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09 September 2017

THE MASTER OF THE AUFKIRCHEN SAINT PETER ENTHRONED

(active around South Tyrol, Tyrol and Salzburg) Madonna Enthroned with Child, c. 1320/30

Swiss pine, polychrome and gilded with traces of paste, 77 × 33.5 × 29 cm Belgium, Collection De Backker

The refined Madonna Enthroned with Child, belonging to a private Belgian collection, that we are preparing for presentation (Figs. 1-4) exemplifies a Gothic culture consistent with models in the French style which spread from the Upper Rhine to Central Europe between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, including the valleys of South Tyrol, Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia1. As we will explore further, the type and eclectic language of the style allow the work to be included in a precisely defined group of wooden sculptures from the Central Eastern Alps. They are all attributed to the hand of a single artist around the third decade of the fourteenth century, who, if we follow established conventions, could be called The Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned. The eponymous sculpture was formerly in the church of Saint Peter in Aufkirchen near Dobbiaco/Toblach (Diocesan Museum, Bressanone/Brixen) in Val Pusteria/Pustertal (South Tyrol). It demonstrates compositional ideas in the carving which can be almost directly superimposed onto our artefact: these can be seen in the watchful expression and the accurate realism of the detail, in the pyramidal structure of the form and the geometric treatment of the rippled V-shaped drapery, as well as in the frontal face of the throne (Figs. 5-8)2. The solid block of Pinus cembra from which the sculpture is carved gives the first autoptic clue to its provenance; this wood is a particular type of conifer known as Swiss or Stone pine, and is native to Alpine areas. From the twelfth century onwards, local plastic arts production was already using this type of wood almost exclusively, which, due to its strength and suitability for carving, was the raw material used in the workshops of skilled sculptors especially in Val Pusteria/Pustertal. There are surviving works, frequently monumental ones, in today's Graubünden, Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, Friuli, Lombardy, Emilia, Lazio and, probably for reasons related to pilgrimage in the direction of Santiago de Compostela, even in Galicia, which attests to the success of such work3. It is not surprising, therefore, to discover such aprecocious response in the Alps to the call of the European Gothic. Indeed, itinerant masters of Nordic origin have made an equally significant contribution to this area. This is also true of the custom of importing sculpture and jewellery intended to meet the devotional requirements of the nobility or to enhance the prestige of local ecclesiastical treasures4.

1 The sculpture comes from an old private Swiss collection. Before this critical study, the sculpture was examined by

the writer on the basis of photographs with the provisional caption: Master of the Madonna with Child from the Monastery of Castel Badia/Sonnenburg. The Gothic style is the same as this artist’s, however, a recent autoptic examination of the work allowed me to clarify this with the current proposed attribution. On the plastic production of the Gothic in an Austrian context see instead H. SCHWEIGERT, Gotische Plastik unter den frühen Habsburgen von ca. 1280 bis 1358, in Geschichte der Bildenden Kunst in Österreich. Gotik, edited by G. Brucher, 6 vol. (1992-2002), München-New York Prestel, 2000, II, pp. 318-321.

2 Evidence of the comparison appears to be even more significant if we take into account that the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned has been the subject of a late repainting. The attributions to later dates become almost incomprehensible, proposed as 1350 and even 1380 respectively by: L. ANDERGASSEN, Diözesanmuseum. Hofburg Brixen. Kurzführer Diözesanmuseum, Hofburg Brixen, s.l. 1999, p. 23, fig. 8; L. KRONBICHLER, Diocesan Museum Hofburg in Bressanone, Schnell Steiner, Regensburg 2016, pp. 32, 44.

