the preserved material in Europe at this time makes it difficult to draw general conclusions. In his major publication on wooden sculpture and altar decorations in Sweden, first published in 1986, he does however, present trends in the Swedish material that are similar to those found in Norway31.

Art technological characteristics

12 The following is not an overview, rather a presentation of some characteristics of the painter’s technology of the 12th and early 13th century. Furthermore, it proposes some

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possible paths that research might take to improve our understanding of them. This is seen in the perspective of the material preserved in the north. The aim is to illustrate the potential in shared contributions that can deepen our collective knowledge.

The wooden core

13 The identification of the type of wood used in the various parts that make up an object, and their individual function, has made it possible to better understand how artisans made use of the different kinds of wood. An overview of the wood species identified in the material preserved in Norway, their size, availability, trade and workability, was given by Plahter32. Botanical analyses were initiated by Martin Blindheim in the 1960’s and comprised 120 polychrome wooden sculptures and 32 boards used in crosses and tabernacle constructions33.

14 These botanical analyses reveal that medieval sculptures assigned to the various regions of Norway were carved in wood from the following tree genera: Alnus sp., Betula sp., Fraxinus sp., Populus sp., Quercus sp., Salix sp., Sorbus sp., Tilia cordata and Pinus silvestris. On these grounds, the following types of wood were recognised: alder, birch, ash, aspen, oak, great sallow, rowan, lime and pine. This use of a rather wide range of different types of wood has been found to be a characteristic feature for sculptures dated to the period before c. 1225 and agrees with Tångeberg’s findings in the Swedish material34.

15 Interestingly, various types of wood were used for both large (more than 1m tall) and small objects. No clear preference for oak can be found, and a preference for soft wood instead of dense wood was not identified. Hence, the handling properties of the wood may seem to have been of less concern to the carver, who would have had to rely on the sharpness of the tools. A smooth finish and narrow cuts indicate fold lines, and a thin ground for whitening seems to have been sufficient. These are features Klaus Endemann classified as the pre-Gothic carpentry technique and are recognised in Norwegian sculpture35.

16 Notably, the 90 cm tall seated Virgin from Dyste (c. 122536, fig. 3) provides an example of an object where several different types of wood were chosen for its construction in accordance with their properties and function37. The finely detailed main core is worked in lime (Tilia cordata); a soft and easily carved timber with little grain, that makes it easy to cut across the fibre. The chair’s posts are turned in beech (Fagus, sp.), as its fine tight grain makes it particularly suitable for turnery. Beech, on the other hand, has not been used for the main core of sculptures in this period. As beech reduces seriously in volume upon seasoning, this may seem reasonable38. The pegs that secure the turned beech posts to the main lime block on Dyste are made in oak (Quercus sp.), as its dense hard quality renders it ideal for this purpose.

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Fig. 3 – Virgin from Dyste, c. 1225, 90 x 31.5 x 24 cm. Inv. no. C 1525, MCH.

Photo Marianne Selsjord © MCH, UiO

17 After 1200 an increasing use of oak is recorded and its availability seems to have met the growing demands for larger components. One may speculate whether a shift in forest conditions during The Medieval Climatic optimum (900-1300 AD) gave rise to increased growth of oak, facilitating the demands. Unlike the thin preparation layers normally found in the period that follows, the ground now served additional purposes such as levelling tool marks, adjusting volumes and obtaining relief. Thus, the ground layers are most often applied rather thickly. Boards are most commonly made out of pine and oak. Oak is split radially into boards, while pine is split in two halves and one tangential board is hewn from each half. Sawn boards were introduced after the water- saw came into common use in Norway during the 16th century39.

18 It is important that further mapping of the use of various types of wood, their function and the following surface finishing can provide valuable information on regional differences, provenance and contribute to the dating of sculpture.

The ground

19 The use of grounds of chalk bound with aqueous media, and the parallel instances of oil grounds, or the use of both when targeted for specific areas in the painting, is a feature in the early objects before chalk ground becomes the dominant choice in the north. Chalk is a white marine sediment, mainly composed of coccoliths that cover the minute marine algae. Coccolith assemblages are important in dating of marine sediments. Thus, geological age and the possible location of chalk deposits can be suggested. As

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chalk deposits do not occur in Norway, this material had to be imported. Hence the provenance of chalk in art bears an important marker for cultural exchange.

20 So far, analyses of chalk sampled from art in Norway indicate that they were sourced from two main regions with chalk, referred to as Continental and Channel Region Chalk further to the west40. Interestingly, a shift from a dominant use of Continental to a preference for Channel Region Chalk took place in the mid-13th century. It has been argued that this shift did not follow the change in trade routes but rather coincided with an increasing stylistic influence from the West, accompanied by technological preferences, linked to workshop traditions.

21 During the last decades, improved characterisation of chalk deposits in Northern Europe may give rise to narrower distinguishable provenances. Thus, a re-investigation of chalk sampled from art, combined with improved knowledge on chalk deposits, may provide more precise chalk provenance. In consequence, a better picture of trade routes may emerge.

22 While gypsum is commonly associated with the art of Italy, the use of gypsum, or combinations of gypsum and chalk, has also been identified in specific instances elsewhere in Europe41. Anette Scholtka argues that such occurrences in the north seem most common in objects that predate the 13th century. A Norwegian example is found in the Virgin from Urnes (c. 1175, fig. 4) where a rich layer of gypsum was applied over an underlayer of chalk42. This layer of gypsum was present both in the painted areas, and in those receiving tin gilding (see below), but was absent in a cross-section sampled from the flesh43. The even interface between the chalk and gypsum layers observed in the cross-sections indicates that the former was levelled and smoothed before the gypsum was applied (fig. 5).

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Fig. 4 – Virgin from Urnes, c. 1175. 120 x 60.5 x 22.5-24.5 cm. Inv. no. MA 46, University museum of Bergen.

Photo © Stephan Kuhn

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Fig. 5 – Cameo photo based on back scatter SEM-EDX image of a cross-section from the imitation gold based on tin on a chalk ground coated with gypsum from the outside of the Virgin’s mantle. The straight surface of the chalk ground indicates that it was smoothed before the application of the gypsum. Sn: White, S: Blue, Ca: Blue.

Photo: Kaja Kollandsrud © MCH, UiO

23 The crucifix from Hemse (c. 1170), Gotland, Sweden, is an example where the wood was partially covered by a thin pinkish oil-bound preparation layer that forms a substratum for the white oil ground. However, the imitation of raised precious stones are not carved in wood, but formed in glue-bound chalk applied directly to the wood surface44. A similar strategy was applied to the crucifix from Alskog, Väte and Endre, in Gotland, Sweden45. In these cases, all gilded areas were carried out on chalk ground while the remaining areas in oil paint were applied to an oil bound ground. Interestingly, recent publication of the Hoven Madonna, a Cologne work, dated to c. 1170, also reveals that the lead white ground and paint layers are exclusively bound in oil46.

24 Obviously more evidence of the use of the diverse materials identified in the grounds will be collected gradually, and enable researchers to better understand the diverse craft traditions. Furthermore, this will contribute information that better identifies the provenance of sculpture, and broadens knowledge of the craftsmen involved in the cultural exchanges that produced them.

Colouring material

25 Colouring materials, identified on art from the period discussed, are predominantly lapis lazuli/ultramarine for the blue, copper green, green earth or orpiment mixed with carbon black for the green, orpiment for the yellow, red lead or/and vermilion for the red and finally lead white and charcoal black for white and black. A golden effect

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was largely made with tin covered with a yellow resinous glaze or with gold leaf. In the 13th century, azurite gradually replaced lapis lazuli and silver leaf replaced tin foil. As drying oil medium was increasingly used, red glazes and glazes with copper green as well as yellow glaze with a sienna resembling ochre were favoured in painted areas.

The binding media

26 Instrumental analyses have not been used for the identification of media on the Norwegian 12th- and early 13th-century painting, but solubility tests, appearances and the presence of grey underpaints for blue and green (veneda) all suggest that water miscible media dominate. A gradual move from water miscible media in the 12 th century to the full exploitation of the properties of oil as a binder in the 13th century appears to have taken place. Contrasting pure, saturated opaque colours govern a “lively painted style” while gilding and gemstones, both imitated and real, are characteristic of the “golden style”. These styles that dominate this early period, have been the centre of attention for researchers in this field across Europe, over the last 50 years47.

27 Drying oil was increasingly used in the 13th century, and apparently in an orderly manner. Hence, unmodified linseed oil was favoured for opaque oil-based paints and wet-in-wet modelling, while the heat-bodied oil with some resin was preferred for the glazes and layered structures. As the use of heat-bodied oil lessens changes in volume during drying, the risk of paint deformation is reduced. Thus, heat-bodied oil made it possible to work with thick glazes. A content of resin in the heat-bodied oil has normally been considered to improve transparency. Plahter, however, has suggested that resin may remain from a balsam used as solvent in order to improve flow48.

The binding media

28 The grey layer described by Theophilus as veneda, was recommended as underpaint for blue and green layers and has been found for glue-bound blue and green paints49. Scholtka claims that Theophilus only found it necessary to use veneda under green and blue in wall paintings50. The veneda will improve the appearance of these structures only if water-miscible opaque paint is used. The grey underpaint will, in addition to supplying a bluish tinge, absorb light and serve to lessen scattering. Thus, colour intensity is retained in the glue-bound paint, were voids in the surface due to loss of water also causes light scattering51.

29 In the crucifix from Horg I (c. 1175-1200, fig. 1), a grey veneda layer, is observed under the copper green and blue lapis lazuli52. A similar veneda, made from lead white mixed with charcoal black, was identified under the blue garments in the sculptures of St John and Mary that accompany the crucifix in the Calvary group from Urnes (c. 1150, fig. 6, 7)53. No examples of veneda in 13th-century sculpture in Norway have been identified to date, but it is found under a layer of azurite in a chalk painting at Tanum church, dating close to 130054.

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Fig. 6 – Calvary group from Urnes, c. 1150. After restoration in 2003 by Tine Frøysaker. The circular disks on the cross ends and the present polychrome on Mary and St John is believed to date to the thirteenth century. Cross 224 x 156 cm. Now in situ Urnes stave church.

F0 Photo: Birger R. Lindstad D3 NIKU

Fig. 7 – Cross section of well-preserved yellow glazed tin foil from the border edging of the loincloth of the Urnes Christ figure. 100x.

F0 Photo: Kaja Kollandsrud D3 MCH, UiO

30 Light underpaints for the translucent green and blue oil paints, on the other hand, will increase reflection and intensify the bright luminance of these colours. It is an important observation that the use of lead white underpaint for unrefined lapis lazuli indicates an early understanding of the properties of this pigment in oil. The low refractive indices of the colourless minerals in the stone act as translucent extenders, while the white underpaint serves to increase the reflection and thereby intensifies the brightness of translucent oil-based colours55. The parallel use of dark underpaints for specific colours such as blue and green in the Byzantine world and the white underpainting, which developed in the West, was probably related to differences in translucency created by the media.

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The making of green and blue structures

31 The many different ways of making green tones in aqueous-based paint is a characteristic for the 12th century. The less vivid water-miscible green paints were prepared in various ways: copper green on grey underpaint (veneda), mixtures of yellow and blue or yellow and black pigments as well as green earth. These varieties became redundant when copper green bound in oil, that produces a vivid saturated and transparent green, came into used towards the second quarter of the 13th century, seemingly throughout Europe56.

32 Twelfth century blue paints are normally made with lapis lazuli, while in the 13th century it was gradually replaced by azurite in most regions of Europe57. Both blue pigments are found in water-miscible as well as oil media. A great potential can be found in new opportunities brought about by modern media analyses. A more detailed understanding of the layer structure and binding mediums used for blue and green may shed further light on the development and use of aqueous-based paint systems and the early use of oil.

Gold and golden appearances

33 Gilding, executed in a range of metals and coatings, makes up an important part of the visual aesthetic of the entire medieval period. The various metal gildings are a main motif in “the golden” and “the transparent style”, and seen in trimmings and select ornaments in “the lively painted style”. The repertoire of metals used in medieval gildings, their application, coatings and visual effect is further discussed by Kollandsrud58.

Matt and glossy: Oil and water gilding

34 There are two main methods of attaching metal leaf: “Water gilding” that can be burnished to a high gloss, and “mordant gilding” that produces a matt result, as it cannot be burnished when the mordant base is bound in oil59.

35 Before the introduction of poliments, such as bole, after c. 1350 in Norway (1250 in Italy)60, burnished gilding was produced by the process of “ground gilding”, where the metal leaf is applied directly to “a meticulously smoothed layer of (chalk or gypsum) ground that has been moistened with a coating of aqueous adhesive, most probably of glair or animal glue”61. Analyses of cross-sections of original gilding show a tendency towards a stronger fluorescence towards the top of the ground. This has been interpreted as resembling glair62. Physical reconstruction confirms that the presence of a thin solution of glair, when absorbed into the ground, adds to the flexibility of the ground and contributes positively to achieve a mirror-like surface when polishing the silver. The Icelandic 14th century instruction on how to polychrome a sculpture, Líkneskjusmið describes: How the ground is prepared, followed by the silvering that is attached with skrálim (hide glue distemper) directly onto the white ground and the application of gullfargi (gold colour) 63. Líkneskjusmið is written as a letter from one craftsman to another. The text is not merely a collection of older recipes but represents

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contemporary practice in Norway and Iceland. In Ólafur Halldórsson’s view (based on linguistic criteria), the original letter was written in the first half of the 14th century64.

Gold leaf

36 The goldsmith’s use of sheet gold attached to the wooden core to gild sculpture prior to the 12th century, has been discussed by Endemann 65. The painters, however, imitated golden objects by using very thinly beaten gold leaf to gild a wooden support, a far more economical solution. The Virgins from Dyste (c. 1225, fig. 3) and Hove (c. 123066, fig. 8) are examples of extensive use of highly polished water gilding with gold leaf on their textiles and the back of the shrine. Real gold is also used in the gildings of loincloths, seen in the crucifix from Otterøy (c. 1225-1250)67, and Fjell (c. 1220-1230)68. The use of gold was often combined with gildings in other metals, discussed below.

Fig. 8 – Virgin from Hove, c. 1230, Tabernacle: 124 x 52.2 x 48.7 cm. Virgin: 94 x 45.5 x 35.5 cm. Inv. no. MA 27.

Photo © University museum of Bergen

Tin foil

37 Parallel to the use of real gold is the glittering golden simulation: imitation gold, made by the application of a yellow organic glaze to a white metal. In the surviving 12th- century Scandinavian material, tin foil was the most common white metal used for gilding69. It was normally glazed with a yellow glaze that transformed the white metal into a golden impression, a technique named imitation gold. Tin has been identified in the loincloth of the crucifixes from Horg I, Skafså (c. 1225)70 and Grinaker (c.

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1100-1150)71, on the outside of the robes of the Virgin from Urnes (fig. 4, 5)72, and as the stencil pattern and the edging of the loincloth of the crucifix from Urnes. Although tin is frequently mentioned in written sources, Anette Scholtka points out that it was seldom identified on painted works of art from the 12th century in the material she surveyed from central Europe and Denmark73.

Silver leaf

38 Plahter has suggested that while silver leaf rather than tin foil was applied to art from the German speaking regions, its choice may simply have been because silver was more easily available there. Johannes Taubert describes that for the loincloth of the Forstenrieder crucifix (c. 1200-1225) “we have to imagine it as a large piece of silver cloth with a red lining held by a golden belt” and “the [gold] leaf was applied onto the completed silvering”74. Thus, it is interesting that the crucifix from Eggedal in Norway is the only late 12th-century sculpture found so far that possesses imitation gold with silver leaf on the golden crown and loincloth75. This is unlike contemporary Norwegian sculpture in Norway made with tin, and more consistent with trends in the German regions, supporting Martin Blindheim’s claim that it is of a Northern continental origin rather than Norwegian76. The use of tin is also widespread in Spanish frontals from both the 12th and 13th centuries, and it has been identified in French sculpture 77. This raises a key question: Is the use of tin in Germany rare or are the examples not yet known to us?

39 The technique of cast tin relief, which is known in central and southern Europe in the 12th century, has not been observed on Scandinavian works until the 15 th century 78. There are, however, examples of a carved diaper pattern with imitation gilding, such as seen in the background of the relief figures in the sculpted frontal from Komnes (c. 1230-1250)79, and in the backboard of the Virgin from Vallset80.

Part gold

40 Diffusion-gilded silver formed by beating a ‘block’ of gold attached to a much thicker ‘block’ of silver can be hammered down to a desired thickness. As foil metal, the gilded silver is self-supported, and when used by goldsmiths it is referred to as ‘diffusion- gilded silver’. When beaten into leaf metal it is no longer self-supporting and known as “Zwischgold” or “part-gold” used by the painter81. The result is somewhat paler and less expensive than a leaf of pure gold82.

41 According to Jilleen Nadolny the analytical evidence currently available suggests that part-gold was first utilised by painters in the early l3th century. Its use became more common in the 14th century, more so on sculptures than on panel paintings83. Nadolny points to examples where part-gold was ascertained on works of art in Germany and Austria dating to the second half of the 13th century, such as the wall paintings in the Deutschordenkirche St. Ägidien in Regensburg, on cast-relief applications of the wall paintings in the Cathedral of Gurk, and on the polychromed wood sculpture of the Enthroned Madonna and Child in Kloster Wienhausen.

42 The earliest Norwegian example known to the authors was identified in the hair and beard of the crucifix from Haug, Buskerud (fig. 9), dated to c. 122584. The part gold, now

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blackened by corroded silver, was applied to less visible areas of the back of the hair and in the deepest recesses of the curly beard (fig. 10, detail of the hair of the crucifix from Haug, Buskerud). Another early Scandinavian example is the wooden Madonna from Visby (Sweden), c. 1225, which retains gilding with real gold on the front of its hair and with part-gold on the reverse85.

Fig. 9 – Bust detail of the crucifix from Haug. c. 1225. Figure (alder): 109 x 92.5 x 20.0 cm. Cross (pine): 235.5 x 146.5 cm. Separately carved nipples; probably oak. Inv. no. C 3604, MCH.

Photo: Kaja Kollandsrud © MCH, UiO

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Fig. 10 – Detail of the transition between gold foil and the corroded laminate gold in the back of the hair of the crucifix from Haug.

Photo: Kaja Kollandsrud © MCH, UiO

The golden glaze

43 The coating that changes the silvering from white to golden is described as “reddish” in hue in the Líkneskjusmið. A reconstruction of the production process used to obtain pure pine resin coating, identified in the imitation gold on the Virgin from Hedalen, also results in resin with a reddish-brown colour. It was produced by dry-distillation of pinewood and collected as the first fractions before the temperature rises to levels where the non-drying tar is produced86. The fraction contains pine resin dissolved in turpentine and mixed with water. The pine resin dissolved in the turpentine was ready for application with no further refining or colouring added. It could easily be applied with a brush and dried when exposed to UV in daylight87. Líkneskjusmið describes how the application of the gullfargi is performed by spreading it with the fingers over silver that has been warmed in the sun, an operation that is repeated. It is probably a resin/ oil mix that is described here, as the pure pine resin cannot be applied in this way. This method is in accordance with description of a varnish or golden glaze to be spread onto a tin foil found in both Theophilus and Cennino88. GC-MS analysis performed by Raymond White, National Gallery in London, identified heat-treated pine resin as a major constituent for the yellow colouring material of the coating, and often mixed with linseed oil. In some cases, the resin was applied pure. Larch resin was identified in the frontal from Odda89.

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Controlling the reflexion of golden surfaces

44 The differentiation of surface gloss played a major role in the medieval visual expression90. The striking effects of imitation gold due to the optical properties of the highly polished gilding and the resinous coating were a desired visual effect91. The technique gives rise to various visual appearances, such as perceived gloss, glow, binocular glitter and other complex features92. This might explain why both colourless and yellow transparent coatings were not only applied to silver, but also to gold leaf gilding to increase in the range of visual effects. A yellow glaze was applied onto the water gilding with real gold leaf on the crown and the inner dress of the Virgin from Dyste, while a transparent layer, probably a glair varnish, based on its solubility in 10% KOH and fluoresces blue in UV, was applied directly onto the water gilding in real gold on the Virgin’s mantle. This glair varnish was also used as a coating over yellow glaze on imitation gold; i.e. the turned posts, sides of the throne, outside of the mantle and the inside of its sleeves93. As oil gilding cannot be burnished, a coating with an oil glaze will reduce light scattering and lend the matt surfaces an even deep and lustrous appearance. Such a glaze was applied to the oil gilded surfaces made with real gold leaf in the Hemse crucifix94.

45 Further mapping of the diverse metal gildings employed, and their geographical spread, might shed more light on the early use of glazed tin, gold, silver and part gold and their coatings. According to Tångeberg, the use of both glazed silver and part gold occur in the East until the beginning of the 15th century 95. Imitation gold is here typically found on the outside of the robes, crowns, decorative edging bands and architectural details of the shrines. This is not the case in north Germany, where such use of imitation seems to disappear in the second half of the 14th century. Tångeberg therefore suggest that the late use of this technique can be a criterium to decide the provenance of such pieces of art. It has been suggested that the late use of imitation gold based on silver foil identified in late medieval altar shrines in Norway presents a strong argument in connecting them to a local Norwegian origin96. A broader geographic identification of the technique, its roots and late use, should perhaps bring us closer to a better understanding of this development. More work involving reconstructions are necessary to better understand the visual effects of the various coatings and their combination when applied to the different metals used in the diverse gilding techniques.

Concluding remarks

46 Earlier research has established that the main trends identified in the polychrome sculpture discussed here are in line with other European findings both in terms of style and materiality. Variations in the range of painterly practices may provide indications of patterns of cultural exchange. In her exploration of the techniques of gilded relief decoration, Nadolny argues that highly useful information regarding the reasoning and motivations of the medieval craftsmen may be observed in such regional technical customs97. Further consideration of the painterly techniques seen in a broader European context is therefore highly relevant. The collection of sculpture from this early period preserved in Norway has not been fully investigated, and the potential of new scientific methods has not been completely explored.

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47 Studies of the influence of Byzantine art in the West are frequently based on stylistic and iconographic features, found in imported objects from Byzantium. However, when Winfield in the 1960s analysed wall paintings in the East, he found that Byzantine painting technique had an impact on contemporary art in the West. Similar methods of building up colours and the rigid separation of them are used98. The same range of pigments and layered structures are recognised in 12th-century art in Norway. How western workshops adapted these techniques is uncertain, but their occurrence indicate close connections, not only among the elite, but between the craftsmen and their milieu. An enigmatic feature is the wide use of lapis lazuli in both the East and West in the 12th century. Was its occurrence mainly linked to the Byzantine penetration into the painter’s milieu in the West? This esteemed and probably expensive pigment was probably highly available in Byzantium and Constantinople in the 12th century and favoured by craftsmen in the East who spread their painting practices to the West. The pigment fell out of use in the West as well as the East in the 13th century, which may have been caused by unrest in the East due to the invasion of the Mongols99.

48 Thus, further study of the materiality of these early objects is a potent source in the search for better understanding of the mechanisms of cultural exchange in the period. The fragmented state of sculptures preserved, due to a high number of losses over the centuries, makes the examination of the remaining surviving examples across national borders highly relevant. Mapping the choice of materials and the way they are treated and applied have, when seen in a broader European perspective, the potential to elucidate how the use of technology and techniques migrate and develop on a larger scale, geographically and through time. With more data and more precise characterisations, the patterns of change can become clearer, both when seen in a local and broader geographical setting. More evidence collected from the materials and their application can also contribute new knowledge to the many aspects of the society that produced them, on topics such as trade, development of technological and painterly expertise and their resulting visual expressions. Furthermore, questions on provenance and dating of objects can be substantiated. Changes in the availability of materials are often seen in the way the artisan chose to adapt. New research in this field will provide a better understanding of the use of diverse media and their application, as well as the various gilding techniques and their coatings within this period, both in Norway and Europe as a whole.

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NOTES

1. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein. Studien zu Form, Material und Technik Mittelalterliche Plastik in Schweden. München: Georg D. W. Callwey, 1989. 2. ELKINS, James – “On Some Limits of Materiality in Art History”. in NEUNER, Stefan; GELSHORN, Julia (ed.) – Taktilität: Sinneserfahrung als Grenzerfahrung: Das Magazin des Instituts für Theorie 12, 2008, pp. 25-30. 3. BYNUM, Caroline Walker – Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe. New York: Zone Books, 2011; KUMLER, Aden; LAKEY, Christopher R. – “Res Et Significatio: The Material Sense of Things in the Middle Ages”. Gesta 51, 2012; WILLIAMSON, Beth – “Material Culture and Medieval Christianity”. in ARNOLD, John H. (ed.) – The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity. Oxford, 2014; PENTCHEVA, Bissera V. – The Sensual Icon: Space, Ritual, and the Sences in Byzantium. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010. 4. Such as the head from Urnes (Inv. no. MA 77) and a seated full figure sculpture from Urnes (Inv. no. MA 316), whose identity is uncertain. St Olav has been suggested. Both are in the University Museum of Bergen. 5. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture in Norway c. 1100-1250, Medieval Art in Norway. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1998, cat. no. 12. 6. Inv. no. C 33267, MCH. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture…, cat. no. 23. 7. PLAHTER, Unn – “Noen observasjoner i 1100-tallets bemaling sett i relasjon til antemensalemaleriet”. Paper presented at the Nordisk konservatorforbund’s 9. Kongress. Oslo, 1981, pp. 71-78; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Materials and Techniques in a European Context”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 28/1, 2014, pp. 306-307. 8. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals of Norway 1250-1350, vol. 2: Materials and Technique. London: Archetype Publications Ltd., 2004. 9. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture in Norway c. 1100-1250. Medieval Art in Norway. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1998. The catalogue includes three works of metal and one of morse ivory. See also BLINDHEIM, Martin – Gothic Painted Wooden Sculpture in Norway 1220-1350. Oslo: Messel forlag, 2004.

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10. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “Technological Mapping of Norwegian Polychrome Wooden Sculpture, 1100-1350: a Preliminary Overview”. in HOFSETH, Ellen H. (ed.) UKM skrifter 1. Oslo: Universitetets kulturhistoriske museer, 2002, pp. 125-141. 11. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”. 12. MORGAN, Nigel J. – “4 Dating, Styles and Groupings”. in HOHLER, Erla B.; MORGAN, Nigel J.; WICHSTRØM, Anne – Painted Altar Frontals of Norway 1250-1350, vol. 1: Artists, Styles and Iconography. London: Archetype Publications Ltd., 2004, pp. 20-38. 13. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja; HUTH, Nadine – “Beyond the Precious with Painterly Effects: The Thirteenth Century Sculpted Frontal from Komnes, Buskerud in Norway”. in GRINDER-HANSEN, Poul (ed.) – Image and Altar 800-1300. Papers from an International Conference in Copenhagen 24-27 October. Copenhagen: PNM Publications from the National Museum Studies in Archaeology & History, 2014, pp. 229-246. 14. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, pp. 195-199. 15. NADOLNY, Jilleen – “One Craft, many Names: Gilders, Preparers, and Polychrome Painters in the 15th and 16th Centuries”. in Art technical source research. ICOM-CC, 2008, pp. 10-17. 16. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, pp. 17-18, 187-188. 17. Inv. no. C 11703, MCH. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture…, cat. no. 62. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “340 Kruzifix aus Lunder”. in KROKER, Martin (ed.) – Credo. Christianisierung Europas im Mittelalter. Katalog Band II, VI Sterbende Götter: Christianisierung Skandinaviens. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2013, pp. 340-341. 18. MORGAN, Nigel J. – “4 Dating, Styles and Groupings”…, p. 23. 19. BLINDHEIM, Martin – “Scandinavian Art and Its Relations to European Art around 1200”. in The Year 1200: A Symposium. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, p. 429. 20. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – Evoking the Divine: The Visual Vocabulary of Sacred Polychrome Wooden Sculpture in Norway between 1100 and 1350. Oslo: University of Oslo, 2018. PhD thesis. 21. EKROLL, Øystein – “Erkebiskop Eystein, Oktogonen i Kristkyrkja og Kristi Gravkyrkja i Jerusalem”. in BJØRLYKKE, Kristin et alii (ed.) – Eystein Erlendsson – Erkebiskop, politiker og kirkebygger. Trondheim: Nidaros domkirkes restaureringsarbeiders forlag, 2012. 22. GARIPZANOV, Ildar – “Wandering Clerics and Mixed Rituals in the Early Christian North, c. 1000-1150”. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 63/1, 2012, pp. 1-17. 23. BOSSELMANN-RUICKBIE, Antje – “Contact between Byzantium and the West from the 9 th to the 15th Century: Reflections in Goldsmiths’ Works and Enamels”. in DAIM, Falko; HEHER, Dominik; RAPP, Claudia (ed.) – Menschen, Bilder, Sprache, Dinge Wege der Kommunikation zwischen Byzanz und dem Westen 1: Bilder und Dinge. Studien zur Ausstellung ‘Byzanz & der Westen. 1000 vergessene Jahre’. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, 2018, pp. 73-104. 24. KITZINGER, Ernst – “The Byzantine Contribution to Western Art of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries”. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 20, 1966, p. 27. 25. BOSSELMANN-RUICKBIE, Antje – "Contact between Byzantium and the West…”. 26. RICE, David Talbot – “The Britain and the Byzantine World in the Middle Ages”. in VOLBACH, Wolfgang Fritz (ed.) – Byzantine Art – A European Art. Lectures. Athen: Department of Antiquities and Archaeological Restoration, 1966, p. 23. 27. David Winfield was early to point this out: WINFIELD, David C. – “Middle and later Byzantine Wall Painting Methods. A Comparative Study”. Dumbarton oaks Papers. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Centre for Byzantine Studies, Trustees for Harvard University, 1968, p. 100; PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar frontals…, p. 191; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”, pp. 311-314; PLAHTER, Unn – “Noen observasjoner i 1100-tallets…”, p. 77. 28. WINFIELD, David C. – “Middle and later Byzantine Wall Painting…”, p. 129. 29. KITZINGER, Ernst – “The Byzantine Contribution…”, pp. 39-40. 30. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”. pp. 307-310.

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31. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein… 32. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”, pp. 299-301, and appendix I, table 2, pp. 320-324. 33. The botanical analyses were performed by professor Elias Mork, Norges Landbrukshøyskole, professor Trygve Braarud and Dr. Kari Henningsmoen, University of Oslo. Results were published by BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture… and BLINDHEIM, Martin – Gothic Painted Wooden Sculpture... 34. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein... 35. ENDEMANN, Klaus – “Zur Holzskulptur des Frühen Mittelalters. Voraussetzungen und Funktion – Schnitztechnik und Fassung”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 26/2, 2012, pp. 400-434. 36. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture…, cat. no. 37. 37. SELSJORD, Marianne – “The ‘Golden Madonna’ from Dyste Church”. in Yearbook of the Historical Archives of Historical Art Technology. Technologia Artis. Prague: The Union of Czech Artists in collaboration with the Institute for Art history ^CSAV and the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, 1993, pp. 113-116. 38. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology...”, p. 300. 39. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, pp. 4-5. 40. PERCH-NIELSEN, Katharina von Salis; PLAHTER, Unn – “Analyses of Fossil Coccoliths in Chalk Grounds of Medieval Art in Norway”. in MALMANGER, Magne; BERCELLY, Lazlo; FUGLESANG, Signe (ed.) – Norwegian Medieval Frontals. Acta ad archaeologiam et artivm historiam pertinentia XI. Papers from the Conference in Oslo December 1989. Roma: Giorgia Bretschneider, 1995, pp. 145-156. 41. See table of gypsum identified in grounds in SCHOLTKA, Annette – “Theophilus Presbyter – Die maltechnischen Anweisungen und Ihre Gegenüberstellung mit naturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungsbefunden”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 6/1, 1992, pp. 44-45. 42. SEM-EDX analysis performed by Kollandsrud in 2002 on a SEM Jeol 840 in combination with energy dispersive X-ray analyser (EDX Link AN10000). The straight border between the layers are clear in the colour mapped cameo image from the cross-section sampled from the outside of the mantle. 43. It is not certain whether this was intended or if the gypsum top layer was simply removed during the careful smoothing of the ground. Though the gypsum layer is rather thick in the other samples. This was a re-examination of existing samples collected by conservator Bjørn Kaland, University of Bergen, 1959. New analysis might solve this issue. 44. PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse: Analyses of the Painting Technique”. in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe. Techniques, Analysis, Art History. London: Archetype, 2006 (First printed 1984), pp. 11-20; pp. 11-12. 45. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein…, pp. 62-65; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”, pp. 301-303. 46. URBANEK, Regina – “Die Hovener Madonna – Bestand und Bewertung”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 30/2, 2016, pp. 261-280. 47. BRACHERT, Thomas – “Fassung von Bildwerken: Geschichte”. in Reallexicon zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte, vol. 7. München: Beck, 1981, pp. 793-798; KARGÈRE, Lucretia; RIZZO, Adriana – “Twelfth-Century French Polychrome Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of art: Materials and Techniques”, Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science, and Technology 1, 2010, pp. 39-72; MERCIER, Emmanuelle; SANYOVA, Jana – “Art et techniques de la polychromie romane sur bois dans dans l’Europe du Nord”. Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, XLIII, 2012, pp. 125-135; JÄGER, Elisabeth – “Zur Polychromie der Kölner Skulptur vom 12.- Bis zum Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts”. in BERGMANN, U. (ed.) – Schnütgen-Museum: Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters

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(1000-1400). Köln: Schnütgenmuseum, 1989, pp. 99-104; SERCK-DEWAIDE, Myriam – “The History and conservation of the surface coating on European gilded-wood Objects”. in BIGELOW, D.; CORNU, E.; LANDREY, G. J.; VAN HORNE, C. (ed.) – Gilded Wood, Conservation and History. Sound View Press, Madison (CT), 1991, pp. 65-73; TÅNGEBERG – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein… 48. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals..., vol. 2, p. 200; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian art technology…”, p. 315. 49. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, p. 191; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”, p. 314, n. 124; KLOCKE, Jens; LEHMANN, Jirina – “Technik des Unterlegens von grobkörnigen Pigmenten: die Veneda des Theophilus”. Restauro 107/5, 2001, pp. 373-375. 50. SCHOLTKA, Anette – “Theophilus Presbyter- Die maltechnischen Anweisungen…, pp. 32, 34. 51. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, p. 191; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology…”, p. 314. 52. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, pp. 190-191. 53. FRØYSAKER, Tine; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Calvary Group in Urnes Stave Church, Norway: A Technological Examination”. in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe: Techniques, Analysis, Art History. London: Archetype, 2006, pp. 51-52. 54. PLAHTER, Unn – unpublished report 1976, MCH. LAMARK, Wenche G. H. – Tanum Kirkes Kalkmalerier. University of Oslo, Department of art history, 2009. Master thesis. 55. Early examples are the loincloths of the crucifix in the Calvary group from Urnes (c. 1150) and the crucifix from Hemse, Gotland in Sweden, (c. 1175). FRØYSAKER, Tine; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Calvary Group in Urnes…”, p. 50; PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse…”, pp. 14-15. 56. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology....”, p. 308, 314; PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, p. 192. 57. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology....”, pp. 317-318. 58. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Divine Communicated through Embodied Light in Medieval Sculpture in Norway”, Selected papers from the conference Science, Imagination, Wonder: Robert Grosseteste and his Legacy. Pembroke College, Oxford University, 3-5 April 2018. Brepols; due 2019. 59. NADOLNY, Jilleen M. – The Techniques and Use of Gilded Relief Decoration by Northern European Painters, c. 1200-1500. London: University of London, 2001. PhD thesis, p. 121. 60. NADOLNY, Jilleen M. – “All that’s Burnished isn’t Bole. Reflections on Medieval Water Gilding: Part 1: Early Medieval to 1300”, in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe…, pp. 148-162. 61. The term “ground gilding” was first introduced by NADOLNY, Jilleen – The Techniques and Use of Gilded Relief…, vol. I, p. 123. 62. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, pp. 44-45, sections 2.3 and 2.4. 63. MS AM 194.8° in the Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen. PLAHTER, Unn – “Líkneskjusmíð: 14th-Century Instructions for Painting from Iceland”. in MALMANGER, Magne; BERCELLY, Laszlo; FUGLESANG, Signe (ed.) – Norwegian Medieval Altar Frontals and Related Material. Roma: Giorgio Bretschneider, 1995, pp. 63, 157. See also WIIK, Svein – “Líkneskjusmíð. Medieval Polychrome Technique in Iceland”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 9, 1995. 64. HALLDÓRSSON, Ólafur – “Líkneskjusmið”, Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 1973, 1974. Private communication 1988. 65. ENDEMANN, Klaus – “Zur Holzskulptur Des Frühen Mittelalters...”. This is further discussed in PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology...”, p. 309. 66. WILLIAMSSON, Paul – Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300. Pelican History of Art, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995, p. 117.

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67. FRØYSAKER, Tine – “Den middelalderske Kristusfiguren fra Otterøy kirke, Namsos kommune i Nord-Trøndelag. Et konserveringsprosjekt”. NIKU Oppdragsmelding 023, Oslo, 1996. 68. Inv. no. 319, Toten Museum. SCHARFFENBERG, Katrine – Kristus fra Fjell kirke, Østre Toten: Konstruksjon, maleteknikk og behandlingshistorikk. Unpublished report, MCH 2006. 69. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology...”, p. 318. 70. GJERTSEN, Randi – “Den korsfestede Kristus fra Skafså Kirke, Tokke Kommune i Telemark. Undersøkelser og konservering”. NIKU publikasjoner, 123, 2002, 1-34. 71. Inv. no. C 2797, MCH. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture…, cat. no. 7. 72. Unpublished SEM-EDX analysis by Kollandsrud, UiO 1996. 73. SCHOLTKA, Annette – “Theophilus Presbyter – Die Maltechnischen Anweisungen...”, p. 27. 74. TAUBERT, Johannes – Polychrome Sculpture: Meaning, Form, Conservation. MARINCOLA, Michele D. (trans.). Getty Conservation Institute: Getty Publications, 2015, 150, 154, Fig. 25. 75. Inv. no. C 10786, MCH. PLAHTER, Leif E. – “Paint Analyses of the Crucifix from Eggedal”. Universitetets Oldsaksamlings årbok 1960-1961, 1963, pp. 94-108. 76. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture..., cat. no. 41. 77. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, pp. 193-195. 78. NADOLNY, Jilleen – “The Techniques and Use of Gilded Relief…”. 79. Inv. no. C 3209, MCH. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja; HUTH, Nadine – “Beyond the Precious…, p. 229-46. 80. OLSTAD, Tone M. – “Madonna Med Barnet: konservering og restaurering av en polykrom treskulptur fra 1200-tallet i Vallset Kirke, Stange i Hedmark”. NIKU oppdragsmelding 27, 1996. 81. On diffusion-gilding see PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian Art Technology...”, p. 318. 82. See discussion on the prices of painting materials listed in the 15 th century Icelandic manuscript (AM 685 d 4to in the Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen) in PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, pp. 57-60. 83. NADOLNY, Jilleen – “The Techniques and Use of Gilded Relief…”, p. 161. 84. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “Vasaris Theory of the Origins of Oil Painting and Its Influence on Cleaning Methods: The Ruined Polychromy of the Early Thirteenth Century Crucifix from Haug, Norway”. in LINDLEY, Phillip (ed.) – Sculpture Conservation: Preservation or Interference?. Liverpool: Scholar Press, Ashgate Publishing Company, 1997, pp. 139-149. New SEM-EDX analysis with better resolution, performed by the authors in 2016, identified the layered structure of part gold in the blackened areas of the hair and beard, and not an alloy as first suggested in the article. The dating of the sculpture based on its construction and materiality is discussed in KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – "Krusifiks fra Haug kirke Buskerud C nr. 3604: Undersøkelser og behandling." Varia 27, 1994, p. 26. 85. NADOLNY, Jilleen – The Techniques and Use of Gold Relief..., p. 161. 86. The tar burning was set up an led by conservator Eivind Bratlie, MCH, and performed in a traditional small-scale way with saturated roots of pine in an iron kettle packed with pine roots highly saturated with its balsam that were turned upside down onto a stone platform. It was heated by building a fire around it. 87. PLAHTER, Unn – “Líkneskjusmíð…”, p. 163. 88. PLAHTER, Unn – “Líkneskjusmíð…”, pp. 169-171; BREPOHL, Erhard (transl.) Theophilus Presbyter Und Das Mittelalterliche Kunsthandwerk: Gesamtausgabe Der Schrift De Diversis Artibus in Zwei Bänden. Vol. 1: Malerei und Glas. Köln: Böhlau, 1999; BROECKE, Lara (transl.) – Cennino Cennini's Il Libro Dell'arte. London: Archetype Publications, 2015. 89. PLAHTER, Unn – Painted Altar Frontals…, vol. 2, p. 177. Analyses was performed by WHITE, Raymond – “Analyses of Norwegian Medieval Paint Media: A Preliminary Report”. in MALMANGER, Magne; BERCELLY, Laszlo and FUGLESANG, Signe (ed.) – Norwegian Medieval Altar Frontals and Related Material. Roma: Giorgio Bretschneider, 1995, pp. 127-136. 90. This topic is further discussed in KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Divine Communicated through Embodied Light…”.

