WILIGELMO

The picture shows a relief on the west fa�ade of the cathedral of San Geminiano in Modena.

Master Wiligelmo worked from 1099 for the cathedral architect Lanfranco in Modena. We know his name due to the inscription which he left over one of the four fa�ade reliefs whose theme is essentially the Book of Genesis. These four reliefs are the starting point of Romanesque sculpture in Italy, and the return to the Classical style is characteristic of Wiligelmo’s figures.

The curse of manual labour fell chiefly on the peasants. It was looked down upon both by the traditional monastic orders, whose only manual activity was the copying and transcribing of manuscripts, and by the knightly classes. However, there are signs that in the twelfth century this attitude was being questioned, with a greater emphasis being placed on the redemptive potential of work. It has been suggested that this change of emphasis is reflected in the unusual labouring scene in the sculptural frieze at Modena cathedral, in which both Adam and Eve, dressed as peasants, till the soil with hoes.

The picture shows a relief on the west fa�ade of the cathedral of San Geminiano in Modena.

Master Wiligelmo worked from 1099 for the cathedral architect Lanfranco in Modena. We know his name due to the inscription which he left over one of the four fa�ade reliefs whose theme is essentially the Book of Genesis. These four reliefs are the starting point of Romanesque sculpture in Italy, and the return to the Classical style is characteristic of Wiligelmo’s figures.

The picture shows one of the four reliefs on the west fa�ade of the cathedral of San Geminiano in Modena. The subjects of the reliefs were taken from the Book of Genesis.

Master Wiligelmo worked from 1099 for the cathedral architect Lanfranco in Modena. We know his name due to the inscription which he left over one of the four fa�ade reliefs whose theme is essentially the Book of Genesis. These four reliefs are the starting point of Romanesque sculpture in Italy, and the return to the Classical style is characteristic of Wiligelmo’s figures.

Wiligelmo’s (or Guglielmo’s) portal for Modena Cathedral is one of the most important surviving examples of Romanesque sculpture in Italy. The ornament is conceived as a series of relief plaques, which cover the fa�ade without becoming an integral part of the architecture. Proven�al and Languedoc reminiscences can be found in the figures of the prophets Daniel and Zacharias, particularly in the drapery, but the influence of antiquity is the decisive one. Because of their simple and broadly handled volumes, their naturalistic conception, and their tendency to take on a separate existence as free-standing statues, the figures seem restricted by the narrow frames of their niches. In all these aspects they are far removed from the prophets at Moissac and Souillac with their flat, linear dynamism.

The picture shows a relief on the west fa�ade of the cathedral of San Geminiano in Modena.

Master Wiligelmo worked from 1099 for the cathedral architect Lanfranco in Modena. We know his name due to the inscription which he left over one of the four fa�ade reliefs whose theme is essentially the Book of Genesis. These four reliefs are the starting point of Romanesque sculpture in Italy, and the return to the Classical style is characteristic of Wiligelmo’s figures.