The Ivory Archbishop Scupture donated by Arthur Connolly dates to origins in the sixteenth century Northern Europe. The statue features an archbishop, draped in colored vestments of blue, red, and green. The colors, however, have faded over time and the blue vestments have turned to a muted blue color. The archbishop is holding a small cathedral in his left hand and a crozier in his right hand, and is standing on an ivory platform. Additionally, the archbishop is wearing a mitre, or headdress, on his head that is typical of archbishops and is one of the main focuses of the sculpture. The sculpture features a stoic expression of the archbishop, intricate and ornate detail of the clothing, mitre, and crozier. This sculpture’s relatively small object file brings up a lot of questions to interpret about what its history and style indicate about its story. The origin of this ivory statue in sixteenth century Europe indicates that this statue was made during the time of increased action surrounding religion during the Reformation, as well as at the end of the Renaissance period of art in Northern Europe, when the themes of the Renaissance spread from Italy to the rest of Europe. With this context, the style of humanism and Classism as well as the context of Christianity can be seen and analyzed from the ivory statue donated to Special Collections.
The origin of this object is set during the Reformation in Europe, from which Protestantism was born after the Roman Catholic Church was challenged and critiqued. This history tells us this object was likely inspired by these big questions of religion at the time and the critique of the Roman Catholic Church that dominated Europe for centuries before this time. The main theme of this ivory sculpture is that it is a religious figure, as it is a carving of an archbishop who is holding a cathedral in his left land. Religion was majorly important in 16th century Northern Europe, and this is shown through the execution of this ivory sculpture. It is likely this object was inspired by the artist’s loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. This leads to the discussion of the Baroque Art style that was also common at the time and undeniably linked to the Roman Catholic Church.
Another interesting origin of this sculpture is in its material usage of ivory. Ivory carving was revived during the time period of this sculpture’s origin due to the booming trade from the west coast of Africa to the rest of Europe. It began to be widely used because of the trading routes and a common material to use for sculptures. This use of ivory was also associated with wealth, status, and power which contributed to its value and desire to be used as material among the people at the time. The origin of this sculpture tells us this object was made during the Baroque Era, a time when ivory was widely used in Europe. This era was characterized by clear detail and ornate detail and when art was deeply rooted in religion. Many paintings, sculptures, and murals depicted themes and characters from Christianity. The Catholic Church greatly encouraged this style because it wanted to recapture the connection with the European people after the Reformation shook the Church’s stance. This object is a direct reflection of these qualities. The archbishop is sculpted with great detail, with intricate designs being shown in his mitre and the in-depth details of the wrinkles on his face. His vestments are also very intricate and detailed. The detail of this sculpture in depicting a religious figure allows its focus to be understood almost immediately by anyone who views it, with the entire sculpture being an accurate representation of an archbishop.
The usage of this ivory sculpture to demonstrate themes of religion and style of art is an example of how propriety is common among art during this period. This is when the decorum matches the theme that the artist is trying to express. The first way in which this is executed is under the theme of religion during the Reformation and the Baroque Era that is heavily influenced in this ivory sculpture. In this case, the decoration and ornate detail of the ivory allows the viewer to know the context of the Roman Catholic Church. You automatically know it’s a religious figure because of the vestments, ornately detailed headdress, cathedral, and crozier that the archbishop is holding. The sculpture is meant to be representative of what the religion stood for at the time and its context allows the viewer to understand its origin. The artist was very intentional of his use of decoration among the clothes of the archbishop to demonstrate religion. The archbishop’s clothing is easily recognizable by viewers as a religious figure because of the artists intentional use of headdress and clothing as well as the cathedral and mitre in his hand.
Overall, the religious inspiration of this object reflects its origins during a period of religious unrest in Europe combined with the Roman Catholic Church’s attempt to keep its stance as the main religion of Europe. The ivory sculpture demonstrates the importance of Christianity at the time and its style indicates the artist’s focus on attention to detail, as shown in the face and clothing of the archbishop, that was common in art and sculptures at the time of its origin. The time of Renaissance influence was so influential it was a revolutionary from ideas, philosophy, literature, and made its way into the styles of art across Europe. The archbishop is made up of many different facets and styles that are reflective of the Renaissance art that was spread across Europe at the time. The statue demonstrates a combination of influence from the ideals and styles of the art that was influential of the time. Along with the origin of the sculpture, the object also gives a clear definition of Renaissance art through its style, color palette, and proportions.
