FRANCE THE HERITAGE OF CLAUS SLUTER

It is tempting to consider fifteenth-century Bnrgundian sculpture solely from the angle of its dependence on Sluter—so evident is the great master’s mark—and to exaggerate the degree of his influence outside the boundaries of Burgundy. That, however, would he inaccurate, for the nuances introduced by the sculptor’s successors ar the head of the dncal workshop of Dijon diversified and transformed even the specifically Sluterian language. And in the other French provinces, the taste for individuahzed faces, for ample forms and draperies, did not necessarily signify a Burgundian influence but also followed the general trends of the period.
The temperament of Claus de Werwe, who completed the tomb of Phihp the Bold after the death of his uncle Claus Slutcr in 1406, opposed Sluterian vehemence by a calmer sensibility, full of a lyricism tempered with gentleness, as revealed in the Christ on the Cross at Saint— Bnigne in Dijon, which is attributed to him. Jean de La Huerta, of Aragonese origin, who after Claus de Werwe’s death in 1439 was made responsible in 5443 for carving the tomb of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria, brought more forcefulness and complexity into  his creations; more search for effect into the drapery of his figures.
Some fifty years after Champ mol, the Virgin and Child and the John the Baptist in the church of Rouvres, probably carved by Jean de La Huerta for the mayor of Dijon, Philippe Mchefoing, still followed in the tradifion of Sluter’s works but without retaining their unusual vitality, despite the remarkable beauty of the flowing draperies, owing to a certain heaviness acquired by the figure types.
Numerous sculptures of the first half of the fifteenth century have been located in the two masters’ sphere of influence by comparison with rare authenticated works like the angels and mourners of the ducal tombs. A charac teristi series of Virgins of meek aspect small, thick—lidded eyes, slightly elongated and pointed nose, ball-shaped chin and round cheeks , enveloped with clothes that are heavy but animated by simple and subsiding folds, seems akin to the art of Claus de Werwe (Virgin and Child of Mcillysur—Rouvres). Other feminine figures in stone or alabaster exhibit square faces with more sharply defined features, often slightly sulky expressions and hair sprinkled with little hook—like curls, typical of the sculptures attributed to the chisel ofJean de La Huerta.
Reproduced in a workshop or imitated by various hands, the same models with minor variants were thus adopted for the facial types, the iconographic formulas and compositional schemes of the draperies (Virgin and Child statues at Auxonne, about 5447, at Pluvault, in the cathedral of Autun and at Sully). The short silhouette of some Virgins could be particularly broadened by the movement of the large mantle passing over the free arm, which moves far out ftom the body. This type of drapery, distantly derived from the art of Champmol, gave rise to different stylistic intcrpretafiuns of lugh quality (Virgin and Child at Bzouotte, at Poligny, and in the rue de la Porte-auxLions in Dijon, today in the Louvre). But the less skilful Burgundian sculptors did not always prevent the solid plasticity of these figures from becoming ponderous, the fullness of the drapery from verging on heaviness, and their expressive values from lapsing into monotony.