3 See L. MOR, Uno scultore pusterese in Friuli tra XII e XIII secolo: il caso del Crocifisso di Cervignano, in Il Cristo ritrovato. Dalla basilica dei Santi Felice e Fortunato di Aquileia all cappella Bresciani a Cervignano del Friuli. Il restauro e l’interpretazione, conference records (Cervignano del Friuli, Civic Center, 3 December 2005) edited by S. Blason Scarel, Gruppo Archeologico Aquileiese-Fondazione CRUP, Aquileia 2006 pp. 74 to 83; IDEM, Il Crocifisso di Lana, I Profeti di Wenns e su alcuni gruppi lignei pusteresi fuori contesto (Secoli XII-XIII), in Citazioni, modelli e tipologie nella produzione dell’opera d’arte, study convention (Padua, Università degli Studi, 28-29 May 2008) edited by C. Caramanna, N. Macola, L. Nazzi, Cleup Editore, Padova 2012, pp. 53-63, 323- 328.

4 Texts which are still fundamental on the prevailing Germanic vocation in a Tyrolean context are C. T. MÜLLER, Mittelalterliche Plastik Tirols, Berlin 1935; N. RASMO, La scultura romanica dell’Alto Adige. Note e revisioni, in "Cultura Atesina - Kultur des Etschlandes", VII, 1953, pp. 9-49. See also J. RIEDMANN (edited by), Il sogno di un Principe. Mainardo

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The general harmony of the figures impresses itself on the viewer with a delicate intensity, despite the polychrome revealing partial abrasions and later repainting of the pigments. The care with which the piece has been made can be seen in every part of it; it is carved on the reverse in such a way as to pre-empt and limit any natural fissures, even including the Madonna’s head, and then masterfully sealed with a modulated panel (Fig. 4). Additional components of the sculpture are the bench, the grafts of the Child’s arms, of which just a small part of the right one remains, and Mary’s left forearm. It is however reasonable to believe that the Virgin and the child each originally bore a symbolic attribute, perhaps carrying a Flower (or Fruit) and a Bird respectively. The lively dynamism of the boy’s pose could increase the likelihood of this if for no other reason than his relaxed upright posture on the left, almost in opposition to Mary’s standard solemn front-facing pose. The tenderness with which the child flexes his head towards his Mother and simultaneously bends his left leg to grasp his foot peeping out of his tunic is equally effective. The movement sketches out an idealised cross, generating two complementary effects: it alludes to the Christ’s future role as saviour; and it transforms the image into a source of direct understanding for the spectator. Conversely, the low relief of the cover on the reverse has been outlined in several sections down to the floor: the folds of the white veil encircled by a flowered diadem, as found in some well-known prototypes of Strasbourg statuary5; the fashionable pleated flourishes on the hem; the corrugations of the gilded mantle which unfold at the bottom; the soft red cushion and the mouldings of the throne. The carving of the bench further demonstrates the expertise of this anonymous artist, in particular the large circular openings which stretch across the structure from side to side. The openings were undoubtedly once meant to host an elegant round perforated carving, similar to those which have been preserved on the throne of the sculpture’s near twin, Madonna and Child, in a private chapel in Schachnern (now Gurk, Schatzkammer) which we will return to later (Figs. 30-33)6. The result is amplified by the partitions which are undercut in relation to the base of the cushion, which is supported on both sides by a pair of very thin twisted columns. It should also be mentioned that the graft holes on the back along the central axis appear designed to anchor the work inside a wooden tabernacle, perhaps an aedicule with hinged decorated doors, intended for the devotions of the nobility or an altar in a chapel. The artist’s aim to extend this most desirable naturalism to the protagonists’ gestures makes the whole even more impressive. Indeed, the device of crossed legs can also be found in various examples in the iconographic tradition of the Central Eastern Alps even in the thirteenth century. An example of this is the Standing Madonna and Child (c. 1310/20) from the former Benedictine monastery in Castel Badia/Sonnenburg (currently in Diocesan Museum, Bressanone/Brixen) between Val Pusteria/Pustertal and Val Badia/Gadertal; the similarities are to be found not only in the foot grasped by the child but more notably in the work’s organic sensitivity, the chiselled outlines, the curled hairstyles and the

