Hans Wessel
Hans Wessel (* 15th or 16th century; † before Johannis 1587 ) was a German goldsmith who worked particularly in Lübeck , Saxony and Wismar .
Life
Hans Wessel came from a family of goldsmiths in the 16th century and is presumably the son of Statius Wessel I, goldsmith and mint master who worked in Lübeck from 1512–1530 . After an apprenticeship outside Lübeck, he worked for King Christian III in 1553 . of Denmark and was appointed to the court of Elector August of Saxony in Dresden in the autumn of 1553 , who was married to the Danish Princess Anna in his first marriage . Further activities of Wessel for the Saxon court are documented for the years 1555, 1558 and 1560; In addition to goldsmithing, there were also castings in gold, silver and plaster of paris, but also other metalwork. The Saxon sources show that Wessel was allowed to run his goldsmith's workshop in Lübeck at the same time, in which, according to the files of the Lübeck goldsmiths, he also employed several apprentices during this time.
Hans Wessel is the central artist, or better the contractor, of the large cenotaph made of marble and alabaster for August's brother, who died in 1553, Elector Moritz in Freiberg Cathedral , the funeral church of the Wettins until the middle of the 16th century. He received the order in 1559 against payment of 2800 Thalers. Although only the ten cast brass griffin feet that carry the coffin come from Wessel himself, he left the execution based on plans by de Thola to the sculptor Antonius van Zerroen from Antwerp. Wessel was the link between Elector August and the other commissioned artists of this Renaissance cenotaph. Disputes with Wessel about the settlement of costs led to a complaint by August to the council of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck in 1563, the further treatment of which is not known. Also in 1563 he acquired the property at Königstrasse 95 in Lübeck , which was sold in 1588 by his son (?) Statius Wessel II.
In Lübeck, in 1574, Hans Wessel got caught in a dispute that had been smoldering since 1568 between the city physician Lambert Friedland and the Ministry of Spirituality over theological questions of original sin and the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. He was expelled from the city with other citizens under threat of alternative imprisonment and settled in the Hanseatic city of Wismar, from where he tried in 1579 to legally enforce his rights in Lübeck. In 1576 he became a senior man of the goldsmith's in Wismar . However, he did not return to Lübeck permanently and still employed 1,580 apprentices. In 1585 he minted coins in Schönberg without a mint master for the administrator of the Ratzeburg monastery, Duke Christoph zu Mecklenburg .
Works
- Gold surround of an amber lid jar in the shape of a cup, around 1570/80, Museum for Art and Cultural History of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck
- Silver goblet with gilding for the Lübeck Cathedral
literature
- Th. Hach. : Wessel, Hans . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, p. 141 f.
- Johannes Baltzer , Friedrich Bruns: The architectural and art monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck. Issued by the building authorities. Volume III: Church of Old Lübeck. Dom. Jakobikirche. Aegidia Church. Verlag von Bernhard Nöhring, Lübeck 1920, p. 287 Unchanged reprint 2001: ISBN 3-89557-167-9
- Marc Rosenberg: The goldsmith's mark , Volume 2: Germany DM , Frankfurt a. M. 1923, p. 266/267 digitized
- Thieme-Becker : General Lexicon of Fine Artists , Volume 35, Leipzig 1942, p. 436
- Max Hasse : Lübecker Silber 1480-1800 , Lübecker Museumhefte, No. 5, Lübeck 1965, Nos. 13 and 14
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wessel, Hans |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Change, Wesel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German goldsmith |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th century or 16th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1587 |