SAM FOGG PRESENTS ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC SCULPTURE

Monday, 16 April 2007 21:15

LONDON - Sam Fogg will hold an exhibition of Romanesque and Gothic Sculpture comprising carvings in wood, stone, marble and alabaster dating from the 11^th to the 16^th century, at his gallery at 15d Clifford Street, London W1, from Thursday 14 June to Friday 13 July 2007. The exhibition is staged as part of London Sculpture Week, which is being held for the fourth time from 14 to 22 June when a number of London’s most respected dealers feature a wide variety of sculpture dating from antiquity to the present day.  This will also be Sam Fogg’s fourth medieval sculpture exhibition.  It will focus on the period when the Romanesque and then the Gothic styles prevailed in Western Europe, a formative time in the development of European sculpture as a whole which saw the emergence of ‘sculpture in the round’, i.e. free-standing sculpture independent of any architectural structure.

Spanning over 500 years, the exhibition is broad in scope showing a diverse array of sculpture from a wide geographical area.  Surviving often in a fragmentary state, these works of art are to be presented in a new light, independent of their original setting.  Sam Fogg recognizes the powerful resonance of these objects as independent sculptures and not just as surviving remnants of a glorious past. Whilst medieval sculpture has been the subject of collecting for over a hundred years, with such prominent figures as Sir William Burrell, William Randolph Hearst, George Grey Barnard and John D. Rockefeller, Jr, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in this field. Fogg’s clients include major museums around the world buying for their Medieval galleries, but he has also witnessed a younger group of collectors who are seeking impressive pieces of Romanesque and Gothic art to enhance modern interiors.

Fogg will be exhibiting a piece from the collection of William Randolph Hearst, a monumental early 16^th century bronze lectern, from Belgium, Dinant or Meuse valley. The lectern is in the form of a magnificent eagle spreading its wings and perching upon a ball on a columnar support and a tripartite base with lion feet.  This is characteristic of eagle-form lecterns from the Meuse valley  It might be compared to the lectern of Jean de Joés at the Church of Notre Dame in Tongern.  What makes the Hearst lectern so exceptional is that it remains largely intact.

One of the highlights of this London exhibition will be a standard carried in procession by the Confraternity of the Holy Blood in Bruges, c. 1480-1500.  This unique object shows Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, receiving the Relic of the Holy Blood from the Patriarch of Jerusalem.  Until its recent discovery by Fogg the standard was known only from an 18^th century drawing by Johan van Steelant in manuscript about the confraternity, and was presumed lost for 200 years.

Another German wood sculpture of note is a standing Virgin and Child carved in the round by an artist close to the German sculptor Gregor Erhart (1465-1540), Augsburg, circa 1495.  It is identifiable by the crescent moon on which she stands as the ‘Woman of the Apocalypse’, a type familiar from the Rhineland and Southern Germany in the mid to late 15^th century.  Considerable care has been taken in the carving of the Christ Child who is animated in poise and expression.  He has fleshy cheeks and a smile upon his lips which combine to make a charming and attractive figure, unusually naturalistic for a work of this date when children were more likely to be portrayed as small adults. 

Other sculptures in the round include a standing figure of Saint Nicaise from Northern France, of the late 14^th century.  The holy martyr Saint Nicaise is presented here holding the top of his head in his hands.  This figure can be compared with the statue of Saint Peter in Normandy, Calvados, in Le Fournet parish church.  There will also be a large standing Virgin and Child group from Flanders, around 1280.  Notable for its early date, this group has proved difficult to attribute.  It appears to be a high quality yet provincial interpretation of the formal developments evident in earlier 13^th century Parisian ivories and cathedral sculpture.  The stylistic similarities can be found in such works as the ivory Virgin and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle (c. 1250-60).

Romanesque art refers to the period from about 1000 to the rise of Gothic art in the 12^th century, which developed in conjunction with the rise of monasticism in Western Europe and particularly France, but also included Christian Spain, England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere.  The name was coined by 19^th century art historians, as it was the first time since ancient Rome that Roman architectural forms were clearly used.  A splendid example of Romanesque sculpture in this exhibition is a large crouching lion, Southern Italy, Campania or Apulia, dating from the late 12^th or early 13^th century. 

Sam Fogg is a specialist in the art of the European Middle Ages with departments also focusing on Islamic and Indian art.  The company was established 25 years ago and presents impressive exhibitions and well researched publications, breaking new ground in the fields of medieval sculpture, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, Ethiopian and Armenian art, Islamic calligraphy and Indian paintings.  His clients include numerous private collectors as well as some of the world’s major institutions.

Visit Sam Fogg Gallery at : 15d Clifford Street, London W1S 4JZ - Tel. +44 (0) 20 7534 2100, www.samfogg.com