Naumburg donor figures
The twelve Naumburg donor figures are among the most important German sculptures of the Middle Ages. The two central groups of figures facing each other in the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral are Margrave Hermann with his wife Reglindis on the south side and Margrave Ekkehard II with his wife Uta on the north side . The donor figures were made by the Naumburg master out of Grillenburg sandstone around the middle of the 13th century . At this point in time, the donors had been dead for around two centuries. Highlighted from the other donor figures, depicted as ruling couples, the two couples surround the west choir at a height of four meters. They were built in when the west choir was being built, as they are inextricably linked with the masonry behind. Margrave Hermann and Margrave Ekkehard II were the sons of the city and monastery founder Ekkehard I of Meissen.
Work history
The twelve figures are the most famous works in Naumburg Cathedral. “The master craftsman and artist is not known by name, so that he is referred to as the master of Naumburg after his main work in Naumburg, the west choir of the cathedral . The donor figures are constructively integrated into the architecture, which in turn is coordinated with the sculptures. The uniformity of the conception and shape of the west choir leads to the assumption that the Naumburg master was active as an architect and a sculptor at the same time. "
The life-size figures wear clothes and weapons from the 13th century. The faces of the sculptures are depicted very naturalistically. Each of the twelve donor figures has its own unmistakable identity, which is why they differ not only in their clothes, weapons and jewelry, but also in their gestures and facial expressions.
The architecture combines the statues into one unit. The cycle was deliberately arranged in opposite directions. In the middle are the two main donor couples, the last owners of Naumburg Castle. Margrave Hermann next to his wife Reglindis, who was a Polish king's daughter, as well as Margrave Ekkehard and Uta, a count's daughter from Ballenstedt in the Harz region. They are each set up as a pair next to each other. This gives them more weight than the individual figures standing in isolation. They were also assigned the most honorable place in the choir, in front of the stronger service bundles between the polygon and the choir square and immediately to the side of the high altar.
Historical background
Due to the building history of Naumburg Cathedral, it is not possible to decide with certainty which statues were created first and which last.
Looking at the family trees of the figures shown, it is noticeable that most of them are largely related to the client, Bishop Dietrich II of Meißen . “But the kinship with the reigning bishop cannot alone have been the reason for honoring them in such a conspicuous way with 'memorials'.” Especially when you consider that they are in the choir, in a room that is normally accessible only to clergymen. In addition, the location of the donor figures symbolizes the period between death and the end of time, during which every person felt the consequences of their individual lifestyle most intensely.
The main reason for this honor is that the high Naumburg clergy wanted to visualize the founders of their church at the annual memorial celebrations. In addition, the founders represent the high nobility as the most important benefactors of the church. They should advertise as a role model for new founders, but also be witnesses for their foundations, i.e. for the property of the church. “By taking part in the liturgical celebrations on the one hand, but on the other hand standing in a space reserved for the saints, they not only connect the dead with the living to form an all-embracing community, but also the participants in the worship service who are still living on earth with the funders, for whom there was constant prayer and for whom a place in heavenly paradise was already certain. "
Manufacturing and technical characteristics
Since the donor figures had died 200 years ago when they were created, they seem to be “individually characterized personalities to whom the Naumburg master gave a soul.” In German-speaking countries, from 1200 onwards, people turned away from the shadowy representation of sculptures and developed towards them a naturalistic one, which reached its climax here in Naumburg Cathedral. The sculptors achieved this "by increasing individual characteristics and by moving the figures."
There was also the unusual idea of placing secular persons in the area of the choir instead of holy ones. The two couples stand on the border between the choir quadrum and the choir polygon and are thereby emphasized from the remaining donor figures. The yoke-separating service, which marks the boundary between the two parts of the room, runs exactly between the two spouses. In order to clarify the togetherness of the couples and not to tear them apart, the strong middle service at the level of the couples is omitted. It ends in a truncated cone and "begins over the heads with a leaf and mask console, over which hang the canopies, each of which is uniform and formed for itself and emphasizes both the independence and the togetherness of the two spouses."
Originally, the sculptures were given a particularly bright, polychrome color. In 1518 the figures were painted again. This second color version is precisely dated, as there is an invoice for the work in the Naumburg Cathedral Abbey Archives.
Margrave Ekkehard II and Uta
description
The couple can be identified from the writing "ECHARTVS MARCHIO", which is on Ekkehard's sign.
Ekkehard is portrayed as a resolute, power-conscious character, the image of the ruler. He holds his sword firmly and resolutely, and his gaze is just as determined. He seems to be an energetic man who knows exactly what he wants and who knows how to get his way. His facial expressions correspond to the powerful and supple body. It seems that strength, energy, but also self-confidence and toughness once shaped this margrave.
Next to him is Uta von Ballenstedt. She came from the noble Ascanians and was related to the imperial family. She was born around the year 1000. She spent the first years of her life in Ballenstedt, at the family castle of her parents, and was one of those people who shaped political events and took responsibility. She was financially, legally and socially better off and as an adult she could freely dispose of her possessions. However, she was also under the protection and violence of her husband and, as a woman, was excluded from judicial and public offices.
