Abstract
'Gothic' term represents medieval art that carries a strange history. The style of art developed in Northern France and spread to the rest of Western Europe. Late Gothic art expanded well into the 16th century before getting consumed by the Renaissance art. Gothic period carries splendid examples of sculptures, stained glass, fresco, panel painting, ivories and illuminated manuscripts. The essay offers a perspective on the popularity of Gothic ivories and how they encouraged the devotional practice. The ivory diptychs were used as sophisticated tools and were seen as physical vestiges of the divine. Gothic ivories were the visual cues that were needed by viewers for the presence of the sacred. The paper discusses the use of ivory and the demand of ivory diptychs that guided the user through various spiritual exercises and prayers. The visual metaphors prompted proper adoration of the divine.
Introduction
Gothic art emerged from the Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century towards the end of the 16th century. The term carried a derogatory implication until it was seen in a positive light during the 19th century (Gothic art, 2016).The primary purpose of Gothic art and painting during the period was to decorate the cathedrals. Stained Glass windows, paintings, and sculptures were used to adorn the churches and cathedrals. There was an increasing popularity of the Cult of the Virgin Mary where the images show a tender and intimate relationship.
The essay studies the use of ivory in gothic art and how “Gothic ivories“ came to acquire an important position during the era and ivory statuettes of the Virgin and Child flourished to an extraordinary extent in the Gothic period and why they invoked devotion among masses.
The Gothic art
“Gothic,” term was used in reference to the Nordic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire during the sixth century. Gothic art and architecture too on a new grammar. Gothic cathedral interiors show an upward pull that is symbolic of the heavenly realm. Rich stained-glass windows were central to perception of the cathedral with their shimmering, colored light that reminded one of the heavenly Jerusalem with gold and precious stones (Gothic art, 2016). There was a strong demand for figurative sculptures for the interiors of cathedrals and churches. ‘Gothic’ art progressed from the Romanesque style to Flamboyant, and later when Classicism takes over. Images were drawn from nature and their relationship with private devotional and public church practice (Cambridge, 2005).
The Gothic painting followed the same stylistic development as did the Gothic sculpture. The shift was towards more relaxed and natural figures and expression from the stiff and simple forms. The paintings depicted scenes from the New Testament and focused on Christ and the Virgin Mary. Refined decorations and minute details with work of gold were often seen in the artworks (Gothic art, 2016). Artists sought to add perspective and depth in their artwork. Several Gothic painting during the 14th and 15th centuries worked on subjects such as scenes of hunting scenes and historical events. Gothic art and painting reached its peak during the 14th century. As Gothic supersedes Romanesque, Romanesque is subordinate to Gothic. The decorative trefoils, pointed arch, and flying buttresses expressed Gothic characteristics. Gothic ivories employed a visual strategy and a broad array of media, ornament and iconography (Guérin, 2013). The elaborate architectural frame, cusped arches, and figures of Mary and Christ were a parallel iteration of the Old Testament. Ivory objects, delicate statuettes and diptychs and triptychs made use of ivory and prospered during the Gothic period.
Hard Gothic is seen as a kind of abstraction, pointing to the angular style of drapery that asserted a stubborn autonomy. Later, by the fifteenth century, those stiff creases became soft and were set free of the bodies that supported them (Powell, 2012). An example can be taken from Christ’s painful separation from his mother in an Early Netherlandish painting, where the angular movement his limbs and the zigzag outlines create a discontinuity. In another work- Lamentation, the angular folds of cloth can be seen below Christ’s crooked elbow, as a metaphor for his suffering. The blue cloth draping the Virgin’s head, follows the bend of Christ’s left elbow in angular creases. In a Trinity, the lower half of the Picture is filled with the shroud and angels’ robes (Powell, 2012). The white cloth creates sympathy as it seems to break over Christ’s limbs. Hard-style drapery gave way to rectilinear frames of the Renaissance and later periods. The idealism of international Gothic at 1400 gave way the to bourgeois realism of 1430.
