Michael Erhart Michael Erhart

Michael Erhart

 

1440/45 - Ulm - after 1522 

Studio circle

« Madonna and Child»  

 Swabian, around 1500
lime wood sculpture, in partly original polychrome 

Measures: 106 cm / 41.73 in

 

 

 

 

The figure of the Madonna on offer originates from the studio of Michael Erhart (around 1440/45 – Ulm – after 1522), one of the most important members of the “School of Ulm” (Hans Multscher, Meister Hartmann, Jörg Syrlin, a. o.). In his travels he visited places like Lake Constance and the Netherlands, after having been trained in the studio of Jörg Syrlin. The “Schöne Ulmerin” (The Beautiful Lady of Ulm, 1475), the figures on the shrine of the High Altar of Blaubeuren (1494) and the Ravensburg Virgin of Mercy (1480) count among his main works. Also well known are the knights at the “Fischkastenbrunnen” (Fish Box Fountain) in Ulm and his works for the choir stalls of the Ulm Minster.

 

Erhart is deemed to have been influenced stylistically by Nikolaus Gerhaerdt van Leyden (Leiden about 1430, 1473 in Wiener Neustadt/Vienna New Town), who created, among other works, the tomb of Emperor Friedrich (Frederick) III. in St. Stephan’s Cathedral in Vienna. Today this seems less convincing, especially if one compares works by Erhart with Gerhaerdt’s “Dangolsheimer Muttergottes” (Dangolsheim Virgin Mother, 1460/65). It makes more sens to place him near the elder Jörg Syrlin and Hans Multscher, like the latter’s “Schmerzensmann” (Man of Sorrows, Ecce homo) in the Ulm Minster (1429).

 

Literature:

 

Uwe Geese: Skulpturen der Gotik in Frankreich, Italien, Deutschland und England, in: Die Kunst der Gotik, Architektur-Skulptur-Malerei, hrsg. von Rolf Toman. Könemann Verlag, Köln 1998 

Barbara Maier-Lörcher: Meisterwerke Ulmer Kunst. Süddeutsche Verlags-Gesellschaft Ulm im Thorbecke-Verlag, Ostfildern 2004

Brigitte Reinhardt (Hrsg.): Michel Erhart & Jörg Syrlin d. Ä. Spätgotik in Ulm. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2002

 

 

 


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