Biertan Altar

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Biertan Altar

The Biertan Altar is a late Gothic winged altar in the fortified church of Biertan (Romanian Biertan ) in the Sibiu district in Romania . The altar is an important piece of late Gothic art in Transylvania .

Together with the Mediasch Altar and the Altar of the Church of Großprobstdorf , the Biertan Altar is assigned to a group of Transylvanian winged altars, which are influenced by the Viennese Schottenstift art school around the unknown master of the Viennese Schotten Altar . Since the 1980s the Transylvanian master painter Johannes Siebenbürger (around 1440–1483) has been assigned to this school, if not equated with the Schottenmeister himself. It is certain that this master played an essential role in conveying Viennese painting to Transylvania.

Dating

An inscription in an open book on the painting panel with the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple clearly dates the middle part of the reredos to the year 1483, while the inscription ANNO VIRGINIS PARTUS 1515 in the frame of the upper middle painting panel suggests that these parts were only in the early 16th century . Century were added. One of the two coats of arms of the predella shows a goblet flanked by the initials "IO". These are assigned to the Biertan pastor Johannes († 1526), ​​who is also mentioned on the large donor inscription on the triumphal arch of the Biertan church. This proves to be an important donor and sponsor of the construction and decoration of the Biertan church and its main altar.

Current condition

construction

The Birthälmer Altar is a winged altar with a central shrine, two movable wings, two standing panels and a predella with movable wings. A triptych is placed on the altar body. In the main part of the retable, between the central shrine with the group of figures and the wings, two narrow picture panels are inserted, one on top of the other, an arrangement that is more common in Transylvania and is also found, for example, in the older Malmkroger Altar (1469). In contrast to this, the intermediate panels do not show any “altar guardians”, but also show scenes from the life of Mary. Except for the removal of the original shrine figures, the body has been preserved in its original form; when the predella and the crack were changed is no longer traceable due to a lack of sources.

Overall, the altar is 489 cm high and 567 cm wide. The central shrine measures 211 x 132 x 41 cm (height x width x depth). The altar wings measure 211 x 139 cm (height x width) with the frame. The painted surface of the fixed intermediate panels measures 94 x 50 cm each. The panels on the inside measure 94 x 59 cm each, those on the outside 94 x 124 cm. The immobile wing parts measure 211 x 140 cm. The predella is 106 cm high and 270 cm wide. The middle panel measures 97 x 67 cm (painted area: 80 x 51 cm). The wings of the predella measure 97 x 67 cm (painted area: 80 x 51 cm). The sculptures in the shrine are 80.5 cm (Maria), 80 cm (Johannes), 65 cm (Maria Magdalena) and 100 cm (Christ) high.

Painting panels

The pediment of the winged altar contains a triptych with an allegorical depiction of the crucifixion on a living cross in the shape of a vine with bright green leaves and grapes. Apostles stand on the branches of the vine, Mary pours water from a jug, and John the Baptist works the earth around the vine with a hoe. An inscription MARIA RIGAT - EGO SUM VITIS, VOS PALMITES ANNO VIRGINIS PARTUS 1515 - JOHANNES PLANTAT clarifies the allegory: “Mary waters - I am the vine, you the vines. In the year of the virgin birth 1515 - John plants. ”The side pictures of the triptych show the dream of Augustus from the Legenda aurea as well as the vision of the prophet Ezekiel .

When open, the altarpiece shows a central shrine with colored sculptures of a crucifixion scene, flanked by two six panels with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary . The four picture panels on both sides of the central shrine are firmly connected to it, the side panels form the movable altar wings. The picture panels of the Biertan Altarpiece - in its current, post-Reformation version - follow in their entirety a certain, theologically precisely defined concept: The stylistically homogeneous painting panels focus thematically on the family of Christ and his earthly life, which leads to redemption. This suggests a theologically well-educated client who is equated in literature with the Biertan pastor Johannes, whose initials are inscribed on a coat of arms in the predella.

Triptych on the altar body
Vision of the Emperor Augustus
Allegorical crucifixion
Vision of the prophet Ezekiel
Painting panels on the festival side - central shrine and altar wing
Altar wing Intermediate panel Central panel Intermediate panel Altar wing
Anna and Joachim Virgin Mary's birth Engagement of Mary
Crucifixion group
(round sculpture)
 Annunciation visitation Birth of Christ
Circumcision of Jesus Adoration of the Magi Offering in the temple Escape to Egypt Twelve year old Jesus in the temple Baptism of Jesus
Painting panels of the predella (festival side)
Members of the Holy Tribe
Holy Family
 Members of the Holy Tribe

The cycle of pictures on the festive page does not, as would have been customary in the picture tradition of the “life of Mary”, conclude with a depiction of the death of Mary or the coronation of Mary , but with a depiction of the baptism of Christ.