II e la nascita del Tirolo, exhibition catalogue (Tyrol castle and Stams Abbey, 13 May - October 31, 1995), Mondadori, Milan 1995; L. MOR, Il Crocifisso di Lana, cit., pp. 53-55; IDEM, Il "Crocifisso gotico doloroso" di Bolzano in Domenicani a Bolzano, exhibition catalogue (Bolzano/Bozen, the Civic Gallery and the Cloister of the Dominicans, 20 March - 20 June 2010) curated by S. Spada Pintarelli, H. Stampfer, city of Bolzano, Department of Culture, Bolzano, 2010, pp. 184-191. The contributions of the Gothic style from the Meuse, Burgundy and Ile-de-France regions were no less significant, as explained by the author: IDEM, Anno 1205 circa: la Croce trionfale di Gries, in Le Arti a confronto con il Sacro. Metodi di ricerca e nuove prospettive d’indagine in ottica interdisciplinare, conference records (Padua, Università degli Studi, 31 May - 1 June 2007) edited by V. Canton, S. Fumian, Cleup Editore, Padua 2009, pp. 71-79, 259-262; Idem, Il Crocifisso di Lana, cit., pp. 56-63.

5 Cf. in particular the figure of Virtù (1280-1300) in the left portal on the western façade of Strasbourg Cathedral (now in the Oeuvre Notre Dame Museum): A. ERLANDE-BRANDENBURG, I centri dell’arte gotica. 1260-1380, Rizzoli, Milano 1988, p. 119.

6 Cf. M. KOLLER, Material und Technik der Skulptur polychromen der Gotik in Kärnten und Slovenia im Rahmen der mitteleuropäischen Entwicklung, in Gotika v Sloveniji. Nastajanje kulturnega prostora med Alpami Panonijo, in Jadranom, conference records (Ljubljana, Narodna Gallery, 20-22 October 1994) edited by J. Höfler, Ljubljana, Narodna Gallery 1995, pp. 131-146, in part. pp. 133-134.

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maternal mantle fastened on the chest which spreads out to the sides (Figs. 10, 16-17)7.Despite the appearance of comparable models to the Standing Madonna and Child(c. 1290/95) which stands out on the mullion of the western portal of the cathedral in Freiburg im Breisgau, Carl Theodor Müller considered it to be of dubious attribution8. He did hypothesize, however, that it’s possible origin could be the Upper Rhine or Lake Constance, quite correctly considering it in relation to the similar cultural and iconographic parallels represented in the Standing Madonna and Child (c. 1320/30) from the Filialkirche of Matrei (previously the church of St. Nikolaus) in East Tyrol as well as to the earlier example (c.1300/10) in Styria from the Benedictine church of Admont, now in the Alte Galerie am Landesmuseurn Joanneum in Graz (Figs. 11-12, 14, 16)9. Interregional relationships of exchange between the Benedictine monasteries, and of religious orders more generally, could contribute to the circulation of this kind of work and their artists, but this does not detract from the fact that the echo of French style found in the Madonna of Castel Badia/Sonnenburg is the result of a hybrid culture. From the beginning of the first half of the thirteenth century, in fact, the splendour of the Île-de-France workshops was taken up by the those in Strasbourg and spread rapidly, up the Rhine10. Gradually this expressive temperament became characterized by a canon which would become typical of German Gothic sculpture. Around 1300 this style was consolidated towards the East as well, including in Low and Middle Franconia, where the workforce from the Upper Rhine became involved in local workshops: we can cite examples of the stone group The Adoration of the Magi (c.1290/95) in St. Lorenz in Nuremberg and the same subject (c. 1300/10) in the Cathedral of Würzburg11. The same examples, especially the statues of the Madonna and Child, demonstrate a typological relationship with artefacts made a little later in Admont, Castel Badia/Sonnenburg, Matrei and, indeed, with the Madonna in a Belgian collection, which can be dated approximately to the third decade of the Fourteenth Century (Figs. 9-12, 14-17).

