Word: gislebertus
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...France last week, Gislebertus was enjoying a sudden spurt of fame. Just out was a scholarly book about him (Gislebertus: Sculpteur d'Autun; Trianon Press), and an exhibition of photographs of his sculpture let the public see clearly details that in the Autun church are set too high or lit too dimly for close inspection. The French were obviously delighted by their new celebrity. Culture Minister Andre Malraux pronounced Gislebertus "a Romanesque Cézanne...
...look at the Autun cathedral. As he gazed up at the vaulted ceiling, he noticed high in the apse a headless figure who seemed to be a Christ. The unusual pose-knees turned out as if the legs were bowed-and the perforated drapery recalled the Christ bearing Gislebertus' signature. Was it possible that Gislebertus had done the entire cathedral...
...turned by the genius of one man into a rare treasure house. Except for two capitals by a fellow "master mason of freestone" and some minor pieces done by assistants all of which were destined for dark and obscure places-every column and figure in the cathedral bears the Gislebertus touch...
...play upon the relief. No contemporary had his gift with drapery; each figure's clothes mold the body while the spiraling folds and pleats seem in places to hang as if the stone were gossamer, in other places to billow before the wind. According to Expert Zarnecki, the Gislebertus touch was copied by anonymous artists in other churches of the 12th century. But whatever his influence, his work at Autun is the greatest achievement in Romanesque art by a single...
Aside from the figure of Christ, whose out-turned knees and outstretched hands register perfect compassion, the most striking of all Gislebertus' figures is that of Eve. Though delicate foliage shields part of her body, she is still a full-bodied nude. The deep relief-over five inches-makes her almost a figure in the round. But it is her personality, not her beauty, that is so tantalizing. She is almost nonchalant as she reaches, without even looking, for the apple. In her eyes, once bright with colored paste, there is the faraway look of the habitual daydreamer...