Carnation Master

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Freiburg Carnation Master: Adoration of the Three Holy Kings , around 1479
Bernese Carnation Master: John the Baptist in the desert , around 1495

Nelkenmeister refers to a group of anonymous late Gothic painters who were active in Swiss territory between 1479 and 1510 . They did not yet sign their pictures by name, as was usually the case later, but they signed their pictures with two cut carnations in red and white or sometimes a carnation with a panicle. About 30 paintings - all with religious motifs - are assigned to the group, which were probably created in their workshops first in Basel and then in Bern , Baden, Solothurn and Zurich .

The symbol of the carnations

Possibly the carnation symbol was initially a symbol of a devotion to Mary and the Passion of Christ or even a kind of brotherhood of these painters. At first maybe a symbol with a mystical meaning it can then have developed into a pure “trademark” of an independent federal painting school, with which the masters were able to differentiate themselves from other painters from other regions working in Switzerland. The carnation symbol can be found for the first time on the high altar picture of the Franciscan Church in Freiburg im Üechtland (Friborg).

Work groups

The main work and starting point of the group is the high altar painting of this same Franciscan church, which all other workshops knew, it was made by a Basel workshop for Freiburg. In addition to this work and its master, a distinction can then be made between groups of works as Bern work groups, Zurich work groups and works with carnation and panicle.

style

The works of the carnation masters with their self-confident signature show a high level of craftsmanship that is still conscious of tradition in the transition from the late Gothic to the Renaissance . Her style is less characterized by decorative detail than by strict composition and restrained drama, i.e. by the suggestion of a turn in the region's Gothic style.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. especially C. Gutscher-Schmid: Carnations instead of names. The late medieval painting workshops of the Bernese carnation masters . Benteli 2007
  2. ↑ so C. Gutscher-Schmid: Nelkenmeister . In: data sheet of the Swiss Institute for Art Research . Online (accessed September 15, 2009)
  3. ^ S. Lüken: The Annunciation to Maria in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2000, p. 192
  4. ↑ See e.g. BA Stange: German Gothic painting. Volume 7. Upper Rhine, Lake Constance, Switzerland and Middle Rhine in the period from 1450 to 1500 . German art publisher 1955

literature

Web links

Commons : Master of Carnations  - Collection of images, videos and audio files