How Wooden Sculptures Survived An Era Of Stone
By Marco Micheletta
Although the Gothic period of art history produced untold numbers of ornate wood-carved wall and canopy works, painstakingly detailed articles of furniture, roof-top decorations, and bas-reliefs that split the difference between two dimensions and three, few true wooden sculptures were produced.
The Renaissance lasted between the 14th and 17th centuries, and in European artistic circles came to be dominated by the idea of Uomo Universales or the “Universal Man”. This human-centric view broke away from the divine-centric catholic perspectives of the previous centuries, and was summed up succinctly by writer, architect, and cryptographer Leon Battista Alberti (1404–72) in “a man can do all things if he will.”
The development of this concept of human achievement and ambition for perfection did much to stimulate advances in scientific understanding, in many cases leading to the invention of entirely new disciplines of study. But while beneficial on the whole, in the artistic world Uomo Universales ironically came to constrict and compartmentalize how and in what medium the human form was portrayed and interpreted.
Donatello’s Magdalene Penitent (c. 1455), photo credit: https://www.christian.art/admin/uploaded_files/90215-Maria%20Magdalene%20Donatello%20Christian%20Art%20Today.jpg
What we now consider the classical idealized proportions of the powerful v-chested male and voluptuous soft female forms became as solid a rule as the white marble they were carved into. In an effort to distance themselves from the church, many sculptors looked to pre-christian Greek and Roman artistic traditions for inspiration, and instead of expanding what artistic expression could do, engaged in what can be seen as a kind of regression -- expertly done, and with untold variations and stunning personality, but timid and shy of straying too far from the agreed upon ideal male and female forms.
However, although most renowned sculptures of the time used the medium of marble and stone, there is one notable exception. Donatello’s Magdalene Penitent (c. 1455) stands as one of his most celebrated works. Magdalene is made entirely from white poplar, and is a strikingly somber and ‘real’ depiction of a suffering woman in an era when most strove to capture a perfected ideal.
Note the gaunt figure and vacant expression, a woman care-worn by an unforgiving world. She is not youthful and mischievous, nor poised and majestic, but battered, broken, humbled. Her stance is one of supplication, not power, and her eyes tired, not vivacious. Magdalene Penitent gazes outward in desperation for forgiveness, in the hope of being loved, a tragic figure embodying humanity’s frailties in a time when most artists celebrated humanity’s triumphs. If you would like to see this one-of-a-kind masterpiece in person, the woodcarving that survived an era of stone, that taught humility in an era of pride, and preserved the tradition of wooden statuary through it’s lean years in Europe, you can find it in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy. It is well worth the trip.