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91. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “Polychrome Light in Medieval Norwegian Church Art (12 th – 13 th Centuries)”. in KROESEN, Justin E. A.; SAUERBERG, Marie Louise; NYBORG, Ebbe (ed.) – From Conservation to Interpretation: Studies in Religious Art (c. 1100 – c. 1800) in Northern and Central Europe in Honour of Peter Tångeberg. Leuven: Peeters verlag, 2017, pp. 57-82. 92. HARVEY, Joshua; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja; SMITHSON, Hannah – “Not all that Glitters: Probing Material Perception with a Physical Imitation-gold Stimulus”. Abstract for AVA Christmas Meeting, Queen Mary University of London, December 18, 2017, Perception 47, 2018. 93. SELSJORD, Marianne – “The ‘Golden Madonna’…”, p. 116. 94. PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse…”, pp. 14-15. 95. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein…, p. 236. 96. KAUSLAND, Kristin – “Late Medieval Paintings in Norway – Materials, Techniques, Origins”. Zeischrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung 31/1, 2016, pp. 47-66. 97. NADOLNY, Jilleen – The Techniques and use of Gilded Relief..., p. 100. 98. WINFIELD, David C. – “Middle and later Byzantine Wall Painting…”, pp. 125-126, 129. 99. PLAHTER, Unn – “The Trade in Painter's Materials...”, pp. 69-71.

ABSTRACTS

The paper focuses on medieval wooden sculptures in the 12th and early 13th century in Norway, with preserved original polychromy. The presentation of materials used in the construction, the painting and gilding are based on material analyses. Their application is discussed and compared to those produced in the period that immediately follows. Conclusions reached about the characteristics of this period allow future research to be suggested. It is clear from the evidence gained that both the making and the perception of Catholic church art in medieval Norway was firmly rooted in an established culture consistent with Christian paradigms found in the rest of medieval Europe. The analytical results from the examination of sculpture preserved in Norway are therefore relevant to a wider European context. To what extent medieval sculpture was imported or produced in Norway and by whom is an ongoing discussion. A better knowledge of the sculptural traditions of a wider geographical area will provide the context required to improve our understanding of the cultural exchanges of the medieval period.

O artigo foca-se em esculturas medievais de madeira dos séculos XII e XIII na Noruega, com policromia original preservada. A apresentação de materiais usados na construção, na pintura e na douradura baseiam-se na análise de materiais. A sua aplicação é discutida e comparada com casos do período imediatamente a seguir. As conclusões alcançadas relativamente às características deste período permitem a sugestão de investigação futura. Fica claro, a partir das evidências obtidas, que tanto a forma de fazer como a forma de percepcionar a arte da Igreja Católica na Noruega medieval estava firmemente enraizada numa cultura estabelecida que era consistente com os paradigmas cristãos encontrados no resto da Europa medieval. Os resultados analíticos do exame da escultura preservada na Noruega são, portanto, relevantes para um contexto europeu mais vasto. Até que ponto a escultura medieval foi importada para ou produzida na Noruega e por quem é uma discussão em aberto. Conhecer melhor as tradições escultóricas de uma área geográfica mais abrangente providenciará o contexto necessário para aperfeiçoarmos o entendimento que temos das trocas culturais do período medieval.

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INDEX

Keywords: Polychromy, Sculpture, Materiality, Painting technology, Medieval. Palavras-chave: Policromia, Escultura, Materialidade, Tecnologia de pintura, Medieval

AUTHORS

KAJA KOLLANDSRUD

Museum of Cultural History 0164, Oslo Norway University of Oslo, 0315, Oslo, Norway [email protected]

UNN PLAHTER

University of Oslo, 0315, Oslo, Norway [email protected]

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New research findings on 11th-early 13th-century polychrome wood sculpture at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels Esculturas policromadas dos séculos XI-início de XIII: novos resultados de pesquisa do Instituto Real do Património Artístico, em Bruxelas

Emmanuelle Mercier

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 18 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

Introduction

1 Unlike gold and ivory masterpieces of the 11th and 12th centuries, wood sculpture in the Meuse valley is severely lacking in terms of milestones. In this period, the two iconographic representations are the Madonnas and Child, constituting a clear majority, and a few Crucifixes. Sculptures dating from the first third of the 13th century are more numerous and include nine Madonnas and Child, two Crucifixes, one Christ in Majesty and some representations of Saints in majesty or standing. In spite of the losses, Belgian heritage includes a number of sculptures dating from the year 1000 to the middle of the 12th century, i.e. far earlier than the first painted altar frontals to be preserved in northern Europe. Therefore, 11th- to early 13th-century medieval wooden polychrome sculpture appears to be an important missing link to explore the way materials and techniques have evolved. To analyze this evolution, it is necessary, on the one hand, to rely on the reference dates of a strong relative chronology and, on the

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other hand, to be sure that the elements to be analyzed are fully authentic. However, not only are the datings of Mosan sculptures based on stylistic analysis quite varied but this meager corpus has undergone losses and deep transformations over the centuries. With the input of new data, this paper aims to give a general idea of the status of the question in Belgium.

I. Relative chronology: what is reliable?

Overview of the complexity of the corpus’s material history

2 Fires and the practice of burying unused wooden statues have led to many losses, but one of the main causes of damage are wood-eating insects. The biological damage sets in quite quickl. As a consequence, many of them were completely transformed in the 14th century as illustrated by the Hermalle-sous-Huy Virgin1 (Museums of Art and History of Belgium), and the Virgin in Saint Peter’s church in Bertem2. Another type of radical transformation, which took place even earlier, is illustrated by the Virgin in Saint-Materne Church in Walcourt which was first polychromed and then completely covered in metal sheets in the 13th century3. In Belgium, sculptures have generally been repainted once or twice each century. As a consequence, no 11th- and 12th-century sculptures studied so far exhibit their original polychromy. Among the sculptures dating from the first decades of the 13th century, only three Virgins appear in their original polychromy. The so-called Black Virgin illustrates another example of transformation. The recent study of the Hal Black Virgin has revealed traces of two medieval polychromies under black repaints4. Another phenomenon is the radical transformation of medieval sculptures in the 19th century to bring them into a hypothetical pristine state. In the first half of the 20th century another type of intervention came into being, which this time aimed to get rid of all additions, including polychromies, to return to the sculpture’s ‘naked body’ which was considered to be more authentic even though this bare wood appearance was never the mediaeval artists’ intention. In view of these transformations, the article will focus first of all on the contribution made by a material study on the relative chrolonology issue by using a few case studies for illustration purposes.

The Bon Dieu de Tancrémont, the Xhoris Madonna and Child: the oldest witnesses?

3 Since the second half of the 20th century, new datings suggested by C14 and dendrochronological analysis have suggested that some sculptures in the round possibly produced before the year 1000 have survived5. The Tancrémont Crucifix was dated at around 1100 until radiocarbon analysis gave it the title of the oldest sculpture in the round in Belgium (799-946; with a probability of 68%)6. The new dating is around 1000 whereas the Xhoris Madonna (Grand Curtius museum, Liège), generally attributed to the same workshop7, is still dated a hundred years later (fig. 1). In spite of different iconographic themes and the considerable damage caused by insects on the Xhoris Madonna, the common traits of the two sculptures lead us to think that they share geographic and chronological production zones: the crowned faces, the cubic shapes, the slightly open downturned mouths. In both sculptures, the bodies’ volumes are

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smooth, with the draping effect only expressed by are few parallel curves (Christ’s sleeves, Child’s mantle) or straight lines (lower section of the Virgin’s bliaud). If the hypothesis of a Xhoris-Tancrémont group is maintained, the Xhoris Madonna may be considered to be contemporary or even older than the Walcourt Virgin, for which the radiocarbon analysis results (957/1020) are compatible with the consecration of the church in 10268.

Fig. 1 – Xhoris Madonna and Child (Grand Curtius museum, Liège), dated ca. 1000 or 1100, 62,5cm

Tongeren’s Christ on the Cross and Thuin’s Madonna and Child: revealed by X-ray

4 According to the generally accepted relative chronology, the passage from the 11th to the 12th century is illustrated by the Crucifix in Tongeren Basilica 9 (fig. 2) and the Virgin in Notre-Dame d’el Vaux Church in Thuin10 (fig. 3). The sculptures have in common a long face ending in an only slightly protruding chin, a long triangular nose and a small closed mouth. The Virgin was dated by C14 at between 1020 and 1160 (with a probability of 95.4%)11. While this very wide margin is compatible with the dating of around 1100, it does not make it possible to attribute the work more precisely to either the 11th or the 12th century. A wood sample taken from the back of the Crucifix is dated between 890 and 1020 with a 95.4% probability. This wide range makes possible the dating of the sculpture during the Ottonian period12. The dendrological observations suggest that a dating around 1100 seems more difficult to support.

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Fig. 2 – Cruciﬁx in Tongeren Basilica, usually dated ca. 1100, 176 cm

Fig. 3 – Madonna and Child in Notre-Dame d’el Vaux Church in Thuin, dated ca.1100, 83 cm

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5 The X-ray of the Crucifix does not reveal any repair work recut on the face (fig. 4). It shows that modern nails were used to fix the sides of the perizoma which are not original. More surprisingly, the X-ray brings to light a series of details that are completely hidden by the thickness of the repaints. These elements invite us to reconsider the extremely bare, almost modern appearance of this Crucifix. On its belt, which is currently a flat band, we can make out the rounded outline of a bretzel-shaped knot that is similar to that of the Landen Crucifix, a sculpture dated in the first half of the 11th century (Grand Curtius museum, Liège) 13 (fig. 5). On the X-ray, two parallel sides of the perizoma fall straight down from the knot, each forming zig-zagging folds, only a few of which are still visible to the eyes. On each side of the base of the neck, a double half-circle edged with a zigzag relief on the outside echoes the folds of the perizoma (fig. 6). This decoration, which still bears black paint traces14, might represent hair falling on the shoulders, although the extremely geometric half-circle shape is puzzling15. Tomographic imagery would enable us to gain a precise insight into the volumes of these invisible details. A photo shows the Thuin Virgin as it looked before a heavy intervention in 1891which included: new hands, the addition of a bunch of flowers, an Auvergne-style throne and a polychromy which could have been inspired by the Majestat Batlló16. The X-ray brings back to light details that were completely buried in the thick layers of coatings, such as the small ears high on the head, exactly like those on the Crucifix (fig. 7). Under the smooth wavy hair of the 19 th century appears the Virgin’s original hair, which seems to consist of fine parallel straight furrows carved in the wood. The veil at the top of the forehead sticks out in a fold shaped like a dovetail. The current round shape of the eyes on the Madonna and Child and on the Christ suggest that only the eyeballs were carved in the wood. However, the X-ray shows that they are more similar to the half-open eyes of the Virgin of Bertem, and this considerably affects the facial expressions.

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Fig. 4 – X-ray of the Cruciﬁx in Tongeren Basilica, detail, perizoma with rounded outline (belt) and zig-zagging folds

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Fig. 5 – Cruciﬁx from Landen (Grand Curtius museum, Liège), dated first half of the 12th century, 156 cm

Fig. 6 – X-ray of the Cruciﬁx in Tongeren Basilica, detail, double half-circle edged with a zigzag relief on the outside on each side of the base of the neck

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Fig. 7 – X-ray of the Madonna and Child in Notre-Dame d’el Vaux Church in Thuin, detail of the face

The Forest-lez-Bruxelles Crucifix: northern France or Meuse region? 12th or 13th century?

6 The Crucifix in Forest-lez-Bruxelles church17 is considered to be one of the high points of 12th-century sculpture in Belgium. However, art historian’s propositions on its attribution to a given region diverge: the Meuse valley or a Brabantine workshop dominated by Mosan influence or in contact with centres in northern France. Neither do they agree on the dating, of around 1160 or around 120018. In the Forest sculpture, the representation gives way to a humanized, suffering Christ as expressed by the body’s slight slumping and the bent legs. While the folds of the perizoma are still straight, they are no longer strictly parallel, as they were in Landen’s Christ, and follow the shape of the legs. At the extremities, the draping creates a succession of wavelets that billow as on the Don Rupert Virgin19 (Grand Curtius Museum) which is dated between 1149 and 1158. The Forest Christ is compared to the Christs appearing on ivory pieces such as the Cross of Sibylle de Flandres conserved at the Louvre (predating 1165) and the Évangélière de Sibylle at Darmstadt’s Hessisches Landesmuseum. The Forest Crucifix has little in common with the Crucifix in Saint Brice Church in Hollogne-sur- Geer near Liège20. Here, the perizoma drapes in layers of very long and barely protruding curved folds. Although the iconographic themes are different, comparing this latter Crucifix with the Madonna from Saint Lawrence Chapel in Seron-sous- Forville21 and the one from Mierchamps 22 (both in TreMa museum, Namur) reveals many commonalities both with regard to the treatment of the anatomy and to that of

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the draperies. It is suggested to date these three sculptures to the last third of the 12th century.

First decades of the 13th century: results of dendrochrological analysis

7 The dendrochonological analysis carried out in the framework of the author’s PhD research has contributed some new data. The Madonna in Saint John’s Church in Liège is considered a masterpiece of 13th-century European sculpture23. It was not immediately recognized as coming from the Meuse area. Indeed, its exceptional quality was attributed to France and to German influences, long after the existence of Mosan art was recognized by Charles de Linas in 188224. The dendrochonological analysis revealed that the oak used to carve the Virgin as well as the group of the Virgin and St. John from a Calvary in the same church, is of local regional origin, most probably from Liège25. This new material input confirms that the pieces were produced in the Meuse territory. However, this finding does not tell us anything about the origin of the carver!

8 Concerning the dating, the dates of the most recent wood rings measured during the dendrochronological analysis provide the termini post quem for the felling of the trees. The results for the four sculptures were compared with the datings usually suggested: Virgin (last ring 1202; datation around 1230), Virgin of the Calvary (1213 → around 1250-1260), Saint John at the Calvary (1214 → around 1240-1250), Calvary figure from the Saint-Mort’s Church in Huy26 (1173 → around 1230-1250). The sapwood removed by the sculptor must be added to these post quem dates, as well as some duramen. The number of rings in the sapwood can vary considerably from one tree to another27, and the number of duramen rings removed is unknown28. Taking into account the geographic provenance of the trees and the average speed of growth of the measured rings, an estimate of the minimum number of rings of missing sapwood has enabled to suggest the earliest felling dates as follows: Saint John’s Madonna (after 1212), Saint John’s standing Virgin (after 1218) and Saint John form the same Calvary (after 1222), Calvary figure at Huy’s Communal Museum (after 1185). Another element to take into account in dating a piece is the time that elapses between the tree being felled and the wood being used. It is usually assumed that drying as such took little time since sculpting dry oak is difficult. To conclude, taking all of these parameters into consideration, it can be claimed with regard to the beginning of the 13th century that the results of the dendrochronological examination do not contradict the usually suggested datings, but they do not rule out datings earlier in the 13th century.

II. Construction carving: markers of regional identity?

Wood species and measures

9 In the 11th and 12th centuries, carvers used a rather large variety of local species of wood such as lime wood (Tancrémont, Walcourt, Hollogne-sur-Geer, Forest, the Bossière29 and Mierchamps Virgins), alder (Hermalle-sous-Huy), willow (Bertem, Virgin from the old Descamps collection in the Grand Curtius museum)30 and aspen (Thuin, Seron,Tongeren, Evegnée Virgin in the Grand Curtius museum)31, apple (Saint Bishop of Schurhoven in the Museums of Art and History in Brussels)32. This habit can explain the

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importance of the damage caused by insects. While carpenters in the Meuse valley used oak systematically and in large amounts in the 12th century, it is only in the 13th century that oak became the predominant species of wood used to carve sculptures. This phenomenon is also documented in the other area of northern Europe (Rhineland33, as well as in Scandinavian countries34). During the 11th and 12 th centuries, the size of Virgins in Majesty varied between 46.5 cm to 85 cm. By the end of the 12th century, a few Madonnas were over a metre tall35. This growth increases and extends over time with a series of Madonnas dating from the first decades of the 13th century 36. The silhouette and the neck being elongated gives these Madonnas a certain elegance when compared to the more austere representations of the preceding centuries. These 13th- century Virgins are all sculpted in oak, but this was also the case for many other Virgins under one metre tall. So the size of the scuptures does not seem to have been a determining factor to explain the use of oak. In the second half of the century, the Madonnas, mostly carved in oak, will generally be maximum one metre high. So the question remains. Why did this change to a harder wood for carving take place precisely when carvers were starting to create deeper and much more complex folds in the draperies of the Gothic sculptures? Might this be related to an evolution in the quality of carver’s tools? Or did the carvers suddenly become concerned with the durability of their works and hence preferred a wood specie that is less prone to insect attacks? Could this change be due to an increased availability of oak?

The joinery

10 During the whole period under analysis, the arms of the Christs on crosses are traditionnally carved separately and attached with a mortise and tenon system. The head of the Walcourt Virgin was sculpted separately and fixed with a large tenon. For the whole period being analyzed, this sculpture is the only example of this practice, which is visible in 12th-century Auvergne sculpture37 and in other northern European regions at the beginning of the 13th century38.

11 In representations of Virgins and Child, whether the Child is carved in the same block as the Virgin or not does not appear as a habit representative of a chronological evolution. The Xhoris and Evegnée Virgins, the forms of which are limited to the dimensions of the block, are sculpted in a single piece of wood, Child and hands included. The left hand holding the book and the Child’s blessing hand of the Evegnée Virgin are sculpted in mid-relief in the rectangular volume of her torso (fig. 8). The Virgin’s arms, set at right angles, seem to form a unit with the seat. The position of her hands is the only element that breaks the symmetry of the composition: the right hand, with upturned palm, holds an apple, while the left hand holds the vertical frame of the seat, with the back of her hand facing outwards. The Bertem Virgin is also monoxylous apart from the Virgin’s right hand. On the Hermalle and Thuin Madonnas, the hands of the Virgin are carved separately as well as the Child which is attached to the main block with a wooden peg according to a system widely used in the 12th century. In cases of 12th-century Virgins, the Virgin’s hands are usually attached to the main block, symmetrically placed on each side of the Child (Seron, Mierchamps, old Descamps collection).

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Fig. 8 – Madonna and Child from Evegnée in the Grand Curtius museum, dated in the second half of the 11th century, aspen, 46,5 cm, lower part missing

12 In the beginning of the 13th century, the volumes of sculptures were still dependent on the single wood block they were carved from: figure from a Calvary in the Musée communal in Huy, Saint Gertrude in Kuringen Church 39, Saint Lucy from Bernister (Treasury of Malmedy Cathedral)40. In the Virgin and Child representations, the Child is generally part of the same block, except in the case of the Virgin in Saint John’s. In Paris, in around 1268, instructions are given in the “Livre des Métiers d’Etienne Boileau” stipulating that no carver should make a figure which is not carved of a single piece, except for crowns and crucifixes41. Apart from crucifixes, which are traditionally composed of three parts42, Mosan sculptures dated in the first half of the 13th century do not follow the guild regulations found in Paris. One the one hand, the crowns are usually part of the sculpture, and on the other hand, in the case of sitting figures, right forearms or right hands were usually made of separate pieces. What is more amazing to observe is the construction of draperies by the addition of pieces of wood as in the Crucifix in Serinchamps Church43 dated around 1220 and the Virgin from Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Liège44. In this last example, the presence of the original polychromy on the pegs is a proof of the authenticity of the construction. Such assemblages show a will to free the sculpture from the limits of the block of wood. Furthermore, in well preserved examples, the apples held by the Madonas are sculpted in the same piece of wood as the hand. In several cases, the position of the right separately carved arm was changed during modification work in the 19th century to hold a sceptre. The evolution of the seats would merit a detailed typological and technical study45. The one in the Virgin from Evegnée, a simple four-legged bench with the backrest only going halfway up the Virgin’s back, forms a unit with the figure. The seat of the Xhoris Virgin has

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holes in it that may have been used to attach separately carved elements such as small columns. A more detailed analysis might be able to verify if theses additions correspond is a later change, as was the case for the Hermalle and Bertem Madonnas. In the 12th century, the rare seats to still have their original parts seemed to have a high back with pear-shaped finials which are also attached to the extermities of the arms46 (Mierchamps Virgin, Custinne Virgin in the TreMa47, Signeulx Virgin48, old Descamps collection, Bossière, in Zoutleeuw Church, Saint Eloi of Havenne Chapel in the TreMa49). In the 13th century, figures in majesty sit on a low seat, a kind of bench.

Positioning of the sculpture

13 A specific rule does not seem to emerge either with regard to the positioning of the sculpture in relation to the trunk. The missing or modified parts at the top of the pieces often make it difficult to determine the position of the sculpture in the block of wood. In future, tomography will be able to compensate for this issue. At the moment it is possible to establish that the Evegnée Virgin is carved in a half log of which the heart is towards the back of the sculpture but in the centre with regard to left and right. On the Tongeren Crucifix, the heart of the tree can be seen under the toes of the left foot. With regard to German examples, Endeman states that a rule cannot be determined concerning the positioning of the sculpture with regard to the heart of the tree50.

14 In the first decades of the 13th century, the heart of the trunk is usually located more or less centrally in the sculpture, slightly towards the back so that it is removed when hollowing out. However, this precaution is not always respected, and in a few examples the heart is located at the front of the sculpture, leading to the formation of deep cracks and loss of material51.

Hollowing out

15 The hollowing out of the back of the sculptures is not systematic in the 11th-century sculptures. The Tancrémont Crucifix is not hollowed out, nor is the Gerresheim Christ in Germany. The back of the Xhoris Virgin is completely hollowed out to the nape of her neck following the forms of the sculpture (fig. 9). Other dorsal cavities are rectangular, as is the case on the Tongeren Crucifix. In Walcourt, it was used as a reliquary. This variety of procedures can also be found in the German corpus, in which half the sculptures up to 1000 AD are hollowed out52. In the 12th century, sculptors usually created a single rectangular cavity going up to the shoulder blades using a flat chisel, as in the following cases: Mierchamps, old Deschamps Collection, Seron and Hollogne-sur-Geer Crucifix. The Forest Crucifix has a cavity made up of two separate compartments closed off by a dorsal board, an ancient system also found in Germany on the Saint Georges Crucifix53 and in France on the Autun Virgin 54. Can this observation be used as an indication of an older dating for the Forest Crucifix?

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Fig. 9 – Back of the Madonna and Child from Xhoris (Grand Curtius museum, Liège), ca. 1000 or 1100

16 In the very beginning of the 13th century, the back of several Mosan sculptures were hollowed out in two or three separate locations including the head55. On the inside, those different compartments communicate with each other. But more generally, only a single cavity was made, and the head of the sculpture was left untouched. Whether a sculpture contained a wooden board closing off the cavity or not is very interesting because it gives an indication of the sculpture’s original placement in the church. The Calvary from Saint-John’s Church in Liège was probably mounted on top of the beam of glory in the choir. Indeed, the sculptures are carved in the round with boards secured with wooden pegs and entirely carved to reproduce the drapery and painted. In the great majority of Virgins and Child, the absence of traces of fixation of a board suggests that the sculptures were originally placed on an altar, inside a tabernacle or in a niche.

Tool traces

17 A systematic survey of the tool traces has not yet been carried out for the 11th and 12th centuries. It would be interesting to confirm whether a sharp narrow chisel is used exclusively in early sculptures to the detriment of a rounded gouge, as observed by C. Endeman. Our initial observations seem to confirm this evolution on our corpus. Traces of a narrow chisel are visible on the Xhoris Madonna, where the fingers and veil were carved. This tool was also used to define the rounded shape of the chin (fig. 10). The same observations were made on the head of the Tongeren Christ56. In other locations such as on the drapery of the Xhoris Madonna, tool traces seem to have been levelled to obtain a smooth surface. The dorsal cavities of the Walcourt and Xhoris Madonnas and of the Tongeren Christ were created using a flat chisel. The same is observed for the sculptures from the 12th century, such as the Seron and Mierchamp Virgins.

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Fig. 10 – Traces of a narrow chisel on the Madonna and Child from Xhoris to define the rounded shape of the chin

18 The rounded gouge is commonly used from the first decade of the 13th century. When the back of sculptures is hollowed out, the opening of the dorsal cavity is roughed out with the help of a gouge with curved edges or with a chisel. Both tools can be used but not in the same area of the cavity. The traces are usually between 2 and 3,5 cm long. The tool strikes are in different directions depending on the zone but never crisscross.

19 Generally, the surface of sculptures from the Meuse valley is meticulously carved and finished very smoothly and presents no traces of tools. However, this cannot be considered as a characteristic of the Mosan production. Indeed, on a limited number of sculptures from the beginning of the 13th century, deep traces of a curved gouge and of chisels are visible and were not meant to be completely obscured by the polychromy. On these sculptures, the tool traces confer to the draperies a certain rhythm, comparable to the works of Mosan goldsmiths such as Hugo d’Oignies57.

Carved decorative patterns and inclusion of glass eyes

20 In the 11th- to 12th-century sculptures preserved, no decorative elements were represented in the wood. However, in the Evegnée Madonna a round flat clasp decorate the bliaud. In the arms of the Landen Crucifix two crossing grooves etched in the wood indicate the veins (fig. 11) This detail is apparent on other 12 th-century Christs in France, notably the Varenne l'Arconce Christ presented by Nadia Bertoni in this publication. In the first decades of the 13th century, the seats of the Virgins from Saint John’s in Liège and from Oignies58 (New York, Metropolitan Museum) are decorated with foliage motifs carved in the wood. In the Virgin at Utrecht Museum the seat is

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decorated with gothic open archways59 (fig. 12). In other scuptures these element are painted on the flat board if the seats.

Fig. 11 – Two crossing grooves etched in the wood indicate the veins on the Landen Cruciﬁx (Grand Curtius museum, Liège)

Fig. 12 – Madonna and Child in the Catherijneconventmuseum, Utrecht, inv. ABMbh316, 94 cm, original polychromy visible except for the flesh tones (first overpaint)

21 A glass ball inserted in the location of the iris is illustrated by two sculptures: the Walcourt Madonna, which still has a dark glass eyeball, whereas in the case of the Tongeren Christ’s head, only the empty orbits remain to bear testimony to this practice. The process was used at the beginning of the 13th century on the Virgin of

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Saint John’s and the small Christ in Majesty from Rausa60, two sculptures that could be given to the same carver, considering stylistic as well as technical ressemblances61. In most part of the sculptures preserved, the artists have relied on polychromy to add detail to the facial features, to create the gaze and characterize the garments with colour and decorative patterns.

III. Polychromy: a northern Europe history?

Completition of the wooden surface: evolution in the use of ground layers

22 The polychromies of the oldest sculptures are characterized by a thin chalk and glue ground layer which does not modify or complete the forms. On the Tancrémont Crucifix, the thickness of the white ground varies between 30 and 100 microns. And in some parts of the sculpture, the paint layers are applied directly on the wood! This absence of ground layer can be compared with several sculptures dating from around 1000 in Germany, including the Géro and Gerresheim Christs. On the Walcourt Virgin62, the traces of polychromy found under the 13th century cover of metal foil lie on a very fine layer of lead white, following a technique observed in various French examples63. This leads once again to the question of regional specificities.

23 In the second half of the 12th century, the thickness of the chalk and glue ground tends to increase, an evolution which can be associated with the application of metal leaf on larger surfaces. In a few examples dated in the first decade of the 13th century, the preparation layer is also used to complete the wooden form. On the Virgin from Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Liège, the shape of the thin parallel streaks representing strands of hair is due to the preparation, not the carving. On the face of the Virgin at Utrecht Museum, the waves in the hair are represented by grooves carved in the wood, whereas on the back, only the preparation represents the strands64. The representation of the hair in the preparation seems more frequent in sculptures in the Rhine area in the 13th century65. Initial examples of a pastiglia decroation only appear in the Meuse regions in the second half of the 13th century 66, while the technique is already used for the representation of cabochons in many sculptures in Sweden and Germany at the end of the 12th century67. In sculptures dating from the first decades of the 13th century, the preparation seems to have been carefully polished under the carnations, which look very smooth68. On the Saint John from Saint Mort’s Church in Huy, analyses have revealed large amounts of very fine silica grains on the surface of the preparation layer. The presence of this substance might be indicative of surface polishing using asperella according to the practice recommended by the monk Theophilus in the 12th century69. A thicker preparation can also help to iron out uneven surfaces, especially those due to deep-handed carving. This is the case with the Virgin at Utrecht Museum, on which the preparation can be as much as one centimetre thick.

The 11th-century sculptures: a polychromy dominated by colours?

24 To imagine how the sculptures originally looked on the basis of fragments of old layers of paint is still a delicate exercise that calls for nuanced explanations70. Thanks to technical investigations, a set of early testimonies now illustrates the existence of

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“lively painted style” or ‘polychromie au naturel’ among which the Walcourt Virgin is a notable example71. It is interesting to note that the presence of relics does not seem to influence the type of coating, be it polychromy or metal foil as illustrated as well by the Paderborn Virgin. The result of the technical studies carried out so far on the Belgian corpus make it possible to state that the 11th-century examples all wear colored garments on which the repetitive patterns are thought to express solemnity and sacredness. The presence of gold was not obseved on the early example examined. The perizoma on the small Crucifix in Léau Church (second half of the 11th century) has a golden surface. The sculpture is currently under examination at IRPA. Initial observation confirms that this imitation gold covers various levels of coloured paint belonging to different older polychromies.

25 The local blue pigment vivianite has been identified on the mantel of the child of the Xhoris Virgin as well as and on the tunic of the Tancrémont Crucifix72 (fig. 13). On the Xhoris Virgin, the matte pale grey-blue of the Child’s mantle contrasts with the satin shine of the Virgin’s bliaud, which is painted in a very smooth and satiny brown-red colour (fig. 14). This effect is achieved by adding a translucent layer containing a small amount of calcium carbonate and hematite. A thin layer with yellow fluorescence on the surface might be a varnish. This dark satiny shade is used alongside a bright opaque red on the lining of the bliaud. The Virgin’s bliaud and the Child’s mantle are decorated with the same pattern of bright green spots and ochre circles around white dots73. It is possible that green stars were also represented. A semi-circular arch edged with black was painted around Christ-child on the bust of the Virgin (fig. 15). This introduction of a third level of reality in the image can be considered as the expression of assumed ‘discordances’ between the plastic form and the polychromy considered to be characteristic of the Romanesque period74.

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Fig. 13 – Matte pale grey-blue containing vivianite on the mantle of the Child in the Xhoris Madonna and Child

Fig. 14 – Smooth and satiny brown-red colour containing hematite in the Xhoris Virgin’s bliaud

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Fig. 15 – Hypothesis of reconstitution of the original polychromy based on fragments on the Xhoris Madonna and Child with a black semi-circular arch edged painted around Christ’s body

26 Although there does not seem to be any gold, arsenic yellow orpiment is used to achieve certain golden effects. The association of orpiment with ultramarine, obtained from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli/ultramarine and imported from Badakhshan (North-East Afghanistan), is illustrated by the Bertem Virgin and other 12th-century Virgins, especially in France but also in Switzerland. On the Bertem Virgin, the ultramarine blue on the Virgin’s mantle lies on an underlayer of indigo75. This stratigraphy is similar to the French ‘Lavandieu’ Christ76. This appreciation of the colour blue is also visible on the Forest Christ in its original version (not currently visible). This trend of blue garments covered in ultramarine can be seen in a whole range of sculptures in other regions of Europe77. In these examples dated in the 12th century, the use of gold is only limited to the edges, the belt and some decorative elements. However, the case of the Dijon Virgin studied by N. Bertoni might reveal that this typology is older.

Second half of the 12th-beginning of the 13th century: Imitation and use of gold and precious stones?

27 Considering this extensive use of coloured surfaces, we might wonder when and how the change occurred between this taste for colour also called “lively painted style” and the almost all-pervading use of gold on the garments of many 13th-century sculptures, also called “golden style”. This change in taste did not appear all of a sudden. Indeed, in the last third of the 12th century, we observe an increasing number of sculptures on

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which garments are completely covered with an imitation of gold. It is achieved by using silver leaf covered in a thick layer of yellow glaze. This is the technique used for the Hollogne Crucifix’s perizoma. This gold imitation also corresponds to the second polychromy on the Forest Crucifix. As of the last third of the 12th century, examples of golden-aspect perizomas start spreading in Europe. Remains of glazed silver leaf with yellow glaze78 can be seen both on the bliaud and the mantle of the Seron Virgin. The edge of the mantle showed a pattern of alternating stripes of white, ultramarine blue, and red painted with lac lake. The use of silver-imitation gold is illustrated by other sculptures dated in the last third of the 12th century as on the bliaud of the Mierchamps Virgin, Saint Eloi of Havenne, Saint Bishop from Schurhoven, Saint Gertrude of Kuringen. This typology of golden-looking garments lined with bright red appears at the same time in other regions, such as France, Sweden, Germany, etc. A quite well preserved example which exhibits its original gold imitation is the Virgin from Saint- Voir in France79. One hypothesis for the use of silver in our regions is the operation of the first silver mines in central Europe, in Saxony and Bohemia, in around 1160 AD. According to Peter Spufford, this explains to a large extent the intensification of the circulation of goods not only within Europe but also with Asia.

28 On the Saint John Virgin, as well as on the majority of the sculpture dated from around 1230, the use of real gold leaf started to appear in first decade of the 13th century. This phenomenon appears quite suddenly. Analysis shows thar the gold leaf shows a high level of purity. This leads to assume contact with a gold coining center in a period when only silver was used in Europe for this purpose. It is therefore likely that the gold bezants available after the Capture of Constantinople in 1204 and the creation of the Latin Empire may have provided the raw materials for the goldbeaters80.

29 Matte mordant gilding observed on the garments of six sculptures dated in the first half of the 13th century corroborates Peter Tångeberg’s thesis that this technique observed in Sweden is a northern European tradition parallel to the more common aqueous gilding81. Whatever the technique used, on the Belgian sculptures, the gilded surface seems to be systematically covered with a yellow glaze.

30 The technical study of the Mosan sculpture makes it possibile to state that a style of polychromy dominated by colours also called ‘lively painted style’ which seems to have characterised the 11th-century sculptures continued to develop in parallel with the so- called “golden style” which appeared in the second half of the 12th century. The coexistence of these two types of polychromy has already been highlighted in Sweden and in Norway82. In the 13th century, the ‘golden style’ seems to be the most widespread. The Virgin in Saint John’s Church is the only well preserved Mosan example of this type of polychromy, even though the richness and variety of decorative techniques employed, including the inclusion of many rock crystal cabochon, make it an isolated case today83. This sculpture could, however, be part of a tradition going back to the end of the 12th century, to which the Oignies Virgin and the Bossière Virgin also belong. On these two sculptures, that are now stripped, the presence of oval-shape shallow cavities in the wood likely for the setting of cabochon demonstrates the richness of the lost polychromy84.

31 This taste for gold and the representation of gemstones is illustrated in a series of sculptures dated around the year 1200 in Scandinavian countries and in Germany85.

32 In the first decade of the 13th century, a third type of polychromy is observed in the Mosan production which is called “Idealfassung” as illustrated by the small Christ said

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to be “from Rausa”86 and the Madonna in Utrecht Museum87. This type of polychromy was believed to be characteristic of the 14th century as illustrated by sculptures in Germay88. Whereas in the golden style, the lining of the gilded garments is painted in red, in the “ideal style” gilding covers the inside and outside of the garments and only the flesh areas are painted. In both Belgian examples, a fine edge of red glaze of Lac dyes (Kerria Lacca Ker) imported from South Asia underlines the collar of the tunic. The effect that this type of polychromy produces is reminiscent of the metal foil-covered statues with painted faces. This mixed technique is generally illustrated by the Orcival Virgin (12th century) and might be very old, as the golden Virgin of Hildesheim suggests (circa 1010-1015)89.

The question of the use of oil as a binding medium

33 In the first half of the 13th century, a taste for luminous materials results in the use of smooth and glossy surfaces that are either coloured or metallic. These effects are achieved by various technical means: underlayers with white or red lead pigments; green copper based glazes, red Lac dyes; yellow glazes over gilding. They depend to a large extent on the binding agent. Our observations lead us to conclude that oil does seem to be one of the main ingredients of the pictorial layers’ binders, including azurite. In the first half of the 13th century, this blue pigment is widely used, a phenomenon usually attributed to the Mongolian invasions in eastern Europe which are thought to have stopped trading in lapis lazuli /ultramarine on the trading routes in the north90. The azurite-based blue paint layers observed on Belgian sculptures exhibit a dark tonality with a very glossy appearance, which stands in stark contrast to the bright and matte – equally azurite-based – blue polychromy widely found on sculptures in the following centuries possibly to imitate velvet91. In the first half of the 13th century, azurite is applied over one or more light blue underlayers containing lead white, a layer structure already in use in the 12th century with lapis lazuli/ultramarine. In most sculptures examined, the dark and glossy blue layers are comprised of very finely ground grains (1-30 microns) contributing to the dark appearance of the upper blue layer. In a few examples, the addition of carbon black pigments is observed. The presence of oil in the azurite layer has been determined by the crossing of various analyses on a sculpture referred to as the Virgin of the Van den Peereboom donation (Royal Museums of Art and History). The analyses made with GC-MS identified linseed oil in the azurite layers and FTIR microscopy (in specular reflection mode) shows the presence of both drying oil and of a protein material in the upper layer. Reconstructions were made to determine the visual properties of different types of azurite-based blue paint possibly used in the 13th century. Only finely ground azurite previously mixed with animal glue or glair and then applied with linseed oil to provide an appearance comparable to that of the blue layers was observed on the sculptures. When applied with glair, following a recipe given by Petrus de Sancto Audemaro92, the layer is easy to apply and gives the most homogeneous and glossy surface. Observation, analysis and reconstruction suggest that the dark and glossy appearance is an original feature of 13th-century blue layers which would be in line with the aesthetics of that time when luxurious indigo-dyed clothing was valued at the European courts. These blue cloths are rigorously classified, with the most sought ‘azure’ or ‘ynde’ (a very dark blue)93 or ‘brunette’ cloth, a dark blue fabric from Liège considered to be a very luxurious product. Results of the in-depth study of the Virgin of the Van den

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Peereboom donation match results of medium analyses acquired over the last few years on 13th- and 14th-century paintings which have established that not only heat-bodied oil mixed with resin but also pure linseed oil were used for different purposes, possibly on the same object94. This raised the question of the developpemnt of this knowledge before the 13th century. The few case studies to have been carried out until now on 11th-12th-century sculptures in Belgium have focused on the colours and pigments to the detriment of the painterly effects, which greatly depend on the type of binder. In addition, analysis of the binding media were limited and carried out mainly with solubility tests which are only indicative. This means that old studies need completing and the sample analysis needs bringing up to date both in terms of pigments and binders.

Conclusion

34 With regard to the dating of 11th- to 12th-century sculptures, the whole corpus would deserve radiocarbon or when possible dendrochronological analysis. These, however, are not a replacement for an iconographic and stylistic analysis. Considering the complex material history of most sculptures, in order to avoid falling in the anachronism trap this analysis must in turn take into account the repair work and transformations which have occurred sometimes early in their existences.

35 From a technical perspective, although the materials and techniques found do not always seem to be mentioned in mediaeval treatises, they do bear testimony, through their appearances and their uses, to a certain homogeneity in northern Europe. These findings seem to reflect the importance of oral transmission, not only within the workshops but also between geographical areas. Similarly, with regard to form, divergences which appear in literature concerning the attribution of pieces to a specific production area (Mosan, Brabantine, northern French) may also be explained by shared typologies. To determine more specifically if certain technical habits that can be used as markers of regional identity is a delicate task. On the one hand, sculptors from a given location have not necessarily used the same modus operandi. On the other hand, existing data must be completed to provide a better insight of the whole preserved production of northern Europe in order to lead to more rigorous comparisons, keeping in mind that our view of the evolution of 11th- to early 13th-century sculpture is very fragmentary.

36 A summary of this data makes if possible to qualify the still very common view that in the Romanesque period, the palette of colours was simplified and limited to pure colours of local origin. Materials, on the contrary, came from far away. The large variety of techniques and the complex layered structures observed illustrate a remarkable technical mastery generally assumed to be characteristic of late Gothic. Even if it is becoming more and more difficult to sustain that oil paint was only used to paint doors in the 12th- to early 13th-century, researchers are nevertheless still divided on the question of the development of oil paint technique. Some of them, such as Mark Clark95, conclude that oil painting remained a “sleeper technology” with no difference in effect to aqueous media until the Van Eyck era. Others, such as Unn Plahter96, consider that it was not the case in the 13th century and are tempted to question whether an enhanced exploitation of the potentials of oil-based medium took place in

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the western and northern parts of Europe. 11th- to early 13th-century wood polychrome sculpture is certainly a possible missing link to explore this thorny hypothesis.

37 At this stage, research results make it possible to note that the material effects, the use of colour, materials and decorative patterns generally follow the same trend as the polychromed sculptures of the rest of norther Europe. Polychromy also being affected by the polymorphism of creation in mediaeval images, a typology can be extended until very late and thus coexist with other formulations. Three types of polychromy exist at the beginning of the century: “lively painted”, “golden style” and “ideal style”. The evolution observed in the sculptures studied in Belgium was also demonstrated on Catalan painted altar frontals. Manuel Castinieras suggests that the exclusive use of colours on the oldest altar is more reminiscent of illuminated manuscript whereas the use of tin sheets which appears in the second half of the 12th century is suggestive of goldsmithery97. It will be interesting to observe if this evolution is corroborated by the result of future case studies.

38 The corpus of Belgian works includes sculptures that have not yet been studied at all and could add pieces to the partial puzzle we have examined here. Ideas for future research have been expressed, and many gaps need to be filled by detailed analyses. In view of the small number of pieces to be analysed, only a systematic work method will guarantee the pertinence of the comparisons.

