Marienaltar (Conrad von Soest)
The Marien Altar by Conrad von Soest is an altarpiece in the Marienkirche in Dortmund from around 1420. It is considered a masterpiece of the late Gothic and courtly style . It is the main altar of the Dortmund church. The retable, executed as a triptych , is the latest known work of the painter, which he completed shortly before his death.
history
Over the centuries the altar has been threatened several times and is only preserved today as a fragment. It was originally designed as a lockable altarpiece , the panels on the outside can now be viewed from the rear. In contrast to the inside, they are heavily weathered.
The paintings were originally part of a Gothic altar. In order to insert the panels into a baroque, approx. 16 meter high altar structure, which was donated to the community by Dortmund's mayor Dethmar Wessel Nies, they were cut in 1720 and partially worked with a hammer, an unimaginable process given the quality of the work of art from today's perspective. The paintings were arranged differently in the carved baroque altar. In the lower part were the two outer panels, clearly above in a vaulted arch, the central panel. The two lower panels were vaulted with a bezel . At the bottom, the panels were painted over with about 20 cm high banners, which put Jesus in the center of the action and were supposed to relativize the veneration of Mary.
Carl Baumann documented the baroque altar with photographs in 1890, and Wolfgang Rinke analyzed the foundation of Mayor Nies based on the existing documents. According to research by Rinke, the baroque high altar was destroyed in an air raid between November 29, 1944 and March 12, 1945. The additions from the 18th and 19th centuries that had not been outsourced and were therefore not accepted as artistic achievements in the Second World War were also lost.
In 1848 the back was sealed with newspaper to protect it from final destruction. In 1926 the exterior panels were to be sawed off for a restoration. For the large "Millennium Exhibition of the Rhineland" in Cologne, the Mariengemeinde provided the Berswordt and the Marien Altar . The custodian of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum , Otto H. Förster , then suggested a deal to the community: The museum wanted to undertake the complete restoration and separate and keep the exterior panels. Only after the plaques had been with the restorer Robert Hieronymi did the community decide to keep the plaques.
“The panels were not divided and sold and - as only became known after the war - they were saved from final destruction, because: by x-rays taken by Ernst Fritz's son, museum director Rolf Fritz, of the panel paintings of the left and On the right wing, it became clear that “ the individual boards from which the panels are composed are held together inside the wood, invisible to the eye, by iron dowels. If the frame saw had come across such an iron dowel while sawing the panels, the panels would immediately be splintered. "(Letter from Rolf Fritz to City Councilor Hansmeyer dated May 9, 1957)"
Another danger loomed from the bombing of the Second World War. On the initiative of the Dortmund museum directors Rolf Fritz ( Museum for Art and Cultural History ) and Leonie Reygers ( Museum am Ostwall ), the boards were seized in the depot of the German museums at Langenau Castle in Rhineland-Palatinate.
In 1948 the altar was first taken to the Cappenberg Castle in the rooms of the Museum of Art and Cultural History. In 1957 the paintings were placed in modern metal frames and in their original order. The tables are now in the Marienkirche above a Gothic cafeteria .
The paintings
| Marien Altar of Conrad von Soest 1420 (front) | ||
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The two outer panels are 1.40 meters high, the middle panel is slightly lower due to the cutouts. In addition to the reduction in size, all panels showed minor damage from previous overpainting and restorations. On the panels on the back, the earlier outside of the closed altar, the painting substance is badly damaged and in some places is completely missing, especially at the Annunciation. The panels only show motifs from the life of Mary, an exclusivity of the subject unknown in the painting of the time in northern Germany.
The birth of Jesus
On the front left panel the colors gold, blue and red dominate. The birth of Jesus is shown. A braided fence behind Mary's bed indicates the stable in which the birth of Jesus took place. However, this symbolic allusion remains, as the floor tiles of the room show. After the reconstruction by Rolf Fritz based on a copy of the Marien Altar for St. Walpurgis in Soest , however, there was a depiction of a stable with a manger, ox and donkey on the lost right side of the panel.
If you look closely, the flaming red ring behind the bed turns out to be an angel cloud. The song of the blue angels high above the bed is indicated by a tape . The similarity of the faces is striking in the angels. The writing in the halo of the mother and child is difficult to decipher (Maria: "Sancta Maria, mater Cristi vir (go)"; Jesus: "Jesus Christ"). Against the gold background of the halo, the intimate eye contact between mother and child clearly emerges, emphasized by the uniform color of the brown eyes. The mouths seem to come closer to kiss. Mary gently holds the baby Jesus in her arms with her slender hands while the child is gently supported on the mother's neck. Josef is shown as an old man with white hair and a beard. The rosary on the belt refers to the Middle Ages. The fine hallmarks of the gold background are only partially preserved.
