Master of the Aachen Altar

Aachen altar : middle section with the crucifixion of Christ

The Mass of Saint Gregory

An anonymous late Gothic painter from Cologne who worked between approx. 1495 and 1520, according to another opinion between approx. 1480 and 1520, is referred to as the master of the Aachen altar . It is named after his main work, the Aachen Altar , on display in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury . In addition to the master of St. Severin and the master of the Ursula legend , he belongs to the group of painters who worked in Cologne at the turn of the 16th century and who were still entirely committed to a late Gothic sense of form and style. This original and interesting artist is on the threshold of the modern age and can be regarded as the last significant representative of late Gothic painting in Cologne.

Like all Cologne painters of the second half of the 15th century, the master of the Aachen Altarpiece cannot be identified with one of the contemporary artist names mentioned in the archives. So far it has not been possible to reliably associate one of the works with a painter's name mentioned in the documents. Since reliable data and sources are almost completely lacking, his artistic work was recorded with the help of style-critical comparisons.

What distinguishes his work from that of his contemporaries is the vital temperament that is communicated in his pictures. It finds its expression in the restless ups and downs of the actors, the densely packed, agitated compositions, the atmospheric landscapes determined by rich contrasts and the image ideas that were new for its time as well as the radiance of its colors. Surprising, often drastic ideas, such as the naturalistically described symptoms of a syphilitic person and a child with the characteristics of Down syndrome on the Aachen altar, characterize his work.

As a portraitist, the master of the Aachen altarpiece demonstrated his ability to differentiate personal portraits, as shown by the lifelike and realistic execution of the donor portraits on the reredos in Liverpool and the portrait of Johann the Younger von Melem, son of the Frankfurt patrician Johann von Melem from Cologne . This picture can be seen today in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and is also attributed to the master of the Aachen Altarpiece. The fact that Johann the Younger as well as his father-in-law, Cologne's mayor and wholesale merchant Hermann Rinck, were among his clients and that he created a large reredos for a Carmelite monastery and a mural for the Hardenrath family from Cologne , suggests the appreciation that the artist enjoyed .

The roots of the master of the Aachen altar in Cologne painting are beyond question. The proximity to the younger master of the Holy Kinship , which was evident both in terms of style and in the adoption of image ideas and motifs, confirms the assumption that the master of the Aachen altar was trained in the workshop of the Kinship Master. The master of Sankt Severin also had an important influence on the master of the Aachen altar, as evidenced by correspondences in the figure style and a similar painting style. A possible workforce as a journeyman in his workshop is possible. The mature works of the master of the Aachen altar, namely the Marian tablets, suggest clear influences of the master of the Bartholomew altar . In addition, the painter received and processed important suggestions from Dutch painting, such as the art of Hugo van der Goes .

The effect that the master had on subsequent artists does not seem to have been great. However, some works by Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder reveal a precise knowledge of the works of the master of the Aachen Altar and prove that Bruyn repeatedly dealt with the compositions of the elder master.

Works

Aachen Altar: Detail of the left wing

Only a relatively small number of works can be claimed as handwritten for the master: two passion retables, a destroyed wall painting, two drawings and seven individual panels, some of them larger in size. Between the earliest surviving picture - the Adoration of the Kings in Bonn, created shortly before 1495 - and the Aachen Altar, the most mature work around 1515/20, the master's creative period spanned a period of a good twenty years. A larger workshop operation cannot be accepted for the master of the Aachen altar. The number of works that show workshop character is only small.

• Passion triptych (so-called "Aachen Altar") Aachen, Cathedral Treasury. Around 1515–1520. Possibly identical to the cross altar attested for the Carmelite Church in Cologne. The donor in the dress of the Carmelites cannot be identified. There is no evidence whatsoever for the thesis, which was accepted uncritically and generally asserted in older literature, that Theodericus de Gouda was the founder.
• Adoration of the Magi, Berlin, Gemäldegalerie . Around 1505–1510. According to the identity of the house brand at the bottom left, the plaque is a foundation of the Johann Petit family from Cologne, presumably for the Cologne Charterhouse.
• Adoration of the Magi, pen and ink sketch, Paris, Cabinet des Dessins du Musée du Louvre . Around 1505–1510. The drawing is to be regarded as a preliminary study for the panel “Adoration of the Magi” in Berlin.
• Raising Lazarus, pen drawing, Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett . Around 1510–1515.
• Adoration of the Magi, Bonn, Rheinisches Landesmuseum (loan). Between 1493-1495.
• Christ as Salvator Mundi, Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum . Around 1505–1510.
• Passion triptych (middle panel: Calvary London, National Gallery . Left wing, inside: hand washing Pilati, outside: Mass of Saint Gregory, Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery . Right wing, inside: Lamentation of Christ, outside: Kneeling Donors, Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery) . Around 1505–1510. Probably made as a donation by the married couple Hermann Rinck and Gertrud von Dallem, shown on the right outer wing and identified by coats of arms, for St. Kolumba in Cologne.
• The portrait of Johann von Melem, Munich, Alte Pinakothek . From the age of the Frankfurt merchant Johann (II) von Melem, who was born around 1455–60 and is depicted here as 37 years old according to the inscription, the approximate date is around 1495.
• Mary with child and angels making music, Munich, Alte Pinakothek. Around 1515.
• Maria with child between St. Catherine and St. Ursula, private property. Around 1510.
• Mass of Saint Gregory, Utrecht, Catharijneconvent Museum . Around 1510–1515.

literature

• Wallraf-Richartz-Museum (Ed.): The Master of the Bartholomäus Altar - The Master of the Aachen Altar. Cologne painter of the late Gothic. Exhibition in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne March 25 - May 28, 1961. Catalog for the exhibition 100 Years Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Cologne 1861–1961 , Cologne 1961.
• Marita to Berens-Jurk: The master of the Aachen altar. Mainz 2002 (dissertation, University of Mainz, 2000).
• Ulrike Nürnberger: A turning point. Two Cologne painters around 1500. Younger master of the Holy Kinship, master of the Aachen altar (= pictures in focus ). Gemäldegalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-88609-310-7 (exhibition catalog, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, March 17 - June 18, 2000).
• Frank Günter Zehnder : Catalog of old Cologne painting (= catalogs of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Volume 11, ISSN  0588-3431 ). Wienand, Cologne 1990.

Remarks

1. ↑ Marita to Berens-Jurk: The master of the Aachen altar. Mainz 2002, passim.
2. ↑ Herta Lepie , Georg Minkenberg : The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Brimberg, Aachen 1995, ISBN 3-923773-16-1 , p. 47.
3. ↑ Egon Schmitz-Cliever : The depiction of syphilis on the so-called Aachen altarpiece of the Cologne school of painting (around 1510). In: Archives for Dermatology and Syphilis . Vol. 192, No. 2, 1950, ISSN  0365-6020 , pp. 164-174, doi : 10.1007 / BF00362168 .
4. ↑ Cf. on this problem: M. to Berens-Jurk: Der Meister des Aachener Altar. 2002, cat. A 1, note 3–5.