The sculptures in this series are, however, all pervaded by a more disciplined formal tone, especially in the reassuring humanity found in their gaze, in the elegant serpentines of the hair, as well as in the steep clefts of the drapery. The Gothic style found in the southern territories along the German horizon can be traced in their character, amongst which the one from Lake Constance stands out for the virtuosity of its carving. This is the point from which the artery of the Rhine flows and its longstanding importance as a strategic junction between North and South, heightened by its proximity to the Alps, is reaffirmed even today by the tracts of Baden Württemberg and Bavaria in Germany, Thurgau in Switzerland, and Vorarlberg in Austria12. In particular, the superb work of Heinrich von Konstanz, author of wooden groups in high relief that herald the naturalism of the Madonna under examination, was born out of the multicultural climate of the region between the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the next. There are similarities and connections with the Levantine physiognomy, the almost enchanted

7 With respect to the Swiss pine used for strictly local plastic production, the work is made of limewood (h. 126 cm) and

may lead one to believe that it could have been imported. For technical data see J. KRONBICHLER, (Madonna and Child, also called Madonna of Castel Badia/Sonnenburg), in Museo Diocesano Hofburg di Bressanone, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2016, p. 41.

8 C. T. MÜLLER, Gotische Skulptur in Tirol, Bozen 1976, p. 15; on The Madonna of Castel Badia/Sonnenburg see also B. SÖDING, Die hochgotische Madonna aus dem Benediktinerinnenstift Sonnenburg, in Am Anfang war das Auge. The Kunsthistorische anlässlich Tagung des 100jährigen Bestehens des Diözesanmuseums Hofburg Brixen, edited by L. Andergassen, Athesia, Bozen 2004, pp. 55-80.

9 For the Madonna of Matrei (h. 132 cm) see G. AMMANN, (Madonna and Child), in J. Riedmann (edited by), Il Sogno, cit., pp. 464-465, n. 18.16 and, especially, SCHWEIGERT, Gotische Plastik, cit., p. 321. On the hypothesis of provenance from the region of Lake Constance of The Madonna of Admont: IDEM, (Admonter Madonna), in Geschichte der Bildenden, cit., pp. 328-329, n. 73.

10 On the Rhine Gothic reference should be made to the synthesis of P. WILLIAMSON, The Holy Roman Empire 1240-1300, in Gothic sculptures, Yale University Press, New Haven 1995, pp. 174-199; I. VOSS, Freiburg im Breisgau (sub vocem), in the Encyclopedia of Medieval art, edited by A. M. Romanini, vol.12, Treccani, Rome 1991-2002, VI (1995), pp. 398- 402.

11 Cf. B. SÖDING, Die Dreikönigsgruppe Würzburger im Dom. Studien zur hochgotischen Monumentalskulptur in Deutschland an der Wende vom 13. zum 14. Jahrhundert, Olms, Hildesheim 1994.

12 For the figurative arts in the city of Constance and in its area of influence in the medieval era one refers to H. MAURER, Constance (sub vocem), in the Encyclopedia, cit., V (1994), pp. 436-438; A. KNOEPFLI, Constance, Lake of, Ibid., pp. 438- 441.

