Tilman Riemenschneider

Tilman Riemenschneider was born around the year 1460 at Heiligenstadt im Eichsfeld in present-day Thuringia. When Riemenschneider was about five years old, his father was involved in a violent political conflict, the , so the family had to leave Heiligenstadt and all their possessions. They resettled in Osterode, where his father became Master of the Mint (a good position at that time) and where Riemenschneider spent his childhood years. Riemenschneider likely came to Würzburg for the first time at the age of 18 in 1478/79. In 1490, the town council of Münnerstadt ordered an retable for the altar of St Mary Magdalene, the parish church, which included a carving of Mary Magdalene with six angels. It was set up in 1492. In 1491, the town council of Würzburg ordered two life-sized stone figures of Adam and Eve for the south portal of the council's church, the Marienkapelle (erected in 1493). Between 1501 and 1517 he had twelve apprentices registered, more than any other in Würzburg, and in 1508 he stated three stone sculptors would work for him. For that timespan alone at least a dozen retables are known to have been made by Riemenschneider's workshop. In November 1504, Riemenschneider became a member of the sub-council ('''') of the town of Würzburg, an office he held until 1525. Together with the rest of the council, Tilman was set free after two months, with loss of most of his property. The only order he is known to have received after this was work in 1527 for a Benedictine nunnery at Kitzingen. Until his death on 7 July 1531 at Würzburg, he led a retired life with his fourth wife. His son Jörg from his second marriage continued the workshop after his death. Due to his loss of status, Riemenschneider was soon forgotten as an artist, other than for the two epitaphs of Bishops Rudolf von Scherenberg and Lorenz von Bibra side by side in Würzburg Cathedral. Only when his gravestone was discovered in 1822 between Würzburg Cathedral and Neumünster was his outstanding position in Gothic sculpture recognized by a wider audience. Unlike Albrecht Dürer or Veit Stoss, Riemenschneider acquired true fame only posthumously. sporting thick body hair, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich == Art ==

The sculptures and woodcarvings of Tilman Riemenschneider are in the late Gothic style. Notably the tomb for Lorenz von Bibra (see below) is considered as one of the pieces marking the transition from Gothic to Renaissance art. Riemenschneider's early success as a sculptor was due to the plasticity of his works, with great care being taken of modeling the folds of garments. This way of sculpting the clothing as well as the typical oval faces and almond-shaped eyes were modelled on art from the Upper Rhine region of the 1470s, implying that Riemenschneider may have learned his trade either there or at Ulm. Other traits of his style derive from his presumed apprenticeship in Thuringia, where he grew up. It is assumed he learned stone and alabaster carving first and only later turned to wood carving. Some wooden figures, though unmistakably his own work, show some signs of less-than-perfect choice of wood or handling. The reasons for shifting to a new type of art, where the wood remained visible, are still debated by art historians. Souren Melikian places Riemenschneider's best work, such as the Virgin listening to the Annunciation, in the same league as the oil paintings of Albrecht Dürer.Ref? Art historian Kenneth Clark views the Riemenschneider figures as showing the serious personal piety in Germany in the late fifteenth century and as harbingers of the coming Reformation.Ref? Among his successors and/or pupils –beside his sons– were and Philipp Koch. == Major works ==

