GISLEBERTUS

Master Gislebertus was one of the greatest sculptors of the Middle Ages, who inscribed his name on the tympanum of the main portal of the Sainte-Lazare Cathedral at Autun. The majority of the capitals in the interior of the cathedral are also ascribed to him; most of them are on pilasters and therefore remain firmly connected to the surface. His sculptures are some of the most human, touching works that exist in Romanesque sculpture. The original capitals were removed and are on display in the Mus�e Rolin near to the Cathedral.

The Dream of the Magi, the capital originally on the east side of the north-east crossing pillar, shows the three crowned figures together under a large, round cover. Two of them are still asleep, but the third has already been woken by the movingly gentle touch of the angel who is pointing the star out to him.

This scene representing Eve was originally on the door lintel of the former north transept portal of the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare in Autun.

Eve is sensuous and seductive like no other in Romanesque art. She is presumably also a work of that Gislebertus who signed the tympanum. The figure of Adam has been lost. Supporting only by her right elbow and knees, Eve is moving through the Garden of Eden as if she were the serpent itself. She is looking towards Adam, to whom she is whispering instructions to do what she has just done, using her right hand, holding against her mouth, to amplify what she is saying; her left hand is reaching behind her, in order to pick the apple on a branch which is being bent towards her by the clawed hand of her seducer. The presence of her feminine nudity is heightened further by the anatomically exaggerated way in which her upper body is turned towards the observer.

On the main portal of the Cathedral, the Last Judgment is on display in the tympanum, and its centre Christ is enthroned in a gloriole held by angels. Each of the sides is split into two registers with the architrave underneath. The upper one shows the enthroned Virgin Mary and two apostles as observers of the judgment. In the lower register, to the right of Christ, eight apostles stand, facing the enthroned figure in the manner of petitioners. St Peter with the keys is guarding the entrance to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is represented as an arcaded structure, and into which the resurrected are laboriously trying to squeeze with the assistance of an angel.

On the opposite side, in one of the most graphic scenes in Romanesque sculpture, the Weighing of the Souls is taking place between the Archangel Michael and the Devil, and behind them stands Luxuria with snakes at her breasts. Behind Michael’s back, facing Christ, is the twelfth apostle, who is opening the Book of Life that is being weighed for the Judge. The architrave depicts the resurrected being separated into the Redeemed and the Damned by an angel in the centre. The procession of the Elect on the left, which includes two pilgrims, contrasts with the army of the Damned on the right. This frightened crowd is apprehensively and fearfully moving towards the spot where the poor sinners are grasped by the hand of the Devil and pulled into a dreadful Hell. The medallions on the outer archivolts, with the labours of the months and signs of the Zodiac are a reference to the larger cosmic context of the Last Judgment.

The tympanum in Autun is especially vivid due to the elongation of the figures which, depending on the proportions, almost revokes their corporeality. Added to this is a sense of drama in the contrast of Good and Evil, for instance in the Weighing of the Souls, which could scarcely be more graphic. And strategically located right in the middle of the Last Judgment, in the area at the bottom of the mandorla where it touches the architrave, at the feet of Christ and yet above the angel separating the Elect and the Damned, the sculptor inscribed his signature: GISLEBERTUS HOCFECIT - “Gislebertus made this.” Placed here right in the visual centre of the tympanum, his signatures elevates him - and his exceptional work into a divine sphere.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem K 626: Dies irae

The picture shows the Weighing of Souls, a detail from the Last Judgment tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun. The Saint Lazare tympanum is from the hand of the mysterious “Gislebertus,” about whom we know nothing other than his signature on the work. The presentation of the Last Judgment with its accompanying themes is a little confused, but the detail of the Weighing of the Souls displays features characteristic of the Autun style: figures exaggeratedly elongated, the realism of gesture and expression overstated, a predominantly picturesque mood, and the clear influence of mystery plays. The execution is somewhat dry, subordinated as it is to both the spirit of invention and the urge to fill all available space. The result, however, is an extraordinary and truly expressionistic work of art. The devils casting the terrorized sinners into hell have a power rarely achieved.

In one of the most graphic scenes in Romanesque sculpture, the Weighing of the Souls is taking place between the Archangel Michael and the Devil, and behind them stands Luxuria with snakes at her breasts. Behind Michael’s back, facing Christ, is the twelfth apostle, who is opening the Book of Life that is being weighed for the Judge.

In one of the most graphic scenes in Romanesque sculpture, the Weighing of the Souls is taking place between the Archangel Michael and the Devil, and behind them stands Luxuria with snakes at her breasts. Behind Michael’s back, facing Christ, is the twelfth apostle, who is opening the Book of Life that is being weighed for the Judge.

