Nosseni altar
The Nosseni Altar is a Renaissance altar by the Swiss sculptor Giovanni Maria Nosseni (1544–1620) from 1606 and is regarded as his most important work. It was the main altar of Dresden's Sophienkirche and, like the church , was badly damaged during the bombing of the city in February 1945. After its reconstruction in the 1990s, the Nosseni Altar has been in the Loschwitz Church since 2002 .
The altar, in which various Dresden sculptors were involved, is considered to be the main work of Mannerism from the time of the Electorate of Saxony around 1600 and, in addition to the influence of Italian artists, also shows aspects of local art traditions that were adapted to " Nordic tastes ". The Nosseni Altar has been a listed building since 1979.
history
Foundation of the Sophie von Brandenburg
The Nosseni Altar goes back to a foundation from Sophies von Brandenburg in 1606. As the widow of the Saxon Elector Christian I , after his early death in Saxony in 1591, she was able to successfully enforce Lutheranism against the Calvinist efforts of Nikolaus Krell . From 1599 to 1602, at her instigation , the church of the Franciscan monastery near Dresden Castle was converted into a Protestant church, which after completion in 1602 was named Sophienkirche under the patronage of Sophies of Brandenburg.
For the new Sophienkirche, Sophie von Brandenburg donated the altar in 1606, which was erected in her northern choir under Giovanni Maria Nosseni until 1607 . The sculptors who were involved in the execution were probably the brothers Sebastian Walther and Christoph Walther IV (around 1572–1626), second cousins of the sculptor Hans Walther . For the altar, which cost 3500 guilders , various stone materials were used that came from quarries developed and managed by Nosseni. Unusually there are no references to the founder on the altar, such as a portrait or the coat of arms. That is why the foundation is seen today as a kind of "thank you and faith testimony" of Sophie von Brandenburg.
Destruction in 1945
Parts of the altar of the Sophienkirche had already been protected from possible destruction before the air raids on Dresden on February 13, 1945. The lamentation relief, the figures of the risen Christ, death and the devil, as well as some angels and putti were removed and put into storage, and the predella relief walled up. The bombing caused severe damage to the altar. The first figural parts of the altar were recovered before the end of the Second World War . Other figures, such as the five on the main floor, were rescued from the rubble before the vault of the Dresden Sophienkirche collapsed in February 1946. The altar structure itself remained in the church ruins. The predella relief with a representation of the Lord's Supper remained walled in to protect it from willful destruction. A measurement was made in December 1945 , which later became an important basis for the reconstruction. In the following years, many of the little angel heads on the altar structure were broken off and stolen.
Some of the recovered figures from the Nosseni Altar were stored in the rooms of the Dresden Palace and the Kreuzkirche . Other parts and other objects of the Sophienkirche ended up in different churches in Dresden , for example the crucifixion group in the parish room of the Trinity Church and the Last Supper relief in the Thomaskirche .
In 1963 the Sophienkirche was demolished. Monument preservationists dismantled the Nosseni altar into its individual parts and deposited them in the basement of the estate , although they were not properly stored and further damage and losses occurred. The plan to erect the altar in the Matthäuskirche in Dresden's Friedrichstadt failed due to the insufficient height of the church. In 1979 the preserved figural parts of the Nosseni Altar were included in the central list of monuments of the GDR.
Restoration and reconstruction from 1998 to 2002
On April 1, 1993, the Loschwitz parish applied to the regional church office to transfer the Nosseni altar to the Loschwitz church . This baroque church, built by Johann Christian Fehre and George Bähr from 1705 to 1708, was rebuilt from 1991 to 1994 after its almost complete destruction in the bombing of Dresden in 1945, although the baroque pulpit altar could not be reconstructed. Since the spatial requirements for the erection of the Nosseni Altar were given, preliminary considerations began in 1996 for its reconstruction and restoration of the altar. The altar, made of alabaster , marble and sandstone , was stored at that time with more than 350 individual parts in various locations in Dresden. The declared aim was to insert all of the preserved parts into the restored altar. An anastilosis and the integration of “old” components into a modern altar structure were discussed as possible approaches .
