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FORMS OF SCULPTING
For different types of 3-D
carving/casting, see:
Stone Sculpture
Granite, limestone, sandstone
and other rock-types.
Marble Sculpture
Pentelic, Carrara, Parian marbles.
Wood Carving
Chip carving, relief carving of
softwoods and hardwoods.
Bronze Sculpture
Lost-wax (cire perdue) casting
method and others.
BEST WORKS OF SCULPTURE
For a list of the world's top 100
3-D artworks, by the best sculptors
in the history of art, see:
Greatest Sculptures Ever.
BEST SCULPTORS
For a list of the world's most
talented 3-D artists, see:
Greatest Sculptors.
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Fontaine des Innocents
In 1547 Goujon began work on decorations
of the Fontaine des Innocents (Fountain of the Innocents), Paris.
The elongated figures enclosed in tall vertical panels convey a rhythmical
linear pattern of great elegance in the arrangement of their filmy costumes.
Much of these decorations are now on display at the Louvre, including
tall reliefs nymphs, trition and putties. The elongated figures are delicate
and light and display influences of Cellini and the drawings of Francesco
Primaticcio (1504-1570). The decorations, working under the guidance
of Pierre Lescot, occupied Goujon until 1562. The essence of Goujon's
art can be summarised in these works: all exemplifying his characteristic
fluid movements, subtle modelling and rippling folds of drapery.
The Salle des Caryatides in the western
wing of the Louvre contains his most ambitious sculpture. Originally designed
to accommodate court entertainment, the floor is supported by four marble
caryatids (sculpted female figures serving as an architectural support)
in a classical Grecian style. Goujon's figures are draped in sheer cloth,
clearly revealing the bodily forms beneath. This sort of rigorous classical
sculpting, combined with sensuous modelling is archetypal Mannerism.
Other Sculptures by Goujon
Monument to Louis de Brézé
(c.1540, Cathedral, Rouen)
Early in his career Goujon paid service to the past, and this can be seen
in his monument to Louis de Brézé, which owes much to the
traditional northern Flemish handling of architecture, details and figures.
This is an equestrian statue and Brézé is depicted heroically
astride a horse.
The Seasons: Spring and Summer (1550-56,
Hôtel Carnavalet, Paris).
Goujon and his workshop decorated the court façade of the Hôtel
Carnavalet with four bas-reliefs, spanning between five windows of the
main floor. They represent the Seasons: Spring (a young man), Summer (Ceres,
goddess of the harvest), Autumn (Bacchus, god of wine and grape gathering)
and Winter (an old woman). The complex folds in the drapery of his characters
is characteristic of Goujon's style.
Diane and the Stag (1550-54, Louvre,
Paris)
In the 18th century, this marble statue was attributed to Goujon, but
others attribute it to a painter’s hand. Its designer may well in
fact have been Primaticcio, or one of his students. The statue type was
first introduced by Cellini in 1543 at Fontainebleau, and its Italian
Mannerist style, makes the author more likely to be an Italianized Frenchman.
There is no record of any work executed
after 1562. It is possible that Goujon was persecuted because of protestant
Huguenot tendencies, and left France and died in Bologna. Beloved by classicists,
his style of sculpture was popularised throughout France by engravings
by artists of the School of Fontainebleau.
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