|
BEST WORKS OF SCULPTURE
For a list of the world's top 100
3-D artworks, by the best sculptors
in the history of art, see:
Greatest Sculptures Ever.
BEST SCULPTORS
For a list of the world's most
talented 3-D artists, see:
Greatest Sculptors.
EVOLUTION OF SCULPTURE
For details of the origins and
development of the plastic arts
see: History of Sculpture.
FORMS OF SCULPTING
For different types of 3-D
carving/casting, see:
Stone Sculpture
Granite, limestone, sandstone
and other rock-types.
Marble Sculpture
Pentelic, Carrara, Parian marbles.
Bronze Sculpture
Lost-wax (cire perdue) casting
method and others.
|
In 1490, the town council of Münnerstadt
commissioned Riemenschneider to make an altarpiece for St Maria Magdalena,
the parish church, which featured a carving of St Mary Magdalene with
Six Angels. The following year, the town council of Würzburg commissioned
two life-size stone figures of Adam and Eve for the Marienkapelle. in
1495 he created the statue of Mary with child which resides in the Pfarrkirche
St Bernard in Wurzburg.
Foremost Sculptor of the Wurzburg Region
By 1500, Riemenschneider had developed
a widespread reputation as the foremost wood carver of the region and
had become a prosperous member of the Wurzburg community. His workshop
had grown to include some 30 apprentices training in woodcarving, sculpting
and painting, including Peter Breuer and Philipp Koch. In 1504, he was
elected a councillor (late Mayor) of the city, an office which he held
for some 20 years and which brought him a number of lucrative commissions.
In 1505 he was selected to appear in the official welcoming party for
Emperor Maximilian I when he visited the city.
Imprisoned
Alas, his fortunes changed in the mid 1520s
during the Peasants Revolt, when he refused to vote in support of military
force against the peasants. After the revolt was suppressed, he was imprisoned
by supporters of the Prince Bishop of Wurzburg and heavily fined, and
went on to produce little work in the final six years of his life. Among
his sons, two (Jorg and Hans) became sculptors, while two others (Bartholomeus
and Tilman junior) became painters.
Riemenschneider's Art
His initial works were sculpted in alabaster.
Later he carved in stone as well as wood, but was always admired for his
virtuosity in the carving of wood, notably limewood. As fundamentally
a Gothic sculptor, Riemenschneider was renowned for his attention to surface
detail and texture, being more concerned with surface realism than Renaissance
priorities of volumetric modelling and anatomical accuracy. (The broader
forms of some of his late works hint at the possible influence of Italian
Renaissance sculpture). In general, his carved figures are characterized
by their unique emotional expressiveness and by the detail of their clothing.
Holy Blood Altar (1501-1505)
Characteristic of the altarpieces of the
time and opened only on certain occasions, this monochrome altarpiece
in limewood (Jakobskirche, Rothenburg ob der Tauber) shows some fundamental
Christian scenes. On the left panel, Christ is represented seated on a
donkey, entering Jerusalem in all his glory, while on the right panel
he is shown abandoned on the Mount of Olives surrounded by his sleeping
disciples.
In the centre appears a majestic depiction
of The Last Supper. Judas, recognizable by the purse he holds in his left
hand, is unusually situated at the centre of the scene, talking to Christ
who, on the contrary, stands in the background. Christhas just announced
that the traitor is among them and will betray him. Besides fear and indignation,
astonishment is also visible on the faces of the apostles, and St John
rests his head against Christ in distress. The draped clothing is elaborate
but without exaggeration. The work illustrates the fact that Riemenschneider
is more concerned with the importance of the message than pure aesthetics,
underlining his detachment from the Italian Renaissance. In this piece
the artist abandons the usual polychromy in order to highlight the beauty
of lime wood, a common sculptural material in Northern Europe at the time.
This slightly offbeat portrayal of The Last Supper, through the premonitory
presence of Judas, is perhaps even more important as it suggests a return
to the reading of the Scriptures, possibly foreshadowing the coming protestant
reformation (1519).
Riemenschneider: Selected Works
The biggest collection of his work (some
80 pieces) can be seen in the Mainfrankisches Museum in Wurzburg.
Among his authenticated works are the following:
- Hassenbacher Vesperbild (wood) (1490)
Hassenbach Church.
- Altar of the Farewell of the Apostles (1491) Allerheiligenkirche, Nuremberg.
- Altar Piece (1490-92) Maria Magdalena Munnerstadt.
- Adam and Eve (1491-93) Mainfrankisches Museum, Marienberg Citadel.
- Assumption of the Virgin (Creglingen Altarpiece) (1495-99) Herrgottskirche.
- Statue of Bishop Rudolf von Scherenberg (1496-99) Cathedral of Würzburg.
- Emperor's Tomb (1499-1513) Bamberg Cathedral.
- Mary Salome and Zebedee (1510), Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
- Saint Anne and Husbands (1505-1510), Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.
- Grieving Maria (c.1505) Mainfrankisches Museum, Wurzburg.
- Altar of Maria (c.1505-8) Creglingen.
- Altar of the Apostles, Altar of the Church Fathers, and Altar of the
Annunciation, Carving of St. Kilian, Crucifix (1500) St.Leo Church, Wurzburg.
- Crucifixion (1500-1505) St.Nikolas Church, Eisingen, Bavaria.
- Holy Blood Altar (1501-1505) Jakobskirche, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
- Crucifixion Altar (1510-13) Kurpfalzisches Museum, Heidelberg.
- Tomb of Bishop Lorenz of Bibra Cathedral of Würzburg (1520-22).
- Madonna of the Rosary (1521-4) Weinbergen Church, Volkach.
- The Grieving for Christ (1525) Klosterkirche, Maidbronn near Wurzburg.
|