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gazes and the courtesy which pervades the gestures in the Visitation (c. 1310/20) from the Dominican convent of Katharinenthal (near Diessenhofen, Canton Thurgau), now at the Metropolitan Museum of New York and precisely attributable to Master Heinrich (Figs. 18-20)13. It is not so much a relationship between workshops that is being alluded to, as an emphasis on the route a stylistic influence took, which extended up to the Tyrolean Alps and beyond. One might find similar affinities with other works of Lake Constance, including those variously dating to the first half of the fourteenth century now in the Skulpturensammlung of Berlin and the Augustiner-Museum in Freiburg im Breisgau14. The similarities of the Madonna of Admont in this respect would seem sufficient even to attribute it to a master native to this same area, who only moved to Styria later. The collection of exemplars from the Upper Rhine are also a source of primary inspiration for the so-called Master of Aufkirchen, however the style which typifies his work is more personal and carries geo-stylistic attributes which show it has been made in 'frontier' country, a place such as the Alps. In addition to the requisite use of Swiss pine emphasized initially, and to the eponymous carving found in Val Pusteria/Pustertal, the prevalent Alpine activity of the Master of Aufkirchen is corroborated by at least three other valuable sculptures, also made of pine. These are the reliquary figure Standing Madonna and Child (c. 1320/30) of the Cleveland Museum of Art (previously Salzburg, Kurt Rossacher collection)15 (Figs. 12-13, 19-29), the aforementioned Madonna of Schachnern (currently Gurk, Schatzkammer), a small rural hamlet in the region of Heiligenblut am Grossglockner in Carinthia on the border of Eastern Tyrol16 (Figs. 30-41), and finally, the most frequently cited Madonna of Matrei (Fig. 12) that, due to the Baroque retouching of the polychrome, is of doubtful attribution. In truth, the questionable state of the conservation of the pigments of each of the statues involved does not allow one to establish a specific chronological sequence. However, reciprocity with the carving style assigned to the Master of Aufkirchen is strong enough to say with conviction that we are looking at a single craftsman, perhaps with the intervention of the workshop in the Cleveland case. With the exception of the beautiful Belgian Madonna being made known here by the author, the relationship between the works which make up such a grouping was already intuited in 1994 by Robert Wlattnig, creating a group called "Meisters der Heligenbluter Madonnen" around the Madonna of Schachnern17. The scholar proposed dating it to about 1330, delimiting the activity of the sculptor to areas between Salzburg, Tyrol and South Tyrol. Nevertheless, taking account of the private origin of the Schachnern example (probably found nearby but not connectable with certainty to a specific site)18, it is now more appropriate to use the Saint Peter Enthroned of Aufkirchen as a reference point for the name of the teacher. The Madonna of Schachnern (71.5 × 32 × 27 cm) remains a parallel of extraordinary importance, without doubt the most morphologically close to the Belgian copy. The face of the Child has been recarved and the pose is an iconographical variant of the standing figure on the right; smoothing out of the sculpting has partly compromised the Mother’s veil as well as extended areas on the reverse, but not enough to impede the comparison of the whole of the information on Master’s extremely distinctive carvings. The Schachnern statue even allows one to understand what the paste finishings of buttons on the sleeves and garments

13 Despite having been repainted, the executive quality of the New York sculpture remains very high. The same logic

of execution can be found in high reliefs from the workshop of Heinrich or similar carefully attributed, not to the region but to the city of Constance: see T. KUNZ (edited by), Bildwerke nördlich der Alpen 1050 bis 1380. Kritischer Bestandskatalog der Berliner Skulpturensammlung, Michael Imhof, Berlin 2014, pp. 291-303, in part. pp. 301, 303.

14 Ibid., pp. 291-303; D. ZINKE (edited by), (records), in Bildwerke des Mittelalters und der Renaissance im Augustiner-museum Freiburg. 1100-1530, Hirmer, München 1995, pp. 26-31, 38-40, nn. 7-9, 13-14.

15 Cf. C. GÓMEZ-MORENO (edited by), (Austrian, Salzburg, about 1330) in Medieval Art from Private Collections, exhibition catalogue (New York, The Cloisters, 30 October 1968 - 30 March 1969), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1968, n. 34; D. GILLERMAN, (Virgin and Child - Austria, Salzburg?), in Gothic Sculpture in America. II. The Museums of the Midwest, Brepols, Turnhout 2001, pp. 276-277, n. 209. The proposed Salzburg attribution of both scholars takes as a reference a verifiable similarity with the Madonna of Matrei.

16 KOLLER, cit.; E. MAHLKNECHT, Schatzkammer Gurk. Das Sakraler Museum Kunst aus Kärnten, Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2017, p. 49, n. 05 [A].

17 See R. WLATTNIG, (records) in Bedeutende Kunstwerke, edited by M. Koller, Österreichische Galerie, Wien 1995, n. 5. The hypothesis has been incorporated into the short records by KOLLER, cit.; MAHLKNECHT, cit.

