Governor's monument
The governor's monument in Königsberg Cathedral (also known as the grave monument for Margravine Elisabeth ) is a grave monument that is intended to commemorate the Brandenburg Margravine Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Küstrin (1540–1578) and Margrave Georg Friedrich (1539–1603). The margrave was the governor of Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia , which is why the work of art is also known as the "governor's monument".
The work of art was created by the Flame Willem van den Blocke in Königsberg in 1581/1582 . According to Baresel-Brand, the memorial is “badly damaged by the war” (as of 2007). Parts from the 2nd and 3rd floors have been preserved. According to another source (as of 2007), the remains are now being carefully restored.
location
The grave monument was on the corner of the north wall. With the erection of the monumental memorial, a window previously located there was no longer needed; the grave monument for Duke Albrecht was now in shadow due to the lack of light.
history
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The work of art was commissioned by her husband in 1578 on the occasion of the death of Margravine Elisabeth. At the time of death, the couple were at the royal court in Warsaw for the purpose of conferring the ducal dignity on Georg Friedrich by the Polish King Stephan Báthory , the liege lord of Prussia at the time . The Polish king had appointed the margrave administrator of the duchy in 1577 and enfeoffed him with the duchy of Prussia at the time of the margravine's death. Thus the ruling in Prussia should upper councils are deprived of power that had yet to be curator 1573/74 Prussia attempt Georg Friedrichs, administrator and rejected. While Margravine Elisabeth was buried in Königsberg Cathedral, Margrave Georg Friedrich found his final resting place in the old family burial place in Heilsbronn Monastery in 1603 .
description
The figures were made of white alabaster. According to Adolf Boetticher , the architecture consisted of “ Öland limestone ”. According to Baresel-Brand, the construction costs of the grave monument were high because a ship with a delivery of stones from Ösel went down. It was therefore necessary to have new material come from Gdansk, which increased the construction costs and significantly extended the production time.
- First floor
A large arched niche formed the central part, in which a large sarcophagus stood. Under the sarcophagus there was a large plaque with the inscription
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The inscription panel was flanked by two figures: According to Baresel-Brand, these were the allegories of virtue Fortitudo (column) and Castitas (palm fronds). Boetticher uses German terms to describe them as "allegories of bravery and chastity ". On the lid of the sarcophagus, the married couple Georg Friedrich and Elisabeth, who were praying in front of an altar decorated with festoons, knelt . The following words could be read under the group of figures: “Mein Zeitt Mitt Unruh. My hope to God. ”The triumphal arch adorned with coats of arms arched over the group of figures, in which the figures of God the Father and the Son were shown. God the Father presented the globe to his son. The figures sat on a rainbow , flanked by clouds from which putti peered out. In the spandrels the Triumphbogen two figures were shown: the left presented an allegory of the patient (Patientia), which at Fußschellen was forged, the right an allegory of belief (Agenzia). The keystone that closed the triumphal arch showed a skeleton with the signature: " Memento mori (Remember that you are dying)".
The large arched niche was adorned on the sides by four smaller arched niches with Corinthian columns with entablature. The two side parts rested on pedestals . Hermen with an Ionic capital were depicted on the receding pedestals . On the protruding pedestal, on the left, was the "Personifactions of Laboratory and Quies , the latter with the attribute of the skull". According to Adolf Boetticher, who uses the German terms, it was the allegories of work on the left and rest on the right. Above it stood the four evangelists in the small arched niches, crowned by shells. At the bottom right was the figure of the Evangelist Luke, above that of the Evangelist Matthew. On the other side was the figure of John below, above that of Mark.
The pillars were adorned with a three-part abacus , and there was also a frieze adorned with biblical quotations. On top of it was a cornice that ran the full width of the funerary monument.
- Second floor
According to Adolf Boetticher, on the second floor of the tomb there were the figures of the three patriarchs from whom, according to biblical tradition, the twelve tribes of the people of Israel emerged: Abraham with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob . There were large coats of arms between the figures. Baresel-Brand suspects a total of "three state coats of arms of Georg Friedrich's territories". According to Adolf Boetticher, the prophet Moses with the two Mosaic tablets of the law and King David with the harp were kneeling on the left and right .
- Third floor
Above the relief panels were two large medallions or shields that ended in obelisks. They showed trophy reliefs. On the left shield were shown scepter , spade , crown and pilgrim hat with the inscription: "Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat (Death with his hoe makes the highest equal)". On the right shield a skeleton was shown, from which ears of wheat grew up, with the inscription: “Mors spes altera vitae (Death is life's new hope).” According to Adolf Boetticher, there was the relief of the Last Judgment with the figures of Jesus , Maria and Johannes.
