LENS.- The 2015 summer exhibition at the Louvre-Lens highlights the wealth of artistic exchanges between the capital of the Kingdom of France and what is now Tuscany, in the latter half of the 13th century. Thanks to exceptional loans from around twenty prestigious European museums, the exhibition lifts the veil on the relationships between the major centres of artistic creation of the period: Paris, Florence, Siena and Pisa. The exhibition brings together more than 125 exquisite works: monumental statuary, gold background paintings, illuminated manuscripts, fine enamels and ivories. In particular, these works reveal the influence of French exponents of High Gothic style on the Tuscan sculptors and painters of the late 13th century, within a cultural area that would become the cradle of the early Renaissance. This exhibition at the Louvre-Lens will be the first to examine this phenomenon, which is of paramount importance to the history of art.

Albeit very short, the period covered by the exhibition (1250-1320) was marked by decisive developments in Europe, politically, economically and socially, as well as on an intellectual and artistic level. The revival of ancient thought changed the understanding of the world, and in turn the ways of representing it. Meanwhile, the arts were experiencing significant technological innovations and the rise of very important figures. Gradually, creators were no longer considered as mere craftsmen to serve the Church, but as artists working for society. The latter half of the 13th century therefore takes on a special place in the history of art: that of a complex peak, which varies greatly according to the perspective taken.

With its great architectural sites (the Sainte Chapelle, the Lady Chapel at Saint Germain des Prés, the transept of Notre Dame) and the completion of the courtyard of the Palais de la Cité, Paris became the “capital of luxury”. Indeed, an abundant production of precious objects developed there (illuminated manuscripts, ivories, goldsmithery), supported by an explosion of artistic commissions by dignitaries. Paris was the heart of what we now refer to as High Gothic.

Across the Alps, starting from the 1260s, Tuscan art sowed the seeds of the early Renaissance. In the tradition of artists such as Cimabue and Nicola Pisano, painters and sculptors deviated from Byzantine traditions, in favour of a new vernacular, characterised by a revival of the ancient world and a greater consideration of Nature.

Considering that these changes first took shape in Tuscany, they were likely to be rooted in the new philosophical, theological, mathematical and literary references disseminated by the University of Paris.

The history of art has often stressed the extent to which Gothic art was able to develop thanks to its contact with the early Renaissance. We also know the effect that the studies of Giotto and his acolytes had on 14th-century Northern European painting. Still today, High Gothic is often seen as the apogee of the potential of Classical Gothic and the late Duecento as the introduction of new forms. To date, however, no exhibition has truly dwelt on the links between these movements. Close examination of the work of Nicola Pisano shows that he renewed the style of his predecessors, not only in his perspective on Antique sculpture, but also through his approach to positions and drapery, which he took directly from the Parisian statuary of the previous decades.

Nicola Pisano also passed his consideration of the art of the French Court on to his pupils, including his son Giovanni Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio. This exhibition is oriented around the working period of these three artists, from the early work of Nicola Pisano around 1260 to the death of Giovanni in 1317. The exhibition is divided into four main sections.

Section 1. The 1250s
The first section of the exhibition presents a brief overview of the birth of High Gothic, through four major Parisian architectural sites: the Lady Chapel of Saint Germain des Prés, the Sainte Chapelle at the Palais de la Cité, and the transept and rood screen of Notre Dame. Architectural elements and monumental statuary are accompanied by royal manuscripts and stained glass from the same sites. Tuscan painting and sculpture of the mid- to late 13th century, still influenced by Byzantine art, are presented alongside.

Some of the works in this section include:
• Jean DE CHELLES, Head of a Wise Man, Paris, Notre-Dame cathedral1250-1258, , limestone, traces of polychromy, Paris, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge

• Childebert receives St. Germain, Paris, the Lady Chapel of Saint Germain des Prés, around stained glass, 1240-1245, London, Victoria and Albert Museum

• Virgin and Child, Paris, the Lady Chapel of Saint Germain des Prés, 1245-1255, limestone, Paris, church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

• Virgin and St. John weeping ; Deposition of Christ, Prato, around 1250, wood, late polychromy, Paris, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge (Virgin and St. John), Prato, Duomo (Christ)

Section 2. The Formation of a Taste: Cimabue and Nicola Pisano
This section of the exhibition shows how the style of Tuscan art took shape in the latter half of the 14th century, between a revival of the Byzantine tradition and borrowings from Gothic art, particularly that of Paris. We focus on the work of Nicola Pisano and Cimabue, and also present the technical innovations that appeared in Tuscany, in particular translucent enamels. In parallel, this section considers the prominent figures of Parisian art between the end of the reign of Louis IX (St Louis, who died in 1270) and the beginning of the reign of Philip IV (from 1285).

