PILON.
Germain Pilon (c. 1535-1590),
the greatest sculptor of the later sixteenth century,
was a more powerful artist. In his early years he, too, learned a good
deal from Primaticcio, but he soon developed his own idiom by merging
the Mannerism of Fontainebleau with elements taken from ancient
sculpture, Michelangelo, and the Gothic tradition. His main works are
monumental tombs, of which the earliest and largest was for Henry II and
Catherine de' Medici (fig. 738).
Primaticcio built the architectural framework, an
oblong, freestanding chapel on a platform decorated with bronze and
marble reliefs. Four large bronze statues of Virtues, their style
reminiscent of Fontainebleau's, mark the corners.
On the top of the tomb
are bronze figures of the king and queen kneeling in prayer, while
inside the chapel the couple reappear recumbent as marble gisants,
or nude corpses (fig. 739).
This contrast of effigies had been a characteristic feature of Gothic
tombs since the fourteenth century. The gisant expressed the transient
nature of the flesh, usually showing the body in an advanced stage of
decomposition, with vermin sometimes crawling through its open cavities.
How could this gruesome image take on Renaissance form without losing
its emotional significance? Pilon's solution is brilliant: by idealizing
the gisants he reverses their former meaning. The recum-
bent queen in the pose of a classical Venus and the king in that of
the dead Christ evoke neither horror nor pity but, rather, the pathos of
a beauty that persists even in death. The shock effect of their
predecessors has given way to a poignancy that is no less intense.
Remembering our earlier distinction between the classical and medieval
attitudes toward death ,
this quality may be defined. The Gothic gisant, which
emphasizes physical decay, represents the future state of the body, in
keeping with the whole "prospective" character of the medieval tomb.
Pilon's gisants, however, are "retrospective," yet do not deny the
reality of death. In this union of opposites—never
to be achieved again, even by Pilon himself—lies
the greatness of these figures.
738. GERMAIN PILON and FRANCESCO PRIMATICCIO .
Tomb of Henry II. 1563-70.
Abbey Church of St.-Denis, Paris
739. GERMAIN PILON. Gisants of the King
and Queen,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
739. GERMAIN PILON. Gisants of the King
and Queen,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
739. GERMAIN PILON. Gisants of the King
and Queen,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
739. GERMAIN PILON. Gisants of the King
and Queen,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
GERMAIN PILON.
The Praying figures,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
GERMAIN PILON.
The Praying figure,
detail of the Tomb of Henry II
GERMAIN PILON.
Esquisse pour le gisant du roi
Henri II
GERMAIN PILON.
Monument for the Heart of Henri
II
1560-66
Marble, height 150 cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris
GERMAIN PILON.
Monument for the Heart of Henri
II
1560-66
Marble, height 150 cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris
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Germain Pilon
Germain Pilon, (born 1535, Paris, France—died Feb. 3, 1590,
Paris), French sculptor whose work, principally monumental
tombs, is a transitional link between the Gothic tradition
and the sculpture of the Baroque period.
A sculptor’s son, Pilon was
employed at age 20 on the decoration of the tomb of King
Francis I at Saint-Denis. His earlier work clearly shows an
Italian influence, but eventually he developed a more
distinctively French expression by fusing elements from
classical art, Gothic sculpture, and Michelangelo with the
Fontainebleau adaptation of Mannerism, a style characterized
by subjective conceptions, studied elegance, and virtuoso
artifice.
Pilon’s best-known works
are funerary sculptures for Henry II. It was a custom of the
period for men of high estate to assign their remains to
more than one burial site—often one for the body, one for
the heart, and one for the entrails. Pilon’s monument for
the heart of Henry II (c. 1561) consists of three marble
Graces of great elegance supporting an urn. It was perhaps
based on a design by Primaticcio. For the principal tomb of
Henry II and Catherine de Médicis at Saint-Denis (1563–70),
also designed by Primaticcio, Pilon created four bronze
corner figures and, above, the kneeling figures of the king
and queen in bronze. Most important, however, are the
seminude, marble gisants, or figures of the royal pair
recumbent in death. Considered by some to be his most
sublime achievement, the gisants are a Renaissance
idealization of a Gothic convention and possess a depth of
emotion that Pilon perhaps never again attained.
Sculptor royal from 1568,
Pilon had a successful career as a portraitist, his finest
work in the genre being the kneeling figure of René de
Birague (1583–85). Pilon also created an effigy, Valentine
Balbiani, of Birague’s wife. It is also believed that his
bronze relief Deposition was created for Birague’s private
chapel. Appointed controller of the mint in 1572, he
contributed to French medal casting a distinguished series
of bronze medallions in 1575. Pilon was commissioned to
decorate the Valois Chapel (1559, destroyed 1719) in
Saint-Denis Abbey, and he worked on several marble statues,
among them Risen Christ (begun 1572), that were probably
intended for the chapel but were unfinished at the time of
his death in 1590.
Encyclopædia
Britannica
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