Stephan (lay brother)

Brother Stephan OFMCap (* in Rüthen ; † October 18, 1732 in Münster ) was a lay brother of the Capuchin Order and a sculptor

Life

Stephan was dressed as a novice in the Capuchin Order on January 13, 1693 and made his first religious vows ( profession ) on January 13, 1694 in Münster , where the novitiate of the Rhenish Province was at that time . In 1695 brother Stephan came to Paderborn , in May 1699 he returned to Münster, where it is documented until 1700. For the years 1703 and 1706 he is attested in Hildesheim , where he was not continuously stationed. In August 1707 he was transferred back to Münster and belonged to the local convent until his death.

plant

Lay brother Stephan, as he is called again and again in the archives, created altars and sculptures for numerous Capuchin monasteries and churches between 1693 and 1732 as a “master in religious garb”. In 1695 in Münster he created a picture of the "Sorrowful Mother with the Angels". The picture was placed on a side altar of the monastery church . During his time in Hildesheim, a stone "statue of St. Mary" was made, which was placed above the portal of the Capuchin Church there.

Stephan also received several commissions from the former Capuchin monastery (later: Franziskanerkloster Werl ) in 1703: According to the chronicle of the monastery, he created four statues there: Guardian Angel , Archangel Michael , Barbara of Nicomedia and Agatha of Catania . The figures of the Guardian Angel and St. Michael were placed “on the long wall of the presbytery , as a special decoration of the room” (Klosterarchiv Werl I, p. 82). The sculptures of St. Barbara and St. Agatha were placed in the monastery church. “The lay brother Stephan from Rüthen was the manufacturer of all these figures.” Nothing is known about the whereabouts of these works. Many things from the former Capuchin monastery were sold or given away to other churches, including private individuals. The same cannot be ruled out for Stephan's works.

According to the current state of knowledge (as of 6/2020), the only surviving work by the master is the richly carved baroque pulpit in the current Aegidi parish church in Münster (former Capuchin church). The church was built by Johann Conrad Schlaun , and the design drawing for the pulpit, which was then carved by Stephan, goes back to Schlaun, as Theodor Rensing was able to prove by locating the design drawing by Schlaun, which is now in the Münster State Archives (Mscr. VI 259) lies. Around two hundred years ago, the pulpit almost fell victim to the conditions at that time: Napoleon ordered the expulsion of the Capuchins from Münster, demolished the monastery buildings and only left the church - using it as a military armory (1813–1821). The pulpit was acquired by Vicar General Clemens August zu Droste-Vischering from the Prussian government and donated it to the Aegidi parish in 1821 when they took over the Capuchin monastery as a parish church after their old church collapsed. In this way, the pulpit - probably the only piece of equipment - was preserved.

literature

General dictionary of artists (De Gruyter), Berlin 2020
Eberhard Henneböle : master builder, stone carver, picture carver and painter in Rüthen after the Thirty Years' War until around 1750 . Lippstadt 1974, pp. 91-97
Eberhard Henneböle: Master Stephan von Rüthen , in: Reinhard Laumanns (Hrsg.): Heimatblätter Lippstadt No. 8, 1956, ZDB -ID 631644-X , pp. 57-60
Theodor Rensing : On the art history of the Capuchin Church in Münster. In: Westfalen (Hefte für Geschichte, Kunst und Volkskunde ), ZDB -ID 202700-8 No. 20 (1935), pp. 200–203.
Theodor Rensing: Life and work of the baroque master builder Johann Conrad Schlaun. Munster 1954

Web links

Photo of the pulpit in Münster, St. Aegidii

Individual evidence

↑ General Artist Lexicon (De Gruyter), Berlin 2020, article "Stephan (1693)"
^ Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: master builder, stone carver, carver and painter in Rüthen after the 30-year war until around 1750. p. 91.
↑ In the archive of the Franziskanerkloster Werl (Annalen III, p. 5) it says in Latin according to Theodor Rensing: “Above the larger portal on the street side, above the insignia of the founder, we have put a statue of the Blessed Virgin again 20 years ago by lay brother Stephan from Rüthen it was artfully made and carefully worked and had stood above the church portal ”, quoted from: Eberhard Henneböle: master builder, stone carver, carver and painter in Rüthen after the 30-year war until around 1750. Lippstadt 1974, p. 91, footnote 170. (Note: Henneböle quotes here from a personal letter (letter) from Theodor Rensing to himself.)
^ Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: master builders, stone carvers, picture carvers and painters in Rüthen after the Thirty Years' War until around 1750. pp. 91–92.
^ Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: Master builders, stone carvers, picture carvers and painters in Rüthen after the Thirty Years' War until around 1750. pp. 92–97.

personal data
SURNAME	Stephan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Stephan OFMCap
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Capuchin lay brother and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH	17th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rüthen
DATE OF DEATH	October 18, 1732
Place of death	Muenster

[1] General Artist Lexicon (De Gruyter), Berlin 2020, article "Stephan (1693)"

[2] Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: master builder, stone carver, carver and painter in Rüthen after the 30-year war until around 1750. p. 91.

[3] In the archive of the Franziskanerkloster Werl (Annalen III, p. 5) it says in Latin according to Theodor Rensing: “Above the larger portal on the street side, above the insignia of the founder, we have put a statue of the Blessed Virgin again 20 years ago by lay brother Stephan from Rüthen it was artfully made and carefully worked and had stood above the church portal ”, quoted from: Eberhard Henneböle: master builder, stone carver, carver and painter in Rüthen after the 30-year war until around 1750. Lippstadt 1974, p. 91, footnote 170. (Note: Henneböle quotes here from a personal letter (letter) from Theodor Rensing to himself.)

[4] Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: master builders, stone carvers, picture carvers and painters in Rüthen after the Thirty Years' War until around 1750. pp. 91–92.

[5] Eberhard Henneböle: Lay brother Stephan. In: Ders .: Master builders, stone carvers, picture carvers and painters in Rüthen after the Thirty Years' War until around 1750. pp. 92–97.