Art historical significance
Georg Dehio / Ernst Gall rate the monument as follows: "The huge monument to Margravine Elisabeth [...] cleverly repeats the main forms of the Albrecht monument, the ornament intrusive, suppressing the architectural clarity, the figurative bulky with denser folds [...]". Karl Faber and Anton Ulbrich also see the grave monument of Duke Albrecht as the model for the epitaph of Margravine Elisabeth. However, it was "larger than the Albrecht monument" and thus the largest monument in the Königsberg Cathedral. The grave monument was " mannered in the figurative".
Web links
- Viktor Petkau: artist family from the block . In P. Block and V. Petkau: Das Block Buch , self-published, 2007 online
literature
- Georg Dehio; Ernst Gall; Bernhard Schmid: Handbook of German art monuments. [7], Teutonic Order Prussia . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich; Berlin 1952, OCLC 878777190 .
- Karl Faber: The capital and residence city of Königsberg in Prussia. The strangest thing in history. Description and chronicle of the city . Graefe and Unzer, Königsberg 1840, OCLC 15210624 ( reprinted 1971).
- Andrea Baresel-Brand: funerary monuments of northern European royal houses in the Renaissance era 1550–1650. Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2007, ISBN 3-937719-18-0 , pp. 141-147.
- Adolf Boetticher (Ed.): The architectural and art monuments of the province of East Prussia. On behalf of the East Prussian Provincial Parliament . Booklet VII. The architectural and art monuments in Königsberg. Bernhardt Teichert, Königsberg 1897, OCLC 312871065 , p. 328 f .
- Hermann Ehrenberg: The art at the court of the dukes of Prussia , published by Giesecke Devrient, Berlin and Leipzig 1899; P. 109f. ( online )
- Ernst August Hagen : The description of the cathedral church to Königsberg and the works of art contained in it , Königsberg 1833 (together with AR Gebser).
- Anton Ulbrich: The Königsberg group and the liberation from the ties to the Renaissance. Wall tombs in the Königsberg Cathedral . In: Anton Ulbrich: History of sculpture in East Prussia from the end of the 16th century to around 1870 , 2 volumes, Königsberg 1926–1929, pp. 81–85.
- Anton Ulbrich: Similar style wall tombs in the cathedral to Königsberg… . In: Anton Ulbrich: History of sculpture in East Prussia from the end of the 16th century to around 1870 , 2 volumes, Königsberg 1926–1929, pp. 86–92.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h cf. Boetticher, p. 328.
- ↑ cf. Baresel-Brand, p. 141: “It is essential to emphasize at this point that the monumental wall niche memorial in the Königsberg Cathedral was erected on the occasion of the death of Margravine Elisabeth, but it is one of those examples within the North German prince grave monuments where this Married couple, here in the form of priants [ie as praying or praying figures / figures; Note of the author of the article] is memorized ”.
- ↑ Baresel-Brand, p. 141.
- ↑ Baresel-Brand, p. 141.
- ↑ Photograph of the post-war grave monument
- ^ A b Viktor Petkau: artist family from the block . In P. Block and V. Petkau: Das Block Buch , self-published, 2007 online
- ↑ a b c Faber p. 68. ( online )
- ↑ cf. Baresel-Brand, p. 146.
- ↑ cf. Baresel-Brand, p. 143.
- ↑ online Hagen, pp. 258-261.
- ↑ cf. Baresel-Brand, p. 144.
- ↑ Baresel-Brand, p. 144.
- ↑ cf. Bötticher, p. 328.
- ↑ Bötticher, p. 328: "Between them are large coats of arms."
- ↑ Baresel-Brand, p. 144: "The two lowest aedicules with large coats of arms, separated by three caryatids, are also flanked by two kneeling figures, one of which is possibly a Moses [...]"
- ↑ Baresel-Brand, p. 144.
- ↑ cf. Bötticher, p. 328.
- ↑ Photograph of the post-war grave monument
- ↑ Pictures of the Königsberg Cathedral from the post-war period
- ↑ Dehio / Gall, p. 376
- ↑ Anton Ulbrich: History of sculpture in East Prussia from the end of the 16th century to around 1870, 2 volumes, Königsberg 1926, p. 20.
- ↑ Anton Ulbrich: History of sculpture in East Prussia from the end of the 16th century to around 1870 , 2 volumes, Königsberg 1926, p. 21.
