Peter of Kolshusen

Petrus von Kolshusen († 1552 in Arnsberg ) was a picture carver . He is considered to be the most important carving artist in the 16th century in the Sauerland.

James figure today in St. Burchard (Oedingen)

Life and work

Almost nothing is known about his life. Possibly he came from Kölschhausen near Wetzlar .

A group of Mounts of Olives in the church in Hagen near Sundern comes from him . The group is now in the Diocesan Museum in Paderborn . Lower Rhine style influences are recognizable. It can be assumed that Petrus von Kolshusen completed at least part of his training in the Lower Rhine region. The Ölberggruppe has a corresponding representation from Albrecht Dürer's copper engraving passion from 1508 as a direct model.

In the parish church of St. Severin in Calle there are five figures of saints by his hand, which were part of a new altarpiece in 1636. In the past, the figures are said to have been in the collegiate church in Meschede . This includes a small crucifix.

Apparently Kolshusen did not work alone, he must have been the head of a workshop. While the figures of saints come from his hand, the Christ figure of the crucifix was made by employees. His workshop was apparently in the Wedinghausen monastery . He was mentioned in 1535 as part of the local household (i.e. the lay people living in the monastery district).

A figure of James in St. Burchard in Oedingen and a figure of Antonius in Halingen can probably also be attributed to him . A group of figures of the holy clan in the St. Pankratius Church in Reiste probably came from employees in his workshop . This group shows such clear foreign influences in style and structure that it can no longer be ascribed to Peter von Kolshusen himself.

Probably the last works of Petrus von Kolshusen are nine surviving apostles. They came from the church of the Wedinghausen monastery . They are now in the Westphalian State Museum in Münster and in the Museum of Grafschaft Mark at Altena Castle . Originally they were part of the earlier high altar in Wedinghausen. Later they were attached to the organ gallery.

The play of lines in the folds of the garment in particular shows a high level of artistic talent. It is reminiscent of works by Tilman Riemenschneider or Veit Stoss . The altar itself was finally removed in 1680. The total of twelve apostles will each have stood in groups of three in the wings of a folding altar . The middle part of the altar was probably a representation of the "sufferings of our Lord", as it says in a chronicle of the monastery. It is possible that a Madonna, which has the same stylistic elements as the apostles, comes from a crucifixion group in the central part of the altar. The altar, which was removed from the church, was placed in the cloister of the monastery in 1717 and possibly sold in parts after the secularization in 1803. Later she came to the chapel of St. Antonius of the Drasenbeck estate near Remblinghausen .

After the completion of the altar, which may have taken decades, the artist entered the monastery as a lay brother, but did not create any further works.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Géza Jászai: Aspects of monastic art in Westphalia - a sketch . In the S. (Ed.): Monastic Westphalia. Monasteries and monasteries 800–1800 . Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, Münster 1982, ISBN 3-88789-054-X , Münster 1982, p. 265.
2. ^ Franz Kessler: The Arnsberg handicraft in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Günter Cronau (arr.): Franz Kessler - cross instead of swastika. Arnsberg, 2002 p. 272f.

literature

• Franz Kessler: Petrus von Kolshusen - a Sauerland carver of the 16th century. In: Westphalia. Hefte für Geschichte, Kunst und Volkskunde, born 19, 1934 Issue 5, pp. 364–361 (reprinted in: Günter Cronau (Ed.): Franz Kessler - Kreuz instead of Hakenkreuz. Arnsberg, 2002 pp. 163–173)