Ligier Richier was a 16th-century religious sculptor working in Lorraine, France and known in particular for his depictions of scenes from the "Passion of Christ". The various episodes of the Passion, between the arrest and the crucifixion of Christ, as recounted in the Gospels (Matthew 27, Luke 22, Mark 15, John 19), were increasingly subject to representation in the Arts towards the end of the Middle Ages, in tandem with the growing popularity of the staging of theatrical mystery plays.
Little is known of Ligier Richier's personal lifeLigier Richier (c.1500-1567) Richier's move to Geneva www.museeprotestant.org. Retrieved 29 March 2013 as a consequence of the scarcity of records available. Thus attribution of works to him faces the same constraints and often relies on the scholarship of people such as Denis Paul, particularly his thesis "l’artiste et son œuvre" published in Paris and Nancy in 1911.Paul Denis' book . www.archive.org. Retrieved 28 March 2013 A good example of the scarcity of information available is the extent to which researchers have relied on the writing of the Troyes pilgrim Chatourop, recorded through the writings of dom Calmet, for information on the works at Hunch back of Notre Dame in Bar-le-Duc and Saint Pierre in Saint Mihiel. Paul Denis rejects the idea that Richier travelled to Italy and had contact with Michelangelo.
Altarpiece of the Ancienne Collégiale de Saint-Maur
This work by Ligier Richier is located in the Église collégiale de Saint-Maur (St Martin) and is generally thought to have been carved in 1523. It is the earliest work that has been attributed to Ligier Richier. Hattonchâtel is a village in the canton of Vigneulles, 18 kilometres from Saint-Mihiel and is situated at the top of one of the range of hills which run from Verdun to Toul and separate the valley of the Meuse from the Woëvre plain. The village took its name from a castle built in the 9th century by Hatton, the Bishop of Verdun at the time.
Richier's retable or altarpiece is divided into three distinct sections or niches which are separated by four upright pillars. The central section is constructed to form an arch and is higher than the sections to the right and left. Within each of these three niches, Richier has carved compositions in high relief whilst the pillars, arch and the rest of the retable feature elaborate carvings and embellishments which include the tools of the architect and the sculptor; a ruler and a compass and a hammer and chisel. The three high reliefs depict three episodes from the Passion.
The first of these episodes is a scene showing Christ carrying the Cross on his way to Calvary or Golgotha.In Hebrew-"place of a skull" Christ is shown in the centre of the composition dressed in a long flowing robe and weakened by the flogging from one of the "executioners", whose task was to perform the crucifixion, and the suffering of the previous hours with the flagellation he had endured, he is unable to bear the heavy weight of the cross and has fallen to the ground. His face is etched with anxiety and "une intraduisible expression de souffrance résignée". In the scene and just behind Christ, Richier depicts the figure of Simon the Cyrenian, who will soon be coerced into helping Jesus to support the Cross. Three women are shown on the left of the scene, including Veronica who looks adoringly at Christ's image on her veil.when Veronica encountered Jesus struggling to carry the Cross she paused to wipe the blood and sweat (Latin suda) off his face with her veil and then found his image had become imprinted on the cloth. The event is commemorated by the Sixth Station of the Stations of the Cross Two executioners complete the scene, one of whom is raising a stick and is about to beat Jesus with it, urging him to stand up and move forward, whilst the other appears to partially support the Cross but is no doubt telling Jesus to get on his feet.
In the central niche is a depiction of the crucifixion itself and to the left of his composition, Richier includes a scene much favoured at the time by gothic "imagiers"; the Virgin Mary having a fainting fit, overcome by emotion, and needing physical support from St John (the "Pâmoison" or "Spasimo"). Elsewhere in what is a complex composition, Richier includes three men on horseback, Mary Magdalene and a man holding a pole at the end of which is a sponge. One of the horsemen has just pierced Jesus' side with his lance and Jesus' blood has splashed onto him and another holds a banner on which is written "Vere hic homo filius Dei erat" ("here is a man who is truly the son of God").
In the third scene we see Jesus being attended to by various people after he has been taken down from the Cross. He is shown lying on the ground and supported by the Virgin Mary and St. John. Mary Magdalene and another woman are present, and to the rear Richier includes a bishop who holds a heavy cross in his left hand whilst a priest kneels at his feet (see below for the probable identity of the bishop and priest),
The dimensions of the piece are 2.60 metres in length and 1.60 metres in height. The central niche is 0.88 metres wide by 1.20 metres in height and the other niches measure 0.64 metres by 0.70 metres. Along the base of the altarpiece is the inscription taken from St Peter. At the base of each pillar is the date "L'AN. 1000. 500. 23"."Ligier Richier L'Artiste et Son Oeuvre" by Paul Denis. Published in Paris in 1911
During the 1914-1918 war, the German Army transferred the retable to the "Chapelle des Templiers" in Metz. This was after a bomb had fallen on the church although the retable was not damaged. No doubt the Germans were anxious to avoid the retable being damaged should the church have been hit again.
