#giselbertus

Three Magi Asleep Gislebertus, 1120-30 A.D. Cathedral of St. Lazare in Atun, France.

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Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes, And the heart consumes itself, if it would live, Where little children age before their time, And life wears down the edges of the mind, Where the old man sits with mind grown cold, While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death, Where fear companions each day’s life, And Perfect Love seems long delayed. Christmas is waiting to be born: In you, in me, in all of humankind.

from The Mood Of Christmas & Other Celebrations

Howard Thurman

Giselbertus C12th France

Saint Lazare Cathedral sculptures: 1120 - 1135

1 the Three Magi Capital

2 detail: the Angel Appears to the Three Magi in a Dream

3 The Last Judgement, west tympanum, Autun Cathedral

Giselbertus or Ghiselbertus, sometimes ‘of Autun’, was a French Romanesque sculptor, whose decoration (about 1120-1135) of the Cathedral of Saint Lazare at Autun, France - consisting of numerous doorways, tympanums and capitals - represents some of the most original work of the period. His sculpture is expressive and imaginative: from the terrifying Last Judgment (West Tympanum), with its strikingly elongated figures, to the Eve (North Portal). His influence can be traced to other French church sculpture and his techniques helped pave the way for the Gothic style.

Gislebertus, Eve c. 1130 Stone Musée Rolin, Autun

This incredible sculpture enters my awareness courtesy of the revival on BBC TV of Kenneth Clark’s mighty, timeless series ‘Civilisation’, which is captivating me at the moment. Look at this masterpiece. The face! This is beyond art, this is communion with the Unseen. Beautiful beyond words. Sexuality and chastity collide in this remarkable work.