Claus Sluter

Dutch sculptor

• Born: c. 1340-1350
• Birthplace: Probably Haarlem, Holland (now in the Netherlands)
• Died: c. 1405-1406
• Place of death: Dijon, Burgundy (now in France)

Sluter’s innovations in creating individually distinct and expressively sculptured figures brought to Western art a new realism. Credited with bridging the late Gothic and the early Renaissance in northern Europe, Sluter and his name are synonymous with the Burgundian school of sculpture.

Early Life

Many details of the life of Claus Sluter (klaoos SLEW-tuhr) have been lost, as have many of the sculptures he created. What is known of his early life is that he was born in Haarlem, and around 1379 or 1380, he moved to Brussels. Some historians believe that while in Brussels, Sluter created the sculpture for the porch of the Brussels Town Hall. Dated around 1380, the Brussels sculpture, a set of seated prophets, resembles some of the sculpture Sluter created at Champmol, Dijon, later in the decade. The figures at Brussels reveal traces of individualization, the quality that would distinguish Sluter’s art. Up to this time, figures depicted with individually distinct characteristics, although slightly detectable at the time, were unusual in Europe. Sculptural figures were generally solemnly posed and rigid, presenting abstract representations rather than individual characterizations. Personal details such as hair, beards, and clothing were stylized in formal patterns rather than depicted naturally.

Sculpture was also usually subordinated to the architecture it was intended to decorate, confined within the niches in which it was enclosed or barely distinguished from the columns on which it was mounted. After sculptors completed their work, statues were provided with personal details by painters. This polychromatic process was the common artistic practice through Sluter’s time and continued well into the sixteenth century. As for the figures on the Brussels Town Hall, historians hesitate to attribute them to Sluter because of scanty evidence. In addition, although the sculptures reveal qualities of individual expression, Sluter did not single-handedly introduce sculptural realism. The work that he would complete in the next two decades, however, would more than any other sculpture contribute to its development. The Town Hall sculpture, therefore, regardless of attribution, provides early examples from which to study Sluter’s development. The sculpture reveals the degree to which Sluter developed his own style in contrast to his early work and that of his contemporaries.

Life’s Work

In 1385, Sluter went to Dijon, the center of the duchy of Burgundy. Rich and prosperous, the duchy of Burgundy was the source of one of the great ages of artistic patronage, promoting the most talented architects, sculptors, stained-glass designers, illuminators, and painters from all over Europe. Sluter worked for the court of Philip the Bold, the duke of Burgundy. Philip was a brother to Jean de France, the duke of Berry, and to Charles V, the king of France. The three projects that have established Sluter’s reputation were commissioned by Philip the Bold for the monastery he founded, the Chartreuse of Champmol.

Arriving at Philip’s court, Sluter worked as the head sculptor under another artist, Jean (Hennequin) de Marville. Marville had designed the architectural and iconographic scheme for the Champmol portal when he died in 1389. Sluter, now responsible for completing the project, created the six figures adorning the portal the Virgin and Child, flanked by a kneeling duke and duchess (Philip and Margaret), and Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine. Canopies frame each figure except for those of the Virgin and Child, whose canopy, now missing, was decorated with angels bearing the instruments of the Passion. The corbels on which Saint John and Saint Catherine stand depict two prophets reading a manuscript. The corbels bearing Philip and Margaret are decorated with shield bearers (the same figures that are said to resemble the statues on the Brussels Town Hall).

The composition of the Virgin and Child in the center pillar, or trumeau, flanked by propitiating prophets and patrons, is traditional. Sluter’s modeling of the figures is far from traditional, however, as the bodies suggest movement, and their faces evoke emotion. The canopies or niches no longer frame the figures, which are positioned so that they turn toward the Virgin holding Christ. Saint John and Saint Catherine, about to kneel, emphasize the inward movement; each knee points to and breaks the space occupied by Philip and Margaret.

