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The school of Champagne provides another example of the change towards a less tense and fervid style at the end of the century. At the beginning of the 16th century, a workshop at Troyes became famous under the direction of an unknown master; it is known as the Workshop of St. Martha, after its masterpiece. The Pietá from the church at Bayel issues from this workshop. The sorrow of the resigned Virgin is depicted with restraint, dignity, and moral force; the stiffened body of Christ is beautiful - elegant and serene in the death that has erased his Passion. The drapery folds are simple, the treatment straightforward; choosing simplicity, the artist rejects all the facile developments permitted by the theme.
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