masterpiece
The masterpiece is a term from the trade. It is also used for something particularly successful.
history
Since the Middle Ages, the craftsman had to successfully bring his journeyman days behind him. Then he could apply to become a master under certain conditions, such as the existence of a job and marital birth . If the guild allowed the application, the applicant had to produce a technically demanding piece under supervision as proof of his ability. In addition to the successful production of the masterpiece, an oral examination was common.
From the 15th century at the latest, many guilds required previous wandering .
In most guilds, rules for creating the masterpiece were laid down by guild custom or craft regulations. The masterpiece usually had to be made in the workshop of a "sworn master". The journeyman often incurred high costs as a result of the master's examination, since the assessing masters had to be entertained during the acquittal and compensated for their efforts in monitoring the production of the masterpiece.
The masterpiece remained the master's possession and could also be sold by him. But because the guild regulations often stipulated forms that had long since become old-fashioned, sales were often difficult and as a way out, the masters occasionally held a lottery in which the piece was raffled. But the form of the masterpiece was not prescribed in all guilds. Some “masterpieces” have been preserved because of their unusual and curious shape and some are not such in the sense of “examination work”.
In some cases, the costs and requirements for masterpieces were deliberately tightened by individual guilds in order to keep competition away. So it came about that the requirements in different cities were often very different.
Today the masterpiece is above all proof that the traditional techniques of the craft in question are also mastered.
See also
swell
- Notker Hammerstein, Christa Berg (Hrsg.): Handbuch der deutschen Bildungsgeschichte : 15th - 17th centuries: from the Renaissance and the Reformation to the end of the religious struggles , CH Beck, 1996, p. 396f. ISBN 9783406324635
Individual evidence
- ↑ Susanne Hähnchen : Legal history: From Roman antiquity to modern times , Hüthig Jehle Rehm, 2013, p. 149. ISBN 9783811463059
