Christoph Walther I

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Baker's altar in the Annenkirche, 1516
Antiqueizing reliefs on the Great Wendelstein of the Albrechtsburg in Meißen, dated 1524 (copies)
Antiqueizing reliefs on the Great Wendelstein of the Albrechtsburg in Meißen, dated 1524 (copies)
Holder of the coat of arms in the coat of arms hall of Albrechtsburg Castle in Meißen, 1522
Christoph Walther and workshop: Former southern portal on the Georgenbau of Dresden Castle, 1534
Children's frieze, 1536, painted in color, at the Schützhaus at Dresden's Neumarkt (partial reconstruction)

Christoph Walther (* 1493 presumably in Breslau ; † 1546 in Dresden ) was a German carver and sculptor of the Renaissance who was mainly active in Saxony and was one of the founders of the modern sculpting tradition.

To distinguish it from other artists of the same name, such as Christoph Walther II (sculptor, 1534 to 1584), Christoph Walther III (painter, 1550 to 1592) and Christoph Walther IV (sculptor, 1572 to 1626), he was named Christoph Walther I or Christoph Walther I. designated.

Life

Walther came from a bourgeois family of artists from Breslau. He was perhaps the son of Hans Walther I. His son and workshop successor in Dresden was Hans Walther II . It is not known where Christoph Walther I was trained. Perhaps around 1510 he worked for a while in Landshut in Hans Leinberger's workshop.

Around 1515, Walther became a sculptor in the Saxon mountain town of Annaberg , which was only founded in 1496 . There he created the baker's altar in 1516 and a stone crucifix for the city cemetery in 1518 . According to the church book entry, he married in 1519. By around 1520 he made 44 busts of prophets for the vault of the newly built Annaberg Annenkirche there and worked there with the architect Jacob Haylmann .

In 1521/22, Duke Georg the Bearded was appointed to Meißen , who needed a sculptor for the completion of the unfinished Albrechtsburg castle, which was also managed there by Jakob Haylmann . Here Walther not only made the consoles for Haylmann's ribbed vault built in the summer of 1522 in the coat of arms hall, but also made a series of reliefs on the Großer Wendelstein in 1524. Various factories suggest that Walther set up a workshop in Meißen in which employees can also be accepted.

Around 1530 Walther relocated his workshop to Dresden to work on the Georgenbau of the Dresden Castle. Again, he has certainly worked with a number of employees. In its time, the workshop was probably the central production facility and training facility for sculpting work in Dresden and also had an artistic aura in the region. After the death of Christoph I, the workshop was probably passed on to his son, the sculptor Hans Walther . Since he only acquired citizenship in 1548, the workshop is likely to have been privileged by the Electoral Saxon court and not subject to any guild restrictions.

Christoph Walther I was one of the few stone sculptors and carvers in Germany who was able to adapt the formal principles of his late Gothic training to the new contents and modes of representation of the Renaissance. His work was closely related to the Dresden court under Duke Georg the Bearded and with parts of the Saxon court and land nobility. These clients obviously appreciate Christoph Walther's ornamentation, which is based on antiquity. It should be investigated whether Christoph Walther can be regarded as a Saxon court artist .

Works (selection)