18 Ibid., cit.

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might be like, in particular, the jewel finely decorated with floral motifs which fastens the Madonna’s mantle on her chest. A fortiori, the comparative images selected for this study are eloquent and confirm the stylistic logic and technique of a Master formed or matured in the center of an area open to Gothic innovation which spread from the Upper Rhine, probably Salzburg. Suffice it to recall that the Madonna of Cleveland came from this area or the immediate surroundings. The most important factor, however, is the significant political and cultural role historically exercised by a powerful archdiocese over a large part of the Central Eastern Alps, reaching almost up to the Danube, involving workshops and stone cutters of different origins from the late Romanesque era19. The ancient city on the river Salzach became an indispensable step along the crossroads between South Tyrol, Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia; moreover, further diffusion of work and artists, including perhaps the itinerant activities of our sculptor, was facilitated by Salzburg’s connections with suffragan dioceses such as Seckau and especially of Bressanone/Brixen and Gurk, territories whence the other exemplars used for comparison originate.

LUCA MOR, Ph.D. (translation from the autograph text)

Feletto Umberto, 09 September 2017

19 See G. BRUCHER (edited by), Die Gotik in Österreich: historische, geistesgeschichtliche und küstlerische

Voraussetzungen, in Geschichte der Bildenden, cit., pp. 9-34; E. MARX, Salzburg Mittelalter im. Ein Überblick der

politischen Entwicklung, in Ars. Sacra. Kunstschatze des Mittelalters aus dem Salzburg Museum, edited by P. Husty, P.

Laub, Salzburg Museum, Salzburg 2010, pp. 13-16; L. Siracusano, Adamo da Arogno, le sculture campionesi del Duomo

di Trento e un viaggio a Salisburgo, in “Nuovi Studi”, XV, 2010, 16, pp. 15-19.

09 September 2017

1. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned, c.1320/30

Belgium, Collection De Backker

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09 September 2017

5. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned,

c. 1320/30. Bressanone/Brixen, Diocesan Museum,

(from Aufkirchen, Tyrol,Church of St. Peter)


c.1320/30



c.1320/30





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9. Upper Rhine, c.1290/95

Nuremburg, Bavaria, Church of St. Lorenz


Bressanone/Brixen, Diocesan Museum

(from Castel Badia, Tyrol, Benedictine Monastery)

11. Lake Constance c. 1300/10

Graz, Alte Galerie amLandesmuseum

Joanneum (from Admont, Stiria,

Church of the Abbey)

12. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter

Enthroned (?), c. 1320/30. Matrei, Eastern

Tyrol, Filialkirche (from the Church of St.

Nikolaus)

13. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter

Enthroned (?), c. 1320/30. Cleveland,

The Museum of Art (formerly Salzburg,

Rossacher collection)

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14. Lake Constance c. 1300/10

Graz, Alte Galerie amLandesmuseum

Joanneum (from Admont, Stiria, Church of the Abbey)


Würzburg, Bavaria, Cathedral


Bressanone/Brixen, Diocesan Museum

(from Castel Badia, Tyrol, Benedictine Monastery))


c.1320/30


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18. Heinrich von Konstanz, attr., c.1310/20

New York, The Metropolitan Museum

(from Katharinenthal nearDiessenhofen, Canton

Thurgau, Dominican Convent)

19. Heinrich von Konstanz, attr., c.1310/20

New York, The Metropolitan Museum

(from Katharinenthal nearDiessenhofen, Canton Thurgau,

Dominican Convent)


c.1320/30


21. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned (?),

c. 1320/30. Cleveland, The Museum of Art

(formerly Salzburg, Collection Rossacher)

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c.1320/30






c.1320/30





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c.1320/30


31. Master of the Aufkirchen Saint Peter Enthroned, c.1320/30.

Gurk, Schatzkammer

(from Schachnern, Carinthia)


c.1320/30. Gurk, Schatzkammer



c.1320/30


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c.1320/30






c.1320/30


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