In her comparison with the painting technique of the Berswordt master, Andrea Zupancic points to Conrad von Soest's differentiated handling of colors.
“Conrad reduces the spectrum of his colors in favor of greater brilliance. And he uses colors in very different ways. He too models bodies through light. Occasionally - as in the robe of Joseph in the Nativity of his Dortmund Marian retable - his color palette is also broadly nuanced and varies between light and dark. But elsewhere he deliberately refrains from characterizing the material properties of things by their colored appearance. "
The contrast between the color-nuanced design of Josef's clothes and the almost pure colors of other parts of the picture is striking. The bright, almost pure red of the angel cloud over Maria's bed is repeated in the bedspread. The red areas form a frame around Maria and the child and clearly set them apart from other picture elements. Due to the low color differentiation, the depiction of the angels almost disappears as if in an abstract color element. The three-dimensionality of the ceiling is only vaguely indicated.
“As a picture element with little structure, the red binds the figures of mother and child into the surface and in this way removes them to a certain extent from the regularities of spatial perception. [...] Color is used here in very different ways. On the one hand it appears as a property of things and is subject to the realities of light and shadow, on the other hand it becomes a carrier of meaning through its symbolic value: it has an ennobling function, and in this context it is free from the rules of real color perception. The luminosity of the colors illustrates the meaning of the people and their relationship to the earthly world of the beholder. "
The panel points beyond the late Gothic in various aspects . The concentration of the action on a few figures in front of the flat gold background and the only hinted at landscape show features that are known from the Italian masters of the early Renaissance .
Mary's death
The middle panel has suffered the greatest loss of substance as a result of the circumcision and is also damaged by previous overpainting in the lower area. After the reconstruction by Rolf Fritz, well over half of the panel is lost due to the trimming. It probably originally showed all of the apostles on Mary's deathbed.
Rolf Fritz had already pointed out that the motif of the panel follows the image type of the dormition . According to legend, Mary died in the church of the same name south of the old city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion among the apostles. Pictorial representations of this event follow a certain typology that can also be found in Conrad von Soest.
The center of the picture is the death of Mary. Her youthful features, unchanged since the birth scene, are striking. The figure of Mary shines brightly from a blue environment of angels. Two angels close their eyes and mouths and prop their chins, a third admires their hair, the symbol of virginity. The reclining Mary holds a death candle in her hand as a symbol of death.
Three figures dressed in red surround the dying woman. Johannes, who is also depicted as a youth, hands Maria the death candle. The coin attached to the candle and the palm frond presented with the candle are striking here. On the left, Thomas lights the censer. In front of the bed an unnamed apostle kneels and reads a scroll. He has cut himself off from what is actually happening with a hood and concentrates entirely on the text. In the current state of the painting, he seems to be looking at an almost white scroll, only weak signs and lines are indicated. After various older attempts to decipher the characters developed a first text impression, the 13 legible lines of the scroll became clearly visible through newer infrared examinations:
"Diffusa est / gratia in la / biis tuis prop / tera benedi / xit te deus (in aeternum; Ps. 45, 3b) / illegible, perhaps closing formula: et in saeculum saeculi / laus copia / Gaudent / chori ange / loru (m ) consor / tiu (m) et era / cuiuis deu (s) ./ alleluja ("The grace is spread out in your lips, that is why God has blessed you. (Ps. 45, 3b) The choirs of angels rejoice and their fellowship who have favourited God ... Alleluia ")"
Hans-Walter Storck explains that the beginning of the text comes from the “Ordo commendationis animae”, the ecclesiastical prayer for dying, which relatives have been saying to the dying since the eighth century.
At the top right in the golden background there is a view of heaven, the motif of the open hand shows that the way to paradise is open to Mary. The only vaguely recognizable motif of Jesus as ruler of the world is detailed on the earlier outside of the reredos in the depiction of the coronation of Mary (see below). Faintly recognizable in the gold background, two angels float down from heaven. Stylistically, they fall out of the context of the painting, the intertwined robes look more baroque, the heads of the angels could be modeled on other angel figures in the painting. Some sources therefore regard these angels as a baroque addition, others as remnants of the hallmarking of the gold background that used to structure the golden areas of the picture. Conrad von Soest was also considered a master of gold processing.
"And with the drawn and hallmarked angels in the gold background of the Dortmund Marientode, Conrad demonstrated his perfect craftsmanship."