Since his rediscovery in the 19th century countless sculptural works from the region were attributed to him. The largest collection of his work, 81 pieces, can be found in the Mainfränkisches Museum (Marienberg Fortress) in Würzburg, including most stone sculptures from the city's churches. • Hassenbacher Vesperbild, church of Hassenbach (Bad Kissingen), limewood, around 1490 • Altar of the Farewell of the Apostles, near Nuremberg, limewood, polychromed, 1491 • Altarpiece of Mary Magdalene, Münnerstadt, limewood, monochrome, 1490/1492 • Original central Ascension figures, and the upper relief of left wing today at Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, • Noli me Tangere, the other relief of the left wing, and the four sitting Apostles from the predella in the Bode Museum, Berlin • Adam and Eve, sandstone, 1491/1493, originally Marienkapelle Würzburg, Mainfränkisches Museum • Madonna of an Annunciation, alabaster, c. 1495, formerly St Peter's church in Erfurt (Thuringia), Louvre, Paris (RF1384) • Seebenstein Madonna, limewood, c.1495-1505, formerly Burg Seebenstein, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut • Creglingen altarpiece, Herrgottskirche, Creglingen, limewood (framing in pinewood), monochrome, 1495–1499 • Epitaph of Bishop Rudolf von Scherenberg, Würzburg Cathedral, marble, 1496/1499 • Tomb of Emperor Henry II and Empress Cunigund, Bamberg Cathedral, limestone, partly gilded, sandstone (base), 1499/1513 • Altar of the Apostles, Altar of the Church Fathers, and Altar of the Annunciation, carvings of St. Kilian, Crucifix, and Epitaph of Hans von Bibra, St. Leo, Bibra near Meiningen, limewood except epitaph, around 1500 • Crucifixion, St Nicolas in Eisingen, Bavaria, 1500–1505 • Holy Blood Altar, Jakobskirche, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, limewood, 1501–1505 • Mary Salome and Zebedee, Würzburg, 1501/1505, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London • Saint Anne and her three husbands, limewood, 1505/1510, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich • Grieving Mary, around 1505/1510, from Acholshausen, Mainfränkisches Museum, Würzburg • Altar of Virgin Mary, Creglingen, limewood, around 1505/1508 • Altar of the Apostles, St Kilian, Windsheim, 1509, now in the Kurpfälzisches Museum, Heidelberg • St Barbara, limewood, c. 1510, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich • Crucifixion Altar, (Rothenburg ob der Tauber), limewood, 1510/1513, now in the Kurpfälzisches Museum, Heidelberg • Epitaph of Bishop Lorenz of Bibra, Würzburg Cathedral, 1520/1522 • Madonna of the Rosary, pilgrim's church of Maria im Weingarten, near Volkach, limewood, around 1521/1524 • The Lamentation of Christ, abbey church of Maidbronn near Würzburg, sandstone, 1525 Gallery Tilman Riemenschneider, Altar of the Virgin, Creglingen, c1505-08 edit.jpg|Altar of the Virgin, Creglingen, c. 1505/1508 Haßfurt St. Kilian 30.JPG|St John the Baptist, c. 1490, Pfarrkirche St. Kilian, Haßfurt San Marcos, Tilman Riemenschneider.jpg|St Mark the Evangelist from the predella of the Münnerstädter high altar, Bode Museum, Berlin Tilman Riemenschneider Hl. Jakobus d. Ä ca.1505-1.jpg|St James the Elder, c. 1505, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München Riemenschneider Trauernde Maria Mainfränkisches Museum.JPG|Grieving Mary, c. 1510, formerly Acholshausen, Mainfränkisches Museum, Würzburg Hl. Elisabeth v. Thüringen bearb.jpg|St Elisabeth of Thuringia, c. 1510, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg F4583 Louvre RF1384 Tilman Riemenschneider Vierge de annonciation rwk.jpg|Virgin of an Annunciation, alabaster, c. 1495, formerly St Peter's church, Erfurt, Louvre, Paris Adam by Tilman Riemenschneider, Marienkapelle Wurzburg, 1492-1493, sandstone - Mainfränkisches Museum - Würzburg, Germany - DSC04742.jpg|Adam, from the south portal of the Marienkapelle, c. 1491/1494 Tilman Riemenschneider Eva (1492-93) Mainfraenkisches Museum Wuerzburg-1.jpg|Eve, from the Marienkapelle, both today in the Mainfränkische Museum Detail Madonna mit Kind (Tilman Riemenschneider (1493) im Neumünster Würzburg.jpg|Madonna and Child, 1493, Neumünster, Würzburg (detail) 00 3371 Bamberg - Dom (Kaisergrab)_edit.jpg|Monumental tomb of Henry II and his wife Cunigunde in Bamberg Cathedral, 1499/1514 Maidbronn, Klosterkirche St. Afra, Riemenschneideraltar Rimpar 20221203 0022.jpg|The Lamentation of Christ, cloister church of St. Afra, Maidbronn, 1525 ==In literature==

The character Goldmund in the 1930 book Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse serves as an apprentice with a master sculptor who is socially prominent in the town where he worked and whose character appears to be loosely based on that of Riemenschneider. He serves both as an artistic inspiration for Goldmund and as a foil for the less restrained temperament of Goldmund. Hesse describes Riemenschneider's statue of Mary with child which resides in the Pfarrkirche St Burkard in Würzburg as: "Dreamily she gazes out from her glass case, far away from our world... in her gracefulness and distinction she is refined to a degree of perfection far above that of mankind today." The plot of Elizabeth Peters's first Vicky Bliss mystery novel, Borrower of the Night (1973) centers around the search for a missing Riemenschneider sculpture. Most of the action takes place in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. ==Sources==