Crucifixion Group (Stuttgart)
The crucifixion group in Stuttgart is one of the main works by the sculptor Hans Seyfer . It was built in 1501 in the churchyard of the Leonhardskirche. The sandstone sculpture consists of a rock hill on which the cross with the suffering Christ rises. Mary Magdalene kneels at the foot of the cross, Mary, the mother of God, and our favorite disciple, John, are standing on both sides of the cross. In 1905 the original sculpture at the Leonhardskirche was replaced by a copy. The cross and the four original figures of the group were placed in the hospital church.
history
In 1501 the Swabian sculptor Hans Seyfer created a crucifixion group made of sandstone, which was set up in front of the choir of the Leonhardskirche as a cemetery cross in the Leonhardskirchhof. The crucifixion group was the foundation of a wealthy and wealthy Stuttgart cloth merchant, the mayor and governor Jakob Walther († 1503), known as Kühorn, and his wife Klara Mager († 1525).
In 1839 the sculpture was restored and damaged parts were added. In 1889/1891 the sculptor Reichelt made a copy of the work under the direction of Adolf von Donndorf to protect the original from the weather. The original figures and the crucifix were placed on cube-shaped pedestals in the end of the choir of the Hospital Church, "without the rock mound, which is immensely important for the composition". The copy of the crucifixion group was badly damaged in World War II in 1944. In 1948 it was restored by the art sculptor Hans Gerdes. Due to the ongoing decay, it was replaced again in 1976 by a copy made by the sculptor Günter Schönfeld.
Original figures of the crucifixion group in the hospital church.
Site plan of the copy of the crucifixion group at the Leonhardskirche.
description
The almost 5 ½ meter high crucifixion group with the four life-size figures rises above a hexagonal architectural base on an artificial, jagged mound that represents the Calvary, the biblical Golgotha (skull), where Christ was crucified according to biblical tradition. The high cross with the suffering Christ stands on the hill. Mary Magdalene kneels at the foot of the cross and embraces the trunk of the cross. Mary, the mother of God, and John, our favorite disciple, stand on both sides of the cross. Below these two figures are the coats of arms with the coats of arms of the donor couple (a horn between 3 stars and a sitting hare).
Snails, snakes and lizards frolic between skulls and human bones on the "artfully designed and often praised mountain Golgotha for its vitality with animals and plants". "Unfortunately, the Calvary with its stones, plants and animals, which has inspired posterity, can only be studied on old photos, but hardly on the simplified copy in front of the St. Leonhard Church." On the hill, an artificial pile of roughly cut stones, stands the high cross that “looks as if it had been cut out of a rough tree trunk; you can see bark, knotholes, wood grain and the lapping of the two beams. ”The year 1501 is carved on the back of the trunk of the cross.
The Stuttgart art historian Heribert Meurer admires “the virtuosity with which the upper part of the cross trunk and the corpus together with its protruding loincloth tips were carved out of a sandstone block and the expansive figure of Maria Magdalena with the lower part of the trunk from another piece. The powerful modeling of the body that encompasses every tendon and muscle, which is strongly drawn in at the waist, is also impressive. Christ's head is shown in a surprisingly expressionless manner ”, states Meurer, but“ what you see here is not the agony of pity, as is the case with the Gothic crosses, but the emasculation of a dead man from whom all life has escaped. ”
1821.
1855.
1905.
literature
- Thomas F. Dibdin : A bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour in France and Germany, volume 3. London 1821, pages 118-119, plate after 118, pdf .
- Karl Halbauer: An outstanding sculptor of the late Middle Ages. Hans Seyfer (around 1465–1509). In: Christhard Schrenk (editor): Heilbronner Köpfe V. Life pictures from five centuries. Heilbronn 2009, pages 238-240.
- Carl Alexander Heideloff Carl Alexander von Heideloff (editor): The art of the Middle Ages in Swabia. Monuments of architecture, sculpture and painting. Stuttgart 1855-1864, pages 26-27, pdf .
- Heribert Meurer: The Stuttgart crucifixion group. In: Andreas Pfeiffer, Karl Halbauer: Hans Seyfer: Sculptors on Neckar and Rhine around 1500. Exhibition in the Sculpture Museum of the City Museums Heilbronn and in Heilbronn's Kilian Church, November 29, 2002– January 26, 2003. Heidelberg: Edition Braus, 2002, pages 75–82, pdf, without images and page numbers .
- Gustav Wais : Old Stuttgart's buildings in the picture: 640 pictures, including 2 colored ones, with explanations of city history, architectural history and art history. Stuttgart 1951, reprint Frankfurt am Main 1977, pages 61-65.
- Gustav Wais: The St. Leonhard Church and the Hospital Church in Stuttgart. A representation of the two Gothic churches with explanations of architectural and art history. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1956, pages 25-26, plates 14, 24-25.
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ #Halbauer 2009 , page 240.
- ↑ #Halbauer 2009 , #Wais 1956 , #Heideloff 1855 .
- ↑ #Meurer 2002 , page 76, 77.
- ↑ #Meurer 2002 , page 77.
- ↑ #Meurer 2002 , page 78.
Coordinates: 48 ° 46 '25 " N , 9 ° 10' 50.9" E