Master of Großgmain
The so-called Meister von Großgmain , whose main works were all created for the Salzburg area, is one of the most dazzling painters of the late Gothic period . His art shows connections with that of the painters Rueland Frueauf the Elder, who worked in Passau and Salzburg . Ä. and d. J. In coloring and painting technique, however, she also has direct Dutch traits. However, the name and origin of the master are unknown.
Work attributions
The master of Großgmain and his group of works are primarily attributed the eight outstanding panel paintings or fragments of the Gothic winged altar of the Großgmain pilgrimage church, which was dismantled in the Baroque period, with scenes from the life of Mary and the childhood of Jesus. These pictures were probably made at the end of the 15th century. One picture is dated and bears the year 1499. The panel paintings are among the most beautiful and valuable late Gothic art treasures in Austria and southern Germany. Today the pictures hang in the chancel of the church, they can be viewed after the services.
The entire work of the Großgmainer Group has not yet been clearly recorded and documented. Among other things, a coronation of Mary, which is dated between 1495 and 1500, and the Saints Augustine and Ambrosius from 1498, which can be seen today in the Belvedere , are among the works of the Großgmainer group. A votive tablet that is currently in Prague and shows Mary with the baby Jesus, St. Thomas and a donor is also attributed to this group. An altar triptych from Berchtesgaden is counted among the early works today. Like the two church fathers, it is in the Belvederes' medieval collection.
- Twelve year old Jesus in the temple , dated 1499
The depiction of the death of the Virgin from Berchtesgaden
The strongly horizontal middle panel of the graceful altar shows the death of Mary. The figures of the apostles, Mary and the bed in which she lies take up a large part of the entire picture surface. Apart from that, the unusual choice of format leaves little room for spatial design. The perspective representation is not yet applied uniformly, which creates an opened impression. Special emphasis is placed on the individual features of the individual faces. What is unusual is the fact that, in contrast to the figure-filled background in the foreground, there is a relatively large amount of space for a small wooden table with various utensils. Although such still lifes are not atypical in depictions of the birth and death of the Virgin Mary, the prominent placement in the foreground seems to be a peculiarity of the artist. An orientation towards old Dutch painting could have been the impetus for this detailed representation.
On the inside of the left wing, Saints Christophorus and Jacobus the Elder appear accompanied by their attributes. To the right of it are Saint Gregory with a book and papal crown and Saint Agathe. Apart from the same brocade pattern in the background, the wings appear to be very different from the central panel.
Chronological order
As already mentioned, the painting of the central panel differs from that of the two sides of the wing. If you pay attention to details such as the different designs of the head shapes and hands, this becomes immediately clear. While some art historians such as Eva Maria Zimmermann justify the stylistic differences with different dates of the panels, others such as Elfriede Baum consider the side panels to be the work of a student or assistant. Zimmermann's dating of the central panel to the 1490s, however, proves to be problematic, as the spatial implementation and arrangement of the figures in Grossgmain's Marientod from 1499 is different. A more or less simultaneous creation time of the two panels is therefore difficult to understand.
If, like Walther Buchowiecki, Elfriede Baum and some other art historians, one counts a votive tablet from Prague among the works of the Großgmain group of works, one obtains an important clue, as the numbers 1.4.8.3 are on the background of the plate. Baum argues for a date around 1480, i.e. before the Prague votive picture. The more efficient division of the room and the figures on the picture surface in the Prague factory make this dating seem plausible.
Theories of Otto Demus as the master of Großgmain
Since some stylistic differences can be identified within the works that were assigned to the Großgmainer group, Otto Demus developed an interesting theory. Among other things, he specialized in late Gothic panel painting and thus familiar with the peculiarities of the Gothic art landscape, he distinguished within the group “Meister v. Großgmain “three different painters. According to Demus, the so-called master “A” is the most conservative employee and for him the dominant personality of the workshop. He attributes to him, among other things, the death of Mary in the Belvedere and the two church fathers. He also names the painter of the back of the Grossgmain Altar, to whom he assigns the Oberhaus fortress in Passau. Demus considers the so-called master “B” to be younger and sees him more following the tradition of the Frueauf workshop. The Grossgmainer offering and the Whitsun festival are said to have emerged from his ability. The approach that several masters were at work within the Großgmainer group is considered to be justified. However, contrary to Otto Demus, who recognized different hands on different panels, the specific characteristics of masters “A” and “B” were also shown in a single panel.
Consequently, in larger groups of medieval works, such as that of the Großgmainers, there was not just one "master" and his students. Apparently, several "masters" joined forces who took on certain tasks and thus appear in the respective panels.
literature
- Ludwig Baldass : Conrad Laib and the two Rueland Frueauf. Vienna 1946.
- Otto Demus : To the panels of the Grossgmainer Altar. In: ÖZKD, XIX, Horn 1965.
- Helene Kästenbaum: The Frueauf problem. phil.Dipl., Vienna 1928.
- Josef Langl: magazine for fine arts. I, 1890, p. 309.
- Georg Petzold: Tempera painting in the church of Gross-Gmain. In: Deutsches Kunstblatt 23, Stuttgart 1851.
- Robert Stiassny: Altsalzburger Tafelbilder. In: Yearbook of the very highest imperial family. XXIV, Berlin 1903.
- Robert West: The master of Großmann. in monthly journals for art history Vol. 10, No. 6, 1917 pp. 238-258, JSTOR 24495677
- Eva Maria Zimmermann: Studies on the problem of fruity. Rueland Frueauf the Elder and the Master of Großgmain. Vienna 1975.
In reviews:
- Ludwig Baldass: Austrian panel painting of the late Gothic. 1400-1525. Art historical overview and catalog of the paintings, Vienna 1934.
- Otto Fischer: Old German painting in Salzburg. Leipzig 1908.
- Hubert Janitschek: History of German Painting , Berlin 1890.
- Harry Kühnel: The material culture of the late Middle Ages as reflected in contemporary iconography. Reprint from the catalog “Gotik in Österreich 1967”, cat.austr., Krems an der Donau 1967.
- Walther Buchowiecki : Wall, book and panel painting. In: Gothic in Austria. Cat. Exhibition, Vienna 1967.
- Eduard von Engerth: Painting of the Art History Collection of the Most High Imperial House III. German schools. Cat. Coll., Vienna 1886.
- Elfriede Baum: Catalog of the Museum of Medieval Austrian Art. Cat.Slg. Vienna 1971.
- Veronika Pirker-Aurenhammer: Treasury Middle Ages. Viewing depot in the stables. Info brochure, Vienna 2007.
- Achim Simon: Austrian panel painting of the late Gothic. The Dutch Influence in the 15th Century. Berlin 2002.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fig. Twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple . AEIOU, In: Austria Forum, the Austrian Knowledge Network. , March 12, 2010 [1] , Austria Forum
Web links
- Works by the master von Großgmain in: Digitales Belvedere (digital.belvedere.at)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Master of Großgmain |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Late Gothic painter personality |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15th century or 16th century |