Some of the works in this section include:
• Workshop of Nicola PISANO, Group of three apostles, Pisa, around 1270, marble, London, Victoria and Albert Museum

• Reliquary of Saints Lucian, Maximian, and Julian, Paris, Sainte-Chapelle, around 1261, engraved, carved, silver gilt, Paris, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge

• Gospels of St. Denis, top plate of the binding, around 800 (manuscript), 2nd half of the 13th century (bound), parchment, wood, engraved gold plated copper, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France

• Descent from the Cross , Paris, around 1270-1280, ivory, polychromy, Paris, musée du Louvre

• Arnolfo DI CAMBIO, Colum with three acolytes, Pisa, around 1267, marble, Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Section 3. A Renewed Encounter
Through the examples of Giovanni Pisano, and then his pupil, Tino da Camaino, both acolytes of Nicola Pisano, the exhibition shows the influence of the sculpture of the Paris Court on Tuscan artistic output. However, these two sculptors reinvested different characteristics of Parisian art in their works, to the extent of resulting in two frequently divergent forms of visual expression. The first of these developed a taste for expressiveness, whereas the second further explored the precious nature of form. Returning the favour, the art of the Paris region was not insensitive to these new visual orientations, nor to the technical innovations in Tuscan art.

This section also considers technology transfer, in particular in the fields of enamel and goldsmithery, for example through the figure of Guillaume Julien.

Some of the works in this section include:
• Angels of Saudemont, Northern France, around 1270-1300, wood, polychromy, Arras, museum of Fine Arts • Giovanni PISANO, Sibyl (also called Miriam), Siena, cathedral, 1287-1297, marble, Siena, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

• Angel blowing a trumpet, Poissy, collégiale Saint-Louis, after 1297, chalk, traces of polychromy, Paris, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge

• Giovanni PISANO, The Crucified Christ, Tuscany, around 12901300, ivory, London, Victoria and Albert Museum

• Tino DA CAMAINO, Virgin of the Annunciation, around 1300, wood, polychromy, Florence, Museo Stefano Bardini

• MASTER HONORÉ, La Somme le Roi, Paris, 1290-1295, illuminated parchment, London, The British Library • Queen of France (Joan of Navarre?), Paris, around 1310, limestone, Berlin, Bode Museum

• Tondino DI GUERRINO and Andrea RIGUARDI, Chalice , Siena, 1322-1328, silver gilt, translucent basse-taille enamel, London, The British Museum

Section 4. A Common Destiny
With the turn of the 14th century, new figures appeared, opening new avenues for Tuscan art, some of which would strongly inspire Parisian art. In the field of painting, the exhibition examines the influence of the major artists Giotto and Duccio, particularly on the illuminations of Jean Pucelle.

This final section also looks at the revival of Tuscan sculpture, with the divergence of the artistic styles of Florence and Siena.

Some of the works in this section include:
• Agostino DI GIOVANNI, Virgin of the Annunciation, Tuscany, 1321, wood, polychromy, Pisa, Museo Nazionale di San Matteo

• Guillaume DE NOURRICHE, Apostle , Paris, church of Saint-Jacques-de-l’Hôpital, 1319-1324, limestone, Paris, musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge

• Missal for the use of Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, early 14th century, parchment, London, The British Library

• Robert DE BILLYNG (scribe), Jean PUCELLE, Anciau DE SENS and Jacquet MACI (illumination), The Robert Billying Bible, Paris, 1327, parchment, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France

At the heart of the exhibition, a mediation space considers the creative techniques of the period, through the sculptors’ materials and the painters’ pigments. It also addresses the issue of copying in the Middle Ages, which allowed these styles to spread across Europe.