Casts of this work can be seen in the Musée de sculpture comparée in the Palais du Trocadero in Paris and the Musée Ligier-Richier in Saint-Mihiel.
The Calvary at Génicourt
This is considered to be Richier's first Calvary and Paul Denis wrote that "Parmi le groupe assez important des calvaires pouvant être rattachés à l'atelier, celui de Génicourt nous paraît devoir être regardé comme le premier en date. La très intéressante église de ce village, situé à mi-chemin entre Saint-Mihiel et Verdun, renferme en effet un Christ en croix et deux statues de bois polychrome, la Vierge et saint Jean".
The Génicourt work is thought to have been executed shortly after the retable at Hattonchâtel. The work is in polychromed wood and comprises a depiction of Jesus Christ on the Cross with the two robbers on either side and depictions of the Virgin Mary and St John. Originally all the works were located by the church's sanctuary but are not currently kept together but located in various positions around the church. Interesting to read Paul Denis on the subject of the location of such a work in relation to liturgical rules-
Génicourt is located in the canton and arrondissement of Verdun in the Meuse. The brochure issued by the Meuse Tourist Office on the Génicourt work is interesting and concentrates on the statue of the Virgin Mary. They write They also add that "For many years considered to be a work by the young Richier, the Génicourt Calvary is now attributed to a "Master of Génicourt", probably close to Richier, a sculptor of his generation and possibly familiar with the work of his workshop, but with lesser skills and aesthetic mastery."
Despite the Tourist Board's comments the consensus of researcher's opinions seems to be that this is a Richier work. The brochure continues "...it is perhaps more significant to note the sense of tension and pathos, the way in which the Virgin's tapering fingers are intertwined making them as expressive as Her face; this is no longer popular art. Her mouth suggests a gentle movement similar to that to be seen on the Holy Woman in Clermont-en-Argonne and Mary Magdalene in Briey."la Route Ligier Richier la Route Ligier Richier. Meuse Tourist Office. Retrieved 15 March 2013 The brochure also includes a quotation from Bernard Noël; "The Lady of Génicourt does not play a role defined by convention. She is just an ordinary woman who is deeply distressed."
When dealing with the depiction of Christ, Paul Denis draws attention to the similarities with the works at Hattonchâtel, Briey and Bar-le-Duc.{"Il offre des affinités incontestables avec celui que nous avons vu au centre de la scène principale du retable d'Hattonchâtel et ceux que nous rencontrerons par la suite à Bar-le-Duc,à Briey et ailleurs encore." Denis also notes that Jesus' Cross in the Génicourt Calvary has a large "titulus" attached to it and that the inclusion of this "titulus" was unusual for Richier's work.The "titulus" is a plaque attached to the top of the Cross and upon which were engraved the letters "I.N.R.I".
Calvary at Saint-Gengoult
The Romanesque church of Saint-Gengoult in Briey dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and holds a Ligier Richier calvary with life size depictions of Christ on the Cross, with the two robbers on either side.Briey Briey's website. Retrieved 17 March 2013 The Briey composition features Jesus on the central cross with the good sinner on one side and the bad sinner on the other. Richier adds to his composition the figures of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and St John. The work is thought to date to 1534 and was originally made by Richier for the Oratory of Jean Milet which was located in the old Briey cemetery. Jean Milet was a native of Briey and the vicar of La Chaussée. The oratory was destroyed in 1868 and the Calvary finally moved to the church in 1947 after a period when it was kept in a chapel in the new Briey cemetery. This chapel in the new cemetery was where the priests of the parish were buried.
Some photographs of the Briey Calvary can be seen in the Bridgeman Art Library website and a close-up of the head of Jesus, shown courtesy of Groening. appears above.Part Briey Calvary Bridgeman. Retrieved 17 March 2013
As was the case with the Calvary at Bar-le-Duc, the good and bad robbers hang from T-shaped structures and are tied rather than nailed to these structures and again both are shown in contorted positions.
The Calvary in the church of Notre-Dame in Bar-le-Duc
There is evidence that there was at one time a sculptured group by Richier in the church, this group comprising not only Jesus on the Cross but also the Virgin Mary, St John and St.Longinus but only the figure of Jesus on the Cross remains today. In 1532 Nicolas Chatourop, a citizen of Troyes, made a pilgrimage to the famous Lorraine sanctuary called "Saint-Nicolas-de-Port" and on his return to Troyes he wrote an account of his journey and his observations of some of the religious works which he saw and these writings are a valuable resource for those studying the works of Richier and his contemporaries. Chatourop's observations were used by dom Calmet in his Richier biography and two hundred years later were to be used by the Troyes scholar Grosley in his writings.