After the decision was made in favor of a largely true-to-original reconstruction using all of the approx. 350 preserved figural parts and fragments, work began in 1998. Static problems made it necessary to reinforce the altar structure with a steel frame inside before ornaments and figures could be attached. The Christian Schulze sculptor's workshop and the Manfred Zehrfeld art molding company added missing parts to the altar in a true-to-original form. The reconstruction of sculptural details from differently colored marble and green serpentine could, however, often "not be carried out in accordance with the material and was done in stucco marble, the color and structure of which was matched to the inserted original parts in such a way that the aesthetic appearance of the altar can be experienced again and only with closer inspection Consider the differences between the original piece and the supplement ". With additions made to the material, a loss of the original material would have been inevitable, as uneven fractures would have to be worked off to connect to the reconstructed parts. Damaged figures and capitals, which were originally made of alabaster from the southern Harz , were supplemented by tinted white alabaster from Italy, so that the differences between the preserved and newly made parts remained visible there too.
On October 6, 2002, the eleven-meter high Nosseni altar was ceremoniously consecrated in the Loschwitz church.
description
The Renaissance altar has a three-tier structure consisting of a lower, middle and upper part. Such a structure was the main theme of the Saxon sculptors around 1600.
Lower altar structure
The lower structure with four pedestals above the altar table is provided with passages from the Bible in gold letters on black marble. On the outer left pedestal can be read: Matth. 26. “Christian says: Nemet, eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do that in my memory. ” While the following Bible verse is quoted on the inner left pedestal: Matt. 26. "All of you drink from it, that is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for the forgiveness of sins" , shows the inner right pedestal the Bible verse : Cor. 11. "Man test himself and so he eats this bread and drinks this cup." The outer right pedestal quotes the saying: Cor. 11. "Whoever eats and tricks unworthily, eats and drinks for himself what is judged."
Between the inner pedestals is an alabaster relief as a predella , which shows the Last Supper scene: “John bows to Christ while the apostles appear animated in conversation. The painterly held perspective calls to mind the work of Giovanni da Bologna ”, so the assessment of the art historian Cornelius Gurlitt . Heinrich Magirius interpreted the second disciple from the left at the Lord's Supper table as the theologian Polykarp Leyser and the men carrying wine cans on the left as the sculptor Walther.
Middle altar structure
The middle part of the altar is characterized by four Corinthian columns with cranked entablature , which stand on the pedestals of the lower structure. Between the inner column in the middle of the altar the Kreuzigungsszene is shown the main floor in a drastic sheet whose upper rounding up in the Fries zone extends. Under the cross with the figure of Christ is the right one 85 cm high statue of John and left the same level of Maria .
There are Bible verses in gold letters above the figures. Above the figure of Mary is written: 1. Cor. 2. "I did not think that I knew anything among you without Jesus Christ the crucified" , while the following Bible verse can be read over the figure of John: Galat. 6 "Far be it from me then to praise the creed of our Lord Jhesu Christ."
In the two niches between the inner and outer columns on the right is the figure of Peter, about one meter high, with a key in one hand. In the other he carries a closed book. In the left niche there is a statue of Paul of the same height with a book and a sword hidden in a robe.
Middle altar structure, left: Paul figure
Middle altar structure, middle: crucifixion group
Middle altar structure, right: Petrus figure
Upper altar structure
The tapering upper altar structure adjoins the crucifixion group. In the Attica region two pedestals surround the balustrade with an inscription from the Bible: "Your dead shall live and rise again with the body. Wake up and hear you who live under the earth, then your taw is a taw of the green field. Isaiah 26. "
A relief with the Lamentation of Christ is located between the two adjoining Ionic columns that continue the inner Corinthian columns of the central field . It shows the sunk Christ, held by the apostles on the feet and upper body, on whose left side Mary kneels. More women and apostles are in the background, where a landscape can be seen in the distance. The structure is surrounded by angels with lance, cross and scourge column . The structure is crowned by a baroque decorative gable , the tympanum of which is a Bible verse from Rome. 4:25 adorns: "Christ was given because of our sins and because of our righteousness arose."
The conclusion is the risen Christ with the flag of faith on a globe against which death and the devil are leaning.
