similar barometer of architectural change is seen at the parish church of Saint-Jacques,
where the late 12th-cen-tury phases of construction in the transept were shaped by Saint-
Remi, whereas the later nave was conceived as a simplified version of the cathedral
scheme. The glory of the cathedral, however, is its sculptural decoration. From the angels
placed on the choir chapels and the north-transept portals of the 1220s and 1230s, which
reveal a clear dependency on ancient Roman art, one witnesses the development of a vital
naturalism in the work of the Joseph Master and his successors on the west façade and
inner west wall, ca. 1255–70. The elegant animation and expressive intensity of these
figures set a tone and provided models that inspired artists for the next two centuries. The
architecture of the west façade, with its screen of gables, is connected with that of the
Benedictine abbey of Saint-Nicaise, begun in 1231 and demolished during the
Revolution. Its architect, Hugues Libergier, combined the precious effects of metalwork
with the monumentality of the twin-towered triple-portal format to create one of the most
innovative frontispieces of the Gothic age.
Michael T.Davis
Reims, Saint-Remi, chevet.
Photograph courtesy of Whitney
S.Stoddard.
[See also: BURGUNDY; CHAMPAGNE; CLOVIS I; GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE;
GOTHIC ART; HINCMAR OF REIMS; HUGUES LIBERGIER; HUNDRED YEARS’
WAR; JEANNE D’ARC; MANUSCRIPTS, PRODUCTION AND ILLUMINATION;
TEXTILES]
Bideault, Maryse, and Claudine Lautier. “Saint-Nicaise de Reims: chronologie et nouvelles
remarques sur l’architecture.” Bulletin monumental 135(1977):295–330.
Branner, Robert. “Historical Aspects of the Reconstruction of Reims Cathedral.” Speculum
36(1961):23–37.
Caviness, Madeline Harrison. Sumptuous Arts at the Royal Abbeys in Reims and Braine: ornatus
elegantiae, varietate stupendes. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Congrès archéologique 78(1911). 2 vols.; and 135(1977). [Contains articles on monuments of the
city and surrounding region. The 1911 volumes are of particular value, for they predate the
extensive damage inflicted on Reims and its monuments in World War I.]
Desportes, Pierre. Reims et les Rémois aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles. Paris: Picard, 1979.
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