——. Kommentar zum Helmbrecht von Wernher dem Gartenaere.
Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1987.
Sowinski, Bernbard. Wernher der Gartenaere: Helmbrecht.
Interpretation. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1971.
Wernher der Gartenaere: Helmbrecht, trans. Linda Parshall, ed.
Ulrich Seelbach. New York: Garland, 1987.
Lynn D. Thelen
WILIGELMUS (fl. c. 1099–c. 1120)
Wiligelmus (Guglielmo, Wiligelmo) is often considered
the fi rst great Italian sculptor. His reliefs on the facade
of Modena cathedral are among the fi rst important
sculptural programs of northern Italy, as part of the
early development of Romanesque sculpture. His
identity as the creator is known from an inscription
held by the fi gures of the prophets Enoch and Elijah:
Inter scultores quanto sis dignis onore—Claret scultura
nunc Wiligelme tua ( “How much honor you deserve
among sculptors is now shown by your sculpture, Wi-
ligelmo”). Wiligelmus’s oeuvre has been identifi ed at
Modena and elsewhere through stylistic comparisons
with these prophets, carved from the same block as the
inscription.
Wiligelmus’s principal work is the sculptural assem-
blage on the west facade of the cathedral of Modena,
presumably executed c. 1106–1110, including the in-
scription plaque; four reliefs from Genesis; two reliefs
of genii with overturned torches; numerous capitals
and decorative reliefs; and the program of the central
portal, containing an elaborate scroll motif and twelve
reliefs of prophets. The present placement of some of
the reliefs is the result of changes made to the facade
in the late twelfth century by the Campionese masters,
who added the lateral portals and relocated the fi rst and
fourth reliefs from Genesis above them. Some scholars
hold that these reliefs were created as part of liturgical
furnishings for the interior of the cathedral (Quintavalle
1964–1965), but the evidence suggests that they were
originally intended as part of a sculptural program
decorating the facade.
The four reliefs from Genesis fl anking the central
portal serve as a monumental introduction to the cathe-
dral and constitute the fi rst large-scale frieze devoted
exclusively to biblical subjects. The general themes are
the creation, the fall, and the promise of salvation as
revealed in the fl ood. The frieze concludes with the ark
as the ship of salvation—an Old Testament prefi guration
of salvation and the mission of the church. Labors of the
Progenitors and Cain and Abel Offering to God, which
fl ank the main portal, present a lesson to the faithful
about giving the fruits of one’s labors to God (and the
church). Textual similarities between the inscriptions
and the liturgical drama Ordo representacionis Ade sug-
gest that performance and image were intended to work
together to educate audiences about the roles of church
and faithful in the history of salvation. Wiligelmus’s
Genesis frieze should thus be seen as an important early
example of the development of large-scale didactic
Romanesque sculptural programs.
Wiligelmus’s fi gures are conceived as bold, massive,
vital forms of great monumentality and plasticity. They
convey an impressive sense of weight, as seen in the an-
gels holding God’s mandorla and Abel’s slumping body
in Cain Killing Abel. Figures emerge from the relief
plane and fully occupy the space that is allotted to them,
even bursting into the frame of the plaque (e.g., Enoch
and Elijah). These forms have large heads, hands, and
feet; broad faces with lead–inset eyes; hair articulated
by long, wavy parallel strokes; and beards punctuated
with drill holes. Solemn, full of gravitas, these bodies
express the narrative action with clear, bold gestures.
Wiligelmus animates his fi gures with palpable human
expressions (especially notable is the anguish on Cain’s
face as he is killed by Lamech). Most of these sculptures
make prominent use of inscriptions, either identifying
fi gures or including more extensive biblical, liturgical,
or secular texts; the inscription plaque held by Enoch
and Elijah is an example.
Numerous sources and models for Wiligelmus’s style
have been suggested, including ivory, metalwork, and
manuscripts as well as early Romanesque sculpture in
Aquitaine and Bari. The most direct and most appar-
ent source of inspiration is Roman sculpture. Local,
provincial Roman works clearly provided models for
several of the reliefs in Modena. The genii with over-
turned torches and the arrangement of the prophets
Enoch and Elijah on the inscription plaque are clearly
derived from Roman sarcophagi. Wiligelmus’s access to
these sources can be explained by Relation translationis
carports sancti Geminiani (Account of the Translation
of the Body of Saint Geminianus), which mentions the
miraculous discovery of a quarry of building materials,
presumably the necropolis or other parts of the Roman
city of Mutina (Modena). Wiligelmus adopted not only
formal arrangements of figures from these Roman
sources but also the sense of solidity and gravitas that
distinguishes his sculptures. Furthermore, the obvious
source of inspiration for the arrangement of the frieze
around the central portal is the Roman triumphal arch.
This suggests a certain conscious use of antique forms
to connote both the venerable antiquity of Modena and
the triumph of the church.
In addition to the program at Modena, Wiligelmus ap-
pears to have worked at the cathedral in Cremona before
the earthquake of 1117. The four large prophets from the
jamb of the portal are stylistically analogous to his work
at Modena. Fragments of a frieze from the cathedral of
Cremona, clearly modeled after Wiligelmus’s reliefs in
Modena, appear to have been executed by his workshop.
Wiligelmus apparendy directed a large workshop thatWERNER DER GÄRTNER