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NOTES

1. 75 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/20044721 (the online balat.kikirpa.be photo library). 2. 47 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/32047; SERCK-DEWAIDE, Myriam – “Les Sedes Sapientiæ romanes de Bertem et d’Hermalle-sous-Huy. Étude des polychromies successives”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 16 (1976-1977), pp. 56-74. 3. 62 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10060253 4. 92,5 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/28680; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “De Zwarte Madonna van Halle en haar polychromieën”. in HOUSSIAU, Albert; MERCIER, Emmanuelle; DE CLERCQ, Camille – Onze-lieve-vrouw van Halle, Een beeldrijke geschiedenis. Halle: Koninklijke Geschied- en Oudheidkundige Kring van Halle, 2015, pp. 118-130. 5. PEEZ, Marc – “Gerresheimer Kruzifix. Neue Ergebnisse zur Werktechnik einer ottonischen Monumentalplastik”. in Denkmal-Kultur im Rheinland. Festischrift fuer Udo Mainzer zum 65. Geburtstag; Arbeitsheft der rheinischen Denkmalpflege Worms, Wernersche 75 (2010), pp. 117-127. SCHULZE-SENGER, Christa, et alii – “Das Gero-Kreuz im Kölner Dom”. Kölner Domblatt, Jahrbuch des Zentral-Dombauvereins 41 (1976), pp. 9-56. 6. 157 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10029726; DIDIER, Robert – “La Sculpture mosane du XIe au milieu du XIIIe siècle”, in Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur, 800-1400. 2. Berichte, Beiträge und Forschungen zum Themenkreis der Ausstellung und des Katalogs. Cologne, 1973, p. 411; SERCK- DEWAIDE, Myriam et alii, “Le Vieux Bon Dieu de Tancrémont”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 23 (1990-1991), pp. 93-99. 7. 62,5 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10134321; SERCK-DEWAIDE, Myriam et alii, “Le Vieux Bon Dieu…”, p. 95; GHISLAIN, Jean-Claude – “La sculpture romane”. in KUPPER, Jean-Louis; GEORGES, Philippe – Liège autour de l’an mil, la Naissance d’une principauté (Xe-XIIe siècle). Liège: Edition du Perron, 2000, p. 134. 8. UtC-1446: (BP) 1050 +/- 40. VAN STRYDONCK, Marc – “N.-D. de Walcourt, datation par le radiocarbone”; DIDIER, Robert – “Une Vierge ottonienne et son revers du XIIIe siècle”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 25 (1993), pp. 74-78 and p. 27. 9. 176 cm, forearms not original, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/40578; DIDIER, Robert – “La Sculpture mosane...”, p. 411. 10. 83 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10069857, Thuin was depending from Liège. DIDIER, Robert – “La Sculpture mosane...”, p. 412. 11. MERCIER, Emmanuelle – study report, not published; BOUDIN, Mathieu – C14 analysis: 07/05/2015, RICH-21902= 937+/-27BP 12. Mathieu Boudin – C14 analysis:, 28/01/2019, RICH-26670= 1076+/-24BP. 13. 156 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10127887 14. Observations made after the opening of a window for a better understanding of the X-Ray. 15. The hypothesis of a necklace is to consider.

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16. DE BOCHGRAVE D’ALTENA, Joseph – “Madones en Majesté, à propos de Notre-Dame d’Eprave”. Revue belge d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’art 30 (1961), pp. 71-72, fig. 57. 17. 195 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/20005768 18. BALLESTREM, Agnès ; PUISSANT, Martine – “La croix triomphale de l’église Saint-Denis à Forest”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 13 (1971-1972), pp. 53-76; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “La Croix triomphale de l’église Saint-Brice à Hollogne-sur-Geer, notes d’histoire de l’art et remise en contexte”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 31 (2004-2005), 2007, pp. 39-54. 19. 92 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10132386 20. 190 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10021519; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “La Croix

F0 triomphaleBC ”, pp. 39-54. 21. 85 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10004855; GHISLAIN, Jean-Claude; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – La Vierge en Majesté romane de Seron. Namur: Guide du visiteur du Musée des Arts anciens du Namurois, 19, 2013. 22. 62 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/11013424; The Virgin comes from a small chapel surrounded by fields near la Roche-en-Ardenne; the sculpture is currently being studied at the IRPA. C 14 dating by BOUDIN, Mathieu (2018) gives the following result: 1165AD (95.4%) 1265AD. 23. 138 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10073438 24. KOECHLIN, Raymond –“La statuaire belge et les influences françaises aux XIII e et XIV e siècles”. Gazette des Beaux-Arts t. II (1903), pp. 5-19, p. 8. 25. 152 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10073447; dendrochronological analysis report by FRAITURE, Pascale (2008), n° P35; P354 and P355. 26. 115 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10120757 (the sculpture was inserted in a baroque Calvary). MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “Le Saint Jean au Calvaire du Musée communal de Huy”. Annales du cercle hutois des Sciences et Beaux-Arts 58 (2006-2007), pp. 35-68. 27. This number varies between 4 and 34 rings for regional oaks. 28. On the Virgin in Saint John’s Church, traces of sapwood show that the sculptor used the actual oak log as much as possible. The core of the tree is at the center of the sculpture, slightly offset towards the back. The traces of sapwood are not accessible for dendrochronological analysis for the moment (IT scanning is excepted in the future). 29. 114 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10087447 30. 80 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10154993 31. 46,5 cm, dated in the second half of the 11 th century, lower part missing, http:// balat.kikirpa.be/object/10127763 32. 95 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/20045788 33. NEYSES, Mechthild – “Dendrochronologische Untersuchungen an Holzskulpturen des Schnütgen-Museum”. in BERGMANN, Ulrike (ed.) – Schnütgen-Museum. Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters (1000-1400). Cologne: Druckerei Locher, 1989, pp. 107-112. 34. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “Technical mapping of Norwegian polychrome wooden sculpture, 1100-1350: A preliminary overview”. Oslo University museum of cultural Heritage, occasional papers vol. 1 (2002), pp. 125-141; TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Mittelalterliche Holzskulpturen und Altarschreine in Schweden. Studien zu Form, Material und Technik, (Mittelalterliche Plastik in Schweden). Stockholm: Kunglica Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1986. 35. Virgins from the Couvent des Sœurs noires in Leuven (116 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/ object/93078; Bossière (114 cm); Zoutleeuw (102 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/29216. 36. Virgins in St John (138 cm); St-Paul’s Cathedral (129 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/ 10005145; Zolder (119 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/66063; from de Van den Peereboom donation in the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussel) (109 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/ object/20027248; Mere (105 cm) http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/40827

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37. KARGÈRE, Lucretia; RIZZO, Andrea – “Twelfth-Century French Polychrom Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Materials and Techniques”. Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science, and technology 1 (2010), pp. 39-72. 38. Virgin in Børglum Cathedral, Denmark, circa 1230; Saint Maxim on a Throne, Musée de l’Hôtel Sadelin in Saint-Omer, circa 1200, inv. 8149. 39. 96,6 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/26943; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “La polychromie de la sculpture mosane entre les XIIe et XIVe s. Couleurs, techniques et expressions en rapport avec l’évolution des formes et les pratiques cultuelles dans le diocèse de Liège”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 34 (2013-2015), p. 46. 40. 84 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10090734 41. DE LESPINASSE, R.; DE BONNARDOT, F. – Les métiers et corporations de la ville de paris, xiiie s., le livre de métiers d’etienne boileau. Paris, 1879, paragraph IX of the chapter concerning the wood cutters of Paris. See BLINDHEIM, Martin – Main trends of East-norwegian wooden figure sculpture in the second half of the thirteenth century. Oslo: Dybwad, 1952, pp. 87-111. 42. The main part comprises the head and the body. The arms, which have been carved separately, are fastened to matching holes in the torso using tenons. The system with tenon and mortise which is used during the 13th and 14th centuries is very common in the north of Europe, although in Norway other kinds of constructions are observed. BLINDHEIM, Martin – Painted Wooden Sculpture in Norway, c. 1100-1250. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1998. 43. 148 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10017803 44. http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10005145. MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “La Sedes Sapientiae de la Cathédrale Saint-Paul à Liège”. Bloc-Notes 33, revue trimestrielle du Trésor de la cathédrale de Liège (décembre 2012), pp. 8-16, http://en.calameo.com/read/001942648b81b54b34d14 45. This has been done for the Pyrénées orientales. VAN HAUWERMEIREN, Corinne – Réévaluation de la chronologie de la statuaire mariale des Pyrénées-Orientales (France). Études technique et stylistique des Vierges à l'Enfant romanes et gothiques. Namur: Université de Namur, 2014, PHD Thesis. 46. These elements were often sculpted separately and fixed using small wooden pegs, which explains why they are often lost or replaced. 47. 79 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10092724 48. 80,5 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10006939. With round finials (original?). 49. 41 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10077062; MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “Le Saint Éloi et le Saint Laurent de Hour dans le contexte de la sculpture mosane du XIIIe siècle”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 32 (2006-2008), pp. 131-143. 50. ENDEMANN, Klaus – “Zur Holzskulptur des frühen Mittelalters. Voraussetzungen und Funktion-Schnitztechnik und Fassung”. Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung Bd 26 (2012, Heft 2), pp. 406-407. 51. Saint Joseph (?), musée Grand Curtius, Liège (inv. C181-79), 80 cm; Saint John from Hollogne- sur-Geer, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht (inv. ABM bh490), 116 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/ object/40004638; a Mosan Virgin in the Schnütgenmuseum in Cologne (inv. A25), 84 cm. 52. ENDEMANN, Klaus – “Zur Holzskulptur …”, pp. 412-413. 53. Schnütgenmuseum in Cologne (inv. A9), 189,5 cm. 54. KARGÈRE Lucretia; RIZZO, Andrea – “Twelfth-Century French Polychrome Sculpture…”, pp. 45-47 and pp. 50-51. 55. Figure from a Calvary from Huy; Sainte Lucie from Bernister; Virgin from Oignies; Crucifix from Forest. 56. Traces of a small chisel on the rounded part at the back of the head. 57. Virgin, inv. ABMbh316 and Saint John from the church of Hollogne-sur-Geer, ABMbh490 (Catherijneconventmuseum, Utrecht); Virgin from Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Liège. 58. inv. 41.190.283, 123 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/40001239 59. Catharijneconvent Museum, inv. ABM bh316, 94 cm, attributed to the Meuse region.

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60. 63 cm, Musée Grand Curtius, http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10067696 61. The way the dorsal cavity is deeply carved is very similar. 62. SERCK-DEWAIDE, Myriam – “N-D de Walcourt. La statue en bois polychrome”. Bulletin de l’Institut royal du Patrimoine Artistique 25 (1993), pp. 45-47. 63. LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves – “La polychromie de la sculpture française au XIIe-XIIIe siècle, une esquisse”. La polychromie des sculptures françaises au Moyen Âge, Techné 39 (2014), p. 44. 64. MERCIER, Emmanuelle, study report, not published, 2005. 65. JÄGERS, Elisabeth – “Zur Polychromie der Kölner Skulptur vom 12. bis zum Ende des 14”. in BERGMANN, Ulrike (ed.) – Schnütgen-Museum. pp. 89-90. 66. Virgin from Marche-les-Dames (TreMa musum, Namur), 84,5 cm, http://balat.kikirpa.be/ object/10130158 67. Viklau Madona (Statens Historiska Museet, Stockholm, inv. 18951); Appuna Madona (Statens Historiska Museet, Stockholm, inv. 7890; and the Saint Nicola in Majesty at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn. 68. This is also borne out for sculpture in Sweden as of the second quarter of the 13 th century; TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Mittelalterliche Holzskulpturen…, p. 12. 69. THEOPHILUS, The Various Arts, Livre Ier, chapitre XIX, “Blanchiment au plâtre sur cuir et sur bois” (C. R. DODWELL, Oxford, 1986), p. 18. 70. MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “Brussels-Copenhagen (1967-2017): A story of the history of polychrome sculpture”. in ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4-8 September 2017, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 1705. Paris: International Council of Museums, 2017, p. 5. https://www.icom-cc-publications-online.org/PublicationDetail.aspx?cid=7a872740-7488-4c80- a349-f8767deb256f. Accessed 28.11.2018 71. The treatment of the flesh tone is not discussed in this paper. On this argument see: MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “Guess my age. The evolution of flesh tones of medieval sculpture and conservation issues”. in DE ROEMER, Stephanie et alii – Flesh tone in polychrome sculpture, ICOM-CC Sculpture, Polychromy and architectural decoration working group interim meeting, Madrid, 19-20 November 2015, 2018. http://www.icom-cc.org/54/document/flesh-tones-in-polychrome- sculpture-sculpture-polychromy-and-architectural-decorations-interim-2015/? id=1588#.W6uxzWhKjIU. Accessed 24.04.2019 72. MERCIER, Emmanuelle; SANYOVA, Jana – “Art et techniques de la polychromie romane sur bois dans l’Europe du Nord”. Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, Actes des XLIIIe journées romanes de Cuxa, 2012, pp. 126-128. 73. The ochre tone is a mix of white bone and red lead; the green tone is obtained with copper salts (atacamite and paratacamite). 74. TAUBERT, Johannes – “The polychromy of Romanesque Sculptures”. in MARINCOLA Michele. D. (ed.) – Polychrome Sculpure, Meaning, Form, Conservation. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2015, pp. 17-25, p. 24 (first published in 1968). 75. MERCIER, Emmanuelle; SANYOVA, Jana – “Art et techniques…”, p. 129. 76. KARGÈRE, Lucretia et alii – “Un Christ roman auvergnat retrouve son unité grâce à l’étude de la polychromie”. Technè 39, pp. 60-65. 77. ENDEMANN , Klaus – “Spurensicherung, Voraussetzung und notwendige Ergänzung Kunstwissenschaftlicher Analysen. Zum Kruzifixus des ehemaligen Prämonstratenser-Klosters in Cappenberg”. Unter der Lupe, Neue Forschungen zu Skulptur und malerei des Hoch-und-Spätmittelalters (2000), pp. 11-35; FRØYSAKER, Tine; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Calvary group in Urnes Stave church, Norway: A technological examination”, in NADOLNY Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe: techniques, analysis, art history. London: Archetype publications, 2006, pp. 43-58; CASCIO, Agnès; DESCHAMPS-TAN, Stéphanie; LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves – “La restauration du Christ Courajod: la luminosité d’une polychromie romane retrouvée”. Techné 39 (2014), pp. 53-59.

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78. The yellow glaze is an oleoresinous varnish. The hypothesis that it is cooked linseed oil is also plausible. 79. Some years ago, this Virgin was stolen and offered for sale as a Mosan sculpture. The anecdote shows to what extent geographical attributions are very fragile. 80. MERCIER, Emmanuelle; SANYOVA, Jana – “Art et techniques…”, p. 131. 81. TÅNGEBERG, Peter; PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse”. in NADOLNY Jilleen. (ed.) – Medieval painting in Northern Europe: Techniques, Analysis, Art History, London: Archetype Publications, 2006, pp. 1-19.

F0 82. TÅNGEBERG , Peter – Mittelalterliche Holzskulpturen BC ; PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian art technology in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries”. Zeischrift für Kunstechnologie und Konservierung” – Bd. 28, 2014, heft 2., pp. 298-332. 83. Generally speaking, the other 13 th-century sculptures from the Meuse valley that were studied included fewer decorative elements and were usually limited to an inset cabochon on the chest or a medallion sculpted in the wood. 84. For the various ways of representing cabochons. MERCIER, Emmanuelle – “La polychromie de la Sedes Sapientiae de l’église Saint-Jean-l’Evangéliste à Liège: phénomène de transferts artistiques Est-Ouest au début du XIIIe siècle?”. in MALLET, Géraldine; LETURQUE, Anne (dir.) – Arts picturaux en territoires catalans (XIIe-XIVe siècle). Approches matérielles, techniques et comparatives. Montpellier: Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2015, pp. 132-138. 85. Already cited in the footnote 68. The gemstones are made with pastiglia. 86. The polychromy has been stripped. Few traces remain. MERCIER, Emmanuelle, study report unpublished, 2003. 87. Original polychromy visible except for the flesh tones. MERCIER, Emmanuelle, study report unpublished, 2005. 88. PHILIPPOT, Paul – “Jalons pour une histoire de la sculpture polychrome médiévale”. Revue belge d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art 53 (1984) pp. 21-42, p. 31. 89. CLAUSSEN, Hilde – “Grosse Goldene Madonna. Restaurierung und Untersucchungsergebnisse”. Kirchenkunst des Mittelalters. Erhalten und erforschen, Catalogue du Musée diocésain d’Hildesheim, 1989, pp. 58-59. 90. PLAHTER, Unn; NORSENG, Per G. – “The trade in painters’ materials in Norway in the Middle Ages trade” and SPUFFORD, Peter – “Lapis, Indigo, Woad: Artists’ materials in the Context of International trade before 1700”, in KIRBY, Jo; NASH, Susie; CANNON, Joanna (ed.) – Trade in Artists’ Materials, Market and Commerce in Europe to 1700. London: Archetype Publications, 2010, pp. 50-73 and pp. 10-25; KARGÈRE, Lucretia – “The Use of Lapis Lazuli as a Pigment in Medieval Europe”. MET Objectives 4 (2003), pp. 5-7; HOWARD, Helen – Pigments of English Medieval Wall Painting. London: Archetype publications, 2003, p. 34-35. 91. DE MÉRINDOL, Christian – “Signes de hiérarchie sociale à la fin du Moyen Âge d’après le vêtement, méthodes et recherches”. Le Vêtement. Histoire, Archéologie et Symbolique vestimentaires au Moyen Âge, Paris: Les Cahiers du Léopard d’or, 1, 1989, pp. 181-222. 92. PETRUS DE SANCTO AUDEMARO, no. 168 “Comment l’azur est purifié et préparé”, in MERRIFIELD, Mary P. – Medieval and Renaissance Treatises on the Arts of Painting, 2 vols. New York: Dover Publications, 1967, p. 134. 93. DE MÉRINDOL, Christian. – “Signes de hiérarchie sociale…”, p. 198. 94. KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “Vasaris theory of the origins of oil paintings and its influence on cleaning methods: the ruined polychromy of the early thirtheenth century Crucifix from Haug, Norway”. in LINDLEY, Philippe (ed.), Sculpture Conservation: preservation or interference?. Brookfield: Scholar Press, 1997, pp. 139-149; BERTONI, Nadia; CREN, Stéphane – “Un liant huileux sur une sculpture du Moyen Âge. La polychromie du crucifix de la cathédrale de Trieste”. in

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GOUPY, Jacques; MOHEN, Jean-Pierre (ed.) – Art et chimie, la couleur, (Actes du congrès, Paris, Centre national de la Recherche scientifique, 16-18 sept. 1998). Paris: CNRS ed, 2000, pp. 102-104. 95. CLARK, Marc – Medieval Painter’s Materials and Technique – The Montpellier Liber diversarum arcium. London: Archetype Publications, p. 87. 96. PLAHTER, Unn – “Norwegian art technology…” pp. 74-75. 97. CASTIŇERAS, Manuel – “L’étude des panneaux peints en catalogne: artiste, apprentissage et techniques”. in MALLET, Géraldine; LETURQUE, Anne (dir.) – Arts picturaux…, p. 21.

ABSTRACTS

11th- to early 13th-century medieval polychrome sculptures can be considered as ancestral testimony of knowledge, practices, and the exchange of carving and painting techniques in the Middle Ages. This paper aims to provide an analysis of 50 years of research in Belgium, including recent case studies. New material elements and analysis results will likely resuscitate the debate on the relative chronology that is usually suggested. The identification of materials reveals the circulation of goods and trade. The richness of pictorial effects and techniques demonstrates a knowhow long considered as typical of the late Gothic period, including the use of oil in the binding media. Most of the information collected in the Belgian corpus matches the results of analyses carried out on sculptures from other European regions, both in terms of the evolution of their appearance and of their techniques. These observations make it possible to put forward the hypothesis of a fast and oral transmission not only within local workshops but in the broader European global context.

As esculturas policromadas dos séculos XI-início de XIII podem ser consideradas um testemunho ancestral de conhecimento, de práticas bem como das trocas de técnicas de escultura e pintura na Idade Média. O presente artigo visa prover uma análise de 50 anos de pesquisa na Bélgica, incluindo também recentes estudos. Elementos materiais novos e os resultados de análises irão provavelmente relançar o debate sobre a cronologia relativa que por norma se sugere. A identificação de materiais revela a circulação de bens e comércio. A riqueza de efeitos pictóricos e técnicas demonstra um savoir-faire considerado até então como típico do período gótico recente, inclusive o uso de óleo como aglutinante. A maioria da informação reunida no corpus belga corresponde aos resultados de análises realizadas em esculturas de outras regiões europeias, tanto em termos de evolução de aspectos como de evolução técnica. Estas observações permitem avançar a hipótese de uma transmissão rápida e oral não só dentro das oficinas mas no contexto global europeu mais vasto

INDEX

Keywords: 11th- to early 13th-century medieval sculpture, Wood carving, Polychromy, Relative chronology, Material history Palavras-chave: Esculturas dos séculos XI-início de XIII, Escultura em madeira, Policromia, Cronologia relativa, História material

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AUTHOR

EMMANUELLE MERCIER

Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, 1000, Brussels, Belgium [email protected]

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The triumphal cross of the cathedral of Nevers: painting technique and examination A cruz triunfal da Catedral de Nevers: técnica e exame de pintura

Nadia Bertoni Cren and Stéphane Cren

EDITOR'S NOTE

Data de envio do artigo / Send for publication: 12 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

1 The large polychrome wooden cross preserved in the Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte cathedral in Nevers consists of an oak support and a real-life walnut Christ. During the bombing in July 1944 that ravaged the cathedral, the triumphal cross was badly damaged. At the end of the rebuilding of the choir, the work was restored and put on display on a modern cross in front of the choir. The sculpture suffered a new fall in 2015. While falling, the right arm was detached from the body of the statue, many plaster fillings were detached and cracks appeared on the complexions of the thorax. The conservation of the work, directed by Arnaud Alexandre, curator of the Historical Monuments DRAC-CRMH of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, was preceded by a phase of technical study. Micro-stratigraphic, taxonomic and radiometric analyses and the dendrochronology of the cross were carried out. This allowed to collect new data and to specify the dating of the sculpture and the cross (fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 – Triumphal cross, 1180-1200, polychromed wood: sculpture in walnut and cross in oak, 358 x 272 cm, Nevers cathedral, France

Description, style and comparisons

2 The Christ is represented dead, head reclining on the right shoulder, eyes closed, without royal crown nor crown of thorns, according to the iconographic model of Christ patiens. However, the body is straight on the cross, standing on a suppedaneum. The feet, flat in external rotation, are attached separately and the arms are in horizontal position. These last iconographic elements generally define the sculptures of Christ from the 12th century.

3 The loincloth is long, leaving the right knee uncovered, it descends slightly behind the calf on the left side. The rounded pleats and the belt formed by the wrapped around fabric are a stylistic sign of the 1200s. Paul Thoby inserted the sculpture in the first third of the 13th century1, confirming the previous dating2. Since then, there have been no further studies of this remarkable work. A comparison with the stone heads from the gallery of Kings of Notre-Dame de Paris preserved in the National Museum of the Middle Ages Thermes de Cluny, dated 1220, confirms this dating of the triumphal cross (fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 – The Christ of the triumphal cross: detail of the face. 1180-1200, polychromed walnut, 187 x 187 cm, Nevers cathedral, France

4 Another stylistic reference for the head of Christ are two fragments of sculpture: the stone king's head from the portal of the west facade of the cathedral of Sens, dated 1190-1200, and the stone apostle's head still coming from the cathedral of Sens, preserved in the synodal hall, dated 12003. The subtlety of the sculpture, the melancholy of the looks, the models of the faces inscribed in an oval, are representative of the classic movement of the years around 1200. The high quality of the sculpture in Nevers is reminiscent of an important workshop and an artist who normally carved the stone while working on the monumental decoration of cathedrals. In the current state of the studies, there does not seem to be another sculpture of Christ on a cross made out of cross polychrome wood datable around the year 1200 of Burgundy production.

5 In northern Italy, the Christ of Gries (Bolzano) 4, dated 1205 by an inscription, was associated by Walter Frodl and Theodor Müller with the sculptures of the north portal of Chartres. This work shows that the carved decoration of the great gates of the first Gothic art has influenced the sculpture of isolated in the round works not only in France.

6 The stylistic sources in Burgundy are culturally very diverse and the contemporary monumental sculpture has a decisive role. In the last quarter of the 12th century, it was the art of stone carving of the great building sites of cathedrals that gave new forms to creative impulses. The harmonious naturalism of the forms and the poetic conception of the Christ of Nevers can only derive from the most innovative formulations experienced in monumental sculpture.

7 The cross is painted on both sides. On the front, the polychromy conforms to the iconographic type of the crux gemmata: along the edges, cavities simulate the location of

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the rock crystals or precious stones, the central part is painted in green, symbolizing the lignum vitae and at the ends the symbols of the evangelists are represented on four medallions. The back is carved in bas-relief with stylized flowers with blue and white quadrilobes surrounded by a red perimetral edge adorned with white leaves.

8 The Christ of Aschaffenburg5 in Germany, from the end of the 10th century, is the oldest wooden sculpture with a cross decorated on the edge with round motifs.

9 Another important example of this form of cross, with its sculpture of Christ dated 1180-1200, is situated in Belgium in the church of Saint-Denis in Forest (Brussels)6. The cross potent has large flowers with quatrefoils at the ends and concave circles according to the same ornamental concept as the one of the cross of Nevers. On this cross the original layer and the first overpaint have the centre painted in green and the edges painted in red with golden concave parts.

10 Crosses similar to that of Nevers, surrounded by concave circles on the edges and with ends enlarged by the application of the symbols of the four evangelists, are preserved in several churches on the island of Gotland in Sweden. These are the crosses of thirteenth-century-Christ carvings of churches from Lokrume7 and from Gerum, with a complete overpaint that seems to date from the Baroque era, from Hejdeby8, from Grotlingbo9, from Fole10, with the fabric of the loincloth wrapped around a belt, and from Fide, with the symbols of the evangelists on the four ends of the cross.

11 On a cross from the 12th century, belonging to the group of the crucifixion of Urnes11 in Norway, a modification of the ends of the cross, with gilded circles bearing the symbols of the evangelists, can be referred to the 13th century as the second polychrome phase of the whole. In North Jutland, the cross of the church of Vrensted12, dated 1200, is also a testimony of the spreading in Northern Europe of these forms of cross that could be completed by a large circle with painted medallions, surrounding the upper part of the body of Christ. The development of new iconographic formulas is not easy to detect but in Scandinavia an influence of Rhenish plastic arts as well as a French one is attested for the 12th and 13th centuries.

Material study

12 Dimensions: the sculpture of Christ is 187 high, 176 cm without suppedaneum, and 187 cm wide. The dexter arm measures 78 cm. The maximum width without the arms is 35 cm and the depth is 32 cm. The cross is 358 cm high and 272 cm wide. The maximum thickness is 7.5 cm. The three medallions have a diameter of 43 cm and a thickness of 7.5 cm.

13 The body and the dexter arm are made of walnut (Juglans regia L.)13. The body is carved in a log about 50 cm in diameter. The marrow is at the centre of the log with an inclined axis, one end of which is observable behind the head. On the backhand side a long fairly regular cavity (H 71, W 10, D 17.5 cm) was dug from the shoulders up to two thirds of the loincloth with rounded gouges of different sizes. At the level of the loincloth, the statue is 35 cm wide and the sapwood of the peripheral areas has not been purified.

14 The two arms were carved separately and inserted with tenon and mortise joints blocked by an oak peg fixed under the armpit to be less visible. The mortise cut in the dexter shoulder measures approximately 4 x 4 cm and is 4.5 cm deep. The arm and a part of the sinister shoulder as well as the last phalanges of the three fingers and the

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little finger and a part of the palm of the dexter hand were rebuilt during the restoration of 1964. On the dexter part of the belly, a trapezoidal graft held by a peg 2.3 cm in diameter can be observed. On the feet, toes were grafted and the heel of the dexter foot was reworked.

15 Five old perforations 2.3 cm in diameter are present at the back of the statue: two on the shoulders, one on the bottom of the loincloth and two on the suppedaneum. They correspond to holes of the same diameter on the cross which allowed to fix the statue with pegs. The cross is made of many elements in oak wood (Quercus sp.). The vertical and the horizontal branches are placed in interlocking cross-beams. Three medallions are added to the cross at the upper end of the vertical branch and at the ends of the horizontal branch. They are each fixed by two wooden dowels of about 2.5 cm. During the last restoration, the medallions were secured with screwed metal flat spots. The three medallions are made of two discs glued against each other. Each disc is made of two juxtaposed pieces.

16 The dendrochronology of the cross of Nevers14, thanks to the ring dated 1122, anticipates the creation of the triumphal cross by locating it after 1150. This new data and the comparison with radiocarbon dating15 place the elaboration of the work in the last quarter of the 12th century, or around the year 1200, while confirming the contemporaneousness of the cross with the sculpture.

17 The pictorial layer of the cross can be referred to the neo-Gothic taste of the 19 th century and largely goes back to the restoration that followed the rediscovery of the work in 1868. During the intervention carried out in 1964 by Maxime Chiquet, the original polychromy of the loincloth was skimpily cleared leaving remnants of different overpaints and deficiencies with the visible support wood. The cross has also been restored with illusionist inpainting. The observation in the polychromy deficiencies and the tests done as well as the laboratory analyses carried out by Alessandro Princivalle 16, allowed to document four polychrome phases.

18 The preparation of the original polychromy consists of calcium carbonate and of drying oil. The complexions are made of an oily undercoat from calcium carbonate and lead white and then a layer of lead white, with little calcium carbonate, pigmented with vermilion. The entire build-up layer is bound by drying oil, which traces are found on the surface as protection.

19 The loincloth was blue with red lapels and gilded decorations in the shape of flowers and half-moons. The lower part was adorned with a golden edge heightened with red and green glazes forming red crosses. Blue was obtained by laying a bluish-black undercoat made of lead white, little calcium carbonate and little bone black. The gilded decorations were made by placing a mixture of calcium carbonate, white lead and red- orange ochre. The gold leaf contains traces of silver. The blue pictorial layer is given by blue azurite mixed with lead white. The whole build-up layer is characterized by the presence of drying oil. The gilded adornments are placed on the black-bluish undercoat and before being rounded with azurite (fig. 3, fig. 4). The suppedaneum was green and red with gilded decorations. The green central part was obtained by applying verdigris mixed with lead white. This oily layer is covered by a double layer of brownish oily protection.

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Fig. 3 – The Christ of the triumphal cross: detail of a gilded decoration in the shape of a flower on the loincloth. 1180-1200, polychromed walnut, Nevers cathedral, France

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Fig. 4 – The Christ of the triumphal cross: detail of a gilded decoration in the shape of a half-moon on the loincloth. 1180-1200, polychromed wood, Nevers cathedral France

20 The blue azurite (blue copper carbonate) is documented for the second time on a wood carving of the Burgundian Romanesque corpus. It has been noticed on the Christ of Abbadia San Salvatore17, sculpture of the first half of the 12th century found in Tuscany. This pigment, more often used in the 14th century, has been identified in small quantity in the lapis lazuli blue on the Christ de Forest (Belgium) dated from the late 12th century.

21 The use of bone black has to been mentioned. This pigment, like ivory black, was obtained since ancient times by burning bones. The pigment is lightfast with medium coverage and a darker and warmer hue compared to vegetable blacks such as carbon black or vine black. At the current state of analysis of the sculptures of the 11th-12th century, carbon black of vegetable origin is prevailing18.

22 A half-moon with flowers motif similar to the adornment of the loincloth of the Christ of Nevers is present on the loincloth of the Swedish Christ of Linde (Gotland) of the Historiska museet in Stockholm dated 120019. The original painting technique of the Christ on the cross, mainly in oil, is not an isolated case for polychrome sculpture of the 12th century. Peter Tångeberg20 had already pointed this out in his study of the Christ of Hemse (1170-1190), where parallels were made with the Virgin of Viklau dated 1170 (Statens Historiska museet Stockholm, inv. 18951), the Christ of Cappemberg (1200-1220) and the Angel sitting on the throne in Berlin-Dahlem (Staatliche Museen), probably coming from Cologne, dated about 1170. All these works have a well-preserved polychromy characterized by an oil binder. In his essay, Tångeberg had moreover noticed that at the same time Scandinavian works in polychrome wood made with an oily technique coexisted with works marked by a system of pigments with various binders (oil, glue, egg, resin, or oil + glue). On the wooden sculptures of the Burgundian corpus of the

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Romanesque period which has been analysed until now, the same paradigm seems to emerge.

Conclusion

23 The quality of the triumphal cross of Nevers is highlighted even more by the dendrochronological and radiocarbon datings which testify to the richness of the formal contributions in Burgundy in the 12th century.

24 The classical forms of the folds of the loincloth, the naturalism of the anatomy and the face depend on the sculpture sites of the great cathedrals of the second half of the 12th century. These innovations coexist with a figure of Christ in an attitude that follows the principles of his representation applied since the 10th century. The triumphal cross of Nevers takes up the iconography of the crux gemmata which is widespread in northern Europe. The example of small goldsmith's crosses adorned with precious stones and enamels is transferred in large dimensions through the polychrome wood.

25 The technique of the carving of the sculpture is an early example of the practices that are commonly observed in the 13th and 14 th centuries. The back cavity is deep and carved freely with the help of a gouge and no longer with a doloire or an adze. Polychromy, meanwhile, is characterized by the use of bone black and azurite blue with a drying oil as a binder. This pigment will be more used in the following centuries with, however, an aqueous binder which gives a lighter hue21.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed sources

BALLESTREM, Agnes; PUISSANT, Martine – “La croix triomphale de l’église de Saint-Denis à Forest. Essai d’identification, examen et traitement”. Bulletin IRPA, XIII. Bruxelles, 1971/72.

BEER, Manuela – Triumphkreuze des Mittelalters. Ein Beitrag zu Typus und Genese im 12. Und 13. Jahrhundert. Ratisbone, 2005.

BERTONI CREN, Nadia; CREN, Stéphane – “Note dal restauro del crocefisso di San Salvatore”. in PREZZOLINI, Carlo (ed.) – Il crocifisso di Abbadia San Salvatore. Catechesi e Arte. Montepulciano (Siena), 2010.

CERVINI, Fulvio – “Di alcuni crocifissi trionfali del secolo XII nell’Italia Settentrionale”. Arte Medievale, VII, 2008, 1.

CROSNIER, Abbé Augustin Joseph – Monographie de la Cathédrale de Nevers. Société Nivernaise Des Lettres. Nevers, 1854.

FRODL, Walter – Kunst in Südtirol. München, 1960.

FALK, Birgitta; HÜLSEN-ESCH, Andrea von (ed.) – Mathilde, Glanzzeit des Essener Frauenstifts. Essen, 2011.

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FRØYSAKER, Tine; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Calvary group in Urnes Stave church, Norway: a technological examination”. in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe. Techniques, analysis, art history. London, 2006.

HOFFMANN, Konrad (ed.) – The Year 1200. The Centennial exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters. New York, 1970.

MOR, Luca – “Anno 1205 circa: la Croce trionfale di Gries”. in CANTONE, Valentina; FUMIAN, Silvia (ed.) – Le Arti a confronto con il Sacro. Metodi di ricerca e nuove prospettive d’indagine in ottica interdisciplinare. Padova, 2009.

MÜLLER, Theodor – “Ein romanicher Crocifixus aus Tirol”. Pantheon, LIV, 1974.

MÜLLER, Theodor – Gotische Skulptur in Tirol. Bozen-Innsbruck-Wien, 1976.

NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe. Techniques, analysis, art history. London, 2006.

NYBORG, Ebbe – “Danish Panel Painting until c. 1300”. in NADOLNY Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe. Techniques, analysis, art history. London, 2006.

PAWLIK, Anna – “Mathildes Gedächtnisstiftung in Aschaffenburg”. in FALK, Birgitta; HÜLSEN- ESCH, Andrea von (ed.) – Mathilde, Glanzzeit des Essener Frauenstifts. Essen, 2011.

PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse. Analyses of the Painting Technique”. Maltechnik Restauro, 1. München, 1984.

RASMO, Nicolò – “Note sulla scultura medioevale atesina”, Cultura Atesina, I, 1947.

RASMO, Nicolò – “La scultura romanica nell’Alto Adige. Note e revisioni”, Cultura Atesina, VII, 1953.

SAUERLÄNDER, Willibald – Von Sens bis Strasburg. En beitrag zur kunstgeschichtlichen Stellung der Strasburger Querhausskulpturen. Berlin, 1966.

SERK DEWAIDE, Myriam; VERFAILLE, Simone – Le vieux Bon Dieu de Tancrémont. Bruxelles, 1987.

SERCK DEWAIDE, Myriam M.; KOCKAERT, Leopold; VAN STRYDONCK, Marc; VERFAILLE, Simone – “Le vieux Bon Dieu de Tancrémont. Histoire et traitement”. Bulletin de l’IRPA, XXIII. Bruxelles. 1991.

SERK DEWAIDE, Myriam – “Notre-Dame de Walcourt, une Vierge ottonienne et son revers du XIII° siècle. La statue en bois polychrome”. Bulletin de l’IRPA, 25. Bruxelles, 1993/94 (1996).

SPADA PINTARELLI, Silvia – “Anonimo scultore 1205. Crocifisso, Bolzano vecchia parrocchiale di Gries”. in CASTELNUOVO, Enrico (ed.), Imago Lignea. Sculture lignee nel Trentino dal XIII al XVI secolo. Trento, 1989.

TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein. Studien zu Form, Material und Technik. München, 1989.

TÅNGEBERG, Peter – “The Crucifix from Hemse”. Maltechnik Restauro 1, München, 1984.

THOBY, Paul – Le crucifix des origines au Concile de Trente. Étude iconographique. Nantes, 1959.

UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur till och med höggotikens inbrott. Stockholm, 1915.

Studies

PRINCIVALLE, Alessandro – Christ en croix en bois polychrome et ancienne croix de la cathédrale de Nevers. Rapport des analyses préalables à la restauration. Montagnana, 2017.

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FRAITURE, Pascale – Rapport de dendrochronologie, Nevers, Cathédrale Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte, Croix d’un Christ en croix. IRPA, Bruxelles, 2017.

BOUDIN, Mathieu – Radiocarbon dating report, Cathédrale de Nervers, Croix du Christ, Statue du Christ. IRPA, Bruxelles, 2017.

NOTES

1. THOBY, Paul – Le crucifix des origines au Concile de Trente. Étude iconographique. Nantes, 1959, pp. 150-151, fig. 248-249. 2. CROSNIER, Abbé Augustin Joseph – Monographie de la Cathédrale de Nevers. Société Nivernaise Des Lettres. Nevers, 1854, pp. 102-103. 3. HOFFMANN, Konrad – The Year 1200. The Centennial exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters. New York 1970, fig. 12-13, p. 10; SAUERLÄNDER, Willibald – Von Sens bis Strasburg. En beitrag zur kunstgeschichtlichen Stellung der Strasburger Querhausskulpturen. Berlin, 1966, fig. 110-112. 4. RASMO, Nicolò – “Note sulla scultura medioevale atesina”. Cultura Atesina, I, 1947, pp. 41-47; RASMO, Nicolò – “La scultura romanica nell’Alto Adige. Note e revisioni”. Cultura Atesina, VII, 1953, pp. 9-47; FRODL, Walter – Kunst in Südtirol. München, 1960, p. 49; MÜLLER, Theodor – “Ein romanicher Crocifixus aus Tirol”. Pantheon, LIV, 1974, pp.13-17; MÜLLER, Theodor – Gotische Skulptur in Tirol. Bozen-Innsbruck-Wien, 1976, p. 11, fig. 1; SPADA PINTARELLI, Silvia – “Anonimo scultore 1205. Crocifisso, Bolzano vecchia parrocchiale di Gries”. in CASTELNUOVO, Enrico (ed.), Imago Lignea. Sculture lignee nel Trentino dal XIII al XVI secolo. Trento, 1989, pp. 86-87; CERVINI, Fulvio – “Di alcuni crocifissi trionfali del secolo XII nell’Italia Settentrionale”. Arte Medievale, VII, 2008, 1, p. 24; MOR, Luca – “Anno 1205 circa: la Croce trionfale di Gries”. in CANTONE, Valentina, FUMIAN, Silvia (ed.) – Le Arti a confronto con il Sacro. Metodi di ricerca e nuove prospettive d’indagine in ottica interdisciplinare. Padova, 2009, pp. 71-79. 5. BEER, Manuela – Triumphkreuze des Mittelalters. Ein Beitrag zu Typus und Genese im 12. Und 13. Jahrhundert. Ratisbone, 2005; PAWLIK, Anna – “Mathildes Gedächtnisstiftung in Aschaffenburg”. in FALK, Birgitta; HÜLSEN-ESCH, Andrea von (ed.) – Mathilde, Glanzzeit des Essener Frauenstifts. Essen, 2011, pp. 144-147. 6. BALLESTREM, Agnes; PUISSANT, Martine – “La croix triomphale de l’église de Saint-Denis à Forest. Essai d’identification, examen et traitement”. Bulletin IRPA, XIII. Bruxelles, 1971/72, pp. 52-77. 7. UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur till och med höggotikens inbrott. Stockholm, 1915, p. 303, fig. 76. 8. UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur..., p. 301, fig. 74. 9. UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur..., p. 285, fig. 63. 10. UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur..., p. 286, fig. 64. 11. FRØYSAKER, Tine; KOLLANDSRUD, Kaja – “The Calvary group in Urnes Stave church, Norway: a technological examination”. in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe. Techniques, analysis, art history. London, 2006, pp. 59-75. 12. NYBORG, Ebbe – “Danish Panel Painting until c. 1300”. in NADOLNY, Jilleen (ed.) – Medieval Painting in Northern Europe… cit. pp. 248-265, fig. 4. 13. PRINCIVALLE, Alessandro – Christ en croix en bois polychrome et ancienne croix de la cathédrale de Nevers. Rapport des analyses préalables à la restauration. Montagnana, 2017. 14. FRAITURE, Pascale – Rapport de dendrochronologie, Nevers, Cathédrale Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte, Croix d’un Christ en croix. IRPA, Bruxelles, 2017.

