Conrad von Soest

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Passion Altar (Wildungen Altar), general view

Conrad von Soest, and Konrad , in the Middle Low German language originally his home Conrad van Sost, (* around 1370 in Dortmund , † after 1422 ibid) one was a painter and main champion of Westphalian panel painting of the so-called soft style of late Gothic . The painter played a decisive role in the introduction of the International Courtly Style around 1440 in Northern Germany. His work had far-reaching effects on German painting in the 15th century.

Life

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Marien Altar in the Marienkirche (Dortmund)

A few sources have been preserved about the late Gothic painter, which give evidence of his life. Conrad von Soest is the first Westphalian painter whose life can be reconstructed in aspects. Soest's oeuvre, designed by hand, is not as small as it seems. The following are preserved:

  • Inscription of his name on the wooden frame of the Wildunger Altar (no longer legible today, according to a transcription by Ludwig Varnhagen it was "Conradum pictorem de Susato")
  • hidden signature on the Marien Altar in Dortmund ;
  • Dortmund documentary mentions of a "Wernerus pictor" (naturalized 1331) and a "Wernerus pictor de Sosato" (naturalized 1348); also a "Hinricus de Sosato", deaurator (= gilder) by profession, naturalized in 1306;
  • Marriage contract with Gertrude van Munster from 1394 (see below);
  • Membership lists from the Dortmund Marienbruderschaften of St. Marien (1396 "Conrad meler et uxor", living on Ostenhellweg) and St. Nikolai (1396 "Mester Conrad, meler")

Citizen of the city of Dortmund

Initially, the director of the Dortmund city archive, Luise von Winterfeld , had compiled the traces of Conrad von Soest in Dortmund documents in 1925. She initially proved his citizenship with the absence of his name in the Dortmund new resident lists and further concluded that he must have been the son of the Dortmund citizen "Wernerus pictor de Susato". From today's point of view, this line of argument is flawed because these lists were not complete. As a stronger argument, Luise von Winterfeld was able to point to the fact that Conrad von Soest did not have to conjure up the Dortmund citizenship in the marriage contract, an argument that has withstood critical evaluation to this day.

Marriage settlement

The morning speech , a marriage contract before witnesses between “Conrade van Soest” and Gertrude, daughter of “Lambertes van Munster”, is dated February 11, 1394 . On the day after the Blessed Virgin Scholastica, the bride and groom have detailed inheritance and possible foundations.

It is not only the amount of money that the spouses have at their disposal that catches the eye. Above all, the prominent witnesses point to the high social status of the contractors. Both Conrad and Gertrude are vouched for by particularly respected patricians in the city. Monika Fehse interprets the marriage as a significant connection between the Dortmund patrician Conrad and Gertrude van Munster as a representative of the Munster nobility :

“In this respect, the marriage between Conrad and Gertrud could also have had a political meaning, which would explain the appearance of - to put it casually - political prominence among the witnesses: Among the six patrician witnesses we find Herrmann Klepping, the second mayor of the current council year 1394 and the third member of the council, Detmar Klepping, and with Arnd Sudermann and Lambert Berswordt, the two mayors of the next year in office, which began shortly after the wedding. "

- Monika Fehse : The city dweller Conrad von Soest - a socio-historical classification, 2004, p. 262

Dortmund painter

According to lists of the Marienbruderschaft from 1396, Conrad von Soest's house was located on Ostenhellweg in the center of Dortmund. The list mentions two other painters on Ostenhellweg, Lambert and Hermann, perhaps an indication of a joint workshop. The list of the Nikolai Brotherhood has a "Mester Conrad, meler" and later names Wißstrasse as the place of residence without listing other relatives. Even if most analyzes assume an identity of the two persons, this cannot be proven with absolute certainty. With regard to the Dortmund brotherhoods, Monika Fehse emphasizes the great social breadth of membership in contrast to Cologne, for example, where the brotherhoods were organized on a class basis. An elevated social position of Conrad cannot be derived from the membership in the brotherhoods.

Works

Birth of Christ; Part of the winged altar in the town church Bad Wildungen (1403): German postage stamp from 2000 , joint issue with Spain

His main works that have survived seem stylistically influenced by French book illumination and Burgundian painting of his time. He also received regional painters of his time, such as the master of the Berswordt retable who worked in Cologne before 1400 and can be considered his teacher.

The Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe has been awarding the Konrad von Soest Prize for Fine Arts, endowed with 12,800 euros, since 1954 .