Flatness is the basis of abstraction of Gothic drapery and empathic art celebrates, movement and perceptions of the world. Gothic art is said to be a hybrid of these two poles, and its representation is determined by this counterplay and interplay (Powell, 2012).The abstraction of hard-style drapery relies on the contrast of the colors used. Descriptions of Late Gothic drapery are good but not perfect. The flatness of Gothic drapery creates its historical moment of twentieth-century abstract art. It appears crinkled and brittle (Powell, 2012).
Gothic ivories
Gothic ivories emerged amidst the 13th-century enthusiasm and supply of ivory material for the work improved because of expanding the international trade routes. The blend of ivory and microarchitecture was a primary innovation of the Gothic ivory carvers. The first generation of Gothic ivories belong to the era between 1240 and 1280, and a large number of ivories were decorated with microarchitectural frames (Guérin, 2013).The particular coupling of ivory with microarchitecture was based on the use of silver, wood, gilt and ivory. An example can be taken from Pamplona Cathedral where an ornate construction with gables with rose windows, trefoil arches, and soaring towers can be seen. Those visible manifestations in large scale show the importance of ivory and microarchitecture as a motif and symbol. Gothic ivory cravings show a wide range of physiognomies created during the 13th century in France (Little, 2014).
Looking at “Gothic ivories”, made of the ivory material from different perspective shows a governing metaphor that shapes their configuration and how it incorporates the materiality of ivory itself. Those sacred objects had to distinguish themselves from the ordinary ones of the everyday. The visual arts needed to guide viewers towards divine presence that required a different mode of looking. The important question was how to stage the precious fragments of Christ’s life and sacrifice properly. Christ’s human nature was to balance with his divine nature and thus necessitated a range of strategies for proper presentation (Guérin, 2013). The Gothic Ivories depicted Virgin with the child, engaged in a range of different gestures that emphasized touch and intimacy. The Byzantine theme of the Virgin with her spirited child interested the ivory carvers and the visual representation of touch to highlight the tangible nature of the personified Christ.
The mid-thirteenth and mid-fourteenth century inventories used the term – tabetnaculum for Gothic ivories. A tabernacle of ivory meant images of ivory placed in a case. The tabernacle established a symbolic semantic unit for staging the sacred Christian visual culture. The architectural superstructure that surrounded the divine figures is seen as a strategy to present the holy to the viewer. It was like a sacred vessel carrying the divine contents within. This was a great way to stage the precious body of Christ (Guérin, 2013).
Gothic ivories are more appreciated for their art and less for their meaning. The works can be grouped in three for a systematic study, the monumental carving of Virgin and child, and the diptych with heraldic device and Gothic versus neo-gothic (Little, 2014). There are cumulative examples of ivory carving and their rapid transmission and diffusion in European art during the 12tha and 15th centuries seems to be perplex but offer multiple explanations. There is little known about the first artists who carved Gothic ivories. The lack of information on further gets complicated by the fact that the period known as the golden age of ivory carving saw an important shift in artistic production (Guérin, 2013).. While much remains blurred, evidence points to a complex situation where the educated clerical classes employed religious communities may have played a role in commissioning ivory carvings. Highly polished surfaces carrying reddish and brownish patina was occasionally seen in Byzantine and Gothic ivories. The color was the result of rubbing walnut oil and rubric (Wixom and Boehm, 1999).
Use of ivory
Ivory was a prized material in medieval Europe and used for carving into luxurious and expensive objects. It was used in making precious objects used in church and for ecclesiastical furniture. Artists and patrons in northern Europe revived the art of ivory carving under the gothic period. The golden age of Gothic ivory carving spread from 1230 to 1380 (Guérin, 2016). What made ivory suitable for this tabernacula was that it was a frigid material and thus a chaste one. Thus, ivory was suitable to portray the pure and virginal flesh of Mary. Ivory stood for chastity and gold charity.