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15. BOUDIN, Mathieu – Radiocarbon dating report, Cathédrale de Nervers, Croix du Christ, Statue du Christ. IRPA, Bruxelles, 2017. 16. PRINCIVALLE, Alessandro – Christ en croix en bois polychrome…. Microstratigraphic analyses were carried out on five layer samples via thin-layer optical microscopy of stratigraphic section, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with elemental analysis via energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) for the characterization of the inorganic components, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for the characterization of the organic substances. 17. BERTONI CREN, Nadia; CREN, Stéphane – “Note dal restauro del crocefisso di San Salvatore”. in PREZZOLINI, Carlo (ed.) – Il crocifisso di Abbadia San Salvatore. Catechesi e Arte. Montepulciano (Siena), 2010, pp. 33-41. 18. SERK DEWAIDE, Myriam; VERFAILLE, Simone – Le vieux Bon Dieu de Tancrémont. Bruxelles, 1987; SERCK DEWAIDE, Myriam; KOCKAERT, Leopold; VAN STRYDONCK, Marc; VERFAILLE, Simone – “Le vieux Bon Dieu de Tancrémont. Histoire et traitement”. Bulletin de l’IRPA, XXIII. Bruxelles, 1991, pp. 80-100; SERK DEWAIDE, Myriam – “Notre-Dame de Walcourt, une Vierge ottonienne et son revers du XIII° siècle. La statue en bois polychromé”. Bulletin de l’IRPA, 25, 1993/94 (1996), pp. 45-47. See the pigments of the Christ of Tancremont, the Notre Dame of Walcourt, the Christ of Forest and the Christ of Abbadia San Salvatore. 19. UGGLAS, Carl R. – Gotlands medeltida träskulptur..., pp. 307-308, fig. 81; TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur und Altarschrein. Studien zu Form, Material und Technik. München, 1989, fig. 83, p.123. Inv. nr 8084:1, H 87.5 cm. A copy of the sculpture is in the church of Linde, made in 1930 by Anton Hällström, Stockholm. This sculpture has the particularity of having black shoes adorned with gold leaf buckles. Christs with shoes are rare; also see the Christ of Stenkumla, 12th century, in Gotland. 20. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – “The Crucifix from Hemse”. Maltechnik Restauro, 1. München, 1984, pp. 24-33; PLAHTER, Unn – “The Crucifix from Hemse. Analyses of the Painting Technique”. Maltechnik Restauro, 1. München, 1984, pp. 35-44. 21. The complete article is published in French in the Bulletin de la Société Nivernaise des Lettres, Sciences et Arts de Nevers, année 2019. Translation by David Poingt.

ABSTRACTS

The large polychrome wooden cross preserved in the Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte cathedral in Nevers was badly damaged during the bombing in July 1944. Restored and put on display on a modern cross in front of the choir, the sculpture suffered a new fall in 2015. The conservation of the work, directed by DRAC-CRMH of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, was preceded by a phase of technical study. Micro-stratigraphic, taxonomic and radiometric analyses and the dendrochronology of the cross were carried out. The dendrochronology of the cross of Nevers and the comparison with radiocarbon dating place the elaboration of the work in the last quarter of the 12th century while confirming the contemporaneousness of the cross with the sculpture. The quality of the triumphal cross of Nevers is highlighted even more by this dating which testifies to the richness of the formal contributions in Burgundy in the 12th century.

A grande cruz de madeira policromada preservada na Catedral de Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte em Nevers foi danificada com gravidade durante o bombardeamento de Julho de 1944. Restuarada e exposta numa cruz moderna em frente ao coro, a escultura sofreu uma nova queda em 2015. A

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conservação do trabalho, dirigida pelo DRAC-CRMH de Burdungy-Franche-Comté, foi precedida por uma fase de estudo técnico. Fizeram-se análises micro-estratigráficas, taxinómicas e radiométricas, bem como a dendrocronologia da cruz. A dendrocronologia da cruz de Nevers e a comparação com a datação por radiocarbono situaram a execução do trabalho no último quartel do século XII, confirmando que a. cruz e a escultura são contemporâneas. A qualidade da cruz triunfal de Nevers é ainda mais destacada com esta datação, que dá testemunho da riqueza dos contributos formais na Borgonha no século XII.

INDEX

Palavras-chave: Cruz de madeira, Escultura, Policromia, Nogueira, Azurite Keywords: Wooden cross, Sculpture, Polychromy, Walnut, Azurite

AUTHORS

NADIA BERTONI CREN

Unité Mixte de Recherche 6298 ARTEHIS, Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France [email protected]

STÉPHANE CREN

Restaurateur du patrimoine, 71390, Chenôves, France [email protected]

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Etudes menées sur les sculptures d'Auvergne en bois polychromé Polychrome wood sculptures in Auvergne, an ever-evolving corpus: state of the research and report of technical analysis

Marie-Blanche Potte, Dominique Faunières, Agnès Blossier et Lucretia Kargère

NOTE DE L’ÉDITEUR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 20 de novembro de 2018 Data aceitação do artigo / Accepted in revised form: 29 de abril de 2019

1 En France, l’un des traits les plus intéressants de la région d’Auvergne est le pourcentage de sculptures religieuses en bois polychromé supérieur à la moyenne nationale. Pour les sculptures interprétées comme datant du 11eme à la première moitié du 13eme siècle, on dénombre une vingtaine de Crucifix, plus de soixante Vierges en majesté, et de rares sculptures représentant un saint, sans compter celles composées d’une âme de bois recouverte de lames de métal. En Auvergne leur nombre reste nécessairement variable car beaucoup de questions demeurent en suspens quant à leur date. Des exemples peuvent être considérés comme des œuvres tardives avec des aspects “romanisants”, d’autres comme des copies plus tardives fidèles au canon roman. Beaucoup de ces sculptures sont conservées à l’abri soit dans des chapelles dans une région restée extrêmement rurale, soit préservées dans des musées en France, ou même à l’étranger. Bien que les Vierges en majesté aient fait l’objet de plus amples recherches stylistiques, ce corpus est finalement assez mal compris, car mal étudié d’un point de vue scientifique1. Comme le démontre la série d’articles dans ce numéro, le manque d’information est plus ou moins généralisé pour l’Europe, car l’étude des sculptures en bois polychromé a largement été mise de côté vu la difficulté d’étudier ces objets, souvent abîmés par le temps et l’histoire, modifiés par les progressions de leur culte, avec peu de suivi en archives. Rares sont les sculptures restées dans leur

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emplacement d’origine et de nombreuses questions subsistent quant au contexte de leur création: le nombre d’ateliers régionaux, les possibles commanditaires, l’aspect même de ces sculptures à l’origine, ainsi que leur date d’exécution.

2 Depuis 2010, l’étude détaillée des sculptures en bois polychromé d’Auvergne connait un net essor, le fruit d’un programme de recherche interdisciplinaire mené par la DRAC, d’études scientifiques de certaines sculptures in situ ou en laboratoire, et d’examens entrepris au Cloisters, la branche médiévale du Metropolitan Museum de New York2. Cet article est un compte rendu du programme complété, notamment de l’étude scientifique d’un nombre de Christs en croix jamais diffusé jusqu’ici.

Marie-Blanche Potte: Fédérer, orienter et diffuser les études menées sur les sculptures en bois polychromé d'Auvergne

3 En DRAC Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, le corpus très important des sculptures médiévales de bois polychromé restées dans leur édifice d’origine nous a poussé à structurer la recherche à l’échelle de toute la région, avec l’objectif de diffuser et faire connaître les œuvres et l’actualité des recherches et travaux qui les concernent. L’organisation du Ministère de la culture en France, à travers les Directions régionales des affaires culturelles (DRAC), lui permet d’être présent sur tout le territoire. Dans les DRAC, les conservations régionales des monuments historiques assurent le suivi des immeubles et des œuvres non gardées, classées ou inscrites au titre des monuments historiques, présentes dans toutes les communes de France. Exerçant repérage, protection, suivi des restaurations et des travaux, les conservateurs des monuments historiques ont accès à un corpus d’œuvres souvent méconnu, plus vaste que celui des musées, et sur lesquels restaurateurs et chercheurs travaillent au quotidien.

Le corpus

4 Souvent réduit aux “Vierges auvergnates”, le corpus régional de sculpture médiévale polychromée est en réalité plus large. A l’image des Vierges, les œuvres en bois médiévales sont en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes extrêmement nombreuses, identifiées pour certaines de longue date, moins connues pour d’autres, et forment un corpus identitaire fort. Pourtant, les nombreuses études menées à l’occasion de restaurations récentes restent consignées dans les services sans que leur réunion, leur diffusion, leur synthèse, leur présentation à la fois au public scientifique et au grand public ne soit projetée.

5 Les récentes études menées sur des patrimoines comparables montrent une évolution rapide de l’historiographie, qui nuance notamment les datations et les limites chronologiques jusqu’ici reconduites3. Lors des restaurations menées ces dernières années, les Christs médiévaux, notamment, ont laissé apparaître une permanence des modèles dont la datation s’avère malaisée, mais qui possèdent des qualités de sculpture et de polychromie remarquables.

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Recensement des études existantes

6 Le premier travail de cette étude, permettant la définition des problématiques majeures, a consisté en un recensement des études existantes, et des restaurations récentes ayant donné lieu à un rapport complet archivé en DRAC. Entre 2010 et 2018, de nombreuses œuvres ont fait l’objet d’études, parfois partielles, mais dont les rapports très complets ont permis de mettre en place les grandes questions restant centrales dans l’étude de ce corpus. Une première liste a été établie, des œuvres étudiées dans les dix dernières années, et des œuvres identifiées mais n’ayant pas fait l’objet d’une actualisation de la connaissance.

7 Conjointement au corpus recensé et étudié en Auvergne, un certain nombre d’œuvres “ déplacées” ont pu être identifiées; elles ont donné lieu à des dialogues qui viennent enrichir l’approche: c’est le cas notamment des deux Christs provenant d’Auvergne du Musée National du Moyen-Age, de la Vierge en majesté du Louvre, des deux Vierges auvergnates du Metropolitan Museum de New-York, du Christ de Lavaudieu dans ce même musée 4.

8 Ces œuvres, publiées et étudiées, permettent d’appréhender des modes de description et d’étude différents, ouvrant sur la recherche internationale, et d’interroger celles à mettre en place aux côtés du corpus auvergnat. Elles désignent, par ailleurs, des interlocuteurs internationaux susceptibles de dialoguer autour de notre corpus.

État des questions émergentes

9 A la lecture des rapports de restauration de ces dix dernières années, émergent trois problématiques centrales dans la connaissance des œuvres de ce corpus.

10 Premièrement, la stratigraphie colorée. Les œuvres médiévales, souvent très complexes dans leur stratigraphie colorée, sont infiniment riches d’enseignement sur l’histoire, les dévotions, et le territoire étendu de la réunion physique des matériaux (pigments notamment). En premier lieu, l’étude des polychromies d’origine au laboratoire fournit des données essentielles pour la connaissance de l’œuvre dans son premier état. Par la suite, l’analyse des états intermédiaires enrichit amplement la connaissance de l’évolution de ces sculptures, où l’état d’origine est souvent très lacunaire. Le dégagement, par exemple, sur la Vierge en majesté romane de Courpière, de la robe du 16ème siècle encore présente sous la polychromie 19ème, donne à voir une dévotion dans son temps et un territoire perméable aux modes et aux échanges5.

11 La question des Vierges ou Christs noirs, dont le nombre est particulièrement important en Auvergne, ne peut trouver de réponses que grâce aux études scientifiques des couches de stratigraphie6. Les premiers éléments d’études récentes ont démontré la complexité de la question: si le noircissement du corps du Christ de Saint-Flour semble être survenu relativement tardivement (première moitié du 19ème siècle), en revanche, les sondages opérés en 2017 sur le Christ de Montsalvy font apparaître assez tôt la présence d’une épaisse couche noire, située sur le premier repeint des carnations et au- dessous de sept autres repeints. L’analyse de cette couche conclut bien à une véritable application noirâtre, chargée de noir d’os et de pigments silicatés verdâtres, sans doute d’aspect assez translucide. Ce noircissement ancien, repéré sur d’autres œuvres romanes ou tout début gothique, notamment sur la Vierge de Montvianeix du musée du

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Cloisters à New York comme 1er repeint, montre qu’une réponse simpliste de diffusion d’un seul modèle limité dans le temps n’est pas suffisante, et que le corpus doit être augmenté pour comprendre une pratique élargie historiquement7.

12 En second lieu, la présence de caches à reliques dans la statuaire, mais aussi d’œuvres repercées dans le temps, réemployées, “rechargées”, prennent une place particulière. Jusqu’ici, les moyens d’investigation n’avaient pas permis une connaissance fine – et non destructive – des œuvres sur ce point. Le recours à l’imagerie récente (scanner, notamment) a fait considérablement évoluer la question, et a permis de belles découvertes, non seulement dans les Vierges en majesté dont la présence de caches à relique a déjà été diffusé, mais aussi dans les christs monumentaux8.

13 Enfin, comme troisième axe de recherche, les rares travaux ayant exploré le placement de l’œuvre dans l’édifice ont démontré que la connaissance était encore balbutiante sur ce point9. Des traces matérielles de celle-ci ont été documentées sur le bâti comme à Orcival, ou bien encore sur l’œuvre, comme à Brioude10. Se peut-il notamment que l’échelle et l’envergure des sculptures, qui par ailleurs présentent de grandes ressemblances, aient été liées au lieu d’emplacement d’origine?11 Accompagner la restauration d’une étude historique sur le placement de l’œuvre, c’est permettre, au retour de restauration, une mise en place raisonnée de la sculpture, plutôt qu’une mise sous cloche guidée par une culture plus muséale que monumentale. Ce travail de réflexion aborde la statuaire de bois médiévale comme un objet architectural, à la frontière entre l’œuvre isolée et l’élément d’indexation liturgique de l’église. La mutation des architectures qui hébergent aujourd’hui les œuvres interdit souvent de revenir à un placement “originel”; cependant, une meilleure connaissance de ce placement – poutres de gloire, images réputées acheiropoïètes, etc. – peut enrichir considérablement l’accompagnement de ces œuvres.

Dominique Faunières et Agnès Blossier: Étude de deux Christs romans auvergnats – hypothèse d’une production en série

14 En 2016 une première étude technologique est lancée par la Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de la Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes sur le Christ noir de Saint- Flour (Cantal), pour lequel l’attribution au 15ème siècle est discutée depuis son arrêté de classement en 1908. Puis en 2017 une seconde étude est engagée sur le Christ de Montsalvy (Cantal), œuvre polychromée, moins connue, également datée du 15ème siècle lors de son arrêté de classement en 1902 (fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 – Le Christ de Saint-Flour, bois polychromé, 12ème-13ème siècle, conservé à la cathédrale Saint-Pierre (à gauche) et le Christ de Montsalvy, bois polychromé, 12ème-13ème siècle, conservé à l’abbatiale Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (à droite).

15 Chacune des études12 a été réalisée in situ après la dépose des Crucifix. Seul le Christ de Saint-Flour a pu être déplacé pour être scanné tandis que le Christ de Montsalvy a bénéficié d’une radiographie ambulatoire. Des datations au carbone 1413 ont été réalisées dans les deux cas, ainsi que des analyses pour l’identification des essences de bois14 et des analyses des polychromies15. À notre sens ces deux Christs sont identiques tant du point de vue stylistique que technologique, à quelques détails de mise en œuvre près. La récurrence de certains dispositifs techniques encore en place ou sous forme de traces, a permis de conclure à l’originalité de ceux-ci. La croix du Christ de Saint-Flour est très récente, alors que celle de Montsalvy est authentique – le Christ de Montsalvy n’a jamais été déposé de sa croix. Par ailleurs, dès la première étude, il est apparu pertinent de rapprocher ces deux Christs monumentaux d’un troisième Christ conservé dans l’église du prieuré de Lavoûte-Chilhac (Haute-Loire). La mise en parallèle des caractéristiques de cette œuvre avec les deux Christs est utilisée et développée dans notre exposé.

Des éléments iconographiques et stylistiques similaires

16 Les deux Christs appartiennent à un groupe de Christs en croix monumentaux dont les caractéristiques de base sont communes à bien des crucifix de l’Auvergne, comme au- delà. Leurs traits communs sont les suivants: le Christ possède une tête non couronnée, légèrement penchée en avant et sur son côté droit à la chevelure épaisse ramenée derrière de larges oreilles. Il est doté d’un périzonium arrivant juste au-dessus des

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genoux. Pour autant les Christs étudiés ici semblent appartenir selon nous à un sous- groupe présentant des particularités de traitement iconographique et stylistique. Au cours des siècles, le parcours individuel des Christs étudiés a plus ou moins fortement modifié leur apparence, en particulier leur aspect coloré: le Christ de Saint-Flour est devenu tardivement un Christ noir connu sous l’appellation de “Bon Dieu noir”, tandis que celui de Montsalvy a été progressivement empâté par de nombreux repeints. Ils ont également subi des transformations formelles de parties du corps et de la croix, telles que les mains, les épaules et une partie du côté dextre du périzonium du Christ de Saint-Flour, et de la croix. L’analyse est donc malaisée à première vue mais le rapprochement des détails de la sculpture demeure significatif. L’expression du visage est calme, les yeux sont ouverts mais leur fente est relativement étroite, le nez – à l’arête large et aux narines plaquées – est long et droit, la bouche est fine aux commissures tombantes (fig. 2). Les oreilles sont de grande taille et détaillées. Les bras sont très légèrement levés à l’oblique. La chevelure est sculptée sans discontinuité sur l’arrière et le dessus de la tête, confirmant qu’à l’origine le Christ ne portait pas de couronne. Trois mèches sculptées retombent sur chaque épaule16. L’agencement particulier des lourdes mèches de cheveux se retrouve à l’identique sur les deux Christs (fig. 3). Il en va de même de l’organisation des touffes de poils sur les tempes et de celle des boucles de la barbe, ainsi que de l’orientation légèrement oblique et de la facture schématique de la moustache. Au dos, les mèches de la chevelure s’arrêtent au bas de la nuque qui correspond au joint d’assemblage de la tête. La chevelure, la barbe et la moustache sont représentées de manière stylisée. Les cheveux regroupés en mèches, globalement parallèles sur le dessus de la tête, ondulent en vagues dont les sommets sont alternés d’une mèche à l’autre. Les mèches et les boucles de la barbe et de la chevelure sont placées très précisément (fig. 4). Chaque volume est ensuite ciselé de fines lignes parallèles, caractérisées par une crête plate17.

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Fig. 2 – Les têtes des Christ de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy.

Fig. 3 – Détails de la chevelure des Christ de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy.

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Fig. 4 – Détails de la barbe et des tempes des Christ de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy.

17 Le modelé de la cage thoracique est doux. Les côtes sont peu marquées et le sternum n’est pas détaillé. Le nombril et la pointe des mamelons sont sculptés mais pas la plaie sur le côté. Le revers des bras est sculpté, ce qui se comprend car le torse est légèrement porté en avant et la forme des omoplates est esquissée. La musculature des bras forme une torsade, celle des avant-bras reste peu détaillée. Malgré la réfection de deux doigts, les mains du Christ de Montsalvy témoignent de la conception d’origine, celles du Christ de Saint-Flour sont des réfections d’époques différentes. Les mains originelles sont proportionnées au reste du corps.

18 Le périzonium est composé de chaque côté de quatre plis droits, tombant verticalement, tandis que sur chacune des cuisses fléchies, le drapé plus tendu, séparé par la retombée du nœud, forme une série de trois doubles plis en arcs de cercle croisés, espacés et relativement peu saillants (fig. 5). Un quatrième double pli est à peine esquissé en partie haute. L’agencement complexe du tissu sur les hanches, des deux côtés du nœud, ne suit apparemment pas de logique de drapement. Ainsi les plis de la “ceinture” en forme de “chevrons” de part et d’autre de l’arrière des hanches, se poursuivent en bandeaux pour former au centre un nœud par lequel glisse un seul pan vertical, étagé en trois retournements (fig. 5)18.

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Fig. 5 – Périzonium des Christ de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy.

19 Les jambes sont mises en forme même pour les parties cachées par le périzonium. La plante des pieds est modelée; elle doit en effet avoir été visible car il n’y avait pas de suppedaneum à l’origine comme l’atteste l’absence d’implantation sur la croix de Montsalvy.

20 Le Christ est fixé à sa croix par quatre clous; le rôle de soutien est assuré par un système placé originellement au revers du bassin. Les affranchissements des extrémités de la croix originale de Montsalvy ne permettent pas de connaître sa forme globale. Les largeurs de la traverse et du montant ne vont pas au-delà de la forme du corps.

La mise en œuvre originale

21 Les Christs de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy ont été taillés dans du noyer. Le bloc initial du torse et du périzonium comprenait le cœur de l’arbre. Les images scanner du Christ de Saint-Flour permettent de visualiser l’emplacement du cœur de la bille de bois à l’intérieur du torse, ainsi nous comprenons que le bois employé pour celui-ci était tors. Sur le plan de joint des épaules, le cœur est centré puis il dévie vers la hanche droite et la surface de la sculpture. Ce dernier trait, les défauts révélés par le scanner, ainsi que la présence du cœur de l’arbre, montrent que ce n’est pas la qualité technique qui a prévalu dans la sélection de l’arbre19. Ceci a été sans conséquence sur les volumes sculptés parfaitement maîtrisés.

22 Les structures des deux œuvres sont similaires, chacune étant constituée de six pièces: la tête, le torse avec le périzonium, les deux bras et les deux jambes. Cette composition s’observe sur d’autres Christs auvergnats romans ou du début de l’art gothique (Christs d’Arlet, Auzon, Beaumont, Lavoûte-Chilhac, Lavoûte-sur-Loire, Thérondels; Christ

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provenant de Lavaudieu20) mais il en existe qui sont constitués uniquement de trois éléments21. Ce mode de fabrication peut s’expliquer en partie par la grande taille de ces deux Christs qui font environ 1,98 m de la tête jusqu’aux orteils. Chacune des pièces complémentaires s’adapte sur le bloc principal du torse-périzonium à l’aide d’un tenon, bloqué par une cheville sauf pour le bloc de la tête. L’imagerie par rayon X permet de visualiser le long tenon cylindrique, solidaire du bloc de la tête, qui s’insère dans le tronc. Cet assemblage est réalisé par un plan complexe, le joint dessinant un angle obtus à la base du cou avec la pointe située sur l’accroche des clavicules (fig. 3) et une courbe légère au bas de la nuque (fig. 4 et fig. 6). Cette découpe singulière et élaborée du joint assure le positionnement de l’assemblage. Comparée au joint horizontal des têtes de la plupart des Vierges assises romanes, auvergnates22, elle constitue une sophistication technique qui permet une plus grande discrétion. En ce qui concerne l’assemblage des épaules, l’emboîtement du tenon du bras dans la mortaise de l’épaule est le système d’origine mais nous n’avons pas d’éléments certifiant le caractère originel de la cheville de blocage. Elle est insérée par le dessus de l’épaule sur le Christ de Saint-Flour tandis qu’elle est insérée horizontalement par l’avant sur le Christ de Montsalvy. L’attache des jambes se fait sur une plateforme localisée à mi-hauteur des cuisses – plateforme préservée des évidements pratiqués à l’arrière du périzonium. Deux mortaises traversantes sont taillées (fig. 7). Les tenons des jambes viennent se caler dans cette plateforme, ils y sont bloqués par une longue cheville introduite sur le côté du périzonium (fig. 7). Le périzonium est ainsi évidé en deux endroits, en partie basse pour laisser le passage des cuisses mais en préservant le pan arrière au périzonium (visible quand le Crucifix est placé en hauteur) et en partie haute en laissant une épaisseur de bois assez mince au drapé. Parallèlement aux deux évidements réalisés à l’arrière du périzonium, une différence d’élaboration apparaît au revers du torse entre les deux Christs, celui du Christ de Saint-Flour n’étant pas évidé dans le dos à la différence de celui de Montsalvy. Chez ce dernier un large évidement débute sous les omoplates et se termine au dessus de la ceinture. Cet évidement a été pratiqué pour limiter l’apparition de fentes dans la bille, en éliminant le cœur. Il permet également d’alléger le poids de l’ensemble.

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Fig. 6 – Images scanner (dans les 3 plans) du Christ de Saint-Flour montrant la cache à reliques et une partie du tenon fixant la tête au buste (à gauche); radiographie du Christ de Montsalvy montrant l’évidemment du torse, les percements de la cache à relique et du tenon fixant la tête au buste (à droite).

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Fig. 7 – Schéma du dos du Christ de Montsalvy permettant de visualiser les différentes pièces de bois constituant la sculpture, les évidements et les modes d’assemblages.

La cache à reliques

23 L’examen par imagerie médicale des deux Christs nous a permis de mettre en évidence la présence d’une cache à reliques jusque-là non décelée. Les deux Christs étudiés sont donc des œuvres renfermant des reliques dont le logement est particulièrement discret puisque aménagé à l’intérieur du torse, à partir du joint de la tête au torse, donc parfaitement invisible en surface.

24 Pour le Christ de Saint-Flour, on observe une masse qui pourrait correspondre à un textile roulé avec deux points d’une densité beaucoup plus importante au centre. Il pourrait s’agir d’os ou de dents. Pour le Christ de Montsalvy, la mise en évidence de textiles beige et rosé protégeant la relique a été possible grâce à une micro caméra que nous avons pu placer au niveau d’une petite communication – survenue vraisemblablement accidentellement au moment de l’élaboration – entre la cache à relique et l’évidement du torse. Ces textiles entourent probablement les reliques qui à la radiographie sous rayons X forment nettement deux masses opaques de petites dimensions. Ces matériaux soumis à la lecture d’un médecin radiologue ont été identifiés comme étant des dents humaines. On notera, par ailleurs, que lors de la conception du torse, l’évidement du dos avait été prévu alors que dans cette même zone, devaient également figurer le percement permettant l’assemblage du tenon de la tête et celui d’une loge à reliques, ce qui constitue une gageure technique (fig. 6).

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Les clous et l’attache à la croix

25 Les quatre clous métalliques – originaux pour le Christ de Montsalvy – ont une tête bombée. Le système d’attache à l’arrière du périzonium est assez singulier. Le système est bien conservé sur le Christ de Montsalvy (fig. 8), alors qu’il ne demeure plus que des témoins des implantations des pièces métalliques pour le Christ de Saint-Flour23. Le dispositif est constitué de trois éléments: de deux barres traversant la croix et fichées dans le bois du Christ et d’une plaque clouée, appliquée à l’arrière du Christ. Les deux barres horizontales, placées en parallèle, sont de petite section coudées à leur extrémité pour se ficher dans le bois – côté Christ; elles traversent l’épaisseur de la croix pour être bloquées au revers, chacune par une goupille fendue, introduite dans un orifice percé à l’extrémité de la barre. La plaque qui est placée perpendiculairement à leur implantation est là pour renforcer le bois et éviter ainsi l’arrachement. Maintenu de la sorte, l’arrière du périzonium est parfaitement appliqué contre la croix.

Fig. 8 – Christ de Montsalvy: radiographie du système de fixation du bassin du Christ sur la croix.

La croix

26 La croix du Christ de Montsalvy a subi des dégradations, dont la perte de ses quatre extrémités et celles des polychromies sur la face, excepté quelques reliquats présents sous les mains. Néanmoins elle conserve, sur son revers, de nombreuses couches picturales donnant ainsi une information précieuse sur son mode de présentation dans l’édifice – présentation permettant de visualiser, au moins en partie, le revers. De plus l’ancienneté de la croix et l’absence de trace d’autres dispositifs d’accrochage

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impliquent le caractère original de l’actuelle fixation du Christ sur sa croix, éléments rarement observés pour la période romane.

La polychromie originale des Christs de Saint-Flour et de Montsalvy

27 La comparaison des polychromies originales a été moins aisée à faire en raison de leur état de conservation: les carnations du Christ de Saint-Flour ont été éliminées avant leur noircissement, celles du Christ de Montsalvy, mal conservées sous les repeints, n’ont été observées qu’à l’aide d’échelles stratigraphiques. D’après nos observations, le rapprochement entre les deux Christs, est partiellement possible. Ils comportent tous deux une couche préparatoire blanche au blanc de plomb24 d’aspect huileux (ou à base d’émulsion), caractéristique des polychromies auvergnates romanes. Ils possèdent également tous deux l’indication du sang coulant des cinq plaies et un périzonium bleu comportant du lapis-lazuli. Mais là s’arrête la comparaison. Les couches de polychromie du Christ de Montsalvy sont très fines. On constate une absence de couche rose sur les carnations qui, par conséquent, devaient apparaître très blanches. L’indication du sang sur les plaies est directement peinte sur la couche préparatoire blanche. Le périzonium est composé d’une couche bleu noirâtre très sombre, posée sur la préparation. La couche colorée est extrêmement fine, de l’ordre d’un glacis. Du lapis-lazuli, très finement broyé a été identifié, il est noyé dans un liant abondant. Toujours dans le cas du Christ de Montsalvy aucun décor original n’a été observé25. En revanche, bien qu’altéré par un incendie, le périzonium bleu du Christ de Saint-Flour conserve des témoins substantiels d’un décor assez simple. Celui-ci est composé, d’une part, d’un semis de fleurettes stylisées en léger relief dont la particularité est leur agencement très régulier, et d’autre part, d’une large bordure ornée d’un motif mal conservé, composé de rouge et de jaune, respectivement à base de cinabre et d’orpiment (fig. 9)26. Des lignes noires soulignent les creux des plis, et des lignes jaunes rehaussent les bords du vêtement.

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Fig. 9 – Reconstitution de la polychromie originale du Christ de Saint-Flour.

28 Deux comparaisons ont pu être faites au sujet du décor de fleurettes, composé d’un centre orangé entouré de points blancs. Ce motif est présent sur un autre Christ auvergnat – celui de Blesle – dont le traitement sculptural et la structure sont relativement différents et qui a priori est plus ancien. Ce décor trouve également un écho européen, assez lointain, puisque ces mêmes fleurettes sur fond bleu ornent le Crucifix suédois de Buttle tandis que le reste du périzonium n’est pas comparable, ni non plus les carnations ou le style de la sculpture27 (fig. 10).

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Fig. 10 – Christ de Buttle, Suède, bois polychromé, milieu du 12ème siècle.

Photo internet

L’apport de l’examen succinct du Christ de Lavoûte- Chilhac

29 En tous points – iconographiques, stylistiques et techniques – le Christ de Lavoûte- Chilhac apparaît similaire aux Christs précédents (fig. 11)28. Ainsi la posture, les caractéristiques anatomiques, la structure en six pièces, les détails sculptés du visage et de la chevelure, la ligne singulière du joint de la tête, le montage des jambes assemblées sur une plateforme à l’intérieur du périzonium, l’agencement du périzonium, la préservation de sa partie arrière sont autant de caractéristiques qui se retrouvent à l’identique. De plus, les nombreuses similitudes physiques et techniques remarquées ont été confortées par une série de prises de dimensions systématiques effectuées sur les trois Christs dont le tableau ci-dessous se fait l’écho.

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Fig. 11 – Christ de Lavoûte-Chilhac, bois polychromé, 12ème -13ème siècle, détails du périzonium.

Saint-Flour Montsalvy Lavoûte-Chilhac

194 Hauteur 198,5 198 dimensions originelles modifiées

190 Envergure 198 196 dimensions originelles modifiées

Epaisseur maximale 36 36 35

Largeur de la taille 27,5 26,5 27,5

Largeur de la tête 23,5 23 Non relevé

Épaisseur au sommet de la tête 36 36 Non relevé

30 Hauteur des genoux 31,5 Non relevé dimensions originelles modifiées

Longueur du pied 30 30 30

Épaisseur du montant de la croix croix récente 6,5 6,7 à 6,9

Largeur du montant de la croix croix récente 27,5 27

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Diamètre des clous des pieds 22/24 mm 24/25 mm

(Dimensions en cm)

30 Sur des parties peu remaniées aux cours des siècles, on note une variation minime de l’ordre de 5 à 10 mm. Ces variations peuvent être expliquées par des erreurs de prise de mesures, d’une part, par des déformations du bois ou bien sûr des différences originelles, d’autre part. Il existe aussi, bien entendu, de petites différences de proportions dans les détails sculptés (longueur d’une mèche de la barbe, largeur d’un pli, etc.) mais cela paraît anecdotique et surtout très normal dans la réalisation d’une taille directe.

31 Comme pour Montsalvy, les extrémités de la croix de Lavoûte-Chilhac ont été affranchies nous privant aussi des dimensions et de l’allure générale du Crucifix. Les clous de la Crucifixion, à tête bombée, sont les mêmes que ceux de Montsalvy, ce qui donne à penser que la croix de Lavoûte-Chilhac serait authentique. Une étude approfondie permettrait de compléter et vérifier cette première approche qui nous semble néanmoins déjà parlante.

32 Bien qu’une étude des couches stratigraphiques de la polychromie n’ait jamais été faite, il existe de fortes présomptions pour qu’une partie de la polychromie apparente appartienne à l’élaboration originale29. Il est frappant d’y observer l’exacte polychromie du périzonium du Christ de Saint-Flour dans ses couleurs et son organisation (fig. 11). La préservation du décor de la large bordure rouge et jaune révèle une écriture pseudo- coufique que l’on a tout lieu de penser avoir été identique pour le Christ de Saint-Flour. D’après les observations menées sur la croix de Montsalvy et celle de Lavoûte-Chilhac, il semble que les croix étaient également conçues selon un même modèle car les largeurs et épaisseurs du montant et de la traverse sont équivalentes.

Des données scientifiques de datation

33 La datation par le Carbone 14 du bois prélevé permet d’avancer une période, pour le Christ de Saint-Flour, allant de 1049 à 1270 avec une probabilité de 95,4%, de 1150 à 1270 avec une probabilité de 86,3%. Le resserrement de la fourchette nous semble raisonnable au regard du taux de probabilité qui reste élevé. Cela correspondrait pour la réalisation de la sculpture à une période de création de 1170-1290 en extrapolant d’une vingtaine d’années pour prendre en compte la date du cerne prélevé, la date de l’abattage de l’arbre et l’achèvement de la sculpture30. Pour Montsalvy, c’est le bois de la croix qui a été choisi pour la datation car celle-ci nous semblait ancienne et contemporaine du Christ31, ce qui est rare en France. Curieusement on obtient une date nettement plus ancienne, à savoir une fourchette située à 95,4% de probabilité entre 915 et 1041 et une probabilité de 74,5% pour une datation située entre 960 et 1041 en extrapolant de la même manière la date de fabrication de la croix à partir de celle du bois prélevé. Ces premiers résultats confirment l’ancienneté de la croix mais soulèvent d’autres questionnements. Les intervalles de dates obtenues pour l’un et l’autre prélèvement ne se recouvrant pas, il sera peut-être nécessaire de renouveler l’opération pour la datation de la croix de Montsalvy (une contamination organique étant toujours possible) mais il sera surtout nécessaire de réaliser une datation au C14

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du Christ. Initialement datées du 15ème siècle, ces deux sculptures classées sont replacées clairement dans le champ de la sculpture romane grâce à ces études.

Des perspectives de recherches

34 La convergence des coïncidences et des similitudes rencontrées sur ces trois Christs est confondante32. Cela nous amène à proposer qu’au delà de la suggestion d’un même artiste ou atelier qui nous paraît évidente, les Christs étudiés (Saint-Flour, Montsalvy) ou celui simplement examiné relativement succinctement (Lavoûte-Chilhac) forment une série homogène. Deux hypothèses peuvent être formulées. Soit cette série appartient à un seul et même programme qui pourrait émaner du même commanditaire, dignitaire ou ordre religieux. Soit cette production correspond à la réplication à l’unité et à la demande d’un modèle primitif. Dans les deux cas, en acceptant ce travail, l’atelier s’engageait à tenir compte d’une considérable contrainte, celle de reproduction fidèle.

35 Ces hypothèses engendrent des questionnements quant à l’existence ou à la définition d’un modèle préalable ou d’une œuvre de référence, à la volonté particulière d’une réplication “à l’identique”, mais également quant aux raisons et aux moyens qui ont permis que l’artiste (ou son atelier) accepte cette contrainte. La réalisation pourrait avoir été simultanée ou plus étalée dans le temps. Cette production de Christs monumentaux aurait pu être commandée pour plusieurs édifices ayant un lien entres eux, voire appartenant éventuellement au même ordre religieux.

36 Le nombre initial pourrait s’étendre au delà des trois sculptures citées précédemment. En effet, l’observation récente de deux autres œuvres auvergnates, a priori composites, justifie à notre sens de nouveaux rapprochements (fig. 12). Certaines parties constitutives de ces deux sculptures, semblent appartenir à ce groupe. Il s’agit de la tête du Christ conservé dans le trésor de la cathédrale de Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) (fig. 13) et de la tête et du torse33 du Christ actuellement conservé dans le réfectoire de l’abbaye de Lavaudieu (Haute-Loire) (fig. 13)34. Au delà des remaniements, suite à des altérations qui devraient bien sûr être répertoriées précisément, les caractéristiques de la sculpture et les quelques mesures prises sont là aussi comparables.

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Fig. 12 – Carte de la région Auvergne, localisation des Christs mentionnés.

Fig. 13 – Christ conservé dans le trésor de la cathédrale de Clermont-Ferrand, bois polychromé, 12ème-13ème siècle (à gauche) et Christ conservé dans le réfectoire de l’abbaye de Lavaudieu, bois polychromé, 12ème -13ème siècle (à droite).

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37 Concernant l’élaboration des sculptures et l’obtention de dimensions quasiment identiques, il paraît évident que l’atelier était organisé de manière à pouvoir répéter (reporter aisément) un modèle ou une œuvre de référence. Abordaient-ils une seule sculpture à la fois ou plusieurs? En cas de commande multiple, les torses étaient-ils sculptés d’un côté, tandis que les têtes étaient dégrossies d’un autre, avant d’être parfaitement ajustées? S’agit-il du travail d’un seul sculpteur ou de plusieurs mains au sein du même atelier? Pouvait-il exister une sorte de répartition des tâches? Comment reportaient-ils les dimensions? Existait-il des gabarits, des contre-formes?

38 Lors de travaux de recherches récents la problématique de copies originales à l’époque médiévale a été soulevée, principalement pour le 15ème siècle35. Que le phénomène puisse déjà exister à la période romane pour des objets en bois, donc datables par l’analyse au Carbone 14 et authentifiables aussi par les techniques de polychromies connues, ajoute une donnée supplémentaire, sans doute essentielle à la question.

39 Les croix étaient-elles toutes de mêmes dimensions et élaborées selon un même modèle tout comme les accessoires de fixations en alliage ferreux forgé (fixations à la croix et clous)? D’après nos observations la phase sculpture et la phase polychromie pourraient être imbriquées et donc réalisées dans un même atelier, comme le suggère la présence de polychromie originale sur le dessus des cuisses et le revers des genoux – inaccessibles après le montage des jambes. La polychromie de la croix était réalisée au moins en partie avant que la sculpture ne soit en place. Les polychromies originales du périzonium du Christ de Saint-Flour et du Christ de Lavoûte-Chilhac présentent une similitude de traitement (fond bleu lapis-lazuli parsemé de fleurettes rouge orangé et blanches) qui pourrait avoir à nouveau la même origine, celle d’une commande très spécifique. Ce motif simple est assez commun dans l’art médiéval, puisqu’on le trouve dans l’enluminure36 et en peinture37. Nous relevons en revanche l’élaboration différente et plus succincte de la polychromie du Christ de Montsalvy. Dans ce dernier cas, le parti pris pouvait-il correspondre à une exécution rapide (et à moindre coût) dans la perspective d’un événement important, en attendant une élaboration à venir plus aboutie et conforme à la demande initiale? À moins que cette distinction de niveau dans l’exécution des polychromies ne suive pas l’exigence de réplication observée pour les formes sculptées.

40 Les études techniques, en permettant le décrochage des œuvres parfois présentées très en hauteur et par conséquence assez éloignées du regard, ont abouti à des observations pointues. Un rapprochement physique de ces Christs serait également une bonne occasion d’évaluer les hypothèses avancées. Dans le cas présent, l’interprétation menée interroge la création romane au delà de la simple question de la réalisation matérielle. Il semble nécessaire de confronter nos hypothèses à la connaissance du contexte historique et religieux de la région auvergnate. La poursuite de ces recherches au groupe plus élargi des Crucifix auvergnats sera probablement l’occasion de comprendre plus précisément le contexte des commandes et la création à l’époque romane.

