09 Head of Saint John on a Platter – ‘Johannesschüssel’

Three years after the king’s death in 642, Eligius was appointed Bishop of Noyon-Tournai in the north-east of France, where he worked until his death on converting the Flemish population to Christianity. In Christian iconography he is most often represented as a bishop or as a man shoeing a horse.

Our relief is a supreme example of early 16th century Swabian sculpture. It is in very good condition with beautifully preserved painted surfaces. As with most large-scale reliefs from that region it is made of limewood, a light and elastic wood prevalent in that particular region, light in colour and homogeneous in shape with little grain. Because of its properties, limewood allows sharpedged forms to be cut and beautiful sophisticated shapes can be achieved. Limewood sculptures are hollowed out inside (at the back) forming a cylindrical shape, as the wood would crack with age if left as a large, solid block. The sculptures were painted first by applying gesso, then resin or tempera-bound colours, with garments frequently gilded with gold leaf. Naturalistic flesh tones were reserved for the body parts of the figures, while remaining surfaces were executed in a rich polychromy. In the 15th century there was a general shift in the logistics of artistic production. While initially artists associated themselves with churches’ workshops, many later founded smaller independent workshops and organised themselves into guilds. This trend is typical of many Swabian towns, including Memmingen, being declared a ‘Free Imperial City’ in the Late Middle Ages. Reporting directly to the Emperor, these autonomous centres played a leading role in economic life and in enabling the arts to flourish. Through the guilds, artists attained a middle-class status, similar to merchants. Their workshops became known for their quality, the variety of individual styles and for introducing progressive concepts. They raised the standards of their respective crafts by strictly regulating the quality of materials, through the division of labour and by establishing career hierarchies within them.

The workshops significantly contributed to the cities’ commercial development and export economy. General characteristics of Swabian sculpture of the period are a taste for details and decorative materials, graceful poises and attention to the anatomy of the human body, echoing the humanist culture of the time. The artists merged late medieval carving traditions with innovative elements from the Italian Renaissance. While originally belonging to wider decorative projects on buildings or their interiors, these sculptures, due to their particular attention to details and their self-contained composition, undeniably function as autonomous pieces.

Fig. 1. The Ottobeuren Master (Hans Thoman), Saint Joseph Sold into Egypt, Memmingen, circa 1520–30, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, inv. no. MA 1909

Fig. 2. Hans Thoman(?), Saint Martin of Tours Giving Away His Cloak, Memmingen, circa 1510–15, Diözesanmuseum, Rottenburg, inv. no. 7.50

Fig. 3. The Adoration Group, Workshop of Hans Thoman, Memmingen, circa 1515–20, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 51.28a, b Hans Thoman, a master from Memmingen, was first recorded by his full name in 1514 in Memmingen and was active until 1525. Thoman had already worked as a journeyman in the Memmingen workshop of Hans Herlin in 1502–05 and his early works were influenced by him. Thoman’s works were earlier attributed to the Master of Ottobeuren, named after the reliefs in Ottobeuren Abbey.1 Thoman’s style is characterised by expressive heads and faces and well-built bodies with wide, richly decorated costumes. His garments are delicately modelled, with uninterrupted bold lines and dominating long parallel folds. The material relates to the poses and limbs of the characters while also underlying the dynamics of the depicted scenes.

1 Cf. Baxandall, op. cit., 1980, p. 305

Stained Glass Roundel with Saint John the Baptist

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STAINED GLASS ROUNDEL WITH SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

Germany (Cologne) First third of 16th century

Surrounding inscription: Johannes Castenhoultz venerabilis curie Coloniensis causarum notarius commitatus (The notary Johannes Castenhoultz represents the interests of the honourable Curia of Cologne)

Silver stained and painted clear glass roundel Diameter: 28.8 cm This roundel bears a delicately painted, full-length depiction of Saint John. The saint is considered a precursor and forerunner of Christ. A book rests on his lower left arm with the so-called ‘Agnus Dei’ – the Lamb of God – a symbol for Jesus Christ used since early Christianity. He holds his right hand in a pointing gesture. This and his words ‘Ecce Agnus dei’ (Behold the Lamb of God) traditionally characterise depictions of the saint. His torn pelt garment, tied at the shoulder, is another of his attributes.