In Soest, Westphalia, a high school is named after Conrad von Soest.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Conrad von Soest and his workshop . In: Brigitte Buberl (ed.): Conrad von Soest: new research on the painter and the cultural history of the time around 1400 . Publishing house for regional history, Gütersloh 2004, ISBN 3-89534-521-0 , p. 61 (Brigitte Corley dates the birth of Conrad to around 1360).
  2. ↑ Beckermann, Wolfgang: Review of Conrad von Soest, in: concilium medii aevi, 8/2005, pp. 185–187 ( PDF )
  3. ^ Brigitte Corley: Conrad von Soest . Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2293-8 , pp. 199 .
  4. ↑ on the attribution of other works see: Brigitte Corley, Some comments on Conrad von Soest and his workshop, in: Brigitte Buberl (Ed.): Conrad von Soest: new research on the painter and the cultural history of the time around 1400 , 2004
  5. ↑ Thomas Schilp, Barbara Welzel (eds.): Dortmund and Conrad von Soest in late medieval Europe (=  Dortmund Medieval Research . Volume 3 ). 2004, ISBN 3-89534-533-4 , ISSN  1612-8648 , pp. 229 , panels 29 and 30 .
  6. ↑ Luise von Winterfeld: Master Konrad von Soest, a born Dortmund citizen and other Dortmund painters . S. 141-145 .
  7. ↑ Luise von Winterfeld: Master Konrad von Soest, a born Dortmund citizen and other Dortmund painters . S. 142 .
  8. ↑ Monika Fehse: The townsperson Conrad von Soest - a socio-historical classification . In: Thomas Schilp, Barbara Welzel (eds.): Dortmund and Conrad von Soest in late medieval Europe . Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2004, ISBN 978-3-89534-533-3 , p. 259, 269 , footnotes 3-5 .
  9. ^ Luise von Winterfeld , Small contributions to Konrad von Soest, in: Contributions to the history of Dortmund and the county Mark 47, 1948, pp. 5–23
  10. ↑ Andreas Zupancic, Thomas Schilp (Ed.): The Berswordt Master and the Dortmund Painting around 1400 . 2002, ISBN 3-89534-488-5 , pp. 312-314 .
  11. ↑ cf. Andrea Zupancic, a Dortmund painting school? in: Andreas Zupancic, Thomas Schilp (Eds.): The Berswordt Master and the Dortmund Painting around 1400 , 2002, p. 265
  12. ↑ Monika Fehse: The townsperson Conrad von Soest - a socio-historical classification . 2004, p. 266 .
  13. ↑ Götz J. Pfeiffer: … even more excellent than the two female saints… works by the master of the Berswordt reredos in comparison with the Wildung reredos. In: History sheets for Waldeck . No. 96 , 2008, ISSN  0342-0965 , p. 10-31 . Götz J. Pfeiffer: The painting on the Lower Rhine and in Westphalia around 1400. The master of the Berswordt retable and the style change of the time (=  studies on international architecture and art history ). 2009, ISBN 3-86568-194-8 .
  14. ↑ The Altar of Conrad von Soest. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012 ; accessed on November 23, 2016 .

literature

  • Horst Appuhn: St. Marien in Dortmund , in: Konrad Lorenz, Die Ev. St. Marienkirche zu Dortmund, self-published by the Mariengemeinde, Dortmund 1981, pp. 18–47
  • Arthur Engelbert: Conrad von Soest. A painter around 1400 , Cologne: König, 1995, ISBN 3-88375-222-3
  • Wolfgang Fischer: The Wildunger Altar. The world of images of Conrad von Soest (Bing & Schwarz printing and media), 2., verb. u. through Edition 2005, ISBN 3-9810001-0-2
  • Georg Irmer :  Konrad von Soest . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 652.
  • Anton Legner (ed.): The Parler and the beautiful style 1350-1400 . 3 volumes. Cologne 1978. 1st volume. Pp. 234-236
  • Paul Pieper :  Konrad von Soest. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 550 ( digitized version ).
  • Wolfgang Rinke: Conrad von Soest, bibliography on the life and work of the Dortmund painter and his Low German circle. With a reprinted contribution by Rolf Fritz "Observations on the Marienaltar Conrad von Soest in Dortmund". Dortmund 1991. Messages from the Dortmund University Library . Edited by Valentin Wehefritz. No. 9.
  • Alfred Stange: Conrad von Soest , Königstein i. Ts: Langewiesche, [1966]
  • Hermann-Adolf stamp:  Conrad von Soest. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-038-7 , Sp. 438-439.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Conrad von Soest  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Conrad von Soest
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Conrad van Sost
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, main master of Westphalian painting, the so-called "soft style"
DATE OF BIRTH around 1370
PLACE OF BIRTH Dortmund
DATE OF DEATH after 1422
Place of death Dortmund