Lucretia Kargère: Facture en série des sculptures d’Auvergne

41 La compréhension du mode d’exécution des sculptures et le savoir de leur(s) créateur(s) restent un sujet peu compris, pouvant être largement amélioré par l’analyse directe et

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l’examen scientifique des œuvres. Le choix des essences de bois, leur utilisation, mode de taille et outils, emploi de joints, et finition, forment un ensemble de données utiles à la classification des centres de production. Les sculptures étudiées en Auvergne, Vierges et Christ en Croix, semblent tous suivre des modèles, et former des groupes homogènes, non seulement de par leur aspect stylistique, mais également de par leur méthode de taille, construction, et finition picturale. Ce schéma cependant reste assez général, sans un travail sur la facture en séries de ces sculptures, car cette homogénéité peut s’atténuer après l’examen scientifique. Doit-on regarder ces sculptures d’une manière linéaire dans l’évolution d’un atelier, d’une formule simple à plus complexe? Ou bien plutôt, de la reproduction d’un même modèle, peut-être renommé, à divers niveaux de qualité?

42 Les Vierges dites appartenir à l’atelier du Maitre “Morgan” notamment sont le projet d’une étude prolongée cherchant à démontrer les similarités ou disparités d’un nombre de sculptures de facture similaire38. Ont été associées à cet atelier dont l’œuvre principale est la Vierge Morgan du Metropolitan Museum, les sculptures de Montvianeix (Puy-de-Dôme) au Musée du Cloisters, celle de Notre-Dame d’Usson (Puy- de-Dôme) dans la collection du musée d’art Roger-Quilliot, Notre-Dame de Claviers à Moussages (Cantal), Notre-Dame d’Aubusson à Aubusson d’Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme), et d’Heume-l’Eglise (Puy-de-Dôme) (fig.14). Notre-Dame de la Bonne Mort aujourd’hui dans la cathédrale de Clermont-Ferrand ressemble fortement à ce groupe, bien que la plupart des surfaces aient été restaurées au début du 19ème siècle, redorée, noircie, aux chaussures et trône certainement récents39. Sans rayon X, le reste d’une possible âme médiévale est difficile à délimiter. Très similaires de composition notamment dans l’asymétrie des mains de la Vierge, la frontalité de l’enfant, le registre des drapées, les détails physionomiques de mains aux longs doigts, ou d’oreilles fort charnues (fig.15), les sculptures ne sont pas identiques, contrairement aux Christs ci-dessus présentés. Leur spécificité a été vite perçue lors d’une exposition au Cloisters de New York, ou les Vierges de Montvianeix et Morgan ont été présentées côte à côte (fig.16)40. Ces Vierges ne sont pas de la même échelle et envergure, peut-être pour accommoder des niches ou autels de différentes tailles selon les églises. Leur finition notamment dans la finesse de la taille des cheveux, ou bien dans l’amplitude des plissés délimitée dès le sommet de la tête, diffère (fig.17). De même, les surfaces peintes, bien que très similaires, sont des variations sur un thème, plutôt que des copies conformes. Par exemple, un coussin décoré de quatre-feuilles verts sur fond bleu pâle pour la Vierge de Morgan se transforme en ce même dessin en rose et blanc pour celle de Montvianeix. Ou encore des ornements géométriques en étain trouvés sur les manteaux de la Vierge et de l’Enfant de Montvianeix, sont déplacés sur les bordures des manches et rebords du trône pour celle de Morgan. Cependant, le mode de construction et technique de polychromie de ces sculptures est pratiquement identique montrant un savoir-faire commun.

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Fig. 14 – Image groupée des Vierges en majesté, bois polychromé, 12ème siècle, région d’Auvergne: Vierge en majesté connue sous le nom de Morgan, 79.5 x 31.7 x 29.2 cm, bois polychromé, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan (16.32.194) (© Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lucretia Kargère); Vierge en majesté dite provenir de Montvianeix, 68.6 × 28.6 × 27.9 cm, bois polychromé, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection 1967 (67.153) (© Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lucretia Kargère); Vierge en majesté dite Notre Dame d’Usson, Musée d’Art Roger Quilliot, 2002.1.1, (© Lucretia Kargère); Vierge en majesté de l’Eglise de Notre-Dame-de Claviers (© Emmanuelli), Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine; Vierge en majesté de l’Eglise d’Aubusson d’Auvergne (© Monuments historiques), 1993; Vierge en majesté d’Heume-l’Eglise. (© Lucretia Kargère et Agnès Blossier

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Fig.15 – Détails des Vierges de Morgan (à gauche) et Montvianeix (à droite).

Fig.16 – Vierge en majesté de Montvianeix (à gauche) et de Morgan (à droite).

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Fig.17 – Détails du dessus des têtes de la Vierge et de l’Enfant: Vierge en majesté de Montvianeix (à gauche) et de Morgan (à droite).

43 Comme il a été déjà démontré, les Vierges sont assemblées au moins d’une douzaine de pièces de bois, avec têtes séparées du tronc principal, et colonnes du trône encastrées dans ce même bloc. Montvianeix et Morgan sont toutes deux sculptées en noyer, mais il semble que ce bois soit couramment utilisé dans la région. Le corps principal de la sculpture n’est pas évidé, et le cœur du bois se trouve au quasi centre de la composition. Il en est de même pour la polychromie dont la palette de pigments, colorants et mode d’application, liant inclus, est identique pour les Vierges de Montvianeix et Morgan. Notamment, le bleu au lapis des manteaux des Vierges sur une sous-couche grise (veneda), les glacis de laque rouge, l’emploi de reliefs en étain, les carnations à l’huile sur une couche translucide d’huile de lin, également notée, bien que sans analyse, sur la Vierge d’Heume-l’Église et celle d’Usson41.

Une meilleure compréhension du contexte créatif

44 L’anonymat domine dans l’art roman, et beaucoup d’inconnus subsistent quant à la formation technique et au mode de travail des sculpteurs et peintres. Une plus ample documentation a été fournie pour l’Italie, certaines régions de France, et la Catalogne42.

45 Les sculpteurs sur bois étaient-ils des artistes-moines spécialisés? Ou bien faisaient-ils partie des chantiers de sculpture sur pierre joignant des centres urbains, ou plutôt des artistes ou artisans polyvalents travaillant également l’ivoire, ou même l’orfèvrerie? La similitude d’élaboration des Christs présentés ci-dessus, aurait-elle été observée pour d’autres de ces matériaux? L’évolution du partage des tâches dans la production

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artistique a certainement progressé au cours du Moyen Age. Des rapprochements entre sculptures sur bois et pierre ont déjà été recensées, notamment la comparaison de la Vierge à l’Enfant d’Autun du Musée du Cloisters aux sculptures bourguignonnes en pierre de l’atelier de Gislebertus43; ou bien encore du Christ en bois polychromé de Moissac au tympan de la même église44; et encore de la Vierge à l’Enfant du Fogg Museum de Harvard, ou de celle de Saint-Denis issue de Saint-Martin-des-Champs, aux sculptures de la façade de Senlis45. Les décors d’étain en relief trouvés sur les Vierges de Morgan et Montvianeix, ou bien même, dans un champ plus large, ceux des portes en bois de la cathédrale du Puy-en-Velay (1143-1155), sont comparables au travail du métal au champlevé46. Les peintres embellissant les sculptures se rapprochaient forcément du savoir de l’artiste-moine ou d’un moine clericus dédié à l’art de l’enluminure, suivant des recettes préservées et développées dans cet environnement. Une collaboration proche entre sculpteur et peintre est clairement décelable sur les groupes de Christs où la peinture des jambes est rendue inaccessible après leur montage. S’agissait-il d’un artiste polyvalent, ou bien d’un atelier traitant des séquences de tâches bien ordonnées?

Méthode d’approche pour les années à venir

46 Ce n’est qu’avec un travail de recensement et d’étude systématique de ces sculptures que l’on pourra fournir une meilleure classification et mieux comprendre les échanges artistiques régionaux, et influences au-delà des frontières.

47 Au vu de ces éléments, la DRAC ARA met en réseau les études menées par les communes de son territoire, et cherche à diffuser et échanger à l’international sur ces recherches. Dès 2016, afin de projeter efficacement cette diffusion, elle recense chaque année les œuvres susceptibles d’être étudiées selon un cahier des charges concerté et normé. En 2018, la DRAC a recruté par le biais d’un marché à bon de commande un groupement de restaurateurs, pour quatre années, afin de permettre un dialogue suivi sur ces problématiques. Les œuvres en musée sont étudiées en parallèle, stimulées par la progression des connaissances des œuvres sur le territoire d’Auvergne. De par le nombre de questions restant en suspens quant à la datation des sculptures, et les nouvelles données apportées par les études récentes soit par le biais du Carbone 14 ou bien par l’étude des couches de polychromie, le corpus des sculptures en bois polychromé d’Auvergne est un projet en évolution.

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

Sources non publiées

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FAUNIÈRES, Dominique; BLOSSIER, Agnès – Rapport d’étude Christ crucifié dit Christ noir, Saint-Flour, Dir. M.-B. Potte, DRAC ARA, 2017.

FAUNIÈRES, Dominique; BLOSSIER, Agnès – Rapport d’étude, Christ crucifié, Montsalvy, Dir. P.-O. Benech, DRAC ARA, 2018.

FAUNIÈRES, Dominique; BLOSSIER, Agnès – Rapport d’étude, Christ de Blesle, POTTE, Marie-Blanche (dir.), DRAC ARA, 2015.

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Sources publiées

ALEIL, Pierre François – “Les grands Crucifix de bois en Haute-Auvergne ”. Revue de la Haute- Auvergne 38 (1963), pp. 219-236.

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BERNÉ Damien – “Le Christ de Crucifixion de la collégiale d’Herment (Puy-de-Dôme), Une redécouverte exceptionnelle au musée de Cluny”. Fines, Archéologie et Histoire en Combraille 6 (2011), pp. 17-25.

BERTONI CREN, Nadia – La sculpture sur bois polychrome des 11e et 12e siècles en Bourgogne. Dijon: Université de Bourgogne, 2013, PhD Thesis.

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BOUSQUET, Jacques – “Sur quelques Christ romans du Rouergue et le problème des ‘christs Auvergnats’”. Actes du Congres d’études de Rodez (1975), pp. 333-359.

BRÉHIER, Louis – “Les origines de l’architecture romane en Auvergne: l’œuvre des chapitres et des monastères”. Revue Mabillon (Jan 1923), pp. 8-25.

BRÉHIER, Louis – “Notes sur les Statues de Vierges Romanes, Notre Dame de Montvianeix et la question des Vierges Noires”. Revue d’Auvergne 47 (1933) pp.193-198.

CAHN, Walter – The Romanesque wooden doors of Auvergne, New York: University Press for the College Art Association of America, 1974.

CARRIÈRE, Adeline – “Les grands crucifix romans de bois de l’Auvergne et de ses marges”. Recherche en histoire de l’art (2008), pp.7-28.

CASCIO, Agnès; DESCHAMPS-TAN, Stéphanie; LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves – “La restauration du Christ Courajod: la luminosité d’une polychromie romane retrouvée”. Technè 39 (2014), pp. 52-59.

CASSAGNES-BROUQUET, Sophie – Vierges Noires. Rodez: ed. du Rouergue, 2000.

CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel – “Artiste-Clericus ou artiste-laïque? Apprentissage et Curriculum Vitae du peintre en Catalogne et en Toscane”. Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa XLIII (2012), pp. 15-30.

DELMAS, Claire – “ Le Crucifix Roman de Salles-la-Source: Nouveaux éléments concernant les grands Christs en bois du Massif Central”. Revue de la Haute-Auvergne 9 (1990), pp. 49-54.

DESCHAMPS-TAN, Stéphanie; FAUNIÈRES, Dominique; LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves; PAGÈS-CAMAGNA, Sandrine – “La Vierge et l’Enfant en majesté, musée du Louvre”. Technè 39 (2014), pp. 66-72.

FACHECHI, Grazia Maria – “Forma quantitate et qualitate diligentissime denotata la scultura lignea medievale tra spazio e funzione”. Annali della pontificia insigne accademia di belle arti lettere dei virtuosi al Pantheon (2015), pp. 377-388.

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FORSYTH, Ilene H – The Throne of Wisdom: Wood Sculptures of the Madonna in Romanesque France. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.

FOUILHERON, Joël – “Du bon Dieu de Saint-Flour au Christ noir de la Cathédrale”. Revue de la Haute-Auvergne 39 (1965), pp. 490-496.

FOUILHERON, Joël – La Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre de Saint-Flour. Paris: Nouvelles éditions latines, 1966.

GABORIT, Jean-René et FAUNIÈRES, Dominique. Une Vierge en majesté. Paris: Musée du Louvre Editions, 2009.

GIRELLI, Francesca – “Local traditions and itinerant artists?: The Crucifixes of Auvergne and Wooden Sculpture in France during the Late Romanesque Period”. Convivium, Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean 4/2 (2017), pp. 53-70.

KARGÈRE, Lucretia, Adriana RIZZO – “Twelfth-century French polychrome sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: materials and techniques”. Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science and Technology 1, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press (2010), pp. 39-72.

KARGÈRE, Lucretia; LE POGAM, Pierre-Yves; LEVY-HINSTIN, Juliette; PINGAUD, Nathalie – “Un Christ roman auvergnat retrouve son unité grâce à l’étude de la polychromie”. TECHNE 39 (2014), pp. 60-65.

KARGÈRE, Lucretia – “The Cloisters Lavaudieu Torso of Christ: technical examination of a Romanesque crucifix from Auvergne ”. Striking Images: Christ on the Cross & The Emergence of Medieval Monumental Sculpture. ed. Gerhard Lutz, Marietta Cambareri and Shirin Fozi, Brepols/ Harvey Miller, 2019.

KARGÈRE, Lucretia – “The Montvianeix Madonna: materials and techniques in 12th-century Auvergne”. Proceedings ICOM Committee for Conservation 13th Triennial Meeting Rio de Janeiro 2 (2002), pp. 507-512.

LEROY, Hélène; DEBAISIEUX, Francis – Vierges romanes, portraits croisés. Beaumont: Edition Debaisieux, 2009.

LITTLE, Charles – “Romanesque sculpture in North American collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Part VI: Auvergne, Burgundy, Central France, Meuse Valley, Germany”. Gesta 26/2 (1987).

LITTLE, Charles T. – “Glorious replication. Medieval sculpture from the Ile-de France”. Hommage à Renate Eikelmann (to be published).

MOULIER, Pierre – Christs romans d’Auvergne. Patrimoine en Haute Auvergne 35, 2018.

PHALIP, Bruno – L’art Roman en Auvergne. Nonette: Ed. Créer, 2003.

PLAGNIEUX, Philippe – “D’une chapelle de la Vierge l’autre: l’exemple du prieuré clunisien de Saint-Martin-des-Champs à Paris”. Bulletin du centre d’étude médiévales d’Auxerre, BUCEMA, Hors- série 6 (2013), pp.1-13.

ROCHEMONTEIX, Adolphe de – Les églises romanes de Haute-Auvergne. Paris: Picard, 1902.

SAUERLÄNDER, W. – “Zum dem romanischen Kruzifix von Moissac”. Intuition und Kunstwissenschaft. Festschrift für Hanns Swarzenski (1973), pp. 303.317.

TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulpturen und Altarschreine, Studien zu Form, Material und Technik Mittelalterliche Plastik in Schweden. München: Edition Callwey, 1986.

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Bibliographie complémentaire relative aux copies dans la sculpture médiévale

BERTRAND, Sylvaine – “Trois Vierges à l’Enfant du 15e siècle aux environs de Beaune. Leur type, leur style et leur place dans la production bourguignonne du XVe siècle”. Centre bois d’études historiques 76 (1996), pp. 11-22.

GABORIT, Jean-René – “Le problème de la copie dans la sculpture médiévale”. Tables de travail. Séminaire de recherche sur la conservation-restauration, [accessed 2 April 2019]. Available at http:// tablesdetravail.hypotheses.org/108.

LAPAIRE, Claude – “Une statue bourguignonne de saint Thibaut et l’usage des modèles, répliques et réductions dans les ateliers de sculpture du XVe siècle”. Genava 31 (1983), pp. 27-33.

NOTES

1. ALEIL, Pierre François – “Les grands Crucifix de bois en Haute-Auvergne”, Revue de la Haute- Auvergne 38 (1963), pp.219-36; FOUILHERON, Joël – “Du bon Dieu de Saint-Flour au Christ noir de la Cathédrale”, Revue de la Haute-Auvergne 39 (1965), pp.490-96; FORSYTH, Ilene H – The Throne of Wisdom: Wood Sculptures of the Madonna in Romanesque France, 1972; BOUSQUET, Jacques – “Sur quelques Christ romans du Rouergue et le problème des “christs Auvergnats”, Actes du Congrès d’études de Rodez (1975), pp. 333-359; LITTLE, Charles – “Romanesque sculpture in North American collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Part VI: Auvergne, Burgundy, Central France, Meuse Valley, Germany”, Gesta 26/2 (1987); DELMAS, Claire – “Le Crucifix Roman de Salles-la- Source: Nouveaux éléments concernant les grands Christs en bois du Massif Central”, Revue de la Haute-Auvergne 9 (1990), pp.49-54; CARRIÈRE, Adeline. “Les grands crucifix romans de bois de l’Auvergne et de ses marges”, Recherche en histoire de l’art (2008), pp.7-28; LEROY, Hélène et DEBAISIEUX, Francis – Vierges romanes, portraits croisés, Beaumont: Edition Debaisieux, 2009; BOEHM, Barbara – “ Un buste reliquaire du 12ème siècle récemment découvert à Saint-Flour”, Patrimoine en Haute Auvergne 23/2 (2011), pp. 39-50; GIRELLI, Francesca – “Local traditions and itinerant artists?: The Crucifixes of Auvergne and Wooden Sculpture in France during the Late Romanesque Period”, Convivium, Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean IV (2017), pp. 53-70; MOULIER, Pierre. Christs romans d’Auvergne, Patrimoine en Haute Auvergne 35, 2018. 2. KARGÈRE, Lucretia; RIZZO, Adriana – “Twelfth-century French polychrome sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: materials and techniques”, Metropolitan Museum Studies in Art, Science and Technology 1 (2010), pp. 39-72. 3. DESCHAMPS-TAN, Stephanie et al. – “La Vierge et l’Enfant en majesté, musée du Louvre”, Technè 39 (2014), pp. 66-72; CASCIO, Agnès et al. “La restauration du Christ Courajod: la luminosité d’une polychromie romane retrouvée”, Technè 39 (2014), pp.52-59; BERTONI CREN, Nadia – La sculpture sur bois polychrome des 11e et 12 e siècles en Bourgogne, Université de Bourgogne, PhD Thesis, 2013. 4. BERNÉ, Damien – “Le Christ de Crucifixion de la collégiale d’Herment (Puy-de-Dôme), Une redécouverte exceptionnelle au musée de Cluny”, Fines, Archéologie et Histoire en Combraille 6 (2011), pp. 17-25; GABORIT, Jean-René et FAUNIÈRES, Dominique – Une Vierge en majesté, Musée du Louvre Editions, 2009; KARGÈRE, Lucretia; RIZZO, Adriana – “Twelfth-century French polychrome

F0 sculptureBC ”, pp. 39-72; KARGÈRE et al. – “Un Christ roman auvergnat retrouve son unité grâce à l’étude de la polychromie”, TECHNE 39 (2014), pp. 60-65. 5. Rapport de restauration de la Vierge en majesté de Courpière, Juliette Levy, 2015, non publié, archives de la DRAC ARA. 6. CASSAGNES-BROUQUET, Sophie – Vierges Noires, Rodez: ed. du Rouergue, 2000.

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7. BRÉHIER, Louis – “Notes sur les Statues de Vierges Romanes, Notre Dame de Montvianeix et la question des Vierges Noires”, Revue d’Auvergne 47 (1933), pp.193-198; KARGÈRE, Lucretia – “The Montvianeix Madonna: materials and techniques in 12th-century Auvergne”, Proceedings ICOM Committee for Conservation 13th Triennial Meeting Rio de Janeiro, vol. 2 (2002), p. 508.

F0 8. KARGÈRE et RIZZO –“Twelfth-century French polychrome sculptureBC ”, pp. 48-49; FAUNIÈRES et BLOSSIER, rapport d’étude du Christ de Saint-Flour, 2017. 9. Voir notamment PLAGNIEUX, Philippe -“D’une chapelle de la Vierge l’autre: l’exemple du prieuré clunisien de Saint-Martin-des-Champs à Paris”, Bulletin du centre d’étude médiévales d’Auxerre, BUCEMA, Hors-série 6 (2013), pp.5-6. 10. MOREL, D. – Notre-Dame d'Orcival, Auvergne, Service régional de l'inventaire général du patrimoine culturel; POTTE, Marie-Blanche (dir.), Lyon, Lieux Dits, 2008. 11. FACHECHI, Maria-Grazia – “Forma quantitate et qualitate diligentissime denotata la scultura lignea medievale tra spazio e funzione”, Annali della pontificia insigne accademia di belle arti lettere dei virtuosi al Pantheon (2015), pp. 377-388. 12. Les observations ont été réalisées à l’œil nu, aux lunettes loupe et à la loupe binoculaire à grossissement variable (optique Zeiss). Emploi d’une micro caméra numérique. 13. Tomasz Goslar, responsable du Poznan Radiocarbon Laboratory, Pologne. 14. Emmanuel Maurin, Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques, Champs-sur Marne. 15. Marie-Pierre Etcheverry, laboratoire LAMOA, Bordeaux. 16. La restauration effectuée sur le Christ de Saint–Flour par l’atelier André entre 1946-1947 a modifié certains volumes, notamment en supprimant deux mèches sur l’épaule droite. 17. Lors de l’étude du Christ de Saint-Flour nous nous sommes demandées si cette caractéristique résultait du décapage du bois avant noircissement, mais sa présence sur le Christ de Montsalvy et celui de Lavoûte-Chilhac tend à conclure que c’est une facture originelle commune. 18. Notons que l’agencement en “chevrons” et le plissé du pan central se retrouvent sur d’autres Christs auvergnats et rouergats tels ceux de Blesle, Thérondels, Salles-la-Source, etc… 19. Cf. La question de l’emplacement des évidements, développée dans la suite du texte. 20. Christ dont la tête est conservée au musée du Louvre à Paris et le torse au Metropolitan Museun of Art de New York. KARGERE et al. – “Un Christ roman auvergnat… 21. A l’instar du Christ crucifié de Blesle (Haute-Loire), dont seuls les bras sont rapportés sur la pièce principale (comprenant la tête, le torse, le périzonium et les jambes). 22. Voir bibliographie sur les études de Vierge en majesté. 23. Rappel: le Christ de Saint-Flour est fixé sur une croix récente. 24. Les analyses du laboratoire Lamoa s’appuient sur l’utilisation de la microscopie optique classique, suivie de la microanalyse des constituants – microtexture et composition – grâce à la mise en oeuvre de la microscopie électronique à balayage (MEB). Enfin, à l’aide de la sonde électronique et au détecteur de rayons X associé, il est possible d’analyser la composition élémentaire des constituants visibles à l’image (spectres EDX). 25. Nous rappelons que la polychromie est à l’état de restes sous les repeints. Le périzonium conserve des vestiges de sa polychromie originale, cantonnés aux parties reculées du drapé, plus préservées. La radiographie (fig. 8) laisse deviner une sorte de petite fleur composée, opaque, qui ne peut pas être replacée dans la stratigraphie des couches picturales. 26. Voir infra la polychromie du Christ de Lavoûte-Chilhac. 27. TÅNGEBERG, Peter – Holzskulptur Und Altarschrein. Studien Zu Form, Material Und Technik Mittelalterliche Plastik in Schweden (1989), p. 90 and color ill nº 4. 28. Pour le moment, celui-ci n’a fait l’objet d’aucune étude technologique approfondie, mais nous avons pu nous rendre sur place pour faire quelques observations depuis une échelle. 29. Son état n’est pas homogène. Lors d’une restauration on a manifestement tenté de la mettre au jour mais avec des moyens relativement sommaires.

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30. Le prélèvement a été effectué en périphérie de la bille mais ne comportait pas l’aubier du tronc. 31. Lors de la commande de l’étude, un seul prélèvement pour C14 avait été programmé. Les observations du Christ ne permettant aucun doute sur son ancienneté, nous avons choisi de faire un prélèvement sur la croix. 32. Les différences de mise en œuvre, observées, peuvent a priori traduire des contraintes spécifiques ou de nouvelles solutions techniques apportées au fil de la réalisation. 33. Le périzonium est remanié. 34. Dans le cas de Clermont-Ferrand, le reste du corps est de facture différente; dans le second cas il n’y a pas de correspondance entre le haut et le bas du corps. Le Christ du Trésor a été vu à hauteur mais à une certaine distance, le Christ du réfectoire de Lavaudieu a pu être examiné de plus près et assez rapidement. Nous remercions sincèrement MM Pierre-Olivier Benech et Pierre Taillefer ainsi que Christiane Besson-Benoit, Daniel Bailly, Pierre-Yves Le Pogam et Lucretia Kargère pour leur aide lors de ces dernières visites. 35. Voir en bibliographie les parutions sur le sujet, transmises aimablement par Pierre-Yves Le Pogam, conservateur en chef au musée du Louvre, qui nous a informé de ce contexte plus large de répliques. Nous le remercions chaleureusement pour sa relecture attentive et productive. 36. TROYES, Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 60, 1180, illustré en Italie du Nord, f° 8-10-85-98-213. 37. Œuvres catalanes du 12ème siècle (conservées au musée national d’art de Catalogne à Barcelone): devant d’autel de La Seu d’Urgell, devant d’autel d’Ix, peinture murale de l’abside de Santa Maria de Taüll (manteau de la Vierge). Peinture murale de l’église Sant Marti de La Cortinada (Andorre, fin du 12ème siècle). En France, peinture murale de l’église de Brinay (Cher, 12ème siècle).

F0 38. KARGÈRE et RIZZO – “Twelfth-century French polychrome sculptureBC ”, pp. 38-72; BLOSSIER, Agnès – “Etude et rapport d’intervention”, Vierge à l’Enfant, Heume-l’Eglise”, Juillet 2012. 39. Observation Lucretia Kargère, Octobre 2018. 40. Exposition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, May 10- October 8, 2018. 41. L’étude technique de Notre Dame d’Usson est en cours avec un partenariat entre le musée d’art Roger-Quilliot et l’auteur au Metropolitan Museum de New York. Une couche translucide (non analysée) a été également notée sur les Christs étudiés ci-dessus, cependant elle a été trouvée pour les carnations autant que pour le perizonium. Cette technique demande donc à être étudiée sur un champ plus large de sculptures. 42. CASTIÑEIRAS, Manuel – “Artiste-Clericus ou artiste-laïque? Apprentissage et Curriculum Vitae du peintre en Catalogne et en Toscane”, Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa XLIII (2012), pp. 15-30.

F0 43. FORSYTH, Ilene – The Throne of Wisdom BC pp. 188-189. 44. SAUERLÄNDER, W. – “Zum dem romanischen Kruzifix von Moissac”, Intuition und Kunstwissen- schaft. Festschrift für Hanns Swarzenski (1973), pp. 303-317.

F0 45. FORSYTH, Ilene – The Throne of Wisdom BC , pp. 197-199. 46. CAHN, Walter – “The Romanesque wooden doors of Auvergne”, 1974; BARRAL I ALTET, Xavier – Contre l’Art Roman? Essai sur un passe réinventé. Paris: Ed. Fayard, 2006, p.166.

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RÉSUMÉS

En France, la région d’Auvergne conserve un important ensemble de sculptures en bois polychromées datées, pour le moment entre le 11eme et le début du 13eme siècle, notamment une vingtaine de Crucifix, une soixantaine de Vierge en majesté et diverses figures de saints. Tandis que les sculptures conservées dans les musées ont acquis un certain prestige, celles qui sont conservées dans leurs églises restent moins connues et ont rarement fait l’objet d’études techniques. Depuis 2010 et l’émergence d’un nouvel intérêt pour ces objets, la DRAC ARA entreprend l’inventaire du corpus et initie de nouvelles recherches. En tant qu’objets de cultes, ces sculptures ont subi de nombreuses transformations au cours des siècles. Cette étude propose de contextualiser la place de ces objets dans leur édifice. L’examen d’un groupe de crucifix monumentaux montre la remarquable similitude d’élaboration originelle, nous incitant à nous interroger sur la production de modèles dans les ateliers de sculpteurs et de polychromeurs, et à re-évaluer notre vision des modes de production. L’étude des Vierges en majesté fait également écho à cette question du processus artistique et d’imitation de prototypes entiers, tout en marquant les variations qui définissent chacune de ces oeuvres.

INDEX

Mots-clés : Auvergne, Sculpture, Bois, Polychromie, Modèles Keywords : Auvergne, Sculpture, Carving, Painting technique, Models

AUTEURS

MARIE-BLANCHE POTTE

Conservatrice en chef du patrimoine, Lyon, France. [email protected]

DOMINIQUE FAUNIÈRES

Restauratrice indépendante de sculptures, Paris, France. [email protected]

AGNÈS BLOSSIER

Restauratrice indépendante de sculptures, Tours, France. agnè[email protected]

LUCRETIA KARGÈRE

Restauratrice du Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. [email protected]

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Recensões

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Antoine Desemberg, L’honneur des universitaires au Moyen Âge: Étude d’imaginaire social

Rui M. Rocha

REFERÊNCIA

DESEMBERG, Antoine – L’honneur des universitaires au Moyen Âge: Étude d’imaginaire social. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France (puf), 2015 (389 pp.)

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 2 de janeiro de 2019

NOTA DO AUTOR

Este trabalho é financiado por Fundos FEDER através do Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE e por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do projeto “OECONOMIA STUDII. Financiamento, gestão e recursos da universidade em Portugal: uma análise comparativa (séculos XIII-XVI)” (PTDC/ EPHHIS/3154/2014).

1 No dia 1 de dezembro de 2010, Antoine Destemberg defendia a sua tese de doutoramento na Universidade de Paris – Panthéon-Sorbonne, centrada na história da instituição universitária parisiense no período medieval (entre os séculos XIII e XV). Na obra defendia a formação de um grupo individualizado e autónomo, com uma identidade bem definida, procedendo à descrição e caracterização pormenorizada dos seus elementos constituintes (professores, escolares e oficiais), das relações com os vários poderes (régio, papal e civil) e das vários formas de expressão material e

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simbólica do Studium Generale, matizando assim um conjunto de estratégias de afirmação do grupo académico. O sucesso e a importância dos resultados de tal investigação para a historiografia do tema, assentes numa metodologia inovadora e interdisciplinar, motivaram a sua publicação em 2015.

2 Assim, num momento em que a historiografia nacional sobre as universidades atravessa uma revitalização, há muito esperada, ancorada não somente num conjunto de teses de doutoramento – defendidas1 e em curso 2 – mas também em projetos de investigação científica financiados3, esta obra vem sistematizar e, acima de tudo, representar o melhor que está a ser feito além-fronteiras sobre a mesma temática. Por esse motivo, a sua recensão é de relevante pertinência pela inserção do objeto de estudo na Christianitas universitária medieval, que permite estabelecer perspetivas comparadas fundamentais.

3 O autor da obra, ainda bastante jovem, iniciou no ano de 2013 a carreira de docente na Universidade de Artois, no norte de França, onde integrou o departamento de História Medieval. Os seus interesses de investigação residem na história social e cultural, focando-se sobretudo nos intelectuais e na universidade nos últimos séculos da Idade Média. Além da tese de doutoramento, já havia desenvolvido a tese de mestrado em torno do mesmo tema, dessa vez sobre os procuradores da nação inglesa e alemã no Estudo Geral de Paris, entre o fim do século XIV e início do século XV4. Desta forma, o autor demonstra um conhecimento profundo do objeto de estudo, a Universidade de Paris, que estudou ao longo de mais de uma década.

4 Nas palavras do autor – Antoine Destemberg –, a obra em recensão corresponde a uma versão abreviada da sua tese de doutoramento, defendida em 2010 na Universidade de Paris – Panthéon-Sorbonne, perante um júri constituído por grandes vultos da história intelectual europeia – nomeadamente Jean-Philippe Genet e Jacques Verger –, o que por si atesta bem a qualidade da obra. Ainda antes da sua publicação, reforçando a pertinência da opção editorial, a obra foi premiada com o prestigioso galardão Le Monde de investigação universitária (edição de 2011), que distingue anualmente os melhores trabalhos de académicos francófonos, desde que dotados de uma abordagem interdisciplinar.

5 A obra procura assim, com base num conjunto muito diversificado de fontes, aclarar e elaborar uma história da construção social e definição de um grupo através do domínio cultural do meio em que se inseriam (“faire une histoire de la construction sociale de la domination culturelle”5), estudando a instituição de produção e divulgação cultural por excelência – a universidade – na cidade de Paris. A abordagem do autor foca-se na noção de honra (honneur), por ser um conceito operatório de grande relevância para decifrar a formação gradual de uma identidade profissional, atribuída aos mestres, escolares e oficiais da universidade. Com esta fórmula inovadora, que combina as áreas de história, sociologia e antropologia, Destemberg abandona propositadamente o conceito de identidade, evitando assim anacronismos temporais, já que, nas suas próprias palavras, o Homem medieval, mais do que falar de identidade, gosta de falar em honra (“les médiévaux, plutôt que de parler d’identité, parlent volontiers d’honneur”6). Em suma, a obra estuda as estratégias desenvolvidas pela comunidade intelectual parisiense para se afirmar enquanto categoria autónoma, não somente a partir da relação com os outros (através de fenómenos de cooperação e concorrência), mas também consigo mesma (com manifestações simbólicas individuais e coletivas de autonomia). O autor, ao inaugurar a obra com a definição de Tomás de Aquino de honra,

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enquanto recompensa da virtude (“l’honneur comme une récompense de la vertu”7), esclarece de forma clara que a tese analisa a semiótica do conceito de honra, que abrange e oscila entre uma noção mais material, de posses, terras e privilégios, e uma noção mais abstrata, ligada ao estatuto, virtude e influência social.

6 A abordagem interdisciplinar não se resume ao cruzamento das áreas de história, sociologia e antropologia (de influência claramente bourdieusiana, que dá ao trabalho um enquadramento conceptual e lexical), mas também à diversidade de fontes utilizadas, onde reside outro fator de novidade. Deste modo, Destemberg serve-se não somente de fontes institucionais produzidas sob a chancela da própria universidade de Paris (fontes normativas e administrativas), mas também de literatura escolástica, didática e moral; de literatura narrativa, histórica e política; e de fontes judiciais, iconográficas e até arqueológicas.

7 De facto, da articulação entre a abordagem centrada no conceito de honra e a utilização de fontes textuais, iconográficas e arqueológicas fica bem patente a ideia de um estudo inovador, em contraponto com os estudos precedentes, que ora são tremendamente genéricos, ora são excessivamente focados num aspeto muito concreto, falhando nas análises que cruzam as várias dimensões da história da universidade de forma relevante e interdisciplinar, e não respondendo a algumas questões basilares que agora se colocam. Esta obra responde assim, com sucesso (apesar das limitações que tentaremos expor mais adiante) aos desafios atuais da historiografia.

8 A versão abreviada em análise foi feita sobretudo em prejuízo dos abundantes exemplos e citações de documentação original, que conferiam à obra primitiva um aparato crítico que não se justificava numa publicação desta natureza. Desta forma, o livro, com a dimensão mais modesta de 389 páginas, sintetiza as ideias expostas na versão original, sem abdicar do rigor científico, e eventualmente tornando o texto mais acessível ao leitor. A obra está organizada em três partes principais, subdivididas num total de doze capítulos, que, por sua vez, se subdividem num número variável de subcapítulos.

9 Na primeira parte (“Honor et fama: les universitaires dans le système de communication medieval”), dividida em três capítulos, o autor foca a sua atenção na relação entre fama (reputação) e honor (honra) da universidade, ou seja, estabelece um encadeamento lógico entre a forma como os académicos eram percecionados e se relacionavam com as autoridades, e como essa conjuntura se refletia na concessão de privilégios. Para isso estuda a relação com as várias esferas de poder: com o poder régio e papal, tendo sempre como pano de fundo o conceito de honra. Através da análise da concessão de privilégios do papa e do rei (frequentemente numa dimensão concorrencial), Destemberg evidencia a importância e ligação emotiva que estes privilégios acarretavam (enquanto elementos definidores da honra), ao invés de os observar como simples benefícios materiais. O autor analisa ainda o papel do Estudo Geral na cidade de Paris, enquanto espaço físico e simbólico da formação da honra, estudando por exemplo a função da universidade nas entradas e funerais régios, também sintomáticos de uma relação que ia além de uma simples dependência financeira ou económica. Por fim, o autor verifica, através de uma grande diversidade de discursos, uma construção homogénea da imagem dos académicos – tanto nos vícios como qualidades – que conferem uma identidade muito própria e característica ao grupo.

10 A segunda parte (“De la bona fama à l’honor magistralis: production et expressions d’un honneur communautaire”), dividida em cinco capítulos, estuda a construção de uma identidade académica, ou seja, da honra dos universitários, através de modelos

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comportamentais fortemente ritualizados – tanto coletivos como individuais – que não só legitimavam internamente como expunham a autonomia do grupo. Esta autonomia e esta identidade não dependiam só das ações enquanto grupo, mas também do comportamento individual de cada membro da corporação. Estes modelos, ou formas de agir, eram transmitidos sucessivamente, estando assegurados por mecanismos de transmissão e reprodução. Por isso, o autor estuda as várias etapas do percurso académico, desde os rituais de iniciação – marcados por uma forte componente de humilhação e difamação (diffamatio) através de insultos e maus-tratos que tendiam a condicionar o jovem escolar (béjaune) e transformá-lo gradualmente num deles – até aos exames, juramentos, cerimónias de graduação e procissões que marcavam a vida de um académico e o fidelizavam à comunidade. Assim, Destemberg fala de “une transformation ritualisée d'un jeune homme sans fama en un maître depositaire de l'honor de son grade et de communauté qui le lui avait conféré” 8, através de um processo de integração altamente complexo e ritualizado.

11 Por fim, a terceira e última parte (“L’honneur en conflits: la domination de soi et des autres”), dividida em quatro capítulos, realça as relações de conflito e competição entre a universidade e outras autoridades, bem como entre os próprios elementos da comunidade académica. Coloca claramente a cidade como palco de enfrentamentos, por ser um meio capaz de exacerbar fenómenos de violência. Neste ponto, o autor aborda os ataques à honra da universidade, e os mecanismos públicos de defesa e retaliação, dos quais são exemplos as greves. Ademais, com recurso à iconografia, Destemberg demonstra a constituição de uma consciência de grupo, estudando o conflito entre as várias representações visuais, que oscilavam entre representações estereotipadas e representações apologéticas e laudatórias dos universitários. O autor termina o livro com um tema bastante inovador, estabelecendo uma conexão entre o fenómeno da honra universitária e as expressões de masculinidade, visto que a identidade sexual e a carreira intelectual eram construídas simultaneamente. Daqui resultou a continuidade de uma ideia de domínio masculino da sociedade, e uma certa permissividade nas demonstrações ostensivas dessa superioridade de género dentro da esfera académica. No âmbito deste tema, tendo como pretexto o facto de as universidades serem instituições exclusivamente masculinas, Destemberg aborda assim a repressão sexual, o celibato intelectual e o recurso à prostituição.

12 Entre várias conclusões, o autor termina a obra com uma definição de honra que vale a pena retomar: “une capital symbolique individuelle et collectif, reposant sur la reconnaisance du mérite de la vertu, mérite dont la source peut être naturelle (naissance, sang) ou sociale (la société tout entière ou une autorité reconnue par elle, comme Dieu, le roi, les chef, etc...)”. Assim, Destemberg clarifica finalmente o entendimento de honra enquanto capital simbólico (bem mais do que um simples agregado patrimonial e de privilégios) através do qual um dado grupo social é capaz de demarcar a sua autonomia e posição social. Capital com o qual a universidade se reveste continuadamente através das relações com as autoridades régia e pontifícia, mas também através da construção de um imaginário assente em manifestações e expressões ritualísticas, entre outras.

13 Num projeto académico global em que a interdisciplinaridade é altamente valorizada, pelo menos num plano teórico, esta obra responde aos anseios de historiadores da universidade, da arte, da sociologia, etc… A diversidade de fontes e a qualidade das

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abordagens premeiam a obra com uma claridade fora do vulgar e uma organização temática extraordinariamente bem delineada.

14 De destacar também que a obra oferece ao leitor, dado o recurso inovador a fontes iconográficas nesta temática, um apêndice com um conjunto de imagens e figuras de apoio ao texto. O autor encerra a monografia com a lista de fontes e bibliografia analisadas, e com um extenso índice onomástico e toponímico, facilitando assim a sua consulta. Deste modo, o livro revela algumas preocupações editoriais, das quais decorre uma estrutura bem delineada e organizada da informação.

15 Evidentemente, a metodologia inovadora (a diversidade de fontes e a abordagem interdisciplinar) e os resultados da investigação tiveram um impacto significativo no panorama internacional. Foi, assim, uma obra globalmente aclamada pela qualidade que revela e por constituir efetivamente um contributo singular para a história das universidades, mais concretamente para o conhecimento da construção da identidade das elites intelectuais e culturais medievais.