Her headgear and her turned-up collar make her look very classy and elegant. She wears a gilded bonnet, over which sits a magnificent crown of lilies with precious stones. She shows her alliance with Ekkehard through the so-called giving , a ribbon made of linen that runs under the crown and bonnet and is wrapped around ears and chin, because this ribbon had been common among married women since the 12th century. The hair was braided into a braid under the giver. She wears a red coat with a golden hem and green fur trimmings , and a silk surcot , d. H. a sleeved tunic, which is decorated with a gold knitting at the neckline. This surcot extends to her shoes so that only the tips of her toes are sticking out. Underneath, she wears a long-sleeved slip dress , of which only the red cuffs can be seen. Everything is held together with a large splendid brooch on the chest. This differentiated representation of details as well as the anatomy (e.g. the filigree, partly splayed fingers) testifies to an intensive study of nature by the Naumburg master .
Compared to Ekkehard, the delicate woman with the pulled up coat seems to want to set herself apart and protect herself, and yet she is under the firm protection of this man. The expression on her noble face is calm and closed. Uta and Ekkehard embody a ruling couple from the high Middle Ages. Apparently no offspring emerged from their relationship. At least it is unclear "whether the marriage remained childless or whether their children died at a young age, for example as a result of an epidemic."
Margrave Hermann and Reglindis
description
In the Mortuologium, the book of the dead, of the cathedral, Hermann is provided with the addition “comes et canonicus”, i.e. canon , so he was the only one of the main donors to have a high spiritual rank.
He was the older of the two brothers and the successor to the murdered Ekkehard I and his brother Gunzelin in the margrave office. He made it possible for the diocese to be moved from Zeitz to Naumburg through the provost church he founded and founded. A short time later he handed over his office as margrave to his brother and retired as cathedral canon. He died in 1038.
His figure is depicted rather melancholy, his head is weakly tilted to one side and it seems as if he is looking almost wistfully into space. It seems as if he is swaying uncertainly, undecided as to whether or not to lift the coat that has slipped over his shoulder with his right hand. His left hand rests limply on the edge of a shield. Measured by his height and compared to the other choir statues, the shield and sword appear too big. They are held very tentatively by the fingers of the left hand. This does not give the impression of a fighter type, rather the body has something calm, withdrawn. He seems to be rather soft and sensitive - in contrast to his brother Ekkehard. He is also shown younger than Ekkehard, although he was the older of the two. The reason for this is that his wife Reglindis died at a young age and therefore they can only be portrayed as a couple together as young.
Next to him is his wife Reglindis. The beautiful Polish woman is known to have died young and childless and was buried in the cathedral. At the time of her marriage to Hermann, she was about fourteen years old. Her cheeky smile speaks of all the carefree, almost naivete, of her youth. Reglindis is shown as a friendly, fun-loving, perhaps uncomplicated woman. The position of the arms and hands, as well as the curvature of the whole figure, makes it look very charming. The graceful expression on her face makes her appear confident. Your right hand holds the tassel strap, while your left hand holds the ends of the coat together in front of the waist with two fingers each. Although she has turned her head to her husband, her eyes are smiling in the opposite direction.
At first glance, the two don't seem to have much in common, yet they confirm their contradictions and thus reinforce their individuality.
Comparison of the pairs of figures
Two completely opposite characters are juxtaposed. The two wives, Uta von Ballenstedt and Reglindis, are also characterized antithetically, so to speak. Sovereign, aristocratic and unapproachably cool one, communicative and engaging the other.
Ekkehard is taller than Uta and the two are a perfect couple, if only because of their height. They belong together, although both are completely isolated. With the couple opposite, it looks as if the woman is taller than the man. In general, the Naumburg master staged the two very differently. The man is lost in thought, indulging in the otherworldly, inwardly compassionate and seems almost in need of help and humbly devoted. On the other hand, standing firmly in life and loving life is the woman who does not seem shy at all. She does not dream and is all of this world.
The further one continues the characterization of the figures through their representation, the more urgently one asks oneself whether the sculptor had not had a detailed commission to “incorporate the entire knowledge of the time about the history of those who had long since died in the statues One can assume, however, that back then, as now, very little information about the sitter was available and that the design of the sculptures was therefore left to the artist. In the other case, the Naumburg master was commissioned to invent a margrave who was a powerful and successful ruler and another who led a life in the service of God.
Nevertheless, attempts have been made and are still being tried to unite the representation with the story. Back then, people invented legends by attributing characteristic deeds to the characters. But even with such a view one goes astray: one saw in the “otherworldly expression of the statue an indication of his spiritual rank.” However, the ideal image of a canon was very different at that time.
If one compares the two women with one another, one refers first of all to the lily crown of Uta von Naumburg. It was made of the most valuable material and could therefore undoubtedly only be worn by an important noblewoman, if not only by a queen. But Uta does not deserve a royal crown, but her sister-in-law Reglindis, since she is a Polish king's daughter. From this it can be concluded that Reglindis was actually meant by the donor figure known today as Uta, i.e. H. “Today's donor couple Hermann and Reglindis are actually today's Ekkehard and Uta and the other way around.” However, it is unclear when this confusion came about and whether the name on Ekkehard's coat of arms was added later. "It is possible that color studies [...] confirm that the inscription on the coat of arms was only applied by Ekkehard around 1517/18, when the donor figures and Passion reliefs were given a new color version." 13th century that the name ECHARD [US] is present on the Ekkerhard shield.