Executing sculptor
Robert Bruck pointed out in 1912 that Nosseni was not “creating sculptures himself, but rather commissioned other artists or assistants in his workshop to carry out his designs”. Most likely, Nosseni was only "the spiritual author" of the altar and entrusted the actual execution to his workshop assistants. Bruck believed that he recognized the style of different sculptors in the relief of the Lamentation of Christ, the Lord's Supper, the figure of Christ on the globe and the ornamental details. While smaller ornaments may have only come from workshop assistants, the larger artistic elements of the altar are assigned to contemporary sculptors.
Last Supper Relief
The composition of the Lord's Supper differs significantly from the usual representations of the Lord's Supper in German art. Jesus, who is represented by a halo, is seated at a table with the disciples in a pillared hall. Pyramids, a domed structure and other buildings can be seen in the background through the arches of the hall. Servants on the left bring wine and, unlike Christ and the disciples, are clad in secular costume. On the right edge of the relief is a cellar master with keys on his belt. Bruck sees a clear reference in the communion relief to Paolo Veronese's banquet in Levi's house and therefore assigns the relief to an Italian artist. Other scholars assigned Nosseni both the design and the execution of the relief that would illustrate his art style. However, since there is no other relief from Nosseni's hand, Bruck only ascribes the design to Nosseni and believes that it could be carried out by a still unknown workshop assistant, Nosseni.
Heinrich Magirius sees stylistic similarities between the Last Supper relief and the Cranachepitaph in Wittenberg , which is signed by SWF and assigned to Sebastian Walther. That is why he attributes the communion relief to Sebastian Walther.
Relief of the Lamentation of Christ
Bruck calls Sebastian Walther (around 1576–1645) the most outstanding assistant in Nosseni's workshop, so it is likely that Sebastian Walther executed large parts of the altar. Since hardly any works by Sebastian Walther have survived, Bruck examined the so-called Nosseni epitaph from 1616. By comparing styles, he assigned the Ecce homo of the Hegewald epitaph and the side alabaster reliefs to Sebastian Walther. The reliefs of the epitaph in turn show clear similarities with the relief of the Lamentation of Christ on the altar in the folds of the clothing, in the posture and in the expression of the faces, so that Bruck ascribes the relief of the Lamentation of Christ to Sebastian Walther.
Heinrich Magirius sees clear differences between the Lord's Supper relief and the depiction of the Lamentation of Christ. Since both Sebastian Walther and his brother Christoph Walther IV are associated with the Nosseni Altar, Magirius suspects that the "work marked by his somewhat fearful academic dryness" is a work by either Christoph Walther IV or his brother Michael Walther ( 1574-1624). However, there are no clearly attributed works by Michael Walther that would allow stylistic comparisons.
Christ on the globe
In the figure of Christ on the globe, Robert Bruck believes, due to similarities with the Ecce homo of the Nosseni epitaph , such as “head hair and beard treatment ... in moving, curly strands ..., [the] upper parts of the eye sockets that run at right angles to the base of the nose and [the] very narrow upper eyelids ” to recognize the style and manner of Zacharias Hegewald .
The small figure of death, which is leaning against the globe, bears the artist's signature CW F. This indicates the authorship of Christoph Walther IV. The signature DMH 1607 on the globe could not yet be assigned to any artist. Maybe it was the work of an insignificant helper.
Style and rating
Cornelius Gurlitt emphasized the Italian style of the altar, which clearly shows the influence of the school of Jacopo Sansovino or Giovanni da Bologna in the clear structure of the figures . Even Fritz Löffler described the altar as "masterpiece of Mannerism ... from the school of Giovanni da Bologna", which was characteristic of the work of electoral Saxon sculptor in 1600 the dreistaffelige altar construction. Hentschel therefore restricted that the structure “could have been called Italian if the consideration for the high Gothic choir [of the Sophienkirche] had not led to a stretching of the proportions and a strong tapering upwards.” The “ Nordic taste ” were also adapted the volute transitions from the main floor to the upper floor, while the strict structure and the figures are Italian. The “narrowness and confinement of the space” for the figures show, however, an adjustment to “'Nordic' customs”. Although “the expression is not particularly deepened”, the altar testifies to a beauty of form that Nosseni already distinguished when designing the Freiberg princely tomb . Heinrich Magirius summarized the art-historical-stylistic aspect of the Nosseni Altar 2004:
"From an art-historical point of view, the altar bears witness to the dominance of Italian culture at the Dresden court since the middle of the 16th century, in this case clearly of Venetian provenance, but at the same time its adaptation to local traditions."
literature
- Robert Bruck : The Sophienkirche in Dresden. Their history and their art treasures . Keller, Dresden 1912.
