Smiling angel from Reims

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L'Ange au Sourire , west facade of Reims Cathedral

The Smiling Angel ( French L'Ange au Sourire or Sourire de Reims 'The Smile of Reims ') is a Gothic-style sculpture on the facade of Reims Cathedral from around 1250 . It can be found in the north (left) wall of the north portal of the west facade. Its name is derived from the angel's face, which shows a cheerful, restrained smile.

description

Sculpture ensemble with the smiling angel

The smiling angel of Reims is neither the only angel in the cathedral's over 2300 sculptures, nor the only figure portrayed with a smile: sculptures of large angels with outspread wings have been an integral part of the decoration of Gothic cathedrals since the 13th century. According to Demouy (2009), they give the buildings “the character of a fortified city guarded by a heavenly host”.

The smiling angel is part of an ensemble of three larger-than-life figures carved out of limestone: one angel on the right and one on the left is accompanied by a male figure in a long robe with a skull missing. The smiling angel stands on the man's left and turns his face to the right. Compared to the neighboring sculptures, his body appears longer, the rounded head rather small in relation to the body. The gently flowing folds of the robe, which is gathered at the waist over a belt, emphasize the figure standing in the counter post and swinging to the left in an S-shape. A cloak is tied with a brooch over the chest. The right hand is raised and probably once held an object, the left hand is lost. Two outstretched wings rise from the back.

The arrangement in a group of three takes up the Byzantine tradition of representation of the Deësis as well as that of the Sacra Conversazione and gives the person in the middle a special iconographic meaning. The male figure probably represents a martyr- bishop; in addition to Saint Denis , Nicasius of Reims , Oriculus of Reims and others are also discussed . In the course of the restoration of the facade after the World War, the architect Henri Deneux used the position marks to prove that the originally planned arrangement of the sculptures had not been adhered to as early as the 13th century: the Annunciation Angel, symmetrically opposite the smiling angel on the right side of the main portal - which comes from the same sculptor's workshop - was probably also intended to accompany the martyr. The two angel figures are exemplary of the "flowing" late Reims style of high Gothic sculpture.

reception

The sculptural decoration of Reims Cathedral aroused the interest and admiration of art historians as early as the 19th century: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Émile Mâle described the sculptures. André Michel coined the name “Cathedral of Angels” and admired the “light, pointed and almost malicious smile” of the Annunciation Angel on the central portal. The angel of the north portal received no attention yet.

The figure of the Smiling Angel only became popular as a result of the severe damage to the cathedral by German artillery fire in the First World War: On September 19, 1914, German projectiles set fire to a scaffolding on the north tower of the cathedral. The fire spread to the roof structure, which burned out completely. When the burning scaffold collapsed, some of the sculptural decorations on the facade were severely damaged. The head of the smiling angel was chopped off and shattered into several parts on impact from a height of about 4.50 m.

The destruction of Reims Cathedral was viewed by the French public as a barbaric attack on a defenseless place of memory of the French nation and was exploited by war propaganda : Images of the smiling angel before and after its damage spread, the destroyed sculpture became an icon of the warlike devastation and German barbarism: At the end of 1915, the magazine L'Illustration published a full-page illustration of the angel's head with the description L'Ange au sourire for the first time . In February 1916 André Michel wrote:

«L'ange de Reims ne sourira plus, par autorité de la justice allemande: Il est décapité. »

"The angel of Reims should no longer smile, according to the authority of the German judiciary: He is beheaded."

The fragments of the facade sculptures were brought to the cellar of the Palais du Tau the day after the fire and were kept there. In 1915 the angel's head was found under the accumulated rubble; However, parts (nose, right eye) were definitely lost. Restoration began in 1925. The face was completed after a plaster cast made before the war and kept in the Musée des Monuments français . On February 13, 1926, the angel received his head back.

literature

  • Patrick Demouy: Le sourire de Reims . In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres . 2009, p. 1609–1627 ( persee.fr [accessed October 14, 2018]).
  • Frédéric Destremeau: L'Ange de la cathédrale de Reims ou Le sourire retrouvé . In: Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français . 1998, p. 309-324 ( weebly.com [accessed October 17, 2018]).
  • Yann Harlaut: Naissance d'un mythe. L'Ange au Sourire de Reims . Editions Dominique Guénoit, Langres 2008, ISBN 978-2-87825-435-8 .

Web links

Commons : Smiling Angel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Reinhardt: La Cathédrale de Reims. Son histoire, son architecture, sa sculpture, ses vitraux . PUF, Paris 1963, p. 133 . , quoted from Destremeau (1998)
  2. ^ Patrick Demouy: Le sourire de Reims . In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres . 2009, p. 1627 .
  3. ↑ Frédéric Destremeau: L'Ange de la cathédrale de Reims or "Le sourire retrouvé . In: Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français . 1998, p. 310 .
  4. ^ Patrick Demouy: Le sourire de Reims . In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres . 2009, p. 1609-1627 .
  5. ^ Eugène Viollet-le-Duc: Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle . tape VIII . B. Bance, Paris 1866, p. 148-149 .
  6. ^ Émile Mâle: L'Art religieux au XIIIe siècle en France . 1898, p. 362 .
  7. ^ André Michel: Histoire de l'Art depuis les premiers temps chrétiens jusqu'à nos jours . tape II . Librairie Armand Colin, Paris 1906, p. 153 .
  8. ↑ Abbé Sertillenge: La justice vengeresse . In: L'Écho de Paris . October 15, 1914: "Elle n'avait à opposer à l'infâme clameur des obus que son religieux silence." Quoted from Destremeau (1998)
  9. ↑ Frederic Destremeau: L'Ange de la cathédrale de Reims ou Le sourire retrouvé . In: Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français . 1998, p. 318 .
  10. ^ Patrick Demouy: Le sourire de Reims . In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres . 2009, p. 1618 .