The movement and unity of the scene are enhanced by Sluter’s modeling of the drapery. The figures’ clothes fall into heavy diagonal folds, and the natural breaks in the clothes suggest the movement of these robust figures. As the folds of the Virgin’s garb emphasize her swayed pose, the diagonals of her robes meet just above her left hip, on which the Christ child rests, suggesting Mary’s efforts to secure him. The viewer’s eye is now focused on the heavily draped figure of Christ, the thematic and visual center of the scene. The visual and iconographic play continue as Christ is visually distracted, looking up at the angels who carry the instruments of Passion, the symbols of Christ’s eventual suffering. Sluter provided these figures with individual gestures, depicting them with realistic facial features and expressions. This personalized treatment, particularly of Philip and Margaret, was exemplary of the new change in sculpture. The faces are not abstractions or idealized portraits but individual representations. Their solemn expressions are suitable for the emotions that the religious scene demands. Yet Sluter also provided the mundane details revealed in the faces furrowed brows, wrinkled eyes, pursed mouths, and even double chins.

Sluter’s next project was entirely his own, a Calvary scene built in the center of a well in the cloister of the Chartreuse. The sculpture is unquestionably the dominant interest in the structure, also known as the Well of Moses. A large hexagonal base provides the structure for the central and slightly larger-than-life sculptures of six Old Testament figures Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Jeremiah, and David. Each figure, broad-shouldered and heavily modeled, dwarfs the niches and columns and gives the impression that if it were not affixed, it could descend from the pedestal. Angels with varied expressions of grief fly above the Old Testament figures. Their spreading wings support the cornices on which once stood the Calvary scene the Virgin, Saint John, and Saint Mary Magdalene surrounding Christ on the Cross. Only a fragment remains of this scene the head and torso of Christ, which are now in the museum of Dijon.

As is the tradition for religious sculpture, the Old Testament figures are identified symbolically. Each carries a scroll with a text that relates the story of the death of Christ. Breaking with tradition, however, Sluter individualized each figure, which provided distinct physiognomies. Moses possesses a stern, fixed expression, suggesting his anger at the sight of the Jews worshiping the golden calf. Zechariah, with a despondent look suggesting his rejection by his people, bows his head and avoids the viewer’s gaze. Jeremiah and David are sunk in meditation; each is modeled with deeply defined brows that encircle closed eyes. Daniel and Isaiah twist to see and hear each other from around one of the corners of the base, presumably to discuss the advent of Christ, who is traditionally portrayed. Thorns pierce Christ’s brow, and the spear’s wound scars his left side. His nearly emotionless face is outlined by finely detailed long hair and beard; his eyes and mouth are gently closed, portraying the divine man recently crucified.

The architectural plan of Sluter’s final project, the tomb of Philip the Bold at Champmol, was established during Marville’s time. The style was once again traditional. The recumbent figure of the duke is mounted on a black marble slab, and two angels kneel at his head. An open gallery runs along the base of the tomb, and within its niches, forty figures form a procession mourning the duke’s death. Although some of the figures were completed after his death following his design, all the sculpture is attributed to Sluter. The duke’s figure was badly damaged in 1791 and poorly restored in the nineteenth century. The figures in mourning, however, are well preserved and reveal the culmination of Sluter’s development. Ten choirboys, clergy, and thirty mourners weave in and out of the niches, creating an undulating effect around the tomb. Unlike the larger-than-life stature of the sculpture from the Well of Moses, these figures are in miniature, no higher than two feet. Each figure maintains a strikingly fresh pose, and individual gestures rather than detailed facial expressions create the emotional and dramatic effect. Some figures hold their hands in silent prayer or clench them to their chests. With dramatic effect, the hands are highlighted against finely modeled flowing robes, which were perhaps shaped to hint at the position of the hands folded beneath them.

This dramatic and natural rendering of drapery, always Sluter’s trademark, creates excitement in the play between the physical features the viewer sees and those covered by or partially glimpsed through the gowns and robes. Only a hand protrudes from beneath the flowing robes of one mourner; in another, the eyes are hidden and only the lower half of a solemn face appears. Some figures are completely covered, the grief expressed through the swayed or bent figure whose shape underneath can only be guessed.