Painting boards on the weekday side (closed)
Stand board Movable wing Movable wing Stand board
Augustine Ambrose Rochus, Michael, Sebastian, Joseph Maria in the halo ,
Anna selbdritt , Drei Marien 		Gregor Jerome
Margareta, Dorothea, Katharina, Barbara Maria in the ear of ears , Elisabeth, Helena, Agnes
Painting panels of the predella (weekday side)
Members of the Holy Tribe Members of the Holy Tribe Members of the Holy Tribe Members of the Holy Tribe

On the back of the altar wings, during the restoration in Gisela Richter's workshop, depictions of the four church fathers were uncovered on the non-movable panel paintings under a painting from the 19th century. The outer side of the movable wings has four panels with images of saints against a blue background with gold stars. The Catholic namesake of the Biertan church is depicted twice on the panels, as Mary in the dress of ears and as the Madonna of the Crescent moon with the baby Jesus .

Unusual for a cycle of paintings on the life of Mary is its conclusion with a depiction of the baptism of Jesus. Krasser assumed that this panel was only added after the Reformation and that it replaced a more iconographically appropriate representation. Crăciun (2004) agreed with this opinion and assumed that the tablet, because of its relation to Christ, must have corresponded to the Reformed understanding of faith more closely than the unknown original. On the other hand, after a more detailed analysis of the archive material from the Kronstadt restoration workshop, Sarkadi (2008 and 2012) assumes that this panel is also part of the original condition of the altar: the eyes of several figures were scratched out in the Reformation iconoclasm , so it can be assumed that this panel also belonged to the altar before the Reformation.

The predella of the altar shows an extensively expanded representation of the Holy Family on all panels . Inscriptions identify the people depicted.

Housing and sculptures

The framework of the predella and the gable triptych fits the reredos so well that it is obvious that they could be produced at the same time in the same workshop. The gilded canopies delimiting the top of the individual panels are the same as on the predella and the side panels of the pediment. The structure of the reredos is also uniform. During the renovation, the existing panel paintings on the altar from 1482 were probably fitted into the new structure. The shrine facade is flanked by two winding columns, finely crafted leaf motifs frame the central shrine.

The gilding preserved on the back wall of the central shrine suggests that the shrine originally contained more complex decorations. The vine leaf ornaments cover only a narrow strip of the back wall, while a large, almost rectangular area has remained unadorned. The sculptures had obviously been there. Since the background that remained free does not trace the outline of an individual figure, Sarkadi (2008) concluded that there must have been a more complex relief composition here. A sun-like halo still preserved in the center of the rear wall indicates a composition around a central figure, very likely a statue of the Virgin Mary. Probably after the iconoclasm, the surface painted with lime paint was provided with an inscription (according to Joh. 3, 16: "Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam." ) In the 1970s or early 1980s, this inscription was covered with new gilding in the Kronstadt workshop and is now only faintly recognizable.

The sculptures of the crucifixion group now in the central shrine are dated to the last quarter of the 15th century. It is not known when they were brought to the shrine. Since the backs of the sculptures are also carved and colored, it can be deduced that they were not originally intended for the altar. The shrine, which was empty after the iconoclasm, was probably found annoying later.

Influence of the Schottenstift workshop

In 1930 Franz Juraschek and Victor Roth had established that the crucifixion table on the Mediasch Altarpiece is related to the corresponding representation in a winged altar from the Vienna Schottenstift in terms of composition and style . This was created in the 15th century by an unknown “ Master of the Viennese Schotten Altar ”. The Schottenstift workshop was a style-defining feature in Central and Eastern Europe in the 15th century. In 1916, Victor Roth demonstrated the similarity in style between two painting panels on the Grossprobstdorf altar and the Mediasch Altarpiece . In the 1970s, Harald Krasser published a series of studies that also classify the Biertan Altarpiece in the artistic tradition of the Schottenstift workshop. The occurrence of three winged altars closely related to each other stylistically and with the same Central European models thus made it possible to draw conclusions about the existence of a late Gothic artist's workshop in Transylvania.