16 No entanto, apesar do carácter inegavelmente inovador, há que chamar a atenção para a complementaridade com o ensaio de Serge Lusignan, intitulado “Vérité garde le roy”: la construction d’une identité universitaire en France (XIIIe–XVe siècle)9, publicado em 1999 pela Sorbonne, por abordar a mesma temática, no mesmo espaço, durante a mesma cronologia. Contudo, esta abordagem de Lusignan está limitada a uma perspetiva legal e institucional, até pela escolha de fontes, não retirando qualquer originalidade ao estudo em análise, muito mais abrangente.

17 Finalmente, é fundamental salientar um aspeto menos bem conseguido pelo autor. Referimo-nos ao carácter falacioso do título da obra (L’honneur des universitaires au Moyen Âge. Étude d’imaginaire social), que transmite a ideia enganadora de ser uma análise de abrangência europeia, ao omitir propositadamente o objeto de estudo – a Universidade de Paris. Na verdade, a obra foca-se exclusivamente no caso singular parisiense, inserido num universo complexo e diversificado de mais de uma centena de corporações universitárias, algumas das quais extremamente prestigiadas e profundamente estudadas. Está assim implícito um interesse exclusivo na Universidade de Paris, que o autor vê e estabelece de forma imprudente como modelo identitário para todas as outras instituições homólogas. Esta opção acaba por ser a grande limitação da obra, que, apesar do enorme mérito do autor em conjugar diversas dimensões temáticas, disciplinares, metodológicas e documentais, está condenada a ser um estudo de caso, modelar pela abordagem e não nos resultados.

NOTAS

1. NORTE, Armando – Letrados e cultura letrada em Portugal (sécs. XII-XIII). 2 vols. Lisboa: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, 2013. Tese de Doutoramento. 2. Estão em execução as teses de doutoramento, no âmbito do Programa Interuniversitário de Doutoramento em História, de André Leitão (Escolares portugueses na Christianitas (séculos XII-XV): circulação, redes e percursos); de Ana Ferreira (A cidade de Lisboa e a Universidade: o poder da escrita,

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1377-1438); de Carlos Alves (A Ordem Natural nas reformas universitárias de Salamanca e Coimbra (1769-1803)); e mais recentemente do autor da recensão (A Reforma Manuelina da Universidade: sociedade política e cultura letrada no Renascimento). 3. Entre 2007 e 2013, no âmbito do Programa de comemorações do centenário da Universidade de Lisboa (ULis2011), a Reitoria da Universidade financiou o projeto “História da universidade medieval em Lisboa (1288-1537)”. Desde 2016, está em curso o projeto de investigação, financiado pela FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, intitulado “OECONOMIA STUDII. Financiamento, gestão e recursos da universidade em Portugal: uma análise comparativa (séculos XIII-XVI)” (PTDC/ EPHHIS/3154/2014). Mais recentemente, desde 2017, Armando Norte desenvolve o projeto de pós-doutoramento “Debuerit et habuerit. Património, receitas e despesas da universidade portuguesa no período medieval e moderno” (SFRH/BPD/115857/2016), também financiado pela pela FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. 4. DESTEMBERG, Antoine – «De communi consensu». Les Procureurs de la nation anglaise-allemande de l’Université de Paris (1368-1418). Paris: Universidade de Paris – Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2000 (Tese de Mestrado). 5. DESTEMBERG, Antoine – L’honneur des universitaires au Moyen Âge. Étude d’imaginaire social. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France (puf), 2015, p. 9. 6. DESTEMBERG, Antoine – L’honneur des universitaires..., p. 6. 7. DESTEMBERG, Antoine – L’honneur des universitaires..., p. 1. 8. DESTEMBERG, Antoine – L’honneur des universitaires..., p. 96. 9. LUSIGNAN, Serge – “Vérité garde le roy”: la construction d’une identité universitaire en France (XIIIe– XVe siècle). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999.

AUTORES

RUI M. ROCHA

Centro de História, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa, 1600-214, Lisboa, Portugal [email protected]

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Diana Pelaz Flores, Rituales líquidos. El significado del agua en el ceremonial de la corte de Castilla (ss. XIV-XV)

Víctor Muñoz Gómez

REFERENCIA

PELAZ FLORES, Diana - Rituales líquidos. El significado del agua en el ceremonial de la corte de Castilla (ss. XIV-XV). Murcia: Editum-Ediciones de la Universidad de Murcia, 2017. ISBN 978-84-16551-76-7 (142 páginas).

NOTA DEL EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 23 de janeiro de 2019

1 El año 2017 fue especialmente prolífico para Diana Pelaz Flores, uno de los nuevos valores del medievalismo hispánico a partir de sus meritorios trabajos acerca del estudio del papel de la reina en la Castilla del siglo XV a partir de la aplicación de perspectivas de género al análisis histórico. Fruto, fundamentalmente, de su inteligente tesis doctoral, la cual se dedicó al tema arriba señalada, fue la publicación de nada menos que tres monografías en las que se desgranan los aspectos relativos a las formas de ejercicio del poder de las reinas, su entorno relacional y el valor simbólico y representativo de su figura en la Corona de Castilla durante la Baja Edad Media a partir del estudio de caso de las reinas consortes del monarca Juan II, María de Aragón e Isabel de Portugal (La casa de la reina en la Corona de Castilla (1418-1496). Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid; Poder y representación de la reina en la Corona de Castilla (1418-1496). Salamanca: Junta de Castilla y León; Reinas consortes. Las reinas de Castilla entre los siglos XI-XV. Madrid: Sílex Ediciones). Junto a estos volúmenes y algunos otros trabajos, un cuarto libro redondea su prolífica producción en ese año, justamente dedicada a la otra

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línea de investigación que la autora ha desarrollado prioritariamente y que mucho tiene que ver con la primera ya citada, ligada a los estudios sobre género y poder real femenino: la del estudio de simbolismo del agua en el ceremonial regio castellano del final de la Edad Media.

2 Rituales líquidos, justamente, viene a reunir hasta cuatro estudios breves de Diana Pelaz que se centran en esta temática, desarrollados al amparo del proyecto de investigación “El agua en el imaginario de la Castilla bajomedieval” (HAR2012-32264) en el seno del Grupo de Investigación Consolidado de la Universidad de Valladolid “Agua, espacio y sociedad en la Edad Media”, dirigido por la profesora María Isabel del Val Valdivieso. El objetivo del libro expresado por la autora no es otro que profundizar en los usos y significación del agua en el ámbito cortesano de la Castilla bajomedieval en términos representativos y ceremoniales. Así, el prefacio que introduce el libro sirve para desarrollar estos propósitos, de modo que el estudio de los rituales y ceremonias de la corte de Castilla en que el agua intervino permitirán profundizar en su sentido como elemento dotado de propiedades purificadoras y de limpieza, tanto del cuerpo físico como del simbólico de la persona del monarca. Estas nociones, enmarcadas tanto en el sustrato ideológico cristiano de la época como en la mentalidad aristocrática dominante y, sobre todo, los discursos de afirmación del poder regio dan lugar así a una comprensión monográfica del agua como objeto simbólico central en la representación de la identidad y el poder de la monarquía y sus titulares en Castilla que, al fin, busca contribuir a esa línea de estudios políticos y culturales, ya fructífera dentro del medievalismo español.

3 Tras un breve, pero muy correcto capítulo introductorio en el que se presenta el estado de la cuestión acerca de la investigación desarrollada en España y buena parte de Europa en los últimos veinticinco años sobre el agua y su lugar simbólico en el mundo medieval, ligado a su valor sacramental, funciones litúrgicas y de representación ceremonial del poder, comienza propiamente la materia de análisis tratada en el libro. Tres capítulos lo componen, en los cuales se abordan monográficamente tres cuestiones referidas a ese lugar ocupado por el agua en lo que la autora entiende como las principales ceremonias cortesanas en que este elemento jugaba un papel de especial relevancia en Castilla. Así, el primero de ellos se preocupa de analizar la concepción de la limpieza del soberano, tanto desde el punto de vista de la higiene cotidiana como desde aquel otro del baño ritual estipulado en los rituales de coronación. El segundo afronta el uso del agua, la gestualidad y la semiótica tramada alrededor de la etiqueta de la mesa regia. El tercero y último, finalmente, se concentra en una peculiar conexión entre el valor purificador e integrador del agua bautismal y la traslación de este rito de paso para el otorgamiento de los oficios heráldicos en la corte y su propia jerarquización interna entre persevantes, farautes y reyes de armas. El libro concluye con un epílogo en que se sintetizan algunas conclusiones sobre las consideraciones higiénicas, simbólicas y culturales de la ritualidad cortesana castellana en que el agua intervenía y que fueron desplegándose a lo largo de los capítulos previos.

4 Así, es muy interesante cómo la autora presenta, por lo que se refiere al baño regio, la doble realidad del carácter privado y restringido al público del aseo del rey, dirigido a mantener tanto su salud física como la propia condición mayestática que ha de ejercer su cuerpo político, y del valor ceremonial abierto otorgado a las ceremonias de baño por inmersión ligadas a la coronación. La conexión de este ceremonial con el sentido sacro de purificación bautismal y otorgación de potencias de origen sagrado que

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legitiman el ejercicio del poder, amén de aquella otra con las ceremonias de investidura caballeresca, resultan muy acertadamente apuntadas. El valor comunicativo del acto de “dar agua” en el desarrollo de los banquetes regios también es subrayado, apreciándose cómo este hecho permitía marcar una jerarquía que reafirmaba la más alta dignidad del rey sobre el resto de los comensales. De nuevo, la higiene en la mesa es certeramente interpretada a partir de su lectura sacramental, de modo que buena parte de la etiqueta del banquete conecta con los ritos eucarísticos. Por su parte, las ceremonias de nombramiento de los oficiales de armas de la corte, en los que no faltan las analogías respecto al bautismo a partir de la imposición del nombre al heraldo, el mismo bautismo con agua y a imposición de las sobrevestas con armas y divisas, todo ello oficiado por el rey a quien el oficial representará, pasando a participar de la representación del cuerpo político de la monarquía, son descritas con gran coherencia. De nuevo la conexión en su uso con la que le corresponde en las ceremonias de investidura caballeresca – y de deposición caballeresca, que la autora también trata – es bien palpable. Merece igualmente la pena citar la atención dedicada por Diana Pelaz a la valoración simbólica de cada uno de los objetos envueltos en este conjunto de ceremonias junto al agua (aguamaniles, copas, toallas, etc.), por la importancia de no dejar de lado estos testimonios materiales del discurso y el lenguaje de representación del poder sobre el que se está discurriendo en el libro.

5 Cada uno de los capítulos está compuesto a partir de un sólido soporte bibliográfico y teórico. El acceso a la literatura doctrinal bajomedieval (con autores que van desde don Juan Manuel hasta Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, pasando Enrique de Villena, Alonso de Palencia o “El Tostado”, entre otros), a los tratados donde se apuntaban aspectos reguladores relativos a las ceremonias estudiadas (Las Partidas, fundamentalmente) y a textos cronísticos castellanos bajomedievales donde son expuestas es muy meritorio. En cualquier caso, es cierto igualmente que los aportes de evidencias sobre los temas analizados, aunque no dejan de aparecer, son a menudo escasos y menos sistemáticos de lo que se podría desear. Aunque el recurso a comparaciones y analogías bien fundadas a partir de fuentes de otros reinos hispánicos (como las Ordinacions catalanoaragonesas) y de ejemplos extraídos de bibliografía referentes a otros ámbitos cortesanos del Occidente medieval son más que apropiadas, da la impresión de que puede haber lugar a seguir profundizando a la hora de llenar de evidencias castellanas al bien construido y consistente discurso elaborado por Diana Pelaz sobre el lugar del agua en el ceremonial regio castellano.

6 Hay que ser, en cualquier caso, conscientes de lo extraordinario y poco frecuentes que resultan las menciones a las temáticas trabajadas en los capítulos del libro en las fuentes castellanas bajomedievales. Acaso una exploración más intensiva en fuentes documentales como las de Archivo General de Simancas podría aportar un mayor número de referencias acerca de los oficiales cortesanos implicados en los hechos y momentos ceremoniales o en las características materiales de esos objetos destinados al consumo de bebidas y la higiene corporal y de mesa, el cual seguramente la autora podrá ir desarrollando en futuras publicaciones.

7 Es cierto, en fin, que estas impresiones pueden provenir de que, en buena medida, el libro se articula como una colección de estudios prácticamente autónomos entre sí alrededor de la temática común de las funciones simbólicas del agua en el contexto cortesano de la Castilla bajomedieval, dotados de lógica interna y sentido propio aun de forma independiente los unos de los otros. Su publicación conjunta, con todo, es un

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hecho a celebrar. En conclusión, puede afirmarse que la autora ha abierto camino, elaborando con gran acierto un marco general de comprensión del medio acuático en el lenguaje simbólico de representación del poder regio en Castilla. Éste podrá ser enriquecido y completado en futuros trabajos, ya que ha aportado la base para la continuación de esta línea de investigación para otros historiadores y para ella misma. Es, por tanto, una lectura más que recomendable para los estudiosos de los lenguajes representativos del poder en el mundo bajomedieval en general y en la Corona de Castilla en particular, a partir de la cual esperamos que Diana Pelaz nos pueda seguir ofreciendo nuevos y valiosos frutos sobre esta área de trabajo tan bien conectada con sus estudios sobre el poder regio femenino.

AUTORES

VÍCTOR MUÑOZ GÓMEZ

Sección Geografía e Historia - Departamento de Geografía e Historia / Instituto de Estudios Medievales y Renacentistas, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200, San Cristóbal de La Laguna (S.C. de Tenerife), España [email protected]

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Johnni Langer (Org.), Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking

Leandro Vilar Oliveira

REFERÊNCIA

LANGER, Johnni (Org.) – Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking. São Paulo: Hedra, 2018 (792 pp.)

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 1 de junho de 2018

1 Os estudos sobre temas relacionados aos povos escandinavos da Idade Média, mais especificamente o que compreende o período da Era Viking (VIII-XI), vem despontando no Brasil nos últimos dez anos, sendo alavancado principalmente pelo Núcleo de Estudos Vikings e Escandinavos (NEVE), fundado em 2010 pelo prof. Dr. Johnni Langer, seu atual coordenador. Que desde então vem desenvolvendo estudos, projetos, extensões e orientações de pós-graduação sobre a temática viking e escandinava, no que resultou em livros, artigos, comunicações científicas, minicursos, cursos de extensão, dissertações de mestrado e eventos, como o Colóquio de Estudos Vikings e Escandinavos (CEVE), que ocorre anualmente desde 2012.

2 O presente Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking chega num momento oportuno e promissor para os estudos escandinavos brasileiros. Embora a historiografia brasileira registre desde o século XIX, o interesse pelos vikings, nesse mais de um século a produção acadêmica e histórica sobre eles foi bastante escassa. Antes do século XXI os livros sobre vikings comercializados no Brasil se dividiam em dois tipos: as traduções de obras acadêmicas, geralmente de origem inglesa e francesa, e obras de popularização e entretenimento, normalmente vendidas em bancas de revista1.

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3 Todavia, dentro dessa produção não tivemos no Brasil nenhum dicionário sobre a história dos vikings. E quando partimos para Portugal, a situação não é diferente. O historiador Dr. Hélio Pires (membro do Instituto de Estudos Medievais) no levantamento bibliográfico feito para seu livro Os Vikings em Portugal e na Galiza2, observou que obras sobre vikings em Portugal remontam desde o século XVIII, porém, o interesse por tal tema foi pontual como ele assinala ao citar algumas obras e estudiosos nos séculos XIX e XX. Além da condição de comentar a respeito da carência de estudos lusitanos sobre esse tema. E no caso português isso é mais destacável pela condição de que expedições vikings visitaram a Lusitânia entre os séculos X ao XI, diferente do Brasil, o qual não contou com estas incursões ao seu território.

4 Assim como no Brasil não tínhamos anteriormente um dicionário sobre vikings, em Portugal e nos demais países lusófonos a mesma situação era observada. Porém, pode- se alegar que a ausência de uma obra desse tipo se deva à condição de que não haveria um mercado ou público leitor para um dicionário sobre tema tão específico, mesmo que os vikings fossem populares desde o século XIX, através das pinturas, óperas, filmes, romances, histórias em quadrinhos (banda desenhada), jogos, etc. De fato, tal argumento tem sua validade. No entanto, na atual conjuntura historiográfica, principalmente brasileira, um dicionário sobre história nórdica medieval não apenas é importante, mas necessário.

5 Neste caso, o novo dicionário publicado pelo NEVE, consistiu no segundo dicionário produzido pelo grupo, sendo o anterior, o Dicionário de mitologia nórdica3. A nova obra consistiu numa produção de pesquisas e diálogos com 33 colaboradores brasileiros e estrangeiros, na sua maioria formados em História, Arqueologia e Letras, além da colaboração de estudiosos do campo de Ciências da Religião e Arquitetura. Entre os colaboradores estrangeiros, membros do NEVE, temos o Dr. Hélio Pires da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), atualmente um dos principais especialistas em história da Era Viking no contexto português; o Dr. Teodoro Manrique Antón da Universidade de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) e o Dr. Mariano González Campo da Universidade de Valladolid (UVA), que redigiram alguns dos verbetes sobre linguagem e literatura.

6 Quanto aos colaboradores brasileiros, destacam-se o prof. Dr. Johnni Langer (UFPB/ NEVE), principal nome da área no contexto brasileiro; o Dr. Álvaro Alfredo Bragança Júnior (UFRJ); o Dr. Guilherme Queiroz de Sousa (UFPB); o Dr. Luciano José Vianna (UPE); a Dra. Isabela Dias de Albuquerque (UFRJ); e a Dra. Luciana de Campos (NEVE). Também compõe o quadro de autores do dicionário, vários doutorandos, mestres, mestrandos, etc.

7 A reunião desses 33 autores resultou na elaboração de 224 verbetes, disponibilizados ao longo de 765 páginas. Além de contar com o prefácio do Dr. Neil Price, professor de Arqueologia na Universidade de Uppsala (UU), colaborador estrangeiro do NEVE e um dos grandes especialistas da atualidade em Arqueologia da Era Viking.

8 A introdução coube ao organizador do dicionário, o professor Johnni Langer, sendo bastante elucidativa quanto a influências, propósitos e abordagens escolhidas para a composição dessa obra. O professor Langer comenta que a inspiração do Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking adveio sobretudo de três obras em língua inglesa, a Encyclopedia of the Viking Age4, organizada por John Haywood; o Historical Dictionary of the Vikings5, escrito por Katherine Holman; e o Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia 6, editada por Philip Pulsiano e Kirsten Wolf.

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9 Com base nesses três livros em específico, o professor Johnni Langer assinalou que a escrita do dicionário seguiu principalmente a orientação da nova história cultural, influenciada por escandinavistas tradicionais e contemporâneos, oriundos principalmente das áreas da História e da Arqueologia. O que repercute na escolha de temas abordados. Assim como as duas enciclopédias e o dicionário citados anteriormente, os quais abordam temas diversos que englobam personagens históricos, costumes, lugares, características da sociedade nórdica, aspectos religiosos, mitológicos, cultura literária, cultura material, etc., o Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking faz o mesmo.

10 Os 224 verbetes que o compõem são divididos nas seguintes temáticas: cultura material, aspectos sociais, história militar, costumes, fontes literárias, personagens históricos e lendários, geografia, economia, povos, literatura escandinava e a influência dos vikings na cultura pop, algo visto nos verbetes sobre cinema, literatura, artes plásticas, música e histórias em quadrinhos (banda desenhada). No caso, observa-se que as áreas temáticas da cultura material, aspectos sociais, costumes, fontes, personagens e toponímia são os em maior quantidade.

11 O dicionário traz uma série de verbetes abordando distintos aspectos da cultura e sociedade dos nórdicos da Era Viking, como a agricultura, a caça, a alimentação, os costumes, a higiene e saúde, a realeza, as leis, a arte da guerra, cotidiano, lazer, esportes, comércio, ofícios, ritos fúnebres, etc. Dentro desse referencial de história cultural, observou-se verbetes associados com o vestuário, o mobiliário, as habitações, a sexualidade, as mulheres, as crianças, música, literatura, além de verbetes sobre espadas, pentes, embarcações, tapeçarias, joias, produção de cerveja e hidromel. E até de temas polêmicos como a prática do estupro, do suicídio e a questão das mulheres guerreiras, tema esse bastante popular na atualidade devido a novos achados arqueológicos nos últimos anos.

12 No que se refere a história militar, essa se subdivide em abordar práticas relacionadas com os costumes militares, mas também suas armas e equipamentos, simbolismos, batalhas e expedições, lembrando que entre os séculos IX e XI, os vikings realizaram várias campanhas militares pela própria Escandinávia, Inglaterra, França, Portugal, Espanha e o leste europeu – algo que é complementado pelo verbete de Expansão Nórdica, e os verbetes específicos que comentam as expedições nórdicas a Alemanha, Inglaterra, França, Península Ibérica, etc., os quais nos fornecem uma visão ampla do deslocamento desses povos.

13 Os verbetes sobre personagens históricos e lendários apresentam informações sobre alguns vikings notórios como Érico, o Vermelho, o qual descobriu a Groenlândia e seu filho Leif Eriksson, o qual fundou o primeiro assentamento nórdico no Novo Mundo, mais especificamente na Ilha da Terra Nova (Newfoundland Isle), no atual Canadá. Além desses famosos navegantes, temos vários verbetes sobre reis como Canuto II, o Grande, Érico Machado Sangrento, Haroldo Cabelos Belos, Haroldo Dente-Azul, Olavo Haraldsson (Santo Olavo), Rollo da Normandia, além de personagens lendários como Ragnar Lothbrok e Lagertha.

14 Os verbetes a respeito da geografia são também numerosos, abarcando a maioria dos principais lugares que os vikings percorreram e visitaram durante os anos de expansão. No caso, existem verbetes abrangentes que abordam a presença nórdica na Escandinávia, na ilha de Gotland, no Mar Báltico, Inglaterra, Irlanda, Islândia, Rússia, Alemanha, França, Península Ibérica, Groenlândia, Lapônia, América do Norte, como o

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verbete sobre Vinland, nome dado à terra descoberta por Leif Eriksson, onde se montou um acampamento – atualmente conhecido como o sítio arqueológico de L'Anse aux Meadows, datado da primeira década do ano 1000.

15 Por outro lado, há verbetes geográficos que abordam temas de urbanismo, quando tratam de lugares específicos, no caso, importantes cidades como Birka, Constantinopla, Dublin, Hedeby, Helgö, Sigtuna, Jorvik (atual York), Kiev, Novgorod, Wolin, etc. Esses verbetes também complementam aspectos históricos e econômicos, pois muitas dessas cidades foram centros econômicos e manufatureiros. Assim, os verbetes sobre comércio, moedas e cunhagem, tributos e tecnologia fazem referências a alguns desses centros urbanos.

16 Para além de se estudar os vikings, outros povos também foram contemplados. Assim, o dicionário disponibiliza verbetes que ligam os vikings com os celtas, os francos, os godos, os anglo-saxões, os inuítes (esquimós), os sámis (lapões), os finos e os árabes. Embora não haja verbetes específicos, o dicionário também comenta o contato com os bizantinos e eslavos, entre outros povos.

17 No que se refere a literatura, essa é bastante abordada na obra, por se referir a várias fontes primárias. No caso, Johnni Langer comenta que a atenção dada aos anais, crônicas e sagas se deveu ao intuito de comentar a respeito desses documentos que servem como fontes históricas. Assim, aos interessados em consultar fontes escritas durante a Era Viking ou posteriormente a essa, podem ter conhecimento de fontes oriundas da Islândia, Noruega, Inglaterra, França e até de autores árabes, como Ibn Fadlan, o qual no século X conheceu vikings no sul da Rússia.

18 Todavia, o dicionário não traz nenhum verbete sobre a Edda Poética e a Edda em Prosa, as principais fontes literárias sobre a mitologia nórdica. Mas a ausência dessas significativas obras é respondida na introdução, onde Langer deixou explicado que optou em remover os verbetes sobre mitologia, religiosidade, magia, simbolismo religioso e fontes para o estudo mitológico, pois esses foram apresentados massivamente no Dicionário de Mitologia Nórdica.

19 Assim, para evitar repetir esse conteúdo, se fez essa escolha, ainda que o Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Vikng traga verbetes sobre alguns aspectos religiosos como ritos fúnebres, sepultamentos, o suicídio, simbolismo animal, medicina mágica e um verbete intitulado Religião e outro para Conversão ao Cristianismo. Embora que as enciclopédias e o dicionário citados anteriormente como referências tragam em seu escopo de verbetes temas sobre mitologia e religião.

20 Para além de se falar da literatura nórdica e sobre os nórdicos, existem verbetes que exploram a língua falada pelos vikings, o nórdico antigo (norreno), sua forma de escrever em prosa e poesia, e o uso do alfabeto rúnico. Algo que interessa muitas pessoas devido à associação das runas com a magia, a adivinhação e o esoterismo. Apesar que o foco desse verbete não seja esse, os leitores que tiverem interesse em aspectos mágicos e religiosos devem consultar o Dicionário de Mitologia Nórdica.

21 No que tange um debate histórico e conceitual, alguns verbetes são importantes para isso. Os verbetes Viking, Escandinávia e Era Viking debatem os conceitos dessas palavras. No caso, viking consistia em um dos vários termos usados no medievo para se referir aos nórdicos. Nesse verbete comenta-se outras nomenclaturas para tais povos, além de debater o uso romântico e nacionalista dado a essa palavra nos séculos XIX e XX. No que se refere a Escandinávia, essa região era distinta de hoje em dia, não

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possuindo os mesmos limites geográficos. No verbete Era Viking lê-se a explanação a respeito dessa construção historiográfica temporal, onde é apresentado como o conceito foi sendo desenvolvido desde o século XIX até ser consolidado no XX.

22 Os verbetes Arqueologia da Era Viking e Patrimônio apresentam um olhar de como estudar a cultura material não apenas do âmbito histórico. Assim, são comentados aspectos metodológicos assinalando que tipos de fontes materiais normalmente são estudadas pelos arqueólogos, no que se inclui o estudo de fortalezas, assentamentos, cidades, túmulos, pedras rúnicas, objetos diversos, etc.

23 Complementando esses verbetes mais teóricos, destaca-se o verbete sobre Folclore, o qual, além de trazer o significado desse termo, o debate tendo como exemplo o folclore germano-escandinavo, pois no século XIX, sob uma afã pangermanista, mitos nórdicos e germânicos foram mesclados, servindo de referenciais para tradições. Outro verbete teórico é o História e Pseudo-história, no qual salienta-se percepções e os modos de se fazer história na Europa medieval - um assunto importante para se avaliar as fontes literárias daquele período, já que naquele tempo não havia uma dissociação entre história e lenda, o que torna as sagas, anais e crônicas fontes com essa dualidade presente.

24 À guisa de conclusão, percebemos que o Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking chega em momento oportuno. Primeiro devido ao aumento de estudos e pesquisas sobre o tema que vem ocorrendo nas universidades de língua portuguesa, além do aumento de interesse de um público não acadêmico, mas que motivado pela cultura pop de vikings em seriados, romances, videogames, ou até mesmo a disseminação de grupos neopagãos de matriz nórdica, vem levando as pessoas a procurarem mais a respeito, e em alguns casos, a serem mais seletivas e críticas quanto ao material que consomem. Dessa forma, um dicionário sobre a Era Viking atende aos profissionais e aos curiosos por uma leitura com embasamento científico, já que todos os verbetes trazem referências. Assim, o Dicionário de história e cultura da Era Viking consiste em mais uma das importantes produções do NEVE.

NOTAS

1. LANGER, Johnni. “Uma breve historiografia dos estudos brasileiros de religião nórdica medieval”. Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, v. 14, n. 43, jul./set. 2016, p. 919-923. 2. PIRES, Hélio. Os Vikings em Portugal e na Galiza. Sintra: Zéfiro, 2017. 3. OLIVEIRA, Leandro Vilar – “Recensão: LANGER, Johnni (org.) – Dicionário de mitologia nórdica: símbolos, mitos e ritos. São Paulo: Hedra, 2015 (581 pp.)”. Medievalista 22 (Julho-Dezembro 2017). 4. HAYWOOD, John – Encyclopedia of the Viking Age. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. 5. HOLMAN, Katherine – Historical Dictionary of the Vikings. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003. 6. PULSIANO, Philip; WOLF, Kirsten (ed.) – Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1993.

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AUTORES

LEANDRO VILAR OLIVEIRA

Centro de Educação – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências das Religiões, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58031-220, João Pessoa, Brasil [email protected]

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Apresentação de Teses

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Javier Castiñeiras López

NOTA DEL EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 27 de fevereiro de 2019

1 Con el título Espacios e Imágenes en el reino de Galicia (1075-1112). Persistencias y reforma1, hemos desarrollado una tesis doctoral cuyo objetivo central fue el mejor conocimiento de los procesos de aparición del denominado lenguaje románico en el noroeste peninsular, específicamente en el territorio gallego durante el tránsito de los siglos XI al XII, a partir del estudio de las realidades plásticas y arquitectónicas en relación con los diferentes movimientos reformistas característicos del periodo.

2 La hipótesis de la que se partió fue que las modificaciones de los paradigmas artísticos y culturales que se suceden a partir del año mil no son mero fruto de un giro del gusto estético o el simple resultado de la recuperación de técnicas constructivas e ingenieriles de ascendencia romana, sino que, más bien, dichas transformaciones románicas pudieron nacer como respuesta a una serie de necesidades políticas, sociales y religiosas propias del tránsito de la Alta a la Plena Edad Media. Como veremos, de entre estas realidades un considerable número de investigadores ha puesto el foco en la importancia de las reformas político-religiosas del siglo XI como verdaderas

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generadoras del nuevo lenguaje figurativo y edilicio, y, de entre estas, se ha ponderado como especialmente relevante la política del papado, conocida generalmente como Reforma Gregoriana. De Toubert a Barral, de Kitzinger a Pace, son varios los historiadores e historiadores del arte que han considerado y consideran el arte románico y su tiempo como parte de una dimensión cultural más amplia que las meras cuestiones de estilo.

3 Bajo el binomio creado por los conceptos de “arte románico” y “reforma gregoriana” se engloba una amplia corriente historiográfica que defiende que la aparición del lenguaje románico debe ponerse en relación y es consecuencia directa de la política renovadora del papado reformado2. La idea de un arte de la reforma gregoriana nace a través de una serie de reflexiones en el seno de la comunidad científica acaecidas entre los años 60 y 70 del pasado siglo3. Sin duda, fueron los trabajos de Ernst Kitzinger y Hélène Toubert los que consolidaron esta línea de trabajo para los historiadores del arte románico y4, en opinión de ambos, los agentes de los círculos papales actuaron como verdaderos ideólogos de las imágenes y a ellos se debería la profusión de determinados temas iconográficos (especialmente la recuperación de motivos iconográficos del primer cristianismo romano y la dignificación visual del oficio eclesiástico). De modo casi obligado, la mayor parte de los estudios de ambos investigadores se centraron en la Roma de los papas5, si bien, sus estudios generaron una corriente de análisis que trascendió el análisis de las formas artísticas romanas para aplicar el método al conjunto de la geografía del arte románico6. Para finalizar este rápido repaso por los principales nombres vinculados a esta corriente de pensamiento historiográfico, se antoja obligatorio mencionar la amplísima producción del italiano A. C. Quintavalle, quien ha sido el verdadero referente de esta línea de pensamiento histórico en las últimas décadas7. El esfuerzo de sistematización de la teoría gregoriana de las artes realizada por Quintavalle ha encontrado notables ecos en diversos trabajos que mantienen esta línea de estudio de plena actualidad8.

4 Por supuesto, la confección del binomio historiográfico arte románico/reforma gregoriana ha encontrado voces discrepantes y, de manera general, los detractores de la teoría gregoriana de las artes consideran que esta uniformiza y, hasta cierto punto simplifica, los procesos de creación culturales del periodo objeto de estudio, y que muchos de los temas y motivos del “arte gregoriano” son rastreables en cronologías anteriores y posteriores al proceso reformista9.

5 En los círculos académicos españoles la corriente historiográfica gregoriana no ha tenido el mismo peso que en otras tradiciones nacionales, si bien también existen algunos estudios importantes. Por su trascendencia (tanto nacional como internacional) deben destacarse los trabajos de M. A. Castiñeiras González, el ejemplo más claro de aplicación del método a la realidad artística hispana. Sus investigaciones sobre el arte románico gallego y sus relaciones con el universo gregoriano –con especial hincapié en la catedral de Santiago de Compostela en tiempos de Diego Gelmírez10– hacen además de este autor un verdadero referente para el ámbito geográfico del que se ocupa esta investigación. La línea de trabajo expuesta mantiene su vigencia y son varias las publicaciones y proyectos de tesis doctorales que en los últimos años se han ocupado de uno u otro modo de la “cuestión gregoriana”. Una excelente muestra de ello son los muy recientes trabajos de F. de Asís García García sobre la catedral de Jaca11.

6 Con este marco contextual realizamos nuestro estudio que, de una manera sintética, buscó dar respuesta (o al menos acercarnos a ella) a la siguiente pregunta: ¿es el primer

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arte románico de Galicia un ejemplo de lo que se ha venido dando en llamar un “arte reformado” o, por el contrario, estamos ante discursos espaciales y figurativos propios de una cultura conservadora y refractaria a los cambios?

7 Con el mismo espíritu elegimos el título de esta tesis –Espacios e imágenes en el reino de Galicia (1075-1112). Persistencias y reforma–, que busca expresar sucintamente los ejes fundamentales de nuestra investigación, tanto en lo cronológico como en lo geográfico y metodológico. De este modo, pretendimos que el título se vertebrase en función de cuatro motivaciones conceptuales diferentes: objeto de estudio (espacios e imágenes, o dicho de otro modo, arquitectura y artes figurativas), localización (reino de Galicia), cronología (1075-1112) y método (persistencias y reforma).

8 En cuanto al marco geográfico, consideramos pertinente utilizar el término “reino de Galicia” para referirnos al territorio en el que se llevaron a cabo las campañas artísticas estudiadas. No resulta sencillo emplear términos territoriales precisos en los estudios sobre el pasado, pues siempre se corre el riesgo de extrapolar conceptos netamente contemporáneos a las realidades geográficas medievales, con el consiguiente perjuicio para la corrección investigadora. En este caso nos hemos inclinado por el genérico término de “reino de Galicia”, por ser esta una realidad nominal y conceptual presente en el siglo XI peninsular, como parece venir a mostrar –entre otras cuestiones– la decisión tomada por Fernando I de dividir su reino en tres diferentes y que cada uno de ellos fuera gobernado por uno de sus herederos: Castilla por Alfonso, León por Sancho y, finalmente, Galicia por García12.

9 A pesar de que este reino volvió a reunificarse con los de León y Castilla durante el inmediato gobierno de Alfonso VI, nos resulta un término más propicio que los de Galicia (demasiado vinculado quizá a la denominación de la actual comunidad autónoma) o de Gallaecia (asociado a una estructura territorial tardoantigua, aun cuando es cierto que es este un término que se siguió empleando durante toda la Alta y Plena Edad Media). En cualquier caso, entendemos los límites geográficos en un sentido de permeabilidad, y son constantes en este estudio las idas y venidas entre las realidades noroccidentales y las de los principales centros político-culturales de los reinos cristianos peninsulares y del otro lado de los Pirineos. No sería posible de otro modo ofrecer un análisis de dinámicas culturales muy amplias, que se pretende objetivo, a partir únicamente de fenómenos exclusivamente locales. En esta misma línea, no analizamos el objeto artístico solo con relación a su contemporaneidad, sino que tendremos muy en cuenta la vigencia futura de muchas de sus soluciones y, especialmente, el diálogo entre estas últimas y los diferentes periodos artísticos del pasado inmediato.

10 Por su parte, hemos elegido una horquilla temporal que va desde el año 1075 al 1112 porque ambas fechas se corresponden con hitos fundamentales para el arte del periodo: en el año 1075 se toma la decisión de iniciar la construcción de un nuevo santuario en Santiago de Compostela13, que viniese a sustituir la vieja basílica de Alfonso III que, a la sazón, sería definitivamente demolida en el año 1112, como consecuencia directa de los avances de las obras de la fábrica románica. Entre ambos años, además, se produce en Galicia un impulso renovador del paisaje monumental con la utilización de un nuevo lenguaje edilicio, que la historiografía ha dado en llamar “arte románico”, y que convencionalmente se ha venido a considerar como el primer lenguaje artístico “paneuropeo” desde la denominada “caída” del Imperio Romano de occidente.

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11 Una vez establecidas las coordenadas cronológicas y geográficas constatamos que el número de vestigios de este periodo del románico inicial en Galicia es ciertamente reducido. Del mismo, únicamente conservamos cinco fábricas, y todas ellas de manera parcial; nos referimos a la catedral de Santiago de Compostela en sus primeras fases, San Antolín de Toques, San Xoán de Vilanova, San Bartolomé de Rebordáns y San Martiño de Mondoñedo14. Estos dos últimos edificios fueron a los que nos dedicamos de una manera más pormenorizada por dos motivos fundamentales: 1. Las fábricas de Toques y Vilanova son testimoniales en cuanto a sus vestigios conservados. 2. La tradición crítica sobre las fases iniciales de la iglesia de Compostela (sin duda la campaña más referencial del periodo estudiado) es sumamente abundante, más si cabe desde el inicio de la década de los años 2000, lo que nos ha llevado a centrarnos en aquellos ejemplos menos estudiados.

12 En consecuencia, entendemos que por la importancia de los vestigios románicos conservados y por la ausencia de estudios sistemáticos desde planteamientos metodológicos no estrictamente formalistas, las iglesias de San Martiño de Mondoñedo y San Bartolomé de Rebordáns debían ocupar el centro de nuestro estudio. Ello no significa que no tengamos en cuenta las otras realidades monumentales gallegas, y así por un lado Toques y Vilanova tienen un capítulo propio, mientras que Compostela ha sido siempre tenida en cuenta en su condición de principal motor de creación artística de su época que, irremediablemente, hubo de condicionar las dinámicas culturales de su tiempo. Además, siendo definido el arte románico como el primer “arte unitario europeo” desde la caída de Roma, tampoco hemos obviado las grandes campañas que se estaban produciendo fuera de la geografía escogida: de Roma a Montecassino pasando por Conques y Toulouse, y León o Jaca, entre otras empresas artísticas de la época.

13 Una vez definido el objeto de estudio, a la hora de abordarlo hemos tomado una decisión metodológica, quizá cuestionable, basada en la separación de arquitectura y escultura. Somos plenamente conscientes de que dicha determinación supone un “falseamiento” del objeto artístico y que, especialmente en la Edad Media, las artes figurativas y los espacios arquitectónicos son un todo indisociable. A pesar de ello, entendemos que de cara a cotejar dichas empresas con la hipótesis de un arte gregoriano, resulta mucho más esclarecedor y ordenado un análisis por separado de sus elementos espaciales y de su imaginario. De cualquier manera, este condicionante organizativo se ha querido subsanar por medio de unas lecturas conclusivas que se han propuesto comprendiendo a espacios e imágenes como una única entidad, principio este que verdaderamente se ha mantenido presente en todo momento.

14 La metodología empleada tanto para el estudio de los espacios como de las imágenes románicas de Mondoñedo y Rebordáns ha pretendido ser plural y por ello hemos atendido tanto a criterios de análisis formalistas como de corte iconográfico. Además, resultó fundamental la ayuda que nos ha proporcionado la arqueología a la hora de establecer nuevas hipótesis de datación, del mismo modo que el estudio de las informaciones sobre las modificaciones de las fábricas en cronologías no medievales ha permitido establecer algunas dudas razonables sobre la visión actual de ambas construcciones en relación con su imagen en el medievo.

15 Junto a este método esencialmente histórico artístico (irremediablemente parte central del trabajo) el estudio de los procesos políticos y religiosos ha sido el segundo gran eje metodológico en el que se ha sustentado esta tesis. De manera obligada en una

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investigación que pretende dilucidar las influencias (o la ausencia de las mismas) de la reforma gregoriana en el desarrollo del románico del noroeste peninsular, nos hemos detenido pormenorizadamente en aquellos posibles hitos de la política reformista papal en el territorio estudiado. Sin duda, son muchos los aspectos que se pudieran traer a colación, especialmente en una horquilla cronológica como la escogida, caracterizada por una cierta precipitación de acontecimientos, pero hemos querido destacar aquellos aspectos de la vida social, cultural, religiosa y política que a nuestro parecer habrían podido tener una mayor impronta en los discursos estéticos.

16 Como consecuencia de este proceso investigador decidimos realizar un trabajo organizado en cuatro grandes bloques o estructuras temáticas, con las que hemos pretendido otorgar al estudio de un sistema coherente en relación con las grandes líneas temáticas expresadas en el título.

17 El bloque I se encuentra organizado por medio de un capítulo introductorio- metodológico inicial, seguido de otro sobre el contexto político-religioso del noroeste peninsular en el último cuarto del siglo XI. Un tercer subcapítulo se centra en el marco historiográfico en el que queremos encuadrar nuestra investigación y, finalmente, la última de estas subdivisiones es de tipo descriptivo acerca del estado actual de las dos iglesias objeto de estudio

18 En este primer bloque, los dos capítulos intermedios tienen un espíritu de tipo contextual sustentado en dos ejes temáticos fundamentales: los procesos de introducción de las políticas reformistas (con especial atención en las reformas auspiciadas por Roma y Cluny) en los reinos cristianos peninsulares occidentales15, y la creación y desarrollo de una teoría de las artes basada en la relación del arte románico con el fenómeno gregoriano y su posible aplicación a las dinámicas culturales del marco geográfico a analizar.