Saint John stands on a tiled floor, drawn in perspective, in front of a wall on which a tapestry with a tendril design has been hung. Behind this, a view opens up of the surrounding landscape. To the left, next to the saint, is the donor and namesake, Johannes Castenhoultz, depicted on a smaller scale. The inscription around the edge describes him as a ‘notary who represents the interests of the honourable Curia of Cologne’. Behind him are his two sons, kneeling. A rolled up document to his left acts as a reference to his work as a notary. Castenhoultz, his hands folded in prayer, is fashionably dressed in an ermine-lined coat. On the heraldic shield, known as a targe, are his initials together with a lily. This possibly refers to the fact that Castenhoultz had studied at the University of Paris. Not many burghers had the means to have themselves portrayed in such a manner. Castenhoultz must have been an honourable citizen and a renowned notary in Cologne.

A ‘notarius (ap. et imp. et curie Col. causarum) Joh. Castenhoultz’ is mentioned as an authorised representative in a document held in the city archives in Cologne, dating from 2 February 1540, in connection with election of the cathedral dean. We would like to thank Dr. Max Plassmann from the Historic Archives of the City of Cologne for drawing our attention to the institution’s virtual reading room. He also pointed out that, as the name Johannes was very common, it is certainly possible that there were several people with the name Johannes Castenhoultz.1 However, as the date 1540 of the document coincides with the creation of the roundel in the first third of the 16th century, and that it is a notary in both cases, the probability is great that the Johannes Castenhoultz in question is one and the same person. To date, no further information has been found about the pious donor or his house where this painted glass panel would have been installed.

Painted panels of glass were created from the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries in the Netherlands and the Cologne area in particular. Wealthy burghers had the central round panels of glass in their windows – commonly known as crown glass panels – decorated with figures or heraldic elements that were then installed, surrounded by clear panels. The depictions were generally directly related to the residents of the house. In this way, families publically demonstrated their economic status or their religious leanings. Silver stain is a silver oxide that is applied on glass directly and then fired. Depending on its composition, translucent shades of colour emerge after firing that oscillate between bright yellow and dark amber. The depictions were often made after drawings by well-known artists: Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung Grien, Hans Suess von Kulmbach, Hans Schäufelein and Hans Aldegrever all made designs for glass panels, as did their Dutch colleagues Lucas van Leyden and Cornelis Engelbrechtsz.

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1 e-mail from, 24.01.2019

Portrait of an Idealised Woman Simone di Bianco

(ATTRIBUTED TO)

PORTRAIT OF AN IDEALISED WOMAN

SIMONE DI BIANCO attributed to

Born near Arezzo, Italy, since 1512 active in Venice, died after 1553

White marble relief Height: 30 cm, width: 23.5 cm, depth: 8.5 cm

Provenance: With Charles Beddington, London, 2014; Private Collection, England.

Related Literature: Markham Schulz, Anne. The History of Venetian Renaissance Sculpture. ca. 1400–1530, London, Turnhout 2017, pp. 355–365.

Markham Schulz, Anne. ‘Simone Bianco, the Grimani collection of antiquities and other unexpected findings’, in: Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien, vol. 17/18 (2015/2016), pp. 26–43.

Kryza-Gersch, Claudia. ‘Discovered in the stores. Two female busts by Simone Bianco in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna’, in: Peta Motture, Emma Jones and Dimitrios Zikos, Carvings, Casts and Collectors, London 2013, pp. 72–87.

Kryza-Gersch, Claudia. ‘Simone Bianco. Venezianische Skulptur zwischen Antikenbegeisterung und Antikenfälschung’, in: Kansteiner, Sascha (ed.), Pseudoantike Skulptur I. Fallstudien zu antiken Skulpturen und ihren Imitationen, Transformationen der Antike, vol. 45, Berlin 2016, pp. 9–24.

Luchs, Alison. Tullio Lombardo and ideal portrait sculpture in Renaissance Venice, 1490–1530, Cambridge 1995. This marble relief depicts an elegant woman’s head in strict profile. The classical profile view, a motif from Antiquity, was initially adopted in the Renaissance for coins and medals before appearing in the form of stone reliefs as a conscious citation of Ancient Greece and Rome. The well-proportioned face – the closed lips, straight nose and calm expression – is framed by an unusual, elaborate hairstyle: her carefully plaited tresses, tied into a bow on her forehead, have been draped into a coil on her smoothly combed hair. From the temple, thick strands of hair fall onto the neck; several are turned slightly inwards giving the image a particularly sensuous appeal. The hair is additionally held in place by a narrow ribbon. The artistically arranged