Bishop, Circle of Tilman Riemenschneider

Label Sep-2009: Riemenschneider’s skill, exemplified by the Spencer’s own Virgin and Child, on the crescent moon led to high demand for works in his style. As a result, he ran a large and successful workshop with many assistants. The Bishop, while in the manner of Riemenschneider, is probably not by the master himself but rather by a carver trained in his workshop. The Bishop was not meant to stand alone as he does here, but was once part of a larger altarpiece with many figures. Archive Label: Riemenschneider carved the Virgin and Child relatively early in his career. The Virgin presents the Child to the worshipper with a pensive expression on her face, indicating that she sees clearly His future suffering. The work was intended as a devotional image for a church or chapel and may once have been surrounded by a carved wooden wreath of roses. White roses were considered to represent the Virgin’s purity and she was sometimes called the “rose without thorns.” The moon under her feet is the symbol for chastity, Immaculate Conception, and the Woman of the Apocalypse. The Bishop, while in the style of Riemenschneider, is probably not by the master himself but rather by a carver trained in his workshop. The color of the wood gives a good idea of what the figures looked like before they were painted. (The darker color of the Virgin is the result of later staining.) The Bishop was not meant to stand alone as he does here, but was once part of a larger altarpiece with many figures. Riemenschneider is the most famous German sculptor of the late Gothic period. From his workshop in Wurzburg he produced sculpture for local patrons as well as for those in distant cities. Because of his sympathy for the peasants in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1525, he was imprisoned; although he as released within a year, he afterward produced very little work. Successful though he was, Riemenschneider’s work represented the continuation of what was increasingly seen as an old-fashioned style. His sculpture presents a curious mixture of old and new elements. At a time when the Italian Renaissance was beginning to influence northern artists, Riemenschneider continued to use the artistic vocabulary of the late Gothic. His figures are spiritualized - tall, slender, almost weightless. Riemenschneider broke with Germanic tradition, however, in leaving his finished works unpainted, as the Italians were doing. Northern taste was not ready for this departure from convention and during Riemenschneider’s own lifetime his patrons often had his sculpture painted by other artists.