19 De manera muy especial, en este apartado hemos considerado fundamental para una mayor comprensión de la huella gregoriana el estudio de la rica actividad conciliar fruto de la cual se suprimió el rito de tradición hispana y se produjo una reorganización diocesana que en el noroeste tuvo su máxima expresión en la restitución de la sede bracarense. Junto a estos aires renovadores, también tuvimos presente aquellos conatos de resistencia al cambio que se dieron en la península (el mundo monacal riojano es un buen ejemplo de ello) junto con aquellos eventos que pudieron ayudar a florecer una cierta neovisigotización cultural y política, como son la conquista de Toledo de 1085 o la llegada de las reliquias de San Isidoro desde Sevilla a León en tiempos del monarca Fernando I.

20 Los bloques II y III son el verdadero núcleo de este estudio, en los que analizamos pormenorizadamente las iglesias de San Martiño de Mondoñedo y San Bartolomé de Rebordáns16.

21 En el bloque II hemos estudiado la arquitectura de ambas iglesias. Para hacerlo hemos optado por una organización trifásica en la que inicialmente nos centramos en los posibles condicionantes prerrománicos de ambas sedes, para posteriormente concretar aquellas fases fechables en el periodo románico. En medio de ambos conceptos puramente histórico-artísticos hemos querido realizar unas pequeñas reflexiones acerca de las nuevas lecturas que la arqueología de la arquitectura ha proporcionado sobre estas fábricas, con la intención de poder determinar dónde se encuentran las

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transformaciones entre los “antiguos” conceptos altomedievales y aquellos “novedosos” románicos –si es que tal cambio existió verdaderamente–.

22 El bloque III es el dedicado al fenómeno de la imagen. En él analizamos en profundidad un total de dieciocho capiteles –siete en Rebordáns y once en Mondoñedo– y una pieza de arte mueble denominada generalmente como “el antipendio de San Martiño de Mondoñedo” (fig. 1). Nuestro enfoque de análisis de los elementos figurativos de ambas empresas artísticas ha sido triple, y hemos querido poner la atención tanto en sus características formales como en su iconografía y, finalmente, en los posibles modelos y arquetipos en los que los maestros ejecutores pudieron haberse inspirado. De ninguna manera esta estructura tripartita se ha planteado como algo cerrado, y en cada caso se ha actuado con relación a aquellos elementos que pudieran ser más significativos. Una excepción paradigmática es el propio antipendio, en el que la reflexión sobre su posible función como objeto litúrgico ha ocupado una extensión que evidentemente no es posible para los capiteles.

Fig. 1 – Antipendio de Mondoñedo.

23 El último de los bloques es el dedicado a los aspectos conclusivos de este trabajo. En él, como hemos dicho, unificamos la lectura de la arquitectura y la escultura en aras de poder medir las afinidades y divergencias entre las sedes objeto de estudio y los preceptos de las reformas cluniacense y romana. En aras de la mayor claridad expositiva hemos dividido este capítulo final en cinco apartados: 1. Resumen en el que realizamos un breve estado de la cuestión acerca de lo expuesto y de la tradición historiográfica “gregoriana” del románico del noroeste ibérico. 2. El papel de los obispos en su condición de posibles promotores artísticos y transmisores de los valores ideológicos de la reforma. 3. La relación de los espacios y las imágenes estudiadas con la liturgia en un momento de transición entre los ritos hispano y romano. 4. Los posibles modelos del primer románico gallego y su vinculación con los valores formales del clasicismo grecorromano.

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5. La posición de Compostela con relación a los supuestos valores estéticos gregorianos.

24 Finalmente, el último de los apartados de este trabajo de investigación se corresponde con una suerte de resumen que, a modo de epílogo, pretende sintetizar las principales temáticas de este.

25 Antes de pasar a mostrar algunos casos prácticos a modo de ejemplo, quisiéramos insistir en el enfoque metodológico que pretendimos desarrollar en esta tesis doctoral. Partimos de la concepción historiográfica clásica por la que entendemos los años finales del siglo XI como un momento de cambio en el que se precipitan toda una serie de acontecimientos político-religiosos que propiciaron el fin de un conjunto de estructuras heredadas de la Alta Edad Media y, también, la consolidación de un nuevo escenario que, más abierto a Europa, sirvió como pedestal para el desarrollo bajomedieval hispano. Estos preceptos coinciden en lo histórico-artístico con la aparición del nuevo lenguaje monumental románico, lo que en una cierta medida ha propiciado que de manera automática asociemos cambios políticos con cambios culturales. Estas dinámicas han llevado a la creación de toda una corriente historiográfica basada en la idea de que las reformas políticas y religiosas –de Cluny y Roma principalmente– son las generadoras de los cambios edilicios y estéticos.

26 Por ello, gran parte de nuestro trabajo se centra en un análisis crítico de la tradición historiográfica, tanto aquella de corte teórico que ha generado los grandes ejes definitorios del arte románico, como sobre todo de aquella más ceñida al ámbito estricto de las iglesias de San Martiño de Mondoñedo y San Bartolomé de Rebordáns. Partiendo de esta masa crítica, nuestros análisis iconográficos y formales han pretendido dilucidar si estos ejemplos pueden encuadrarse en algunas de las categorías que la mencionada historiografía ha considerado como definitorias de los lenguajes artísticos reformados. Una vez realizados dichos análisis, procedimos a la inversa, tratando de esclarecer si determinadas elecciones formales o temáticas de los templos estudiados pueden ayudar a identificar un panorama político afín a la reforma para estas sedes o si, por el contrario, los discursos espaciales y visuales deben encuadrase más bien dentro de una corriente de reticencias y enfrentamientos contra el nuevo status quo reformista. Dicho de otro modo, si debemos definir el arte románico en sus vínculos con las reformas o, por el contrario, con sus relaciones con toda una serie de persistencias o, incluso, resistencias conscientes.

27 A continuación, hemos escogido dos ejemplos que consideramos especialmente significativos para el espíritu de este trabajo. En el ámbito de la imagen quisiéramos detenernos en el denominado antipendio de San Martiño de Mondoñedo17, mientras que para el estudio de la arquitectura nos centraremos en algunos aspectos de la planimetría de San Bartolomé de Rebordáns. Entendemos, que estos dos ejemplos resultan paradigmáticos de las tendencias artísticas de la Galicia del siglo XI, más allá de las soluciones que estaban aportando los diversos talleres de la catedral de Santiago de Compostela.

28 El antipendio de Mondoñedo se dispone en la capilla mayor de la iglesia. La pieza tiene unas dimensiones de 115 cm de largo por 80 cm de alto. En toda la superficie de la cara frontal se desarrolla un ciclo de imágenes, con un total de diez personajes que se destacan sobre un fondo liso y se enmarcan en sus cuatro caras por medio de un sencillo biselado. Las características formales a la hora de componer dichas figuras son las mismas que las del conjunto de capiteles del crucero, con unas formas esenciales pero de gran expresividad. La pieza presenta una importante grieta que va de arriba

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abajo en la parte central, a la altura de la mandorla que enmarca a Cristo. Esta fragmentación es la que ha llevado a discutir, junto con la falta de simetría, sobre la ausencia o no de una tercera pieza, aspecto que con prudencia descartamos.

29 La falta de simetría compositiva entre las figuras es patente, hasta el punto de que no queda nada claro cuál es el orden de la lectura de las imágenes ni dónde empieza o termina la narración del relieve. Por el contrario, sí parece evidente que el relato se divide en dos bloques: el superior con cinco figuras intercaladas que ocupan una superficie que viene dada por la mandorla de Cristo, y que casi ocupa las tres cuartas partes del total del frente de la representación; el registro inferior es, por lo tanto, mucho más reducido y en él cinco nuevas figuras se despliegan a modo de friso corrido.

30 Las imágenes del registro superior no presentan grandes problemas de identificación y a la derecha encontramos a Cristo entronizado mientras que la izquierda es ocupada por la representación del Agnus Dei. La imagen inferior es ciertamente más problemática y se han planteado diversas hipótesis para su lectura que van desde una ordenación sacerdotal hasta una consagración episcopal o la representación del anuncio a las Siete Iglesias de Asia, entre otras, si bien existe un acuerdo generalizado por el que el tema representado en el relieve toma como fuente el texto del Apocalipsis.

31 Sin duda, uno de los aspectos que más ha llamado la atención de los diversos investigadores que han analizado la iconografía del antipendio es la rica decoración de los ropajes de las figuras representadas. El uso de albas y casullas, vestimenta habitual del estamento religioso, por parte de todas las figuras del nivel inferior ha llevado a algunos autores a poner en relación esta posible dignificación visual del clero con los ideales reformadores gregorianos. Sin poder descartar esta opción completamente, sí quisiéramos hacer notar que, dado el importante peso de las representaciones clericales en la cultura visual hispana altomedieval, ¿no pudieron acaso ser los modelos para el antipendio ejemplos miniados desconocidos similares a los de los códices albeldense o emilianense (ambos altomedievales) donde existe una amplia y rica muestra de imágenes de religiosos suntuosamente ataviados, y no tanto otros ultrapirenaicos vinculados a Roma?

32 Junto con la importancia de las vestimentas, también ha llamado la atención el marcado arcaísmo formal de las figuras del relieve, hecho que ha sido puesto directamente en relación con el particularísimo mundo de la miniatura desarrollada en las diversas copias de los Beatos, hasta el punto de plantearse la existencia de un Beato galaico hoy perdido (quizá el ejemplar de Celanova) que hubiese servido como fuente al maestro de la pieza. Estos dos aspectos no son únicos de la pieza gallega, y hay una serie de obras más o menos coetáneas en las que se rastrean importantes concomitancias que nos han ayudado a comprender mejor el objeto estudiado. Nos referimos al sepulcro de San Martín de Dumio, a la lauda de Alfonso Ansúrez de Sahagún, a la pila bautismal de San Isidoro de León o al tímpano de la abadía aquitana de Saint-Sever en Landes18.

33 En conclusión, y de manera somera, consideramos que nos encontramos ante una pieza de exaltación sacerdotal cuyo significado se relaciona además con el discurso admonitorio de la serie de capiteles del templo, completando así un conjunto figurativo que entendemos que no tiene por qué vincularse estrictamente con las novedades gregorianas, sino que, más bien, en él son fuertes los vínculos formales y temáticos con la cultura autóctona precedente. Esta cuestión nos ha hecho plantearnos si podríamos estar ante un ciclo figurativo propio de la liturgia hispana y, quizá, contrario a la reforma, pero ante esta afirmación debemos mostrarnos cautos ya que es mucho aún lo

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que desconocemos y mucho también lo perdido. Pero, en cualquier caso, en esta ocasión apostamos por una mayor impronta del sustrato cultural hispano que de las nuevas corrientes europeas.

34 El segundo de los ejemplos en los que nos quisiéramos detener es la iglesia de San Bartolomé de Rebordáns (fig. 2), que se encuentra en la población pontevedresa de Tui. Se trata del único vestigio de un antiguo conjunto monástico que, en la cronología que nos ocupa, también ostentó temporalmente la condición de sede episcopal. En su visión actual exterior, el edificio acusa abundantes modificaciones con respecto a la fábrica románica, pero tanto el interior como la articulación de volúmenes y la planimetría responden en gran medida a la iglesia del siglo XI.

Fig. 2 – San Bartolomé de Rebordáns.

35 San Bartolomé es un edificio de tres naves y tres ábsides, con testero recto en los laterales y semicircular en el central, si bien este perfil se corresponde con una fase de obras posterior, ya del siglo XII. Uno de los aspectos más interesantes de la planimetría de Rebordáns es la posibilidad de la existencia, a tenor de la documentación, de una serie de capillas adosadas a las naves laterales que dibujarían un falso transepto. Este supuesto fue constatado en el año 2016 en una breve, pero muy interesante, campaña de excavaciones arqueológicas que sacó a la luz los cimientos de una de ellas. Estructuras de estas características se encuentran en numerosas iglesias de la Alta Edad Media peninsular como Quintanilla de las Viñas, San Pedro de la Nave o la gallega Santa Comba de Bande19. Es demasiado lo que desconocemos sobre estos espacios en la iglesia de San Bartolomé de Rebordáns para elucubrar acerca de un posible uso, ya sea este como cámara penitencial o como sacristía, tesoro, etc., pero sí creemos que su presencia se puede relacionar espacial y planimétricamente con modelos prerrománicos. De cualquier modo, las cámaras laterales y la cabecera triple con testero recto en fechas ya románicas, nos llevan a definir a esta construcción como retardataria y como parte de una arquitectura de transición con un vínculo todavía muy estrecho con concepciones espaciales altomedievales (pero ya en cronología

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románica). Esta dinámica, por la que construcciones de cronología románica optan por soluciones conservadoras, puede atestiguarse también en algunos otros ejemplos significativos del paisaje monumental del noroeste como en la iglesia de San Juan y San Pelayo (posterior San Isidoro) en León o San Pedro de Teverga en el sur de Asturias20.

36 Por lo tanto, parece que el modo de concebir el espacio en Rebordáns es todavía deudor de los conceptos prerrománicos y, quizá, las tradicionalmente invocadas fábricas precedentes no definan estas realidades, sino que estos atavismos sean elecciones conscientes y que el conjunto de la fábrica tudense sea de nueva construcción y no tanto un edificio altomedieval remozado en el último tercio del siglo XI.

37 Románica o no, la iglesia de San Bartolomé de Rebordáns responde a planteamientos arquitectónicos alejados de lo que en las mismas cronologías se estaba ensayando en los grandes centros “revolucionarios” del románico europeo. Por ello posiblemente los términos “prerrománico” o “románico”, hijos de una cerrada historia artística de los estilos, no resulten satisfactorios para definir estos espacios que se desarrollan como bisagras entre dos lenguajes edilicios diferentes.

38 Iniciábamos este estudio sobre el arte románico del territorio de gallego en el siglo XI planteándonos la directa pregunta: ¿es el románico de Galicia un arte de la reforma?

39 Para tratar de proporcionar algo de luz a esta cuestión, nos pareció fundamental entender el contexto sociopolítico en el que se desarrollaron el románico y la reforma gregoriana. Como hemos visto, esta cristalizó en el occidente peninsular por medio de la mediación de los legados papales y de una serie de monjes de la abadía de Cluny que, paulatinamente, fueron ocupando ciertas posiciones de poder –como el arzobispo Bernardo de Toledo–. Las ideas defendidas por estos religiosos renovadores fueron puestas en común con el resto del alto clero hispano en una serie de concilios, entre los que destaca el de Burgos de 1080, por su peso histórico, al haberse tomado en él la decisión de suprimir el antiguo rito litúrgico hispano. De la mano de esta actividad conciliar, se produjo una profunda reorganización eclesiástica que afectó especialmente al territorio de Galicia por medio de la restitución en 1071 del obispado de Braga –posterior arzobispado– y por el traslado de iure de la dignidad episcopal desde Iria a Compostela en 109521.

40 En paralelo a esta política proveniente del exterior peninsular se produjeron toda una serie de hechos que vinieron sin embargo a reforzar conceptos netamente hispanos –la llegada de los restos de san Isidoro a León en 1063 y la toma de Toledo en 1085– que generaron una suerte de neovisigotismo cultural y político del que era partícipe una monarquía que, especialmente en tiempos de Alfonso VI, realizó un destacado equilibrio político entre los aires renovadores y la independencia de su potestas.

41 Una vez que planteamos sucintamente las dinámicas políticas en las que se enmarcaban las campañas artísticas a estudiar, entendimos que antes de iniciar nuestro análisis resultaba conveniente una exposición crítica de la corriente historiográfica en la que consideramos se inspira nuestra tesis doctoral. La idea del arte y la reforma “nace” con los trabajos de W. Weisbach sobre Cluny y de E. Kitzinger sobre Roma, si bien su gran desarrollo se produce a partir de los estudios de H. Toubert y A. C. Quintavalle. Estos y otros historiadores e historiadores del arte han definido una gran parte del arte románico desde la premisa de que este nace como una respuesta cultural a los nuevos planteamientos religiosos y políticos dados en llamar “reforma gregoriana”.

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42 Nuestra pregunta de si estas afirmaciones son aplicables al caso gallego no es pionera en este estudio, y algunos autores que nos preceden le han dado ya respuesta, especialmente y como ya se ha señalado, en la aplicación del método al caso compostelano. Para ellos, y con los que coincidimos en gran medida, en Santiago se produce una ruptura, un cambio en los criterios estéticos y monumentales con respecto al pasado altomedieval hispano que, quizá tengan en los grandes portales del periodo gelmiriano su máxima expresión. La respuesta estaba dada: Compostela es un paladín de la reforma. Pero ¿lo es todo el primer románico de Galicia? Con la intención de dar respuesta a esta cuestión –o al menos intentarlo– centramos nuestro análisis en los dos centros episcopales (ambos efímeros), al margen de la catedral de Santiago, que conservan un mayor número de vestigios del periodo. Seguidamente hemos procedido al estudio por separado de los discursos figurativos de ambas iglesias y de sus estructuras arquitectónicas.

43 Una vez analizados los conjuntos figurativos y la arquitectura de las dos construcciones a estudiar, consideramos que ambas iglesias basculan entre conceptos altomedievales y románicos que dificultan en demasía su encaje en las teorías gregorianas. En nuestra opinión, de entre los elementos conservadores hay dos muy significativos: una parte de los motivos iconográficos se relacionan –textual y visualmente– con libros litúrgicos hispánicos, en un momento de supresión de esta liturgia auspiciado por Roma; y, además, no existe un diálogo entre estos ciclos esculpidos y el referente visual clásico, que, como hemos visto, es una de las principales dinámicas de la cultura visual gregoriana. Asimismo, hemos apuntado hacia como el papel de patronazgo de los obispos no puede enmarcarse indiscutiblemente en los conceptos de la reforma e, incluso, resulta posible que estos prelados gallegos fuesen parte de una corriente reticente a los cambios reformadores.

44 Ante lo expuesto, quisiéramos recuperar la pregunta con la que iniciábamos nuestro estudio: ¿son las campañas artísticas de San Martiño de Mondoñedo y San Bartolomé de Rebordáns un ejemplo de lo que se ha venido dando en llamar un “arte reformado” o, por el contrario, estamos ante muestras de una cultura conservadora y refractaria a los cambios?

45 La respuesta que podemos dar tras nuestra investigación es la siguiente: los espacios y las imágenes de San Martiño de Mondoñedo y San Bartolomé de Rebordáns son explicables en un momento de transición entre la cultura altomedieval hispana y el incipiente lenguaje románico. En ambas iglesias existe un porcentaje lo suficientemente elevado de elementos vinculados con la tradición anterior que hacen casi imposible que hablemos de discursos artísticos de la reforma gregoriana. Esto, en cualquier caso, no prueba que ambas sedes sean contrarias a la reforma y partidarias de la causa indigenista, pero sí vienen a mostrar la convivencia de lenguajes arquitectónicos y figurativos en una Galicia a finales del siglo XI que, en nuestra opinión, podría definirse como una cultura artística de transición.

46 En definitiva, las primitivas sedes de los obispados de Mondoñedo y Tui perdieron su condición, y sus campañas artísticas ejercieron una nula influencia posterior. De este modo, cuando en 1112 se derrumbaba el segundo santuario compostelano, llegaba a Mondoñedo un nuevo obispo partidario de la reforma –amparado por el mismísimo Gelmírez– y en ambas sedes, así como en el conjunto de Galicia, terminaba un modo de entender las artes propio del periodo altomedieval y comenzaba a triunfar un románico

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europeo que tuvo, en estas latitudes, su más sobresaliente expresión en los “gregorianos” portales de la catedral de Santiago de Compostela.

47 En síntesis creemos que las campañas artísticas de Mondoñedo y Rebordáns no encajan en la categoría de un arte de la reforma gregoriana siendo sin embargo, tanto por cronología como por ciertos aspectos de forma, obras románicas de pleno derecho. Por ello, entendemos que en el noroeste peninsular de finales del siglo XI se producen unos discursos artísticos que, lejos de ser uniformes, se caracterizan por un complicado equilibrio entre las persistencias culturales y las reformas religioso-políticas. Sin duda, es esta una línea de trabajo absolutamente abierta que podrá ser retomada en un futuro inmediato, posiblemente reiniciando el estudio a partir de la huella (solo esbozada en esta tesis) que las obras no medievales han dejado en dichas sedes y que pudieron, a buen seguro, habernos legado un imaginario “pseudomedieval” muy diferente al que conoció el siglo XI.

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YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón – De arte et architectura: San Martin de Mondoñedo. Lugo: Diputación Provincial de Lugo, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1994.

NOTAS

1. Por motivos de economía espacial reduciremos el aparato crítico al mínimo. Para un acercamiento más profundo al corpus bibliográfico empleado remitimos a nuestra tesis doctoral accesible a través del repositorio online Teseo. CASTIÑEIRAS LÓPEZ, Javier – Espacios e Imágenes en el reino de Galicia (1075-1112). Persistencias y reforma. Tesis Doctoral Inédita, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela: 2018. 2. Sobre los preceptos generales de la reforma gregoriana véase FLITCHE, Augustine – La Réforme Grégorienne. 3 vol. Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1978 [1924-1937]; TELLENBACH, Gerd – Church, State and Christian Society at the time of the Investiture Contest. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966 [1959]; GUGGENHEIM, Sylvain – La Réforme Grégorienne. De la lutte pour le sacré à la secularisation du monde. Paris: Temps Présent, 2010. 3. Podría señalarse como precedente a los estudios que pusieron el acento en el papel de la reforma cluniacense en el desarrollo del arte románico. WEISBACH, Werner – Religiöse Reform und mittelalterliche Kunst. Einsiedeln-Zürich: Verlagsanstalt Benziger and Co., 1945. 4. KITZINGER, Ernst – “The Gregorian Reform and the visual arts: a problem of method”. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 22 (1972), pp. 87-102; TOUBERT, Hélène – Un art dirigé. Réforme grégorienne et Iconographie. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1990. 5. Resulta paradigmático el estudio del ciclo de frescos de la capilla de San Clemente en la actual capital italiana. 6. Buena muestra de la internacionalización del método son los encuentros de la Université de Lausanne que han dado como fruto dos trabajos absolutamente referenciales ROMANO, Serena; ENCKELL, Julie (ed.) – Roma e la Riforma gregoriana: tradizioni e innovazioni artistiche (XI-XII secolo). Roma: I libri di Viella, 2007; FRANZÉ, Barbara (dir.) – Art et reforme grégorienne (XIe-XIIe siècles) en France et dans la péninsule Ibérique, Paris: Éditions A. et J. Picard, 2015. 7. Su producción en este sentido es muy copiosa e inabarcable para un trabajo de estas pretensiones. Remitimos nuevamente al texto completo de esta tesis doctoral. CASTIÑEIRAS LÓPEZ, Javier – Espacios e Imágenes…, p. 54. 8. Un notable ejemplo en esta línea se encuenta en KESSLER, Herbert Leon – “A Gregorian Reform Theory of Art?”. in ROMANO, S.; ENCKELL, J. (ed.) – Roma e la Riforma gregoriana…, pp. 25-48. 9. PACE, Valentino – “Roma e la Riforma gregoriana. Tradizioni e innovazioni artistiche (XI-XII secolo)”. in ROMANO, Serena; ENCKELL Julie (ed.) – Roma e la Riforma gregoriana…, pp. 49-59; BARRAL I ALTET, Xavier – Contre l´art roman? Essai sur un passé réinventé. Paris: Fayard, 2006. 10. CASTIÑEIRAS GONZÁLEZ, Manuel Antonio – “Didacus Gelmirius, patrono de las artes. El largo camino de Compostela: de periferia a centro del Románico”, in CASTIÑEIRAS GONZÁLEZ, Manuel Antonio – Compostela y Europa. La historia de Diego Gelmírez. Santiago de Compostela-Milán: Skira/S. A. de Xestión do Plan Xacobeo, 2010, pp. 32-97.

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11. GARCÍA GARCÍA, Francisco de Asís – Los portales de la catedral de Jaca. Reforma eclesiástica y poder real a finales del siglo XI. Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses (Diputación de Huesca), 2018. Este trabajo ha sido publicado con posterioridad a la defensa de esta tesis doctoral por lo que no se encuentra reflejado en la bibliografía de la misma. 12. Para el estudio del periodo véase REILLY, Bernard – El Reino de León y Castilla bajo el Rey Alfonso VI: 1065-1109. Toledo: Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos, 1989. 13. La polémica sobre el año de inicio de la catedral compostelana es recurrente y las fechas propuestas basculan entre el año 1075 y el año 1078, en cualquier caso parece claro que en el 1075 se toma la decisión de iniciar una nueva fábrica, iniciándose o no la obra en ese mismo año. Prescindimos deliberadamente de extendernos en este punto por motivos de espacio. 14. Para un acercamiento a las fábricas románicas de estos edificios véase YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón – Galicia. Arte Medieval (I), tomo X. A Coruña: Hércules, D. L., 1993; GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel, et alii (dir.) – Enciclopedia del Románico en Galicia. Aguilar de Campoo: Santa María la Real Fundación, 2012-2018. 15. MARTÍNEZ DÍEZ, Gonzalo – Legislación conciliar del Reino Astur (718-910) y del Reino de León (910-1230). León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro, 2009. 16. Junto con los trabajos generales mencionados en la nota 14, para el estudio pormenorizado de estos dos templos consúltese: BANGO TORVISO, Isidro Gonzalo – Arquitectura románica en Pontevedra. A Coruña: Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza, 1979; BANGO TORVISO, Isidro Gonzalo – Galicia Románica. Vigo: Galaxia, 1987; YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón – De arte et architectura: San Martin de Mondoñedo. Lugo: Diputación Provincial de Lugo, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1994; CASTIÑEIRAS GONZÁLEZ, Manuel Antonio – “La actividad artística en la antigua provincia de Mondoñedo: del Prerrománico al Románico”. Estudios mindonienses: Anuario de estudios histórico- teológicos de la diócesis de Mondoñedo-Ferrol 15 (1999), pp. 287-342; CASTIÑEIRAS GONZÁLEZ, Manuel Antonio – “San Martiño de Mondoñedo (Foz) Revisitado”. in SINGUL LORENZO, Francisco (dir.) – Rudesindus. A terra e o templo. Santiago de Compostela: Dirección Xeral de Turismo-S.A. de Xestión do Plan Xacobeo, 2007, pp. 118-137. 17. CASTIÑEIRAS GONZÁLEZ, Manuel Antonio – “San Martiño de Mondoñedo…, pp. 118-137; CASTIÑEIRAS LÓPEZ, Javier – “Imágenes de conflicto: la influencia de los beatos en San Martiño de Mondoñedo”. in LOBATO FERNÁNDEZ, Abel; REYES AGUILAR, Esperanza de los; PEREIRA GARCÍA, Irene; GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ, Cristina (ed.) – El legado hispánico: manifestaciones culturales y sus protagonistas. León: Universidad de León, Área de publicaciones, 2016, pp. 251-272. 18. MIGUÉLEZ CAVERO, Alicia – “La impaginatio como punto de partida: la relación entre texto e imagen en la cubierta del sarcófago de Alfónso Pérez procedente de Sahagún”. in GARCÍA LOBO, Vicente; MARTÍN LÓPEZ, M. Encarnación (coord.) – Impaginatio en las inscripciones medievales. León: Universidad de León, Área de publicaciones, 2011, pp. 71-97; MORENO MARTÍN, Francisco José – “El sarcófago de Dumio en el contexto de la Reforma Gregoriana”. in VARELA FERNÁNDEZ, Carla (coord.) – Imagens e Liturgia na Idade Média. Moscavide: Secretariado Nacional para os Bens Culturais da Igreja, 2016, pp. 179-210; CABANOT, Jean – “Le tympan du portail nord de Saint- Sever (Landes): Le Beatus et le décor sculpté de l´abbatiale”. in GALLET, Yves (ed.) – Ex quadris lapidibus. La pierre et sa mise en oeuvre dans l'art médiéval, Mélanges d'Histoire de l'art offerts à Éliane Vergnolle. Turnhout; Brepols, 2012, pp. 389-402. 19. CARRERO SANTAMARÍA, Eduardo; RICO, Daniel – “La organización del espacio litúrgico hispánico entre los siglos VI y XI”. Antiquité Tardive. Revue Internationale d'Histoire et d'Archéologie (IVe-VIIe siècle) 23 (2015), pp. 239-248. 20. ALONSO ÁLVAREZ, Raquel – “La colegiata de San Pedro de Teverga. La ‘imagen medieval’ de un edificio reformado”. Asturiensia Medievalia 7 (1993-1994), pp. 225-242; FERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ, Etelvina – “Reflexiones sobre la evolución hacia el románico de las fórmulas artísticas altomedievales, en el ámbito astur-leonés, de la undécima centuria”, in ARBEITER, Achim (coord.)

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– Hispaniens Norden im 11. Jahrhundert. Christliche Kunst im Umbruch / El norte hispánico en el siglo XI. Un cambio radical en el arte cristiano. Göttingen: Petersberg, 2009, pp. 48-72. 21. La bibliografía científica sobre estos procesos históricos es inabordable en este trabajo por ello remitimos de nuevo a la lectura del trabajo completo donde se detalla la copiosa tradición historiográfica sobre estos aspectos.

AUTOR

JAVIER CASTIÑEIRAS LÓPEZ

Departamento de Patrimonio Artístico y Documental, Universidad de León, 24071, León, España [email protected]

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Joana Lencart

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 17 de abril de 2019

1 O título deste trabalho, “Pedro Álvares Seco: a retroprojeção da memória da Ordem de Cristo no século XVI”1, aponta para um duplo protagonismo, por um lado, Pedro Álvares Seco, autor e cronista, e, por outro, a Ordem de Cristo no século XVI. Também duplo é o seu sentido, expresso nos conceitos: retroprojeção e memória. Neste contexto, o termo retroprojeção foi usado por Luís Adão da Fonseca: “recordar é sempre, em alguma medida, projetar. No caso da memória histórica, esta é, efetivamente, uma retroprojeção que nos fornece preciosas informações a respeito dos propósitos mais profundos de quem, em determinado momento, organiza as suas recordações”2. Sintetiza, assim, o exercício feito pelo cronista da Ordem de Cristo a partir do seu presente: a fixação de uma memória da Ordem, redigida no século XVI, que fundamenta no passado – a Ordem do Templo – uma imagem que pretende projetar para o futuro. Neste sentido, é, simultaneamente, uma memória histórica e uma memória do poder, neste caso concreto, do poder do rei que é paralelamente o governador da Ordem e, como tal, promotor do ambicioso projeto levado a cabo por Álvares Seco. Este assume

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que as suas obras se fazem para que fique memória e prova, conferindo-lhes um valor jurídico-administrativo e probatório como se depreende das suas palavras: “porque essa he a causa porque se faz este livro pera memoria e prova”3.

2 Vários princípios estiveram subjacentes à realização deste trabalho. Primeiro, era preciso definir os motivos que levaram o cronista Pedro Álvares Seco a elaborar tamanha produção documental. Segundo, inventariar as fontes da sua autoria, tarefa árdua, de certa forma, pois não se tratou apenas de um trabalho arquivístico circunscrito a esses documentos, na medida em que implicou também a identificação e a elaboração de uma lista completa dos fundos documentais da Ordem de Cristo, no sentido de se poder aferir a dimensão da obra em estudo. Terceiro, analisar a documentação destinada a proceder ao levantamento dos indícios documentais e à análise criteriosa das obras da sua autoria. Quarto, reunir os indícios documentais que permitiram dar resposta à questão inicial, a par do contexto de produção das obras. Quinto, classificar e ordenar, de modo a poder interpretar esses indícios e responder à questão inicial. Sexto, redigir um texto que exprimisse de forma adequada os factos sugeridos pelas fontes documentais e interpretar o seu sentido, respondendo às questões colocadas.

3 As palavras-chave definidas para este trabalho são Pedro Álvares Seco, Ordem de Cristo, século XVI, memória histórica e produção documental. O objetivo que está subjacente é, assim, sistematizar e interpretar o significado da obra de Pedro Álvares Seco no contexto da Ordem de Cristo, no século XVI. Esta Ordem, se bem que herdeira patrimonial dos Templários, é uma criação da monarquia como instituição refletora da realeza.

4 A principal dificuldade que se colocou para a concretização deste trabalho foi, numa primeira fase, a identificação das obras da autoria de Pedro Álvares Seco e, na sequência desta, a sua localização em arquivos e bibliotecas. Outra questão com que também nos deparámos foi o acesso às referidas obras, devido ao mau estado de conservação de algumas delas, o que nos impediu de consultar uma obra. Um desafio ainda mais intricado, do que a localização e o acesso às fontes, foi a sua difícil interpretação e, nalguns casos, a aferição da sua fiabilidade, quanto à autoria.

5 Refletindo sobre o estado de arte, podemos afirmar que foi em finais do século XVI que começaram a ser produzidos, relativamente a Portugal, escritos de cunho discursivo e historiográfico respeitantes à temática das Ordens Militares, de que o primeiro autor é Jerónimo Román. Por sua vez, as publicações que surgiram entre meados do século XIX e meados do século XX são sobretudo de caráter geral, e consistem nas histórias monumentais de Portugal que incluem a temática dos Templários e da Ordem de Cristo. Nas últimas décadas, estas Ordens têm sido objeto de estudos monográficos por parte de diversos autores, que muito contribuíram para enriquecer o conhecimento científico relativo a esta temática. A interpretação do espólio documental de Pedro Álvares Seco terá em consideração as mais recentes linhas da historiografia e da teoria da história, domínio em que há uma clara recuperação da figura humana, até numa perspetiva biográfica, e da história institucional, com base na reinterpretação dos documentos.

6 A estrutura deste trabalho reflete uma divisão em duas partes. De seguida, descrevem- se, brevemente, os assuntos versados em cada uma.

7 Na primeira parte, intitulada “A Ordem de Cristo desde a sua fundação até 1581”, não se pretende fazer uma súmula de aspetos já abordados em outras obras sobre Ordens

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Militares (e referidos no Estado da Arte), mas o objetivo é fornecer o enquadramento histórico e institucional necessário à contextualização da obra de Álvares Seco.

8 Assim, no primeiro capítulo da primeira parte é abordada a evolução histórica da Ordem em três fases, articuladas com o discurso de Pedro Álvares, desde a sua fundação, em 1319, até à morte do cronista, em 1581. A repartição em três fases resultou da identificação de momentos-chave na história da Ordem de Cristo e que marcaram atuações distintas por parte dos seus protagonistas. A primeira fase, de 1319 a 1420, subordina-se ao período que decorre entre a criação da Ordem de Cristo e a nomeação do infante D. Henrique como seu administrador. Neste primeiro período a instituição é regida por Mestres que são, efetivamente, freires cavaleiros da Ordem. A segunda fase, entre 1420 e 1529, é balizada pela administração da Ordem de Cristo por parte do infante D. Henrique e a nomeação de Fr. António de Lisboa como reformador desta instituição, em junho de 1529, ordenada por D. João III. É a fase da afirmação clara da tutela régia sobre a Ordem de Cristo. A terceira fase, entre 1529 e 1581, coincide com a reforma da Ordem de Cristo levada a cabo por Fr. António de Lisboa. É também o período de produção das obras de Pedro Álvares Seco, até à sua morte, em 1581.

9 No segundo capítulo é feita uma reflexão sobre a organização da instituição, tanto a nível eclesiástico, como a nível patrimonial e administrativo, tendo sempre presente a sua articulação com a obra do cronista. Justifica-se a inserção desta temática nesta tese em virtude de a obra coligida por Pedro Álvares Seco estar orientada em ambos estes sentidos: a dimensão histórico-institucional, que reflete a organização eclesiástica das instituições, e a dimensão patrimonial e económica, onde está plasmada a organização administrativa das Ordens Militares.

10 A segunda parte intitula-se “Pedro Álvares Seco: a época, a vida e a obra”, e divide-se em sete capítulos. Cronologicamente, abarca o período entre os anos 20 e os anos 80 do século XVI, correspondendo, o início, grosso modo, à sua nomeação como professor de cânones do convento de Tomar, em 1521, e o final, à sua morte, em 1581.

11 No primeiro capítulo é feita uma resenha da época histórica em que Pedro Álvares executou a sua obra. Há acontecimentos e momentos que importam destacar em virtude da sua estreita relação com o tema em estudo, concretamente a relação entre o papado e a monarquia portuguesa no que diz respeito às Ordens Militares. Refira-se que, desde 1514, o papa Leão X concedeu a D. Manuel o direito de padroado régio sobre todas as igrejas do império ultramarino; em 1516, o rei alcança o padroado das igrejas das três Ordens Militares, Cristo, Avis e Santiago; e, finalmente, D. João III, em 1551, é nomeado pelo papa como administrador perpétuo das três Ordens Militares. A partir da década de 1540, D. João III promulgou os alvarás régios que ordenaram a Pedro Álvares Seco a execução de várias obras que preconizaram o levantamento da propriedade e bens da Ordem de Cristo. Da regência de D. Catarina datam os alvarás régios que ordenaram a realização do Livro das Escrituras da Ordem de Cristo e do Livro das Comendas da Ordem de Cristo. Do reinado de D. Sebastião, concretamente de 1571, data o alvará que ordena a Pedro Álvares a redação do Livro das Igrejas e Padroados da Ordem de Cristo. Do curto reinado do cardeal D. Henrique, em particular de 1579, data a concretização da última obra de Pedro Álvares Seco, o Livro da Regra e Definições da Ordem de Cristo, com privilégios, indulgências e graças atribuídos pelos pontífices e reis. Neste primeiro capítulo, é ainda analisada de modo particular a reforma da Ordem de Cristo levada a cabo por Fr. António de Lisboa, a sua atuação no convento de Tomar e o modo como a mesma foi

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recebida pelos freires do convento. É ainda estudada a atuação de Pedro Álvares Seco durante o priorado de Fr. António de Lisboa no referido convento de Tomar.

12 No segundo capítulo desta segunda parte é feita uma análise dos elementos biográficos que identificamos para este cronista. A sua biografia está longe de gerar consenso entre os autores antigos e os mais recentes. Parece, no entanto, consensual ter sido professor de cânones no convento de Tomar, procurador da Ordem de Cristo, cavaleiro professo, contador do mestrado, desembargador régio, ter sido casado com Beatriz Lopes e ter tido filhos. Terá nascido em finais do século XV e morrido em 1581, encontrando-se enterrado na igreja de Santa Maria dos Olivais, em Tomar.

13 No terceiro capítulo, avaliamos as condições da produção documental, a recolha e a seleção da informação, bom como a metodologia usada pelo cronista. Surgem então várias questões. Como é que o cronista procedeu à recolha da informação, quem o acompanhou nas suas deslocações, como seria o scriptorium onde desenvolveu o trabalho? Haveria um scriptorium organizado no convento, onde os responsáveis pela ars scribendi se aliavam aos iluminadores e encadernadores para produzir as obras da responsabilidade de Pedro Álvares? Intriga-nos como seria a sua mesa de trabalho, os materiais de escrita e de iluminação dos livros; os auxiliares que o rodeavam; teria os pergaminhos e papéis organizados ou dispersos por vários móveis ou mesas; haveria azáfama ou calmaria no cartório aquando da redação dos livros, como era feito o F0 transporte das escrituras e dos livrosBC questões e dúvidas que tentamos responder ao longo do capítulo.

14 Identificámos e analisámos o espólio documental elaborado por Pedro Álvares Seco entre 1530 e 1581, num total de 15 obras conhecidas da forma que se segue: Começo e preâmbulo do tombo dos bens, rendas, direitos e escrituras do Convento de Tomar4; o Tombo dos bens, rendas, direitos e escrituras do Convento de Tomar5; o Tombo dos bens, rendas e direitos que a Mesa Mestral da Ordem de Cristo tem nas vilas de Tomar e Pias e seus termos6; o Tombo da igreja de Santa Maria dos Olivais7; o Tombo dos bens e propriedades das capelas e aniversários que se cantavam no Convento de Tomar8; o Tombo dos bens da Gafaria da Misericórdia de Tomar9; o Livro das Escrituras do Hospital de Santa Maria da Graça de Tomar10; o Compêndio das Comendas da Ordem de Cristo11; o Livro das Comendas da Ordem de Cristo12; o Livro de bulas e letras apostólicas concedidas à Ordem de Cristo13; o Livro das Escrituras da Ordem de Cristo14; a Suma do que se contém no Livro das Igrejas, padroados e direitos eclesiásticos da Ordem de Cristo15; o Livro das igrejas, padroados e direitos eclesiásticos da Ordem de Cristo16; o Livro dos Sumários das Escrituras da Ordem de Cristo17; e o Livro da Regra e Definições da Ordem de Cristo, com privilégios, indulgências e graças atribuídos pelos pontífices e reis18. Pedro Álvares Seco foi um produtor de memória, em particular, da memória da Ordem de Cristo. São quinze títulos que, na realidade correspondem a mais de 20 manuscritos, em virtude de terem sido feitas cópias de alguns deles. De uma maneira geral, são obras que, a par de uma redação e contextualização histórica do assunto que cada uma delas versa, transcrevem perto de duas mil escrituras respeitantes às Ordens do Templo e de Cristo, e que revelam não só a formação eclesiástica e jurídica de Álvares Seco, mas também o seu pensamento.

