Page 39 - Gothic
P. 39
shows an evolution from an earlier
stiff and elongated style, still part-
ly Romanesque, into a spatial and
naturalistic feel in the late 12th and space for a number of scenes from
early 13th century. Other French different literary sources.
Gothic sculptural subjects includ- Souvenirs of pilgrimages to
ed figures and scenes from popu- shrines, such as clay or lead badg-
lar literature of the time. Imagery es, medals and ampullae stamped
from the poetry of the troubadours with images were also popular and
was particularly popular among cheap. Their secular equivalent,
artisans of mirror-cases and small the livery badge, were signs of feu-
boxes presumably for use by wom- dal and political loyalty or alliance
en. The Casket with Scenes of Ro- that came to be regarded as a social
mances (Walters 71264) of 1330-50 menace in England under bastard
is an unusually large example with feudalism. The cheaper forms were
sometimes given away free, as with
the 13,000 badges ordered in 1483
by King Richard III of England in
fustian cloth with his emblem of a
white boar for the investiture of his
son Edward as Prince of Wales, a
huge number given the population
Lid of the Walters Casket, with the Siege
of the Castle of Love at left, and jousting. at the time. The Dunstable Swan
Paris, 1330-1350. Jewel, modelled fully in the round
in enamelled gold, is a far more
exclusive version, that would have
been given to someone very close
or important to the donor.
