Berswordt Altar

The Berswordt altar or the Berswordt reredos now stands in the north aisle of the Protestant St. Mary's Church in Dortmund . The pictures are dated before 1390 and show an Annunciation to Mary on the outside and a Passion of Christ concentrated on three scenes on the inside. The name of the altarpiece goes back to the Berswordt family, whose coat of arms can be found in the corners of the retable.

The master of the Berswordt altar

The name of the painter of the Berswordt Altar is not known. He is referred to by the emergency name Master of the Berswordt Altar or Master of the Berswordt Retable . ^* It was suggested to see an early work by Conrad von Soest in the altar ; this is controversial. Other works by the master of the Berswordt altar , whose workshop was probably located in Cologne, are the Marienretabel in the Protestant Neustädter Marienkirche in Bielefeld, the destroyed predella in the Protestant Marienkirche in Osnabrück , the west window in the former Cistercian monastery church in Altenberg and the Grave slab of Bishop Rupert von Berg in Paderborn Cathedral .

The Berswordt Altar

The left panel of the Berswordt altar shows Jesus carrying the cross on the way of the cross to Golgotha . Simon of Cyrene is forced to help him carry the heavy cross. While servants of the Roman soldiers beat him forward, some women weep for him.

The middle panel summarizes various episodes of the crucifixion of Christ in a crowded Calvary . It shows the collapse of Mary, who is supported by John. John looks to the crucified, who, according to the Gospel of John, declares the two to be mother and son. At the foot of the cross, demonic figures haggle over the garment of Jesus. But a Roman centurion recognizes the true Son of God in the dying Jesus. His confession is carried out as a banner. In the center of the middle panel is the cross with the dying Jesus, the stab with a lance in the side is also shown. To the right and left behind Jesus hang the thieves crucified with him. The soul of the one who repents is taken by an angel, that of the stubborn by a devil.

The right panel shows the Descent from the Cross. Also in this picture the cross is in the center. The event is limited to a few people, unlike in the abundance of scenes in the central image. Against the golden background, the robes of the acting persons shine red, gold and green. Joseph of Arimathia holds the body of Jesus in his arms while others use pliers to remove the bleeding nails from the feet and detach the left arm from the cross. The figure of Jesus is not only veiled in the area of the white cloth that covers his shame.

Berswordt reredos (before 1395)

Berswordt Altar outside

Remarks

^*Sometimes also referred to as the Berswordt master in a misleading abbreviation .

Individual evidence

^ Horst Appuhn: St. Marien in Dortmund . In: Konrad Lorenz, Presbytery of the Evangelical St. Marien Congregation (ed.): The Evangelical St. Marien Church in Dortmund . Evangelische St.-Mariengemeinde, Dortmund 1981, DNB 810986558 , LCCN 82-166117 , OCLC 174485875 , p. 24 (published on the occasion of the 800th anniversary).

^ Götz J. Pfeiffer: Painting on the Lower Rhine and in Westphalia around 1400 . The master of the Berswordt retable and the change in style of the time (= studies on international architecture and art history . Volume 73 ). Imhof, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-194-2 .

literature

Götz J. Pfeiffer: Master of the Berswordt Retable . In: Allgemeine Künstlerlexikon, Vol. 88, Berlin, 2015 (in press).

Götz J. Pfeiffer: Painting on the Lower Rhine and in Westphalia around 1400 . The master of the Berswordt retable and the change in style of the time (= studies on international architecture and art history . Volume 73 ). Imhof, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-194-2 .

Götz J. Pfeiffer: The retable art of the master of the Berswordt retable in Westphalia . In: Uwe Albrecht , Bernd B possibly (Hrsg.): The Landkirchen reredos in the Schleswig-Holstein State Museum at Gottorf Castle . Reredos around 1400 in Northern Germany. Files from the international colloquium on October 4th and 5th, 2002 in Schleswig, Gottorf Castle. Ludwig, Kiel 2008, ISBN 978-3-937719-61-0 , pp. 98-112 .

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: Waldeckischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): History sheets for Waldeck . tape 96 , 2008, ISSN 0342-0965 , p. 10-31 .

Andrea Zupancic, Thomas Schilp (ed.): The Berswordt master and Dortmund painting around 1400 . Urban culture in the late Middle Ages (= publications of the Dortmund City Archives . Volume 18 ). Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2002, ISBN 3-89534-488-5 .

Konrad Lorenz, Presbytery of the Evangelical St. Marien Congregation (ed.): The Evangelical St. Marien Church in Dortmund . Evangelische St.-Mariengemeinde, Dortmund 1981, DNB 810986558 , LCCN 82-166117 , OCLC 174485875 (published on the occasion of the 800th anniversary).

[Appuhn-1] Horst Appuhn: St. Marien in Dortmund . In: Konrad Lorenz, Presbytery of the Evangelical St. Marien Congregation (ed.): The Evangelical St. Marien Church in Dortmund . Evangelische St.-Mariengemeinde, Dortmund 1981, DNB 810986558 , LCCN 82-166117 , OCLC 174485875 , p. 24 (published on the occasion of the 800th anniversary).

[Pfeiffer-2] Götz J. Pfeiffer: Painting on the Lower Rhine and in Westphalia around 1400 . The master of the Berswordt retable and the change in style of the time (= studies on international architecture and art history . Volume 73 ). Imhof, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-194-2 .