In this context, an investigation by Wolfgang Rinkes into the baroque high altar is interesting. In this altar, as described above, the tablets for the birth of Jesus and for the adoration of the kings were placed side by side in the lower field. The two panels, as documented by photos from the 19th century, were roofed by a bezel, which was probably an addition from 1721. This bezel shows two pairs of angels, which largely correspond in style and design to the two angels on the table for the death of Mary.
"Their dainty little heads are copied, as are the wings and the baroque-looking nervous fluttering of the looped robes, which contrasts with the calm, flowing, God-like large forms in Conrad's painting."
Rinke assumes that the two pairs of angels in the bezel were additions by the restorer Friedrich Welsch and the gilder JH Stockmann from the years 1848 to 1850.
“In this context, the question arises as to whether this pair of angels above the“ Dormition of Mary ”is an original component, that is, whether it came from Conrad's hand. In none of the surviving works is there evidence of such a bold figuration, with the exception of the incarnate , painted in a brown solder contour, thus adding a graphic element. The problem of this pair of angels has not been taken up by either the older or more recent Conrad von Soest research - it is hereby put up for discussion. "
However, Rinke admits in a note that there is an angel figure on the Wildunger retable in the upper right corner, "whose wings are fleetingly painted with brown solder". With Rinke, one must therefore regard the questions raised here about additions as unanswered.
With the white lily and the bowl with daisies in front of the bed, Conrad von Soest quotes other medieval symbols for Maria. This also includes the pale blue unicorns woven into the blue brocade blanket.
From the remains of the figures on the edge one can deduce the earlier existing figures of the apostles. The word "minor" is written on the remainder of a halo below the censer. Together with the hands on the base of the book, it can be assumed that the kneeling figure of the younger Jakobus (Jakobus minor) was depicted here.
Adoration of the Magi
The right panel shows the adoration of the Magi . This picture is cut off on the left, so that a person is missing on the left for the symmetry of the figures. Maria's throne has a church architecture that impressed various masters of the time and inspired imitations, such as the master of the Blankenberch altar. The motif of the architectural design of the throne can already be found in the Bielefeld reredos by the Berswordt master, a design idea that Conrad most likely knew.
Influences of the courtly style are particularly evident in this table. The precious fabrics, the red tapestry stretched out behind the throne and the brocade robes , lined with ermine fur for the oldest king , have various symbols of Mary, such as the letter "M" in the shoulder band of the black-robed king, the griffins , the jumping unicorn and pomegranates . According to some sources, the design of the robes and the courtly scene go back to the experiences of the young Conrad von Soest at the court of Burgundy in Dijon , journeys which, however, cannot be documented. Courtly fashion of the time is also reflected in the old king's spiked shoes, in the young king's hip horn , which he wears on a ribbon ("bandolier"), in Mary's distant eyebrows and in the heavy belts.
Especially on this panel, Maria reflects the courtly ideal of women of the time in appearance, posture and clothing. The elegant pallor, the high forehead, the red-blonde, full hair and the narrow hands correspond to the aristocratic ideal of beauty.
“The precious and highly belted brocade dress corresponding to court fashion around 1400, which Mary wears under a blue and green, again artistically draped cloak during the Adoration of the Magi, marks aristocratic refinement. As Annemarie Stauffer was able to show, the fabrics themselves testify to the commercial relationships of the Dortmund long-distance merchants. "
The pictures of the Berswordt master, for example on the Berswordt altar, are considered to be the oldest depiction of elaborate courtly robes in Westphalia . The more recent research on the fabric samples make the continuation of this painting tradition at Conrad von Soest clear.
"The pattern of the fabrics is created by a gold or silver layer applied to the chalk ground, which is then painted over. After finishing the garment, the ornaments are scraped out of the upper layer of paint [...]. Line-shaped hallmarks imitate the fabric structure. The folds in the robes are not followed by the brocade pattern. They are designed over the entire surface, without any visual foreshortening, the impression of a fold in the fabric is only achieved here by colored glazes. "
The plastic effect can be lost through the loss of the glazes. Compared to the Berswordt master, Conrad von Soest made the glazes stronger, sometimes complementary. Nevertheless, it is especially with such details that Conrad von Soest's precise knowledge of the works and techniques of the Berswordt master becomes clear. At the same time, the hallmarks also demonstrate a mastery that extends beyond painting into the field of goldsmithing.
