This final seminar paper deals with the so-called Well of Moses, a masterpiece made by the Dutch sculptor Claus Sluter, who was the court sculptor and leader of the sculpture workshop at the Burgundian Court. The well was erected between 1395 and 1404 in the cloister of the Carthusian Monastery of Champmol, just outside of Dijon. It did not survive to this day unscathed. All that is left is the lower portion with six figures of Old Testament prophets and a frieze made up of six angels. From the 19th Century until today, several attempts have been made to reconstruct the lost Crucifixion scene but without any definite solution. A further subject of this paper are the political and artistic atmosphere and historical circumstances that influenced the creation of the well. The pioneering – a very complicated and still not completely resolved iconographic program – is further enhanced by a somewhat theatrical approach to the positioning of figures. Their visual and symbolical connectedness forms a narrative directed upwards and culminating in the Crucifixion scene. By outstanding psychological characterization and, on the other hand, naturalistic attention to detail, Sluter managed to convey the feeling of drama and slight apprehension.
|
