PER UN GOTICO NEO-ROMANICO. UNA RIFLESSIONE SUL PORTALE DI HUMBRET A COLMAR

The south portal of the collegiate church of Saint-Marin in Colmar, Alsace, dating from around 1260-70 and influenced by the sculpture of Reims, is usually remembered for the “portrait” of the architect, Humbret, on the archivolt. However, the two most singular aspects of the portal have attracted less attention: the probable reuse of a lunette made a few years earlier (History of St. Nicholas), and the astonishing series of human and monstrous heads inserted between the columns in the portal splays. These grotesque masks represent an unicum in French Gothic sculpture: they pay homage to a very recurring theme in Romanesque portals, and at the same time update it. In Colmar, modern sculpture does not erase tradition, but revives it from the inside. This case therefore leads us to review some issues about the relationship between continuity and renewal, and between centers and peripheries in thirteenth century Europe.