The figures of the three kings symbolize the reconciliation of the world through the birth of Jesus. With them, youth, maturity and old age come together in common admiration. At the same time, the kings represent the different tribes of humanity scattered across the world. A connecting line between the kings is created by the hands of the kings touching the child or Mary. The baby Jesus turns to the mature king who kisses his left hand. The old king holds the child's right foot and touches it with his mouth. The throne of Mary is designed in the form of a castle or church facade. Conrad von Soest leaves out the sex of the unclothed baby Jesus.
Isolated motif from the background (A. Ludorff 1894)
Isolated motif of the altar robe of the left king (A. Ludorff 1894)
Motif pomegranate (Ludorf)
The panels on the back
The panels on the back of the altar show the coronation of Mary by Jesus as ruler of the world and the annunciation scene, the former face of the altar when closed. The muted colors of the everyday view, along with the Annunciation and the Coronation, also form a time frame for the events on the panels on the inside. The connection between beginning and end is also established by the strikingly long and slender, identical scepter carried by the angels in the annunciation scene and the heavenly Jesus in the coronation scene.
| Marien Altar of Conrad von Soest 1420 (back side) | |
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The coronation scene shows Mary in heaven, surrounded by a wreath of angels. Jesus gives her a scepter and a pearl crown as a coronation symbol. Mary wears a cloak in the blue color of the sky with a gold clasp. Jesus is marked as King by a crown and red cloak. In Jesus' halo, the words “ego sum” can still be deciphered, perhaps to be added “resurrectio et vita” (I am the resurrection and the life).
The symbols of the four evangelists can be found in the corners of the painting, additionally marked by a scroll. The lion for Mark and the angel for Matthew are still visible. The symbols bull and eagle were sawed off when the painting was trimmed.
The Annunciation scene shows Mary in a church-like room. The angel wears a tape that reads “Ave gratia plena dominus (tecum?)” (Ave (Mary), full of grace, the Lord (is with you)). The bowed head of Mary indicates her resolve to obey. Half to the left above Mary's head, the blessing figure of God is visible in the painting ground, from which golden rays emanate towards Mary. Remains of white feathers can be seen at the upper edge of Mary's halo, perhaps a remnant of the dove that floats down on Mary as a symbol of the Holy Spirit in depictions of this scene . The word "Sancta" can still be seen in Mary's halo. The vase with the white lilies on the right edge of the picture is a symbol of the purity of Mary.
Importance of the painting
The fascination of the painting is based on different moments. The bright colors, the unusual size of the figures for the time and the harmony of the composition play a role. The painting shows medieval style elements, such as the flat golden backgrounds, the size of the figures according to their religious significance or the telling of biblical stories. At the same time, the development of Renaissance painting, the creation of perspective, the faces of time and the anatomy of the body are fascinating. The founders' desire for representation is also expressed in the extensive use of the particularly expensive colors gold, blue and red.
In the 15th century, depictions of Mary were not just a work of art or sacred object, but an expression and object of identification of a social group or brotherhood. In Conrad von Soest's Marienaltar the self-confidence of the Free Imperial City of Dortmund becomes clear. This happens not only through the material value of the painting, but also through the aristocratic, self-confident attitude it expresses. Furthermore, the paintings served as a visible sign of a Marian brotherhood, the cohesion and self-portrayal of a social group within the city. Conrad von Soest belonged to several such brotherhoods.
“The artistry of the paintings, but also the countless motifs and the repertoire of figures clearly refer to the art of the French courts. Conrad's trip to Paris is rightly assumed. But it does not go far enough to merely derive motives for the painter's knowledge. Just as crucial is the finding that the client apparently wanted such a style mode and such a level of sophistication in order to share it with one another at this location in Dortmund. In the case of Dortmund's long-distance merchants and the city council, we can assume a precise awareness of the stillage and the level of demands of the Marienretabel. With this painting you placed yourself - with the self-confidence of the Free Imperial City and successful Hanseatic City - in a row with the international aristocracy. "
At the same time, however, the urban self-confidence towards this aristocracy is also expressed. Barbara Welzel sees the adoration scene of the Holy Three Kings in touching Jesus as a deliberate violation of courtly rituals, an expression of a special mentality of the townspeople.
See also: Berswordt Altar
Hidden signature
Since 1920, art scholars have assumed that the Marien Altar was a work by Conrad von Soest. The exact attribution to Conrad von Soest could only be made in 1950, when the director of the Museum for Art and Cultural History in Dortmund, Rolf Fritz, discovered a signature of the Dortmund master hidden in a picture detail.