  • 1505: Epitaph of Hans Schulz with Annunciation relief, south side of the Elisabeth Church in Breslau (attribution uncertain)
  • 1510: Sandstone relief of Christ on the cross, Mary and John , northeast corner of the Elisabethkirche in Breslau (attribution uncertain)
  • 1517: Gravestone (hanging epitaph) for the priest and cantor Dr. Oswald Winkler in the Magdalenenkirche in Annaberg
  • 1516: baker's altar in the Annenkirche in Annaberg
  • 1518: stone crucifix for the municipal cemetery in Annaberg
  • around 1520: 44 stone prophet busts for the vault of the Annaberger Annenkirche
  • 1521: Winged altar with carved figures of Mary with the child, St. Liborius and the Holy Bishop for the church in Tannenberg near Annaberg
  • 1521/22: Coat of Arms Hall of the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meißen, busts of the 4 coat of arms holders on the vault ribs and the central keystone
  • 1521–1524 worked on the portal of St. George's Chapel in Meißen Cathedral, for which Hans and Adolf Daucher had supplied a design from Augsburg
  • 1522: carved crucifix for the Johanniskirche in Scheibenberg
  • 1522: Carved altar for the Münzer Knappschaft in Annaberg
  • 1523 to 1524: Epitaph for the cathedral dean Johann Hennig von Hayn , Annenkirche in Annaberg
  • 1524 (inscribed. Dated): Reliefs in the parapet fields on the Wendelstein of the Albrechtsburg Meißen (today there are copies)
  • 1524 (dat.): Epitaph for Wolfgang von Schleinitz in the St. Afra Church in Meißen
  • 1524 (dated): Epitaph of the cathedral dean Dr. Johannes Hennig in Meißen Cathedral (attribution by Walter Hentschel and Matthias Donath)
  • 1525: State coat of arms for the church in Altenberg
  • 1526: Epitaph for Johann von Schleinitz in the St. Afra Church in Meißen.
  • 1528: Double coat of arms of the von Ziegler and Klitzscher at Klipphausen Castle
  • 1531: Tomb of Johann Karras von Maxen , St. Marien town church in Pirna
  • 1532: Epitaph for the cathedral vicar Johann Kölbinger , Frauenkirche Meißen
  • 1533: Plastic oriel decoration, coat of arms and relief medallions of Emperor Charles V and Duke George the Bearded at Heinrichsplatz 7 in Meißen
  • 1534: large ducal and small municipal coat of arms on the department store (today the city theater) in Meißen,
  • 1530–1534 (inscribed, dated): Decorative elements on Georgentor , Dresden Castle . This includes the dance of death relief , consisting of 27 figures representing all levels, painted in color, 1.22 m high and 12.47 m long, Dresden Castle, today the Dreikönigskirche
  • 1535: Medallion George the Bearded , Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
  • 1536: Children's frieze consisting of 32 happy children, painted in color, at the Heinrich-Schütz-Haus , Frauenstrasse corner, Neumarkt , Dresden
  • 1536 to 1537: Crucifixion group made of sandstone for the morgue of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden
  • 1537: Reliefs on the town hall steps in Oschatz , which were built by the Dresden master builder Bastian Kramer (both names are documented here and their master's mark on the work)
  • 1537: Epitaph for Christoph von Wartenberg in the church of Kamnitz in Bohemia
  • 1539: Fountain with the figure of St. Mauritius made of sandstone Paulinerkirchhof in Leipzig
  • 1544: Crucifixion group made of sandstone, for the church in Joachimsthal in Bohemia
  • 1545: Epitaph for Emerentiana from Pack Oberkirche St. Nikolai in Cottbus
  • 1545: the sandstone figures of Maria and John for the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia
and display information about the image
The Dresden Dance of Death, 1534, originally at Dresden Castle

literature

Web links

Commons : Christoph Walther I  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Almost all information on life and work are based on Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries. 1966. The information should be checked.
  2. ^ Hentschel: Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries. 1966, p. 36.
  3. ↑ Claudia Kunde: Raised to the honor of the altars. The Benno Festival in June 1524 on the Meißner Burgberg. In: Claudia Kunde, André Thieme (Hrsg.): A treasure not of gold - Benno von Meißen, Saxony's first saint. Catalog for the special exhibition, Petersberg 2017, pp. 228–247.
  4. ^ Heinrich Magirius: The Georgenbau . In: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Saxony (ed.), The Residenzschloss zu Dresden. Volume 1 From the medieval castle to the palace complex of the late Gothic and early Renaissance. Petersberg 2013, pp. 235–271 (here especially p. 262ff. Arndt Kiesewetter: The facade decoration of the Georgenbau and its colors. In: State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony (ed.), The Residenzschloss zu Dresden. Volume 1 From the medieval castle to the palace complex the late Gothic and early Renaissance. Petersberg 2013, pp. 272–280.)
  5. ↑ Matthias Donath: The grave monuments in the cathedral to Meißen. Leipzig 2004, p. 391.
personal data
SURNAME Walther, Christoph I
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walther, Christoph I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH 1493
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH 1546
Place of death Dresden