In Autun in Burgundy, where the relics of St Lazarus had been brought in the eight century, The Cathedral of Saint-Lazare was built between 1120 and 1146. On the main portal, the Last Judgment is on display in the tympanum, and its centre Christ is enthroned in a gloriole held by angels. Each of the sides is split into two registers with the architrave underneath. The upper one shows the enthroned Virgin Mary and two apostles as observers of the judgment. In the lower register, to the right of Christ, eight apostles stand, facing the enthroned figure in the manner of petitioners. St Peter with the keys is guarding the entrance to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is represented as an arcaded structure, and into which the resurrected are laboriously trying to squeeze with the assistance of an angel.

On the opposite side, in one of the most graphic scenes in Romanesque sculpture, the Weighing of the Souls is taking place between the Archangel Michael and the Devil, and behind them stands Luxuria with snakes at her breasts. Behind Michael’s back, facing Christ, is the twelfth apostle, who is opening the Book of Life that is being weighed for the Judge. The architrave depicts the resurrected being separated into the Redeemed and the Damned by an angel in the centre. The procession of the Elect on the left, which includes two pilgrims, contrasts with the army of the Damned on the right. This frightened crowd is apprehensively and fearfully moving towards the spot where the poor sinners are grasped by the hand of the Devil and pulled into a dreadful Hell. The medallions on the outer archivolts, with the labours of the months and signs of the Zodiac are a reference to the larger cosmic context of the Last Judgment.

The tympanum in Autun is especially vivid due to the elongation of the figures which, depending on the proportions, almost revokes their corporeality. Added to this is a sense of drama in the contrast of Good and Evil, for instance in the Weighing of the Souls, which could scarcely be more graphic. And strategically located right in the middle of the Last Judgment, in the area at the bottom of the mandorla where it touches the architrave, at the feet of Christ and yet above the angel separating the Elect and the Damned, the sculptor inscribed his signature: GISLEBERTUS HOCFECIT - “Gislebertus made this.” Placed here right in the visual centre of the tympanum, his signatures elevates him - and his exceptional work into a divine sphere.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 3 minutes):

Guiraud de Bornelh: Reis Glorios

The picture shows a detail of the tympanum in the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare.

Master Gislebertus was one of the greatest sculptors of the Middle Ages, who inscribed his name on the tympanum of the main portal of the Sainte-Lazare Cathedral at Autun. The majority of the capitals in the interior of the cathedral are also ascribed to him; most of them are on pilasters and therefore remain firmly connected to the surface. His sculptures are some of the most human, touching works that exist in Romanesque sculpture. The original capitals were removed and are on display in the Mus�e Rolin near to the Cathedral.

In contrast to the Flight into Egypt, the suicide by hanging of Judas is a scene of anger and terror of evil, which Gislebertus depicted in the tympanum with just as much vividness as the more positive emotions of mankind. The betrayal of Christ was inspired by the Devil, and two other devilish figures appear here, helping Judas to hang himself. Nonetheless, the triangle formed by their heads gives the composition a sense of balance which expresses the human misery of despair in devastating fashion.

Master Gislebertus was one of the greatest sculptors of the Middle Ages, who inscribed his name on the tympanum of the main portal of the Sainte-Lazare Cathedral at Autun. The majority of the capitals in the interior of the cathedral are also ascribed to him; most of them are on pilasters and therefore remain firmly connected to the surface. His sculptures are some of the most human, touching works that exist in Romanesque sculpture. The original capitals were removed and are on display in the Mus�e Rolin near to the Cathedral.

The Flight into Egypt, capital on the pillar opposite to that holding the Dream of the Magi, shows Mary who is looking at us in an almost personal manner, showing us her child. She seems to be floating on the donkey rather than sitting on him, a position similar to the enthroned Madonna and Child. But the sculptor has given his own interpretation to the hieratic “sedes sapientiae”; the mother’s head is slightly bowed, and her arm, laid protectively around her child, creates a scene of human profoundness and sensitivity.

The sculpted tympanum is an important innovation of Romanesque sculpture. It began to be used extensively for figurative sculpture in the first quarter of the twelfth century, particularly in France and northern Spain. Gislebertus’s tympanum at Autun Cathedral, representing the Last Judgment, is an example.

On the tympanum of the west portal of the cathedral of Saint-Lazare, the Last Judgment is represented. It is dominated by the judging Christ in his aureole, which here assumes enormous dimensions (the height of the figure of Christ is 305 cm). To his right appear apostles, angels, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and Mary. To his left we see dramatically rendered weighing of souls, where an angel carefully holds a scales with the chosen ones.

To the right of Christ is St Michael, who weighs the risen souls, represented as manikins, in a giant scale which a small demon is trying to tip. To the left of Christ is St Peter, who welcomes the souls of the blessed in heaven. In and below the lintel, Adam and Eve can be identified among the blessed, together with a monk and pilgrims from Jerusalem and Santiago di Compostela. These last are identifiable by their respective emblems of a cross and a scallop shell.

This detail of the Last Judgment tympanum shows the separation of the Chosen and the Damned, and the signature of Gislebertus.