In the middle picture, behind Maria's deathbed, there is a table with a book, the clasps of which open the pages of the book a little. This makes four upside-down letters legible (con..d), which are to be interpreted as the abbreviation of Conrad von Soest. With this signature and a lost but documented signature on the Wildunger reredos, Conrad von Soest is one of the first North German masters whose pictures can be safely assigned to their creator.
Remarks
- ^ Horst Appuhn: St. Marien in Dortmund. In: Konrad Lorenz: The Ev. St. Mary's Church in Dortmund. Dortmund 1981, p. 26.
- ↑ See also the explanations on the individual tables
- ↑ Wolfgang Rinke: The donation of the mayor Nies in 1720, on the history of the high altar retable in St. Marien zu Dortmund in the 18th century , in: Brigitte Buberl (ed.): Conrad von Soest, New research on the painter and the Cultural history around 1400 , Bielefeld 2004, pp. 28–36.
- ↑ Wolfgang Rinke: The donation of the mayor Nies in 1720, on the history of the high altar retable in St. Marien zu Dortmund in the 18th century , in: Brigitte Buberl (ed.): Conrad von Soest, New research on the painter and the Cultural history around 1400 , Bielefeld 2004, p. 34.
- ↑ Today in the Westphalian State Museum in Münster.
- ↑ Holy Mary, Mother of Christ, Virgin
- ↑ partly in Greek letters
- ↑ Rolf Fritz: Observations on the Marien Altar in Dortmund by Conrad von Soest. In: Westfalen 28, 1950, p. 110.
- ↑ about Rolf Fritz: Observations on the Dortmund Marienaltar Conrad von Soest. In: Westfalen 28, 1950, p. 111.
- ↑ Cf. Hans-Walter Storck: Realienkundliches on the panel pictures of Conrad von Soest, or: what can be read on the pictures, in: Brigitte Buberl (Ed.): Conrad von Soest, new research on the painter and the cultural history of the time around 1400 , Bielefeld 2004, p. 169.
- ↑ Wolfgang Rinke: The donation of the mayor Nies in 1720, on the history of the high altar retable in St. Marien zu Dortmund in the 18th century , in: Brigitte Buberl (ed.): Conrad von Soest, New research on the painter and the Cultural history around 1400 , Bielefeld 2004, p. 36 Note 12.
- ↑ Andrea Zupancic, Thomas Schilp (ed.): The Berswordt master and the Dortmund painting around 1400. , P. 279 f.
- ↑ Cf. for example Arthur Engelbert: Conrad von Soest, Ein Dortmunder Maler um 1400. , S. 161ff.
- ↑ Cf. Barbara Welzel: Images - Contexts - Identities. The pictures of Mary by Conrad von Soest in late medieval Dortmund. In: Thomas Schilp, Barbara Wenzel (ed.): Dortmund and Conrad von Soest in late medieval Europe. Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2004, p. 324.
- ↑ The Wildunger signature is no longer legible today, according to a transcription by Ludwig Varnhagen it was "Conradum pictorem de Susato"; see. Brigitte Corley: Conrad von Soest , Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, p. 199.
literature
- Horst Appuhn : St. Marien in Dortmund. In: Konrad Lorenz: The Ev. St. Mary's Church in Dortmund. Self-published by Mariengemeinde, Dortmund 1981, pp. 18–47
- Brigitte Buberl (Ed.): Conrad von Soest, New Research on the Painter and the Cultural History of the Time around 1400 (= Dortmund Medieval Research 1), Bielefeld 2004
- Brigitte Corley: Conrad von Soest. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2293-8 .
- Arthur Engelbert: Conrad von Soest, a Dortmund painter around 1400. Dortmund, Cologne 1995.
- Rolf Fritz : Observations at the Marien Altar in Dortmund by Conrad von Soest. In: Westfalen 28, 1950, pp. 107–122
- Albert Ludorff : The architectural and art monuments of the Dortmund city district. Munster 1894.
- Wolfgang Rinke: Dortmund churches of the Middle Ages, St. Reinoldi, St. Marien, St. Johannes Bapt. Propstei, St. Petri. Dortmund 1991. ISBN 3-7932-5032-6 .
- Thomas Schilp, Barbara Wenzel (Ed.): Dortmund and Conrad von Soest in late medieval Europe. Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2004
- Andrea Zupancic, Thomas Schilp (ed.): The Berswordt master and Dortmund painting around 1400. Urban culture in the late Middle Ages. Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2002
Web links
- St. Marien Foundation
- Website of the St. Marien Congregation
- Like in a fairy tale: Saved by the prince! - The Marienkirche in the city center of Dortmund , Dortmund building regulation office