The ivory used during the Gothic period came from the African Savannah elephant, and artists aimed for the high-quality dentine that was solid and avoided drier material with hollow pulp cavity (Guérin, 2016). Mediterranean merchants established new shipping route during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that led to bulk shipments of ivory arrive and thus increased the supply of ivory. The first objects made of ivory were statuettes of the Virgin and Child as the material of ivory stood for purity and chastity. Micro-architectural tabernacle was fabricated with ivory, valuable metalwork and use of precious stones. Statuettes and low-relief plaques were arranged in the elaborate and permanent altar (Guérin, 2016). The production and cravings of ivory flourished in an extraordinary way during the gothic period, especially in France. With the rise in the supply of ivory during the fourteenth century, ivory found its way into other everyday objects such as mirrors backs, caskets, combs apart from delicate statuettes and intricately carved diptychs and triptychs (Yvard, 2014).
Economic crises and new political entities disrupting trade routes led to a decline in ivory trade in the late fourteenth century. Still, the demand for ivory did not diminish, and whatever little ivory was available, it was used sparingly and delicately (Guérin, 2016). Prestigious donors commissioned expensive altarpieces, and the ivory carving flourished again in the late fifteenth century. The carving of ivory flourished again in the late fifteenth century with extended European trading routes to Africa and the region that is still known as the Ivory Coast (Guérin, 2016).
Microarchitecture, diptychs, triptychs, and polyptychs
Microarchitecture was not conceived in the thirteenth century, and it is seen to grace, not just the Gothic ivories. However, there is a close artistic relation between micro- and microarchitecture seen in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that differentiate the Gothic phenomenon from its earlier uses. The decorative use of architectural motifs allowed the extensive use of microarchitecture based on creative energies that allowed the fantastic facades, towers, and buildings in miniature scale (Guérin, 2013). Ivory objects such as statuettes and statuette groups for churches and private home collections were made in two panels (diptychs), three panels (triptychs) and many panels (polyptychs). The golden age of Gothic ivory carving spread from 1230 to 1380 (Guérin, 2016).
The popularity of devotional diptychs encouraged their continual production and led to a mass production of devotional diptychs. The same iconographic models were used in different combinations and were enclosed by elaborate micro-architectural frames. The Hermitage diptych was the first Gothic ivories made in about 1240 in northern France. What made them different was that there were no contemporary two-paneled objects in wood, metalwork, or stone (Guérin, 2013). It seems as if Byzantine ivory diptychs were the inspiration behind and carried narrative scenes from the life of Christ. The ivory looks dull but with files and saws, it is made to shine and shaped. In so doing it becomes more material. The carefully wrought scenes of Christ and Virgin Mary present the most sacred tenets of salvation history with the flesh of martyrs carved and scraped metaphorically. The basic format is preserved in miniature polyptychs, with the wings animated with scenes from the infancy of Christ. There is a rigorously planned arrangement in the central portion of the polyptych.
Microarchitecture was used symbolically and deployed an ecclesiastic architectural vocabulary on sacramental structures that was mediated by the church. The appearance of architectural forms solidified the role of the church (Guérin, 2013). Microarchitecture was not created in the 13th century, and nor did it style only ivories in the Gothic period. The ornamental motif was used for a range of media such as mortuary monuments and manuscripts.
How Gothic ivories invoke an image of God
Gothic ivories is installed in the magnificent reliquary of Forefeet, another mid-thirteenth-century. The tripartite arrangement gestures to the viewer the bodily presence of God and motivates him to worship. The Gothic ivories here invokes an image of God instead of the flesh of Christ (Guérin, 2013). Polyptychs consisted of a central panel with Virgin and Child and the side panels showing scenes from the Infancy of Christ. Gothic diptychs and triptychs took inspiration from Byzantine examples of the ninth to eleventh centuries (Guérin, 2016). The folding-model of devotional objects were popular and effective in evoking devotion and prayers because of their sacred narrative. The first planners of Gothic ivory polyptychs drew on drew on parallel visual traditions of Old Testament to design a powerful devotional tool (Guérin, 2013). The Virgin Mary changed from her stiff Byzantine iconic form to a more human one and is shown as an affectionate mother in Gothic ivories.