15 Para elaborar a sua obra monumental, Pedro Álvares Seco baseou-se em diversos testemunhos. Além dos trabalhos de demarcação e inventário a que procedeu quando era procurador e juiz da Ordem de Cristo, e da inquirição de testemunhas, consultou também os cadernos e tombos resultantes de visitações antigas, diversos códices e documentos avulsos do cartório do convento de Tomar, bem como documentação da

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Torre do Tombo, em Lisboa. O cronista procurava sempre localizar as escrituras originais dos documentos que copiava nos diferentes livros, mas, não o conseguindo, fazia uso de outras disponíveis para validar as suas afirmações, o que demonstra um trabalho feito com rigor. Com tanta informação disponível, Pedro Álvares selecionava a documentação. O processo era complexo. Temos por isso documentos repetidos em vários livros. Em contrapartida, conhecemos diversos documentos relativos à história da Ordem de Cristo que Álvares Seco não incluiu na composição das suas obras. A seleção documental do autor implicou, obrigatoriamente, esquecimento, conduzindo- nos, de forma inevitável, e na assertiva expressão de Vitorino Magalhães Godinho, ao “naufrágio da memória”19.

16 Pedro Álvares, para executar esta grandiosa tarefa da edificação da história da Ordem de Cristo, foi auxiliado por diversos escrivães e iluminadores. Os escrivães do convento destacados para a realização da empresa foram João de Penafiel, Bartolomeu de Almeida, Gaspar Garro, Pedro Luís Ortega, Fr. Álvaro da Cunha, entre outros. Os iluminadores que terão colaborado com Álvares Seco seriam Duarte Fernandes, Jorge Vieira, António Vaz Bugalho e António de Holanda, conhecendo-se os contratos de iluminação de livros firmados com alguns destes artistas.

17 A maioria dos seus livros está organizada segundo determinados parâmetros. Geralmente, um longo título principia as suas obras. Seguia-se o alvará régio que preconizava a execução da obra; depois o modo de proceder do autor e uma dedicatória ao rei; em seguida, o prólogo às partes que compõem a obra; títulos e sumários antecedem, frequentemente, as transcrições dos documentos; o índice das matérias, no início ou no fim; e, por último, o termo de encerramento feito pelo escrivão, onde por vezes intervém o próprio autor. São precisamente os sumários, e os textos mais ou menos longos, que antecedem a transcrição das escrituras, ou a explicitação dos capítulos, que refletem o pensamento, os conhecimentos e, consequentemente, as intenções de Pedro Álvares Seco subjacentes à sua produção histórica.

18 As suas obras estão impregnadas de citações bíblicas e de recursos à Sagrada Escritura, referências a autores de direito civil, e canónico, citações de escritores e poetas, de filósofos gregos, teólogos, pontífices, ainda de vidas de santos, revelando também conhecimentos históricos, geográficos e científicos. Cita provérbios, escreve vocábulos em grego para explicar a origem etimológica de certas palavras, demonstra conhecimento de ofícios artesanais e emite considerações de caráter mais pessoal. O cronista demonstra ainda ter o cuidado de rever as suas obras para evitar erros e corrigi-los antes de se tornarem públicas. As principais limitações das suas obras estão associadas ao desconhecimento do X aspado e alguma confusão na datação de diplomas pontifícios, formulando, consequentemente, incorreções históricas.

19 O quarto capítulo intitula-se “Pedro Álvares Seco: a organização da memória da Ordem de Cristo”, que dividimos em dois grupos: a memória económico-patrimonial e a memória histórico-institucional. Constatamos que, num primeiro momento, é pedido ao cronista que fixe a dimensão patrimonial da Ordem; no entanto, a partir da anexação das três Ordens à Coroa, em dezembro de 1551, é notória a intenção histórico- institucional impressa às suas concretizações. No primeiro caso, foram incluídos os tombos de bens e propriedades relativos ao extenso património da Ordem, e que refletem a dimensão patrimonial da instituição. No segundo caso, estão integrados os livros que atestam os direitos e privilégios que, ao longo da sua história, a Ordem de Cristo foi acumulando, e que recebeu tanto de pontífices, como de monarcas, ou de

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outras entidades. Todos estes livros espelham a meticulosa organização documental do cronista.

20 O quinto capítulo, “Pedro Álvares Seco: ciclos de produção documental”, reflete toda a obra do cronista, dividida por quatro ciclos, estabelecidos a partir dos alvarás que preconizaram as obras. Do 1º ciclo – 1530 – data o alvará para proceder à demarcação e inventário dos bens do convento e mesa mestral, dando início aos seus registos. Na sequência dos alvarás do 2º ciclo – 1542 – o cronista iniciou seis tombos de bens e um livro de escrituras. Dos alvarás do 3º ciclo – 1559/60 – resultaram quatro livros relativos às comendas e às escrituras da Ordem. Finalmente, do 4º ciclo – década de 1570 – identificámos mais 4 livros sobre as igrejas e a normativa da Ordem. No cronograma que se segue, é possível identificar todas essas obras e respetivos alvarás.

Cronograma – A produção documental de Pedro Álvares Seco decorrente dos alvarás régios.

21 No quinto capítulo, o mais extenso da tese, é feita uma reflexão detalhada sobre cada uma das 15 obras da chancela de Álvares Seco. A atribuição da autoria a Pedro Álvares não implica que o próprio tenha assumido as tarefas de amanuense, mas sim, que o próprio reúna em si a autoridade de conceção e de validação de um trabalho em que participaram vários escrivães e iluminadores. Os códices que se conhecem da autoria de Pedro Álvares Seco, entre originais e cópias, estão dispersos por diferentes arquivos e bibliotecas. Na Torre do Tombo localizámos 13 destes códices; na Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal estão depositadas sete obras; no Arquivo Distrital de Santarém encontra-se um documento original; no Arquivo da Misericórdia de Tomar há dois livros; e na Biblioteca Nacional de Espanha localizámos a sua última realização.

22 Algumas são obras de grande beleza e harmonia estética, como mostram algumas das imagens feitas: uma miniatura representando a charola do convento de Tomar; letras iniciais ornadas; cercaduras com motivos fitomórficos e zoomórficos, e com as armas e

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divisa de D. Manuel enquanto rei e administrador da Ordem de Cristo, e cuja linguagem artística é particularmente dignificante para o seu possuidor.

23 No capítulo seis, “Pedro Álvares Seco: entre o registado e o esquecido”, fazemos um balanço entre a documentação registada pelo cronista e a que ele não copiou, e que se encontrou registada em outras fontes consultadas. Pedro Álvares fez copiar quase duas mil escrituras, relativas às Ordens do Templo e de Cristo, com especial ênfase para a documentação relativa a esta última, o que se explica por ser a instituição sobre a qual incide o seu trabalho. Há documentos repetidos em vários livros, e até no mesmo livro, o que revela uma intencionalidade do autor, por vezes com contornos nítidos, noutras menos distintos, cujo objetivo poderia passar por querer destacar determinada informação ou por considerar que a mesma poderia ser enquadrada em mais do que uma categoria no contexto organizativo da sua obra. Podemos ainda pensar que a distância temporal que separa muitos manuscritos também poderia justificar a repetição de algumas escrituras. A elaboração de vários gráficos sistematiza a informação recolhida. Num segundo momento analisámos a “documentação não selecionada: intencionalidade ou lapso?”, o que implicou a consulta e o confronto com inúmeras fontes manuscritas e impressas. Se, por um lado, se compreende que Pedro Álvares não tenha registado sentenças contrárias às Ordens ou diplomas pontifícios que cerceavam privilégios das milícias, por outro é difícil explicar por que motivos não terá o cronista incluído importantes documentos fundacionais das Ordens, como textos normativos e diplomas pontifícios que confirmam a nomeação dos governadores da Ordem de Cristo. Desconhecimento? Estariam na posse dos seus proprietários? É o próprio cronista que afirma que muitas escrituras respeitantes à Ordem não foram depositadas no cartório, o que dificultaria ainda mais o acesso às mesmas; em determinado momento também lamenta que procurou muitas outras, e não as encontrou. Num terceiro momento, é feito o balanço entre o registado e o esquecido, ficando claro que Pedro Álvares Seco regista, preferencialmente, documentos que exaltam e enriquecem, patrimonial e institucionalmente, tanto a Ordem do Templo, como a Ordem de Cristo. Em contrapartida, omite, intencionalmente ou não, documentos cujas determinações e sentenças são contrárias às Ordens. Por lapso, desconhecimento, ou simplesmente por não lhe ter sido concedido o acesso, não registou documentação que, na nossa perspetiva, contribuía com elementos fundamentais para a história da instituição.

24 No capítulo sete “Do convento de Tomar à dispersão das obras de Pedro Álvares Seco”, tentámos averiguar o percurso das obras do cronista desde o convento de Tomar até às bibliotecas e arquivos onde se encontram atualmente. Revelou-se um exercício arriscado e impossível de concretizar com a máxima exatidão, pois apenas se sabe o local de partida e o de chegada. Fenómenos naturais, como incêndios e terramotos, aliados ao impacto da desamortização das Ordens Religiosas em Portugal e às sucessivas catalogações da documentação explicam o desaparecimento de muitos tesouros escritos portugueses.

25 Em conclusão, constatamos que a primeira preocupação do cronista, e do rei promotor da obra, foi registar uma memória, eminentemente, de caráter patrimonial da Ordem de Cristo, de forma a que o rei, paralelamente administrador da instituição, tivesse pleno conhecimento dessa dimensão. No final, fica evidente que o que está implícito é uma clara exaltação não só da Ordem de Cristo, mas também do poder régio enquanto modelador da própria instituição e patrocinador do projeto historiográfico levado a

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cabo por Pedro Álvares Seco, e que o cronista pretende projetar para o futuro. O cunho discursivo e historiográfico que imprimiu às suas obras assume-se em estreita ligação com a retórica do poder régio, impulsionador desta produção. O cronista apostou na dialética entre os poderes seculares e temporais, entre o Mestre e o Rei, que, no caso da Ordem de Cristo, é assumida pela mesma pessoa. Como tal, Pedro Álvares Seco saiu claramente vencedor projetando a sua obra ao longo de mais de cinco séculos.

26 Acrescente-se que, em anexo foi incluída uma tabela que enumera todas as comendas e os comendadores da Ordem de Cristo no século XVI, feita com base no Livro das Comendas da Ordem de Cristo (1563), de Pedro Álvares Seco. Anexaram-se também as transcrições de três documentos, em função da sua pertinência relativamente à obra do cronista e à história da Ordem de Cristo. O primeiro é um documento de 28 de outubro de 1319, segundo o qual D. Dinis manda restituir a D. Gil Martins, Mestre da Ordem de Cristo, todos os bens que foram da Ordem do Templo. O segundo é um diploma pontifício de Inocêncio VIII, a bula “Romanus pontifex” de 3 de maio de 1487, que confirma D. Manuel, duque de Beja, como governador da Ordem de Cristo, e que a par da transcrição é incluída a tradução pelo Dr. Manuel Ramos, professor da Faculdade de Letras. E o terceiro, de 23 de julho de 1523, é um documento que descreve a tomada de posse do mestrado de Cristo por D. João III, como seu administrador, na igreja de S. Tomás do convento de Tomar perante mais de uma centena de freires.

27 Pelo estudo desenvolvido, pelos documentos inéditos apresentados, pelos novos dados coligidos, pelas reflexões aduzidas e pelas conclusões alcançadas, esperamos, humildemente, ter contribuído para enriquecer a investigação científica sobre a Ordem de Cristo em Portugal.

NOTAS

1. Disponível em http://catalogo.up.pt/F/? func=direct&doc_number=000872197&local_base=FLUP. 2. FONSECA, Luís Adão da – “A Memória das Ordens Militares: o Livro dos Copos da Ordem de Santiago”. As Ordens Militares em Portugal. Palmela: Câmara Municipal de Palmela, 1991, p 15. 3. ANTT, Ordem de Cristo/Convento de Tomar, liv. 2, fl. 10r. 4. ANTT, Manuscritos da Livraria, nº 1050. 5. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 232. 6. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 2. 7. ADSTR, Diocesanos, Colegiada de Santa Maria dos Olivais de Tomar, liv. 1. 8. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 3. 9. AMT, liv. 74, fls. 119r-126r. 10. AMT, liv. 83. 11. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 240 (19A). 12. BNP, Fundo Geral, nº 226. 13. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 15. 14. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 234 e liv. 235 e com cópia em BNP, Fundo Geral, nº 735, nº 736, nº 737 e nº 738. Livro que é considerado o cartulário da Ordem de Cristo.

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15. ANTT, OC/CT, mç. 52, nº 1485. 16. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 1, com cópia em ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 11 e BNP, Fundo Geral, nº 739. 17. ANTT, OC/CT, liv. 14. 18. BNE, mss. 406. 19. GODINHO, Vitorino Magalhães– “O naufrágio da memória nacional e a nação no horizonte de marketing”. In BETHENCOURT, Francisco; RAMADA CURTO, Diogo (ed.) – A Memória da Nação. Lisboa: Livraria Sá da Costa, 1991, pp. 15-28.

AUTOR

JOANA LENCART

Faculdade de Letras, Universidade do Porto, 4150-564, Porto, Portugal [email protected]

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José Manuel Simões

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 6 de março de 2019

1 Na produção cronística portuguesa tardomedieval, desenvolvida em círculos afetos à cúria régia ou tratando da figura de um ou mais monarcas, a expressão letrado não parece surgir em data anterior ao século XIV. Com origem no vocábulo latino literattus, era já grafada em galaico-português nas cantigas de Estêvão da Guarda no início dessa centúria de trezentos ou, ainda antes, por João Soares Coelho em meados do século XIII.

2 No ambiente da cronística, onde nos detemos para que não se perca a maleabilidade do objeto, o conceito de letrado seria sobretudo um “epíteto de honra”, um adjetivo aplicado segundo critérios algo obscuros, mas que ainda assim nos permitem identificar traços gerais da sua composição. Evidencia-se, grosso modo, a representação de homens que dominavam a leitura e a escrita, que haviam recebido uma certa educação ou instrução, não necessariamente universitária ou de algum modo formal, mas cuja qualificação remetia para as virtudes de quem frequentava esses contextos. Atribuía-se, desse modo, por antonomásia, mas em nenhuma ocasião o vemos tornar-se um substantivo como aqueles que em alusões próximas serviam para designar os astrólogos

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ou os físicos. Letrado situar-se-ia antes na categoria dos entendidos, dos conhecedores ou sabedores, e embora fosse também uma heterodesignação distinguia-se de todos estes por se associar a um saber mais epistémico do que técnico. Certo é que o letrado funciona aí como um elemento bifronte, como todos os outros aliás, voltado simultaneamente para a realidade histórica e para a mimetização ficcional, ambas aproveitadas e utilizadas no processo de construção das narrativas pelos cronistas.

3 O exercício a que nos propusemos foi o de observar as formas de representação desse conceito nos textos, precisando para isso, de olhar os textos nos seus respetivos contextos. Esse processo de “arqueologia” dos discursos implicou ter em atenção vários pontos. Desde logo, compreender que a imagem que nos surge nas crónicas não é um reflexo rigoroso da realidade, mas que as narrativas prolongam grande parte das vezes o que parecem ser as sombras dos tempos e dos espaços dos cronistas. A leitura das representações dos letrados será, por isso, a desconstrução desse chiaroscuro entre o simbólico e o real, da simbologia que lhe está associada, mas igualmente um desenredar da genealogia dos fragmentos que serviram para formar o texto que hoje podemos ler. Por último, será também uma leitura dos contextos socioculturais e político-militares de produção em que as obras se escreveram, uma leitura dos próprios percursos dos seus autores e da sua ligação a todo o cenário em que se movimentavam.

4 A seleção dos textos procurou formar um grupo satisfatoriamente homogéneo a um nível cronológico e geográfico, mas também ao nível da sua produção e transmissão, e ao mesmo tempo heterogéneo o suficiente para permitir uma elaboração dos focos de análise. Quer a IVª Crónica Breve, quer a Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, na sua versão original e na refundição de 1400, a Crónica de Portugal de 1419, ou as três crónicas redigidas por Fernão Lopes – a Crónica de D. Pedro, a Crónica de D. Fernando e a Crónica de D. João – oferecem-nos um conjunto complexo de perspetivas sobre os temas e os problemas do Ocidente peninsular, a partir das figuras régias e alinhavadas no espaço português entre os anos 40 do século XIV e os últimos anos da mesma década do século XV. Simultaneamente, permitem-nos recuar vários séculos e ver num tempo passado a projeção do tempo em que se escreveram e se difundiram as crónicas.

5 Dessa forma, pelas próprias características intrínsecas dos textos, uma grande parte dos letrados parece gravitar em redor de diferentes monarcas. Essa proximidade será mais evidente na cronística dos primeiros anos da dinastia de Avis, evidenciando décadas de estruturação do aparelho burocrático e administrativo do reino que levariam a uma maior presença de gentes do saber nos cargos do Desembargo Régio e em que o próprio Estudo Geral, fundado no período dionisiano, ganharia um novo impulso. As pesoas leteradas e sabedores que o cronista de 1419 referia aquando dessa mesma fundação seriam os escolares, mestres e doutores formados ou que aí se formariam e viriam posteriormente a desempenhar muitos dos cargos da administração. Associava-os não apenas a D. Dinis, mas também a D. João e ao próprio D. Duarte, estabelecendo uma ligação simbólica entre esse centro de saber e a nova dinastia. Não eram, em todo o caso, designados como letrados esses reis. Na verdade, uma das exceções no conjunto das crónicas seria Sisebuto, o muy leterado, piadoso, justiçoso e muyto entendudo e sabedor de juízo monarca que conduzira os destinos do reino visigodo entre 612 e 621, como apresentava o refundidor da Crónica de 1344.

6 Conhecido pela sua devoção religiosa e pela política desembaraçada, mas também pela autoria de alguns textos e pela forte repressão antijudaica, o refundidor atribuía-lhe um conjunto de virtudes que Isidoro de Sevilha e Rodrigo Ximenez de Rada

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propagandearam e que Afonso X, a sua provável fonte, optara em parte por aligeirar na sua Estoria de España. As interpretações sobre este destaque serão tantas quantas se desejarem. Pensamos poder ver aqui uma parte de um programa ideológico do refundidor para afirmar Sisebuto e as suas políticas como modelares, se não mesmo para o associar a uma personagem régia ou com pretensões ao trono nos finais do século XIV.

7 Outro caso, bastante peculiar, será aquele de um nobre, Álvar Fáñez, conhecido como Minaya e aparentado de Rodrigo Díaz, o Cid. Referido também pelo refundidor de 1400 da Crónica de Espanha, parece ser incluído entre os outros mui honrrados homẽes e mui leterados enviados por Fernando I de Castela e Leão numa demonstração de força contra o rei de França e o Imperador Henrique III do Sacro Império Romano-Germânico. Embora se trate de uma passagem baseada numa narrativa forjada pelo autor da Crónica de Castilla, não deixava de assinalar a importância concedida à presença de letrados nas ações diplomáticas que visavam obter o apoio do Papa contra o jugo transpirenaico, reforçando assim um discurso que apelava a uma unidade da Hispânia que viria depois a ser praticamente alcançada por Afonso VI de Castela e Leão. Exemplo de um mesmo programa seria a referência à eleição de dom Bernaldo, homen bem leterado e de muy sancta vida, para o lugar de primeiro arcebispo de Toledo após a conquista dessa cidade em 1085. Essa forma de regressar a um espaço que fora simbólica e efetivamente a capital da Hispânia visigótica através de um homem que conjugava em si a fé e o saber transportava também uma ideologia unificadora e agraciava o próprio rei pela sua conquista, tanto militar quanto espiritual.

8 Também em Fernão Lopes podemos observar a forma como alguns letrados são representados na relação com o rei. Primeiro de forma menos evidente na Crónica de D. Pedro, onde o conceito de letrado praticamente não figura, mas em que burocratas que poderíamos facilmente denominar como intelectuais, homens do saber ou letrados trabalham em prol do seu monarca e colmatam as brechas abertas pelos seus momentos de irracionalidade. A esses homens, de quem poderíamos dizer que seriam a “outra face de Jano”, sucedem na Crónica de D. Fernando outros que agem em contracorrente, procurando a estabilidade de um reinado periclitante e funcionando como a garantia da independência do reino aquando da regência da rainha Leonor Teles. Mais evidente será o papel desempenhado pelos letrados junto de D. João I, no texto homónimo. Vemos aí, de resto, como o cronista apresenta um rei que se faz rodear de homens do saber, fossem-no de facto ou não, e lhes delega a presença em algumas das ações mais significativas. Não só nas garantias de paz com Castela, mas também na legitimação do seu reinado e passando ainda pelas táticas de persuasão para que Nuno Álvares Pereira permanecesse no reino, ele próprio anunciado por hũu gram leterado e mui profumdo astrollogo, que chamavom meestre Thomas.

9 Mas a representação dos letrados vinculou-se também à fé, que em alguns casos intermediou a sua presença na narrativa, evidenciando-os mais como garantia da espiritualidade do rei do que necessariamente seus agentes. É o caso de Taio, bispo de Saragoça entre 651 e 664, que era homen muy leterado e amava muyto os livros das Sanctas Scripturas e cuja espiritualidade o leva a procurar os livros de Gregório Magno em Roma e trazê-los para a Hispânia, num gesto que evidencia a procura pelas fontes da fé na refundição da Crónica Geral de Espanha. Como será também o caso dos franciscanos que Fernão Lopes coloca estrategicamente em alguns dos momentos-chave da narrativa da Crónica de D. João I. Começando pela pregação que mestre Rodrigo de Simtra, gramde e

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notavell pregador mui leterado em teholesia, faz após o cerco de Lisboa de 1384, passando pelo sermão que frey Pedro conduz na mesma cidade após a Batalha de Aljubarrota e terminando com a leitura que Rodrigo de Simtra, mais uma vez, faz das cartas enviadas pelo Papa Bonifácio IX acerca da legitimidade do casamento do monarca de Avis com Filipa de Lencastre. Representavam dessa forma a garantia espiritual da Coroa, participando nos atos litúrgicos que sacralizavam a superação das adversidades, as vitórias e a legitimação da linhagem.

10 Por outro lado, seriam também os letrados a representar em Fernão Lopes a oposição às ações menos cuidadas dos monarcas. Na Crónica de D. Pedro, como já dissemos, afirmam- se não apenas como a face da razão, mas também como a oposição ao casamento do rei com Inês de Castro, parecendo-lhe de todo seer muito contra rrazom, já que dessa união resultariam dois dos pretendentes ao trono que D. João I assumia como seu. Opor-se- iam também, por exemplo, ao posicionamento de D. Fernando durante o Cisma do Ocidente, apelidando o Papa de Roma como homem de boa vida, leterado em teologia e discreto. Nestes e noutros casos eram esses homens quem encarnava o contraditório das situações, posicionando-se a favor ou contra uma determinada ação. Noutros casos, era o facto de determinado indivíduo ser apresentado como letrado aquilo que conferia ao cronista o direito a moralizar, explícita ou implicitamente, sobre o sucedido.

11 Uma outra dimensão de análise que procurámos estabelecer foi a da formação, no imaginário medieval, de um modelo de letrado ideal. Colocadas num espaço e num tempo construídos a posteriori pelos cronistas, as personagens que convocam medir-se- ão não somente nesse jogo de representações pelas suas ações no plano narrativo, mas também pelas palavras que proferem, pela maneira como quer as ações quer as palavras são adjetivadas e pela forma como as próprias personagens foram qualificadas e distinguidas. Nesse último campo, é interessante notar como determinadas figuras acumularam um conjunto de epítetos, prefigurando um igual número de virtudes que concorreriam para uma distinção social baseada naquilo a que poderíamos chamar a honra letrada ou a honra dos letrados. De entre elas destacavam-se, por serem repetidas um maior número de vezes, a piedade, a caritas, a discrição ou temperança nos gestos e nas atitudes e a prudência (apresentada sobretudo como entendimento, sabedoria e domínio da scientia).

12 A concentração de um maior número destas virtudes indiciaria a importância relativa de determinada personagem na narrativa ou, numa outra dimensão de análise, uma tendência de apresentar os letrados com base numa imagem até certo ponto idealizada, tomando como ponto de partida relatos anteriores ou mesmo uma ficcionalização retrospetiva que tenderia a imaginar essas qualidades. Podemos imaginar que uma e outra estariam associadas na maior parte das vezes, marcando profundamente a forma como as personagens eram criadas para servir a narrativa, em certas ocasiões, e noutras servirem como figuras exemplares. Os modelos sucedem-se dentro de cada crónica, sugerindo práticas e discursos diferenciados, associando o saber e as virtudes análogas a homens de diferentes categorias sociais e, com isso, introduzindo elementos de leitura na própria cronística.

13 Tanto na Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344 como na Crónica de 1419, e mesmo na produção cronística de Fernão Lopes, conseguimos distinguir algumas personagens letradas que parecem encarnar verdadeiramente um modelo letrado. Em traços gerais, são aquelas que mais epítetos recolhem dos cronistas, caso de Julião de Toledo, arcebispo dessa cidade, na refundição da Crónica de 1344 e de João das Regras na cronística de Fernão

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Lopes. Entre essas duas figuras quase que se esgota a lista de adjetivos utilizados para caracterizar todos os restantes letrados. Funcionam, por isso, como autênticos exemplos destacados entre a multidão, servindo a narrativa e evidenciando – talvez os principais – personagens, temas, relatos, motivações ideológicas ou discursos propagandísticos. Em Fernão Lopes, João das Regras seria o exemplo maior de um letrado ao serviço do rei, garantindo-lhe a legitimidade e o serviço, tal como o próprio cronista faria ao escrever as suas crónicas. Para o refundidor de 1400, por seu lado, Julião de Toledo personificaria, no seu confronto com o Papa, a autoridade daquela arquidiocese e um certo discurso de emancipação face ao poder de Roma, sobretudo numa altura em que a Cristandade se dividia entre duas autoridades papais. Podemos igualmente pensar que a esse discurso estaria subjacente um apelo à unidade hispânica que já o Conde de Barcelos anunciava na crónica original de 1344.

14 No caso da Crónica de 1419, além disso, encontramos ainda as duas únicas figuras letradas como modelos antagonistas entre si, sem, no entanto, deixarem de representar aquelas funções: um muçulmano que disputará com um dos cinco franciscanos que terão sido martirizados em Marrocos em 1220, frey Bernardo de Carbio, e Gilberto de Hastings, o primeiro bispo de Lisboa após a conquista da cidade em 1147. O mouro sem nome, o qual avyom por muyto bom leterado e santo amtre os mouros, seria no olhar do cronista, a antítese de Gilberto de Hastings: um modelo negativo que, embora letrado, se basearia numa falsa crença e cuja derrota no debate contra o franciscano aguçava a vergonha por não professar a verdadeira fé.

15 Num último ângulo de análise, conclusivo, mas a que não chamámos propositadamente conclusão por remeter de novo para o início do trabalho, para que o círculo se feche, questionámos se os letrados formariam no país ficcionado, diegético, o país das crónicas, um grupo social diferenciado dos restantes, com atributos específicos e aspetos idiossincráticos. Se, como vimos, as figuras modelares para que olhámos anteriormente tipificavam de algum modo o conjunto dos letrados de cada crónica porque nelas convergiam as suas características e virtudes, podemos então considerar que entre elas coexistia também uma certa unidade. Uma unidade que se desenhava não apenas pela expressão da singularidade dos indivíduos, mas de igual forma pela oposição e pela distinção. Seria essa mesma unidade que levaria Fernão Lopes a inserir os letrados entre os quatro estados do reino, a par dos perllados, fidalgos e cidadãos. Esboçava-se assim a delimitação de um grupo social, ainda que no plano literário, mas refletindo uma hierarquização que possivelmente nunca chegara a ser verdadeiramente tripartida.

AUTOR

JOSÉ MANUEL SIMÕES

Escola de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Évora, 7000-812, Évora, Portugal [email protected]

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Varia

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Motivations in medieval war: a comparative approach between two territorial peripheries (Iberia and Baltic) – Porto, 1 de abril de 2019

Paula Pinto Costa

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 10 de abril de 2019

1 O seminário Motivations in medieval war: a comparative approach between two territorial peripheries (Iberia and Baltic), organizado pelo CEPESE, enquadrou-se nas atividades do grupo de investigação “Poderes, elites e relações sociais”, que tem entre os seus objetivos o desenvolvimento de estudos sobre as Ordens Militares, a aristocracia e as sociedades políticas. Considerando o relevante papel desempenhado pela guerra em tempos medievais, nomeadamente em territórios periféricos, bem como as excelentes relações científicas que se têm vindo a intensificar entre determinados investigadores da Universidade do Porto e da Universidade de Estocolmo, foi projetado este seminário. As áreas alvo da reflexão são a Península Ibérica e o Báltico. Assim, seis investigadores portugueses (da Universidade do Porto, da Universidade do Algarve, do CEPESE e do IEM) e quatro suecos partilharam uma importante base de discussão sobre a temática, reforçaram o trabalho colaborativo de investigação e promoveram o alargamento de horizontes sobre o tema.

2 O programa científico contou com duas sessões. Na primeira discutiram-se as iniciativas promotoras da guerra, entrando em linha de conta com o papel da monarquia, de vários poderes sociais e das estruturas locais. A segunda sessão, por sua vez, foi orientada para a reflexão sobre as interpretações que as Ordens Militares fizeram da guerra em territórios periféricos.

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3 A prática da guerra na Idade Média tem despertado um interesse crescente na historiografia europeia. A complexidade do estudo da guerra tem acompanhado esta tendência, deixando de se reduzir a uma simples narrativa de acontecimentos para se converter em abordagens multifacetadas. Neste sentido, o seminário apresentou linhas metodológicas focadas em diversos fatores, como as motivações coletivas ou individuais, a identificação das iniciativas e as interpretações da prática da guerra. Com o propósito de enriquecer as abordagens que têm sido feitas e de acrescentar conhecimento novo, o alvo do debate centrou-se em aspetos mais inovadores. O destaque recaiu sobre a organização, o financiamento, o recrutamento rural / urbano e a mobilização para a guerra. A inclusão de uma sessão sobre o papel das Ordens Militares ao nível da guerra visou debater o seu posicionamento face a estas questões, bem como o impacto da guerra travada em territórios periféricos sobre as formas de legitimação do Oriente Latino.

AUTOR

PAULA PINTO COSTA

Departamento de História e de Estudos Políticos e Internacionais, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade do Porto, 4150-564, Porto, Portugal [email protected]

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Mário Farelo

NOTA DO EDITOR

Data recepção do artigo / Received for publication: 5 de maio de 2019

1 Os workshops “Investigar em Idade Média”, promovidos em parceria pelo IEM e pelo CITCEM desde 2012, pretendem constituir um espaço privilegiado de debate em torno do desenvolvimento, dos desafios e dos condicionalismos evidenciados pelas disciplinas associadas aos Estudos Medievais. Orientados de forma consciente para o diálogo interdisciplinar, um dos seus focos principais tem sido a apresentação de projetos e percursos de investigação, com perspetivas e metodologias diferenciadas, mais inovadoras ou já consolidadas, relativas à História, Arte, História da Arte, Literatura, Paleografia, Epigrafia, Arqueologia, Filosofia e Música medievais. Estes workshops permanecem, de igual modo, uma ágora destinada à partilha de experiências relativas

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ao “ser medievalista”, nomeadamente por investigadores de pós-doutoramento que aí podem apresentar os seus trabalhos, discutir os rumos tomados e as contingências pessoais e institucionais ligadas à sua atividade.

2 Fiel a este espírito de discussão e de partilha, a 6ª edição do Investigar em Idade Média pretendeu ainda assim inovar, ao centrar a temática em análise neste ano nos projetos de investigação em Estudos Medievais presentemente em curso. Com o aumento recente do número de projetos de temática medieval aprovados para financiamento pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – colocando fim a uma autêntica “travessia do deserto” de vários anos –, impunha-se uma jornada de trabalho em torno da sua apresentação e dos diversos condicionalismos associados à respetiva elaboração e operacionalização.

3 Responderam à chamada do IEM e do CITCEM a quase totalidade dos investigadores responsáveis por projetos de investigação portugueses com temática medieval, financiados de forma competitiva por instituições nacionais e estrangeiras, permitindo assim, desde logo, um diálogo cruzando as áreas da História de Arte, Literatura, História, Filosofia e Arqueologia. A apresentação de cada um dos projetos, para além de dar a conhecer perspetivas e metodologias inovadoras, constituiu uma oportunidade para discutir as opções, os caminhos tomados e o largo escopo de exigências e dificuldades inerentes ao processo de elaboração de tais projetos.

4 Este último conjunto de ideias foi central na primeira apresentação ao workshop feita por Maria de Lurdes Rosa (ERC Consolidator Grant 2018 – VINCULUM. Entailing Perpetuity: Family, Power, Identity. The Social Agency of a Corporate Body (Southern Europe, 14th-17th Centuries) [819734-ERC-VINCULUM-2018-CSG]). Mais do que uma mera apresentação dos objetivos e da arquitetura do projeto, tratou-se de relatar uma experiência única, em termos da complexa preparação exigida por um concurso extremamente competitivo, como é o proposto pelo European Research Council. Maria de Lurdes Rosa sublinhou sobretudo a importância de uma boa preparação: conhecer os projetos anteriormente financiados, organizar o percurso de investigação de modo a corresponder ao perfil exigido e familiarizar-se com todos os passos de um processo burocrático específico e complexo associado às candidaturas a projetos europeus.

5 Posteriormente, Joana Gaspar de Freitas (ERC Starting Grant 2018 – DUNES. Sea, Sand and People. An Environmental History of Coastal Dunes) [802918-DUNES-ERC-2018-STG] partilhou a sua experiência de uma candidatura a uma Starting Grant do mesmo European Research Council. Centrando a sua atenção nas premissas da sua investigação, chamou a atenção para a necessidade de dominar o tema apresentado, o qual, no seu caso e como foi observado, constitui atualmente uma área de trabalho em sintonia com as orientações ligadas à promoção de um desenvolvimento sustentável partilhadas e valorizadas pelas instituições financiadoras europeias.

6 Para além destes dois projetos submetidos com sucesso à avaliação de instituições financiadoras europeias, o grosso das intervenções centrou-se em projetos de investigação apresentados à Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. Sublinhou-se, desde logo, a sua variedade, porquanto inscritos nos painéis de História, Filosofia, História de Arte e Literatura, entre outros.

7 José Meirinhos e João Rebalde partilharam a apresentação de quatro projetos financiados, dois deles pela FCT, e todos sedeados no Instituto de Filosofia da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto. O projeto Critical Edition and Study of the Works

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Attributed to Petrus Hispanus – 1 (PTDC/MHC-FIL/0216/2014) prossegue uma linha de investigação consolidada no seio da UI em torno do trabalho do prof. José Meirinhos, ao passo que o projeto EUROPA EM VERNÁCULO: A Expansão das Línguas Vernáculas na Periferia do Mundo Latino, no Final da Idade Média e Início da Idade Moderna. Contextos e Ideias (FCT/483/15/01/2019/S) se inscreve no Programa FCT de Cooperação Científica e Tecnológica FCT/Eslováquia para o biénio 2019/2020. Apesar das suas diferenças cronológicas, temáticas e mesmo linguísticas (uso do latim para o primeiro e das línguas vernáculas para o segundo), une-os a investigação em torno de livros, ainda que diferentes. Se no primeiro o enfoque é colocado na edição crítica de textos redigidos no século XIII, no segundo procura-se compreender a formação de comunidades textuais em função da utilização diferenciada de textos traduzidos maioritariamente no período tardomedieval. Em paralelo, João Rebalde apresentou o projeto From Data to Wisdom. Philosophizing Data Visualizations in the Middle Ages and Early Modernity (13th-17th Century) [AAC nº 02/SAICT/2017 – Nr. 029717], tendo insistido nos pressupostos metodológicos associados ao tratamento da informação e sua visualização. O projeto conta sobre a larga produção medieval nesta matéria para a produção de modelos que serão objeto de uma atualização digital. Por último, o Instituto de Filosofia acolhe um projeto na área da conservação, dedicado ao Estudo e Valorização da Biblioteca do Convento de Vilar de Frades, Barcelos (253/DRCN/201). Motivado primeiramente pela necessidade de tratar um acervo bibliográfico proveniente do antigo convento loio de Vilar de Frades, a catalogação e a investigação sobre o referido acervo provaram que este último, mais do que resultado de uma acumulação pelos cónegos que o habitaram desde tempos tardomedievais, foi resultado do transporte para Barcelos de uma porção de códices depositados em Lisboa, na sequência da centralização das bibliotecas monástico- conventuais realizada após a extinção das ordens religiosas de 1834.

8 A história medieval esteve igualmente presente no workshop através da apresentação de projetos que partilham uma ligação à cidade medieval. Desde logo, por via dos mesteres, que nela se desenvolvem com maior diversidade e complexidade. Com o projeto apresentado por Arnaldo Sousa Melo (MEDCRAFT – Crafts Regulation in Portugal in Late Middle Ages: 14th-15th Centuries) [PTDC/HAR-HIS/3142//2017] [LAB2PT], pretende-se estudar, de forma comparativa, a diversa regulamentação relacionada com a atividade dos mesteres, em ordem a uma melhor apreensão dos sistemas de regulação e de práticas sociais desses profissionais, em sintonia com as relações do grupo com os poderes instituídos. Esta ligação entre um grupo específico e as autoridades “públicas” encontra-se igualmente presente no projeto OECONOMIA STUDII – Funding Management and Resources of the Portuguese University: a comparative analysis (13th-16th centuries) [PTDC/ EPHHIS/3154/2014] apresentado por Hermenegildo Fernandes. Destinado a estudar a evolução diacrónica e tipológica das fontes de financiamento da Universidade de Lisboa-Coimbra, a operacionalização do projeto tem permitido alcançar novos patamares, nomeadamente através da conectividade da respetiva base de dados com outras bases de dados respeitantes à universidade medieval e moderna no espaço europeu.

9 Ligados ao Instituto de Estudos Medievais, foram apresentados um projeto na área da Literatura por Graça Videira Lopes (STEMMA. From Singing to Writing: Survey on Material Production and Routes of Galician-Portuguese Lyric) [PTDC-LLT-EGL/30984/2017] e um outro em História de Arte – mas com ligações evidentes à História e à Química e às Ciências do Restauro – por Catarina Barreira Fernandes (Cistercian Horizons: Studying and Characterizing a Medieval Scriptorium and its Production. Alcobaça. Local Identities and

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Liturgical Uniformity in Dialogue) [PTDC/ART-HIS/29522/2017], ambos iniciados nos finais de 2018. As duas investigadoras responsáveis centraram a sua atenção nos processos de elaboração da candidatura, bem como nas opções tomadas para responder aos critérios do call e nos objetivos de cada um dos projetos. Foi visível igualmente uma preocupação comum em atingir os outputs fixados, sendo de destacar, sobretudo no segundo caso, o trabalho já realizado em termos de promoção e apresentação do projeto no estrangeiro.

10 A mesma interdisciplinaridade transparece num outro projeto, dedicado ao estudo da dieta alimentar como via para aceder a um mais apurado conhecimento da organização socioeconómico das populações muçulmanas e cristãs no Portugal medieval. Nessa perspetiva, Anne-France Maurer e Hermínia Vilar (TRANSCULTURAL. History Archaeology and Anthropo-biogeochemistry of Medieval Populations in Portugal During the 10th-14th Centuries AD. Culture, Identities and Inter-Culturality Decoded via a Dietary and Mobility Study) [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031599] elencaram os objetivos principais do projeto e sublinharam as suas limitações. Ainda que centrado na arqueologia, o recurso a um conjunto variado de ciências biológicas e químicas – durante muito tempo estranhas aos medievalistas – viabilizou uma aproximação, bastante eficaz e pedagógica, sobre as metodologias de trabalho pensadas para o projeto, reveladoras de uma investigação entrecruzada entre a História, a Arqueologia e a Antropo-biogeoquímica.

11 Miguel Metelo de Seixas apresentou os resultados já alcançados pelo projeto In the Service of the Crown. The use of Heraldry in royal political Communication in Late Medieval Portugal, financiado pela Fundação Volkswagen. Na explicitação dos seus objetivos e das atividades realizadas, salientou, como um dos principais resultados do projeto, a inserção do estudo da heráldica medieval portuguesa na historiografia europeia sobre o tema, sem esquecer a necessária valorização do património heráldico português no seio da Academia e fora dela.

12 Por último, Alicia Miguélez Cavero (COST Action – The Islamic Legacy: Narratives from North, South, East and West (1350-1750) [CA 18129] sublinhou as características principais das atividades e outputs previstos pela Ação COST na qual participa. Tais ações, pela possibilidade de congregar diferentes investigadores em torno de uma ou de várias temáticas em comum, assume-se como uma plataforma privilegiada de investigação, não somente para networking, mas também para a partilha de dados e de experiências, cada vez mais importantes no crescimento científico dos investigadores.

13 Fugindo aos cânones tradicionais de um encontro científico, a jornada de debate propiciada pelo “Investigar em Idade Média VI” deixou bem claras as possibilidades de sucesso e as exigências de uma candidatura a um call de projetos nacional ou mesmo internacional. Para além da perseverança, da resiliência, do trabalho, o êxito depende, antes de mais, de uma boa ideia. No final do dia, após um desfile de tantas boas ideias, ficou o desejo, partilhado por investigadores responsáveis e assistência, de que é necessário prosseguir nesta via, consciencializando todos os agentes envolvidos (investigadores, UIs e Faculdades) de que o sucesso não se obtém com amadorismos, antes resulta de um trabalho planeado, consistente e informado. Não foi outra a intenção do presente workshop, sobre o qual não restam dúvidas da sua pertinência e utilidade futuras.

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AUTOR

MÁRIO FARELO

Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1069-061, Lisboa, Portugal [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2905-6564

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