Sluter died in late 1405 or early 1406, before he completed the tomb. His nephew, Claus de Werve, finished the project in 1410, and historians have no doubt that he closely followed Sluter’s plans. Overall, the tomb reveals the high point of Sluter’s technique. Its monumentality is achieved not by mere stature and size but by subtle and minimal suggestion of individual movement and expression.

Significance

In creating sculptures expressive of human qualities, whether personal emotions or bodily movements, Sluter broke the stylized and static quality of sculpture that was common in the Middle Ages. His work influenced much of the sculpture of the first half of the fifteenth century throughout northern Europe, France, Germany, and the Low Countries, and extended as well into Spain and Switzerland (through the efforts of his assistants). Sluter is often compared to the great Italian masters Donatello and Jacopo della Quercia, who were also transitional figures whose work contributed or led to the high development of Renaissance sculpture.

Sluter’s work helped to establish the independence of sculpture from architecture and painting. No longer would sculpture provide merely the ornament for buildings; it could well be the center of interest, as it would become in the Renaissance. Sculpture, too, could provide the dramatic unity and realism found in painting. Given the realism achieved by Sluter and later sculptors, polychroming would be unnecessary to provide realistic and naturalistic detail. Sluter demonstrated how sculptures attained their own beauty and interest.

Sluter also influenced the development of painting in northern Europe; in particular, his work opened the way for the development of realistic portraiture. While credited with directly or indirectly influencing the work of some of the most important painters the master of Flémalle, Rogier van der Weyden, and Konrad Witz Sluter’s most direct influence was on Jan van Eyck, who worked for the Burgundian court in the generation following Sluter’s death. Sluter is noted as having inspired van Eyck’s interest in painting lifelike compositions that created the three-dimensional effect of sculpture. Indeed, van Eyck and Sluter played similar roles in the development of a basic tenet of Western art: Each, through close attention to detail, created the illusion of reality through his art.

Bibliography

Cartellieri, Otto. The Court of Burgundy. Translated by Malcolm Letts. 1929. Reprint. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1972. In a narrative style, this work re-creates the political and artistic flavor of the fourteenth and fifteenth century Burgundian court. Chapter 2 focuses on Sluter as Philip the Bold’s favorite sculptor and vividly describes Sluter’s life and work at the Champmol monastery. Includes photographs of sculpture.

David, Henri. Claus Sluter. Paris: P. Tisné, 1951. An examination of the artist in French that provides very fine photographic plates of Sluter’s sculptures.

Forsyth, William H. The Entombment of Christ: French Sculptures of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970. Chapter 5, “Burgundy,” explores the history of the duchy of Burgundy and Sluter’s lasting influence in French sculpture well beyond his death and the demise of the political power and independence of Burgundy.

Gardner, Arthur. Medieval Sculpture in France. 1931. Reprint. New York: Kraus, 1969. Historical background of the duke of Burgundy’s artistic efforts at Champmol, featuring Sluter’s work. Excellent description and photographs of individual sculptures.

Male, Emile. Religious Art in France: The Late Middle Ages, a Study of Medieval Iconography and Its Sources. Translated by Marthiel Mathews. Edited by Harry Bober. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1986. Written by one of the most eminent historians of medieval art. Provides an analysis of the iconography of the Well of Moses.

Marks, Richard. “Sculpture in the Duchy and County of Burgundy, c. 1300-1500.” Connoisseur 194 (March, 1977): 154-163. Accounts for the rise of Burgundian sculpture to its primary place among French schools. Explains influence of Netherlandish carvers, notably Sluter. Provides very good photographs and descriptions of sculpture and discusses background to the rise of the duchy of Burgundy’s power and influence in Europe.

Morand, Kathleen. Claus Sluter: Artist at the Court of Burgundy. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991. Discusses Sluter and his artistic work at the court of Burgundy and art patronage in Burgundian France. Includes illustrations, a map, a bibliography, and an index.

Stratford, Neil. Studies in Burgundian Romanesque Sculpture. 2 vols. London: Pindar Press, 1998. A study of the artistic realm so greatly influenced by Sluter. Includes illustrations, a bibliography, and an index.