Unlike the master of Mediasch, the unknown artist von Biertan, according to Krasser's analysis, turns out to be significantly more dependent on his Viennese role model: the artistic conception, style and figure types on at least five of the panel paintings (birth of Mary, engagement, visitation, representation in the temple and the birth Jesus) turn out to be almost copies of the picture panels in the Schottenstift and suggest that the Biertan master must have spent at least some time in the Schottenstift workshop.

The winged altar in the reformed church interior

Important altars have been preserved in the churches of the region from the time before 1530, i.e. before the Reformation in Transylvania. In the iconoclasm, numerous works of art and altars were removed from the churches or destroyed. The earliest known document on the removal of pictures and sculptures comes from the Bistritz council clerk Christan Pomarius. In 1543 he wrote that the Turkish threat was near and that the Turks would kill the worshipers first. Reports on the iconoclasm have also been received from Kronstadt. Here the organist of the Black Church and city chronicler Hieronimus Ostermayer recorded:

“With the will of the authorities, the pictures from the churches, including the large altar in the parish church, have been demolished. Ditto on April 22nd with the common choice of the learned and godly man Mr. Johannes Honterus as parish priest in Cronstadt. "

As early as the 1550s, the view prevailed that pictorial representations of religious subjects could be preserved as works of art and therefore do not have to be removed. This was particularly true of the main altar in churches. In 1557 the Synod of Sibiu declared that images with biblical or church history should be preserved. In 1565 the Synod of Sibiu declared:

“ Sufficiat tibi in altari tuo salvatori in cruce pendentis imago, quae passionem suam tibi representat. "

"It is enough for you in your altar to have an image of the Savior on the cross, through which he represents his passion."

The Biertan altar was reworked in the early 16th century; Here, on the one hand, details of the robes of individual figures were repainted, so a restoration in the real sense took place. In addition, the panel paintings were probably inserted into a new predella housing, probably in connection with a uniform redesign in the sense of a “Reformation” pictorial program. This accommodated the continued use of the main altar as the only remaining altar in the now Protestant church after the side altars were removed. Three-dimensional figurative representations, especially sculptures of saints, have been removed from the altar.

In the 1970s, numerous altars in Transylvania were restored on the initiative of the then head of the Romanian Authority for the Preservation of Monuments, Vasile Drăguț. A restoration workshop financed by the Evangelical Church under the direction of Gisela and Otmar Richter in Kronstadt documented and restored a total of 22 altars and altarpieces by 1992, including the Biertan altar.

literature

The following was used throughout: Emese Sarkadi: Produced for Transylvania - Local Workshops and Foreign Connections. Studies of Late Medieval Altarpieces in Transylvania. PhD dissertation in Medieval Studies . Central European University , Budapest 2008 ( ceu.hu [PDF; accessed October 29, 2017]).

