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Course: Medieval Europe + Byzantine > Unit 10
Lesson 3: Gothic art in France- Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the ambulatory at St. Denis
- St. Denis Ambulatory (quiz)
- Chartres Cathedral
- Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres (quiz)
- The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris (before the fire)
- Reims Cathedral
- Reims Cathedral and World War I
- Amiens Cathedral
- Amiens cathedral
- Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
- Bible moralisée (moralized bibles)
- Saint Louis Bible (moralized bible)
- Saint Louis Bible (moralized bible)
- Humanizing Mary: the Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux
- Jean le Noir, Bourgot (?), and workshop, Miniature of Christ’s Side Wound and Instruments of the Passion from the Prayer Book of Bonne of Luxembourg
- Ivory casket with scenes from medieval romances
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Humanizing Mary: the Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux
Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux, 1324-39, gilded silver, bases-taille enamels on gilded silver, stones and pearls, 68 cm High (Musée du Louvre). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
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- The pomegranate, as shown at1:36, in Catholic symbolism alludes to the Church because of the inner unity of countless seeds in one and the same fruit. Because of its many seeds, it was also a symbol of fertility, and resurrection. It is often seen with the Virgin and Child.(7 votes)
- At1:36, how did pomegranates become symbols of the Resurrection?(5 votes)
- How was something this detailed made? I can't imagine casting producing this level of detail.(2 votes)
- From the author:It was hammered on the inside to create the forms we see.(4 votes)
Video transcript
(bright piano music) - [Male narrator] We're
in the Louvre in Paris, looking at an extraordinary
sculptor from the first half of the 14th Century. - [Female Narrator] This is an
incredibly luxurious object, it's made out of silver, covered in gold. Clearly this was made for
someone very important and very wealthy. - [Male narrator] In addition
to the gold and silver, there's enamel, there are
pearls and there's crystal. - [Female narrator] And she originally wore a crown on her head. - [Male narrator] This
was likely commissioned by the king of France Charles IV
for his wife Jeanne d'Evreux. - [Female narrator] And so this known as the Virgin of Jeanne d'Evreux but this beautiful golden
figure is more than a sculptor. - [Male narrator] It's a reliquary, it was intended to hold
sacred relics associated with the Virgin Mary. It was given to the abbey of St. Denis, just north of Paris,
this was an especially important religious center, it was where the king and queens of France were buried. - [Female narrator] What
make this so typical of the Gothic period, is the extraordinary tenderness we see, between the mother and child. Earlier in the Gothic period we saw Mary, represented very frontally
holding the Christ child, also positioned frontally on her lap but here Christ is propped
up on her hip in a way that seems very natural. - [Male Narrator] And
tenderly touching her mouth with his hand. The frontal image that
you referred to comes out of the Byzantine tradition but as the Virgin Mary
gains increasing prominence in the medieval era
especially in western Europe as the cult of the virgin
grows there is the introduction of new ways of representing her. - [Femal Narrator] Look
at the virgins long neck and the way that tilts gracefully
toward the Christ child. In his left hand, he holds a pomegranate. - [Male Narrator] A
symbol of resurrection, recalling not the beginning
of his life but the end. - [Female Narrator] Which
is not unusual in the images of the virgin and child, we frequently see a foreshadowing of Christs suffering
and death on the cross. - [Male Narrator] But if it
wasn't for the pomegranate, we would have no inkling
of that terrible end because there seems to be nothing but tenderness that's represented here. - [ Female Narrator] We see
this increasing interest in human emotion, in human interaction, here in this small statuesque but we also see it on
the gothic cathedrals that were built in and around Paris. - [Male Narrator] And in
fact in Notre dam de Paris, the major cathedral in the city itself, there is a large sculpture that
looks quite similar to this. It has the same emphasis
on an elegant drapery, on an elegant sway to the body
especially the jutting hip and we see it in the manuscript that had also been owned by this queen that is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in one particular elimination
that shows the annunciation. - [Female Narrator] To me the sway of the body gives the
figure a sense of movement and animation that's incredibly life like but we shouldn't confuse this
with the later contrapposto that develops in the renaissance or that we see in ancient
Greek in Roman sculpture, where we clearly see a bent knee pressing through the drapery and a figure that's in correct proportion. This figure is very elongated
and that sway is not so much created by a body that's realistic but instead on this very
complicated curving of the drapery. - [Male Narrator] The metal
workers who produced this where taking great care with that drapery, I'm particularly fond of the way that her sleeve wraps over her arm. - [Female Narrator] And I
like the way it pulls down at her feet. If we go to the virgins left side, there's this wonderful passage of drapery where it forms a zig-zag
pattern down her legs. - [Male Narrator] The
figure stands on a base that is itself a work of art. - [Female Narrator] The base
is carried by four lions and then we see figures in niches and these frame enamel
scenes showing moments from the life of Christ. So for example, we see the annunciation, where the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive Christ and then as we moved around the reliquary, we get the scenes of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. - [Male Narrator] Enamel is the addition of usually ground colored glass that's heated on a metal surface
and adheres to that surface and creates these lovely
deep colors in this case. - [Female Narrotor] And
it makes sense to me that the prophets are on the base that the Virgin Mary stands on, the prophets are figures
from the old testament who, according to Christian tradition, foretell the coming of Christ and above we see Mary
holding the Christ child. - [Male Narrator] The
sumptuousness of this sculpture, creates a clear relationship
between the political power of the king and queen of
France and the spiritual power that the Virgin Mary and Christ represent. (bright piano music)