Style
One of the main characteristics of Gothic sculpture was elegance. However, other changes occurred to sculpture, such as less enjambment into the background architecture, the contrasting of light and dark, and the Praxitlian ‘S’ curve. Gothic style moved away from the Romanesque style by simplification. The greatest change though was in sculptures separation from the architectural. Instead of having figures be created against walls or columns, sculptures were carved away from their supports. Also apparent in the piece is the contrast of shadow and light, made evident by the deep recesses in the clothes fabric. The sculptor of Mary exaggerated the S-curve of her body, a signature element of Gothic style. However, the S-curve did not originate during the Gothic Period of Europe, but well before in Greece. In the 4th century BCE, Greek sculptors were enthralled by the body’s movements and muscles, and tried to capture complete naturalism through the S- curve. For Gothic sculptors, the desired effect was not of body movement, but of elegance and elongation. However, by the beginning of the fourteenth century, or the start of the Late Gothic style, sculptures began to lack in volume. This extension and lightness is evident in Mary’s body.
Read more about this topic: Virgin Of Paris
Famous quotes containing the word style:
“A cultivated style would be like a mask. Everybody knows it’s a mask, and sooner or later you must show yourself—or at least, you show yourself as someone who could not afford to show himself, and so created something to hide behind.... You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.”
—Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980)
“I shall christen this style the Mandarin, since it is beloved by literary pundits, by those who would make the written word as unlike as possible to the spoken one. It is the style of all those writers whose tendency is to make their language convey more than they mean or more than they feel, it is the style of most artists and all humbugs.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)