Johan van den Mynnesten

The signature of the master of Zwolle

Allegory of Mortality , around 1480–90

Johan van den Mynnesten (became famous as Meester van Zwolle , also known as Joannes Schuttorpe or Johannes von den Minnesten ) (* 1425 in Schüttorf , † 1504 in Zwolle ) was a German-Dutch painter and engraver .

Life

Johan van den Mynnesten was born in Schüttorf in 1425. At the age of 13 he left the city and hiked downriver along the Vechte to Zwolle in the Netherlands . There was a famous art school there where he could study for free. In return for study, board and lodging, however, he had to copy books for four hours a day. How long he stayed in Zwolle has not been established; after a few years, however, he moved south and left traces in Flanders , Westphalia , Cologne and Florence . On his travels he learned the art of painting and engraving from great European artists. One of his most famous teachers is the Flemish master Rogier van der Weyden .

After completing his apprenticeship, he moved back to the Hanseatic city of Zwolle, where he received citizenship in 1462 . Here he soon became one of the sought-after artists and respected citizens. He is listed as Magister Johannes pictor nuncupatus van den Mynnesten in the town's registrum civium, which was started in 1423 and is still preserved . He received many profitable jobs; Nevertheless, he set out three more times on long walks across Europe; on his travels he met Hugo van der Goes and Albrecht Dürer, among others . On the way he also worked as a diplomat for the city of Zwolle and got letters to the Hanseatic city of Danzig .

Johan van den Mynnesten had five children with his wife Eefse , who later divorced him. His sons were called Johann, who later traded in building materials and imported Bentheimer sandstone , and Rogier, who learned the trade of goldsmith . One daughter married Ghert ter Borch the elder, who was the church master of the Liebfrauenkirche in Zwolle.

Towards the end of his life van den Mynnesten was financially worse, so that he had to sell his house. Nevertheless, he remained a respected citizen of the city until his death in 1504.

plant

26 engravings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and in the Graphic Collection Albertina in Vienna , in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam , in the Hamburger Kunsthalle , in the Museum of Boston and in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence are safely attributed to Johan van den Mynnesten .

His most important client was always the city of Zwolle. In 1462 he painted figures for the gable of the town school. Numerous other orders followed, for example frescoes for the large church, pictures for the wine house and the wine cellar of the town hall and decorations for the vaults of the town hall. All of these works no longer exist, only in the large church there are still some fragments of his frescoes. However, a fresco has been preserved in the church in Hasselt , about eight kilometers from Zwolle; it shows a self-portrait of the artist.

Four engravings are in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.

literature

• Ludwig Edel: Johannes von den Minnesten, the newly discovered painter and engraver from Schüttorf. Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim, 1954. pp. 32–41
• Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden: Amsterdam June 28 / September 28, 1958. Exhibition catalog Rijksmuseum Verlag Netherlands, 1958 (Dutch)
• Albert Châtelet: Les Primitifs hollandais. La peinture dans les Pays-Bas du Nord au XVe siècle. Office du Livre, 1980. pp. 244 f. ISBN 2850470031 (French)

Web links

• Harry Vrielink: Johan van den Mynnesten (1425-1504) (Dutch)