Stained Glass in the Southern
Netherlands, 1510-1550: The Quest for the Renaissance.
Hesitations and Affirmations
Isabelle Lecocq.
Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels
The five stained glass
windows in the apse of the cathedral Saints-Michael-and-Gudula
at Brussels (1524-1530), constitute an exceptional
ensemble which illustrates the introduction of the
Renaissance style into the Low Countries. They were
donated by prestigious patrons, e.g. the emperor Maximilian,
Margaret of Austria, regent of the Low Countries,
and other members of the Habsburg family. They all
conform to the same type of composition. Members of
the imperial family are shown kneeling in prayer before
a saint, in front of a curtain and below a baldachin.
Above this, a towering canopy is decorated with floating
banners. In the three central windows (1524-1530),
the three-bay architectural framework seems rather
sober. Mixed in amongst Renaissance ornamental motifs
(columns in the shape of a baluster, scrollwork, medallions
with profile portraits, etc.), gothic motifs (lancet
windows and trefoil arches) can still be discovered.
In the two outermost windows (1527-1530), the composition
remains the same, but accumulated ornamental motifs
lead to greater confusion, and the formal repertory
shows greater variety. A number of new motifs is integrated
into the canopies, as, for instance, pediments, shell
motifs, and moldings.
There is still a problem
concerning the attribution of these windows. They
have been realized following models which could be
qualified as 'gothico-renaissant'; Jan Van Roome,
of Brussels, is one of the best representatives of
this style. Works attributed to him with certainty,
on the basis of archival documents, show great complexity,
especially in the architectural framework, conceived
in a very ornamental manner. For instance, in the
seals realized after his designs, balusters are used
as ornament rather than as structural supportsA?; they
appear in the same role in the windows of the apse
of Saint Michael's.
The window donated
by Philip the Handsome and Johanna of Castile can
be related to an unpublished drawing, bound in with
a manuscript in the Royal Library at Brussels (MS
G.1556, Fonds Goethals), and which evidently is a
rejected design. There are important differences,
especially in the architectural backdrop and ornament.
The drawing shows a more legible composition. The
use of vertical elements is significant in this perspective.
In the window, the architecture is rhythmically subdivided
by balusters, seven in number, which in some cases
no longer fulfill their original function as structural
supports, because they are used as pendants. In the
drawing, the vertical elements (pilasters rather than
balusters, it seems), on the contrary are less in
number and more discreet. Their primary role is to
underscore the architectural structure. The ornamental
repertory is clearly different. Gothic reminiscences,
still present in the window, as for instance cabbage
leaves, can no longer be found in the drawing, where
markedly Italianate ornament, as for instance shell
motifs, abound. This analysis shows that the gothic
tradition was not abandoned in a linear fashion. The
quest for a new language was conducted in parallel
on many fronts. Amongst the routes explored at the
time, some were withheld, others not. Thus the gothic
style progressively merged into the Renaissance style,
more rapidly or more reluctantly, depending on the
personal sensibility of the patrons.
<<BACK
|