Against this is the fact that Reglindis died very early. At the time of her marriage to Hermann in 1002/03, she was around fourteen years old. According to Rudolf Ströwesand, whose genealogical research is correct in many respects despite some false speculations, Reglindis is said to have died in childbirth before 1007, referring to Thietmar von Merseburg , maybe 1005. In any case, before her father was raised to the rank of Polish king, which is why the designation of the Reglindis as the king's daughter is constructed and erroneous.
Role models and influences
The figure of Reglindis could be designed according to a description of Isolde in Gottfried's Tristan. Because like Reglindis, Isolde also represents a courtly ideal of women. Gottfried von Strasbourg described the appearance of Isolde in his Tristan in great detail and this description could, with a few changes, also apply to the Reglindis.
Regardless of a master's name, the relationship between sculptures in Naumburg and contemporary production in France was discussed.
Wilhelm Bode denied the French influence on the sculptures in Naumburg Cathedral, in his opinion the works were solely in the Saxon tradition.
Franz Reber , on the other hand, put forward a counter thesis to Bode in his art history of the Middle Ages in the same year, 1886. He explicitly named the development of the French style as a prerequisite for the Naumburg sculptures. The Naumburg master would certainly see and feel German, but the natural design of the sculptures should be owed to the French model. This view was also represented by Wilhelm Lübke in 1890, who viewed the Naumburg founder figures from the point of view of a progress towards greater natural truth, initiated by French models.
In 1890 Georg Dehio then undertook the search for specific French models for sculpture work on domes in the German Reich, which v. Reber and Lübke assumed as a prerequisite, but had not yet been shown in certain sculptural works. He showed the Reims disease group as a model for the Bamberg figures . Dehio suggested that Saxon-Thuringian sculpture should also be scientifically researched on French suggestions.
In 1892 August Schmarsow presented the first extensive monograph on Naumburg sculpture, in which he also spoke of the French model, but then referred to the figures as 'local fruit' that exceeded the French model. According to Schmarsow, a distinction must be made between the appropriation of French architecture and the appropriation of French sculpture in Germany. "While the quality of the architecture of the Naumburg West Choir shows itself in the degree of the successful appropriation of the French model, the value of the sculpture lies precisely in the fact that it has remained untouched by French models."
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 57.
- ↑ Schubert, 1997, p. 84.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2009, p. 971.
- ↑ See Schubert, 1997, p. 84.
- ↑ Schubert, 1997, p. 86.
- ↑ Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 57.
- ↑ Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 57.
- ↑ Straehle, 2012, p. 32.
- ↑ See Schubert, 1968, p. 36.
- ↑ See Kunde, Imhof, 2011, p. 60.
- ↑ Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 63.
- ↑ See, Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 93.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2012, p. 29.
- ↑ See, Straehle, 2009, p. 968.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2012, p. 29.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2012, p. 30.
- ↑ See Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 93.
- ↑ See, Straehle, 2009, p. 968.
- ↑ See Schubert, 1968, p. 37.
- ↑ Schubert, 1968, p. 37 f.
- ↑ See Schubert, 1997, p. 95.
- ↑ Schubert, 1997, p. 38.
- ↑ a b Imhof, Kunde, 2011, p. 58.
- ↑ cf. Daniela Karl, 2015, p. 148
- ↑ See Straehle, 2012, p. 30.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2012, p. 31.
- ↑ See Straehle, 2009, pp. 989ff.
- ↑ Straehle, 2009, p. 990.
literature
- Ernst Schubert : The Naumburg Cathedral. Berlin 1968.
- Michael Imhof, Holger customer: Uta von Naumburg. Petersberg 2011.
- Ernst Schubert: The Naumburg Cathedral. Halle (Saale) 1997.
- Gerhard Straehle: The Naumburg Master in German Art History: One Hundred Years of German Art History. 1886 - 1989. Munich 2009.
- Gerhard Straehle: The Naumburg donor cycle: eleven donors and the slain in the west choir (synodal choir) of Naumburg Cathedral. Koenigstein 2012.
- Daniela Karl: The polychromy of the Naumburg donor figures - Art-technological investigation of the colored barrels of the 13th and 16th centuries. Regensburg 2015. ISBN 978-3791725994
- Kerstin Merkel: New observations on the clothing of the Naumburg donor figures. In: The Naumburg Master. Sculptor and architect in the Europe of cathedrals . Part 3, 2012, p. 188–203 ( PDF [accessed August 7, 2017]).
- Dominik Jelschewski: Sculpture, architecture and construction technology of the Naumburg West Choir. Regensburg 2015. ISBN 978-3-7917-2600-7
Web links
- United Cathedral Donors (Official website of Naumburg Cathedral)
- Naumburg-Online.de (detailed information on history and building history at naumburg-online.de)