  • Maria Crăciun: Iconoclasm and Theology in Reformation Transylvania: The Iconography of the Polyptych of the Church at Biertan . In: Archive for the history of the Reformation (95) . 2004, p. 61-97 .
  • Harald Krasser: On the Transylvanian successor to the Scotsman . In: Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation (27) . 1963, p. 109-121 .
  • Harald Krasser: Investigations into medieval panel painting in Transylvania. On the origin and dating of the Altar panels in Biertan . In: Research on Folklore and Regional Studies 14/2 . 1971, p. 9-24 .
  • Harald Krasser: The Biertan altar panels and the Transylvanian successor to the Scottish master . In: Archives of the Association for Transylvanian Cultural Studies (13) . 1976, p. 96-108 .
  • Gisela and Otmar Richter: Transylvanian winged altars . In: Christoph Machat (ed.): Cultural monuments Transylvania. Vol. 1 . Word and World, Thaur near Innsbruck 1992, ISBN 978-3-85373-149-9 .
  • Victor Roth: Transylvanian altars . Heintz & Mündel, Strasbourg 1916.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Krasser: On the Transylvanian successor to the Schottenmeister . In: Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation (27) . 1963, p. 109-121 .
  2. ↑ Otto Folberth: Gothic in Transylvania - The Master of the Mediasch Altar and His Time . Schroll, Vienna, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7031-0358-2 .
  3. ↑ Robert Suckale: The painter Johannes Siebenbürger (around 1440–1483) as a mediator of Nuremberg art to East Central Europe . In: Evelin Wetter (Ed.): The countries of the Bohemian Crown and their neighbors at the time of the Jagiellonian kings (1471 - 1526). Art - Culture - History, Studia Jagellonica Lipsiensia 2 . Ian Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2004, ISBN 978-3-7995-8402-9 , pp. 363-384 .
  4. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), pp. 60-61
  5. ↑ Ioan Albu: Lespedea funerară a plebanului Johannes Baccalaureus de Byrthalben († 1526) - The grave slab of the pleban Johannes Baccalaureus de Byrthalben († 1526) . In: Studia Universitatis Cibiniensis, Series Historica . 2009, p. 95–116 ( academia.edu [accessed October 28, 2017]).
  6. ^ Ciprian Firea: Evidence of patronage in late medieval Transylvania. Saxon priests as promoters of the arts . In: Universitatea "1 Decembrie 1918" Alba Iulia (ed.): Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Historica . 2012, p. 149-172 .
  7. ↑ a b Gisela and Otmar Richter: Transylvanian winged altars . In: Christoph Machat (ed.): Cultural monuments Transylvania. Vol. 1 . Word and World, Thaur near Innsbruck 1992, ISBN 978-3-85373-149-9 , p. 58-82 .
  8. ^ Emese Sarkadi Nagy: Local Workshops - Foreign Connections: Late Medieval Altarpieces from Transylvania . In: Studia Jagellonica Lipsiensia, Volume 9 . Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 978-3-7995-8410-4 , p. 128-133 .
  9. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), p. 68
  10. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), p. 69
  11. ^ Gisela Richter, Otmar Richter: Transylvanian winged altars . Word and World, Thaur near Innsbruck 1992, ISBN 978-3-85373-149-9 , p. 74 .
  12. ^ Maria Crăciun: Iconoclasm and Theology in Reformation Transylvania: The Iconography of the Polyptych of the Church at Biertan . In: Archive for the history of the Reformation (95) . 2004, p. 61-97 .
  13. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), pp. 61-62
  14. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), p. 69
  15. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), pp. 66-67
  16. ↑ Sarkadi (2008), p. 67
  17. ^ Franz Juraschek: Medieval Vienna in an unknown view . In: Kirchenkunst, Austrian magazine for the care of religious art, 2nd year, 2nd issue . Vienna 1930, p. 45-46 .
  18. ↑ Victor Roth: The crucifixion picture of the Mediascher winged altar . In: Correspondence sheet of the Verein für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde (53), No. 11-12 . 1930, p. 280-281 .
  19. ^ Victor Roth: Transylvanian Altars . In: Studies on German Art History, No. 192 . Strasbourg 1916, p. 57 .
  20. ↑ a b Harald Krasser: On the Transylvanian successor to the Schottenmeister. Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation, 27 (1973), pp. 109–121. Ders .: The Biertan altarpieces and the Transylvanian successor to the Scottish master. Archive of the Association for Transylvania Regional Studies, 13 (1976), pp. 96-108. Ders .: The Biertan altarpiece and the Transylvanian successor to the Scottish master. In: Gustav Gündisch , Albert Klein, Harald Krasser and Theobald Streitfeld (eds.): Studies on the Transylvanian Art History. Bucharest, Kriterion (1976), pp. 193-214.
  21. ↑ Daniela Damboiu, Iulia Mesea: confluences: European remuneration of Transylvanian art. Exhibition catalog of the Brukenthal Museum . Ed .: Muzeul Național Brukenthal. Sibiu 2007, ISBN 978-973-117-062-6 , pp. 140 .
  22. ^ Karl Reinert: The foundation of the Protestant churches in Transylvania . In: Studia Transilvanica (5) . Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar 1979, p. 136 . , quoted from Sarkadi, 2008
  23. ^ Heinrich Zeidner: Chronicles and Diaries, Sources for the History of the City of Kronstadt, Vol. 4 . Kronstadt 1903, p. 504-505 . , quoted from Sarkadi 2008
  24. ↑ Evelin Wetter: The pre-Reformation legacy in the furnishings of Transylvanian-Saxon churches . In: Ulrich A. Wien and Krista Zach (eds.): Humanism in Hungary and Transylvania. Politics, Religion and Art in the 16th Century . Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-412-10504-4 , pp. 28 .
  25. ^ Georg Daniel Teutsch: Document book of the Protestant regional church in Transylvania II. Sibiu, 1883, p. 105
  26. ^ Maria Crăciun: Iconoclasm and Theology in Reformation Transylvania: The Iconography of the Polyptych of the Church at Biertan . In: Archive for the history of the Reformation (95) . 2004, p. 93-96 .