This archbishop ivory sculpture embodies the inspiration from classical antiquity that was rampant at the time of this Renaissance period. The sculpture features a stoic, neutral expression of the archbishop, a trait typical of art during this period where idealized figures were often portrayed, and balance and proportion was prioritized. The archbishop is executed in a way that makes him seem important, powerful, and overall, the main focus of the sculpture. You can see in his face that he is aged, but his wrinkles add to the vibrance of the sculpture as the archbishop looks wise and strong. All these traits depicted into the carvings of the sculpture are inspired by Classical Roman Art and demonstrates the sculpture as an example of Renaissance Art. Because of the revival of Classism that came with Renaissance Art, many paintings, sculptures, and murals depicted human faces in this stoic manner that is reminiscent of Classical Roman and Greek art and architecture. It elicits a feeling of strength, power, and influence in the realistic yet emotionless depiction of human faces. Along with the neutral manner that the archbishop’s face is depicted with, the realism of the entire sculpture also provides another example of Renaissance inspiration. The archbishop’s face is carved with a very realistic expression, with details of lines, undereye contour, and a furrowed brow. Along with his face, the archbishop’s body is proportional to his face, with his clothes being extremely realistic in the divets and flow of his clothes hitting the floor. This realism that the archbishop is portrayed with provides a good definition of what Renaissance Art was like at the time. Renaissance art had a focus on power and poise that was executed through naturalism. The proportions of the archbishop are not exaggerated, his face is not exceptionally flawless or beautiful, and his clothing is very realistic in the way it hangs from his body. These characteristics are representative of the Naturalism that arose during the Renaissance period and with which this sculpture is inspired by. This Naturalism came along with the Renaissance idea of Humanism. This was when the focus shifted to the individual and what it means to be a human, specifically self-actualizing oneself and paying one’s duties to the society around them. There was less of a focus on scholastic thinking and ideas became more free flowing. These ideas translated into the art during the Renaissance period through Naturalism and painting things as they are instead of in an unrealistic way. This is reflective in the realistic nature of the archbishop statue. Additionally, the colors themselves show that the artist utilizes this style reminiscent of the Renaissance period.
The colors utilized in the ivory sculpture also provides a definition of what Renaissance art was like at this time. Renaissance artists often used rich colors such as vibrant indigo and deep green. Venetian artists especially influenced this style as they focused on hue and saturation in their art that is reminiscent of the reflective waterways that line the canals of the city. Their way of taking advantage of color into paintings and sculptures influenced the European world of art and architecture. This utilization of color is reflective even in the small archbishop sculpture. Although the colors faded slightly with time, the rich indigo color is still visible on the front of the clothing of the archbishop. The crozier in the archbishop’s hand is draped in green and the redness of the underclothing still peeks through around the edges of the indigo front. These colors are all reflective of Renaissance style at the time, especially influenced by Venice. Venice’s attention to color through saturation and hue influenced many of the European surrounding countries throughout this time period.
The power and poise shown by the stoniness of the archbishop’s art also provides a definition of Renaissance art for its similarity to Northern Renaissance paintings such as The Ambassadors. This painting uses power, status, and material things to command respect while keeping the facial expressions of those depicted as very stoic and cold. The archbishop sculpture also has this vibrance through the powerful looking vestments, crozier, and cathedral in his hand, while maintaining a nearly emotionless face. This was common in Renaissance art at the time. Another example of this art style is through the Flemish Renaissance style of Van Eyck. In addition to providing the Renaissance style of little emotion, Van Eyck demonstrated extremely detailed paintings, with even detail being shown in mirrors, as well as vibrant oil paintings. These traits of Flemish Renaissance art is defined through the archbishop sculpture through the use of color and attention to detail. This sculpture is clearly influenced by many of the major art centers of Europe during the sixteenth century.
The ivory archbishop statue’s provenance history reveals that the object was originated from a time of religious unrest as well as a time when ideals and values were changing and reflected into the styles of art as the time as well. The archbishop statue is reflective of the reiteration of Roman Catholic ideals during a time of unrest in the church. The statue also reflects many features of Classism, a style of art that was revived during the Renaissance period. The rich colors of indigo, green, and red are commonly used vibrant colors utilized during this Renaissance period. This color palette supports the style of Naturalism that was widespread at the time as a result of the Renaissance. Additionally, the realistic and stoic expression, proportions, and power elicited by the clothing and objects in the sculpture are reflective of Renaissance art styles from northern Europe and Flemish artists. This archbishop ivory statue reveals a lot about the styles of the time and place it originated from in sixteenth century Northern Europe. This archbishop sculpture gives an inside look of the origins of its time and its stylistic influence of the Renaissance period gives the narrative of the circumstances, styles, and ideals. The Renaissance period’s massive sweep over Europe is demonstrated through its influence and style among all of the art that came out of the time period, and specifically in the ivory archbishop statue
By Clare Nugent
Sources:
File 410: Ivory Archbishop Statue
File 410: Back View
File 410: Side View
Object File