The outer architectural term alerted the presence of the divine contents and sacred vessel within. Several features such as the facial features are claimed to be part of the Gothic rationale and are stylistically consistent. The evocative interplay between the figures of Virgin and the Child surprise the viewer because of their playful features (Little, 2014).The gesture of intimacy show the bond of love between Christ and Mary, which is characteristic of both Gothic and Renaissance images. The devotional functions of such ivory statuettes of the Virgin and Child show a special glimpse of their use. Made of a variety of materials, they are placed on small altars.
The suffering of Christ the on cross is the central theme in Gothic art. The face and features in the sculptures were done with much more sensitivity so as to make a strong emotional impact (Wixom and Boehm, 1999). Small scale ivory silhouettes of the Virgin and the child in seated and standing postures were common. All of those silhouettes were devotional in nature. The most famous example can be taken from the large standing statue of Virgin and the child from Saint Chapelle in Paris. Those devotional silhouettes emphasize on the intimate tenderness between the Virgin and the Child.
Gothic elegance and refinement can be seen in the miniature scale and intimacy of gestures of the Christ child. There is a sweet expression on his face that carry a freshness. His lively movements and playful engagement with his mother, who looks at him with affection make a strong connection with the viewer. Those interactions between mother and child create a powerful impression of emotive spontaneity, encouraging religious imagination. Small sculptural works weave visual perception leading to a devotional experience. Another tactile property of ivory is that it conveyed a sense of luxury and expense because of its velvety surface. Its whiteness and translucence symbolized Virgin’s luminous purity and the incarnate flesh of Christ. The gentle caress of Virgin’s hand and her quality of touch draws attention to the material delicacy in the purity of the polished ivory surface.
Fake Gothic ivories
The making of ivory objects is looked upon as an extraordinary extent in the Gothic period. Those minutely carved diptychs and triptychs and delicate statuettes along with wonderful caskets and mirror backs are can be seen in collections and museums around the world. Many more ivories have surfaced in auction houses ever since the last survey of Gothic Ivories in 1924 (Ivories, 2012). Scientific examination and an increasing expertise are repaired to evaluate the authenticity of these exquisite objects. The rich collectors of Europe in 19th Century south Gothic ivories more than any other artifacts. None of the surviving Gothic ivories are inscribed or dated. Ivories in Gothic style were carved during the 17th and 18th centuries, and with no intention to deceive. The first fake gothic ivories became active at the beginning of the 19th Century. When the British Museum bought a collection of gothic ivories in 1856, their collection was mostly made of fakes. A Medieval triptych bought by the museum later showed the ivories to be fake, but the wooden frame was indeed medieval. Today, radiocarbon accelerator can help eliminate the fakes (Jones, Craddock, and Barker, 2012).
Looking at Gothic ivories from a different perspective shows how a leading metaphor shaped their configuration, iconography, and composition. The most important implication here is the use of ivory and showing the human nature of the Virgin and the Child, with the divine nature visibly absent. Those three-dimensional ivory statuettes were presented with microarchitectural frames which were used as largescale framing devices that were made of different material such as wood, silver and gilt. Large-scale manifestations of ivory and microarchitecture show the importance of their use as a motif and symbol. It was an elaborate setting t to reflect the significance of the true body of Christ. The appearance of microarchitecture on the Gothic ivories allow us to recognize a pervasive metaphor that ruled several artistic production in the thirteenth century and was composed of medium, iconography, ornament and format. Thus, Gothic ivories were responding to a contemporary concern on how to base images of Christ within an adequate and meaningful display so as to prompt the viewer to worship properly.
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