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments . Dresden . New edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin and Munich 2005, ISBN 3-422-03110-3 , p. 179.
- Cornelius Gurlitt : Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 21: City of Dresden, Part 1. In Commission at CC Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1900, pp. 92–95.
- Walter Hentschel : Nosseni and the third Walther generation . In: Walter Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries . Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1966, pp. 67–88.
- Fritz Löffler : The old Dresden - history of its buildings . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1981, ISBN 3-363-00007-3 , pp. 36-37.
- Heinrich Magirius : The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-7776-1326-6 .
Web links
Supporting documents and comments
- ↑ Markus Hunecke: The Sophienkirche in the course of history . benno, Leipzig 1999, p. 106.
- ↑ This concerned the “red marble for the columns, black marble for the backsheet, dark green Zöblitzer serpentine for the column bases, plus light alabaster” for reliefs and ornaments. See Walter Hentschel: Nosseni and the third Walther generation . In: Walter Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries . Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1966, pp. 67–88, here p. 69.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 16.
- ↑ a b c d Eberhard Münzner (Monument Protection Office Dresden): Archaeological reconstruction of the Nossenialtars. in: Dresden. Monument protection and preservation. Published by the Office for Monument Protection Dresden together with Gehrig-Verlag Merseburg. Merseburg 2002, p. 24 f.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 3.
- ↑ Memorial: Loschwitz Church, churchyard, Nosseni altar ; Date after Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 6f.
- ↑ Annette Dubbers (Ed.): Loschwitz . Self-published, Dresden 2003, p. 18.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Verlag der Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Leipzig 2004, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius in: Otto-R. Wenzel: The Loschwitz Church - construction, destruction and reconstruction . In: Ev.-Luth.-Kirchgemeinde Dresden-Loschwitz (Hrsg.): 300 years of the parish of Dresden-Loschwitz . Festschrift. Ev.-Luth. Kirchgemeinde Dresden-Loschwitz, Dresden 2004, pp. 39–40.
- ↑ a b Fritz Löffler: The old Dresden - history of its buildings . Seemann, Leipzig 1981, p. 36.
- ↑ a b c d e All sayings after Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 21: City of Dresden, Part 1. In Commission at CC Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1900, pp. 93–95
- ↑ Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 21: City of Dresden, Part 1. In Commission at CC Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1900, p. 94.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 17.
- ↑ Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 21: City of Dresden, Part 1. In Commission at CC Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1900, p. 93.
- ↑ a b c Cornelius Gurlitt: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony . Volume 21: City of Dresden, Part 1. In Commission at CC Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1900, p. 95.
- ↑ Magirius (2004), p. 15; Dehio (2005), p. 179. Gurlitt incorrectly interprets the figure of Paul as Moses. See Gurlitt (1900), p. 95.
- ↑ According to Gurlitt (1900), p. 95, Dehio (2005), p. 179. Magirius interprets the scene as the burial of Christ. Cf. Magirius (2004), p. 15. Also Hentschel (1966), p. 70 and Bruck (1912), p. 48.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 15.
- ^ A b Robert Bruck: The Sophienkirche in Dresden. Their history and their art treasures . Keller, Dresden 1912, p. 49.
- ^ A b c d Robert Bruck: The Sophienkirche in Dresden. Their history and their art treasures . Keller, Dresden 1912, p. 53.
- ^ Walter Mackowsky: Giovanni Maria Nosseni and the Renaissance in Saxony . Wasmuth, Berlin 1904, p. 99.
- ^ A b Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Robert Bruck: The Sophienkirche in Dresden. Their history and their art treasures . Keller, Dresden 1912, p. 52.
- ^ Robert Bruck: The Sophienkirche in Dresden. Their history and their art treasures . Keller, Dresden 1912, p. 51.
- ↑ a b Walter Hentschel: Nosseni and the third Walther generation . In: Walter Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries . Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1966, pp. 67–88, here p. 70.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 21.
- ↑ a b Walter Hentschel: Nosseni and the third Walther generation . In: Walter Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries . Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1966, pp. 67–88, here p. 69.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 19.
- ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden . Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, p. 11.
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 '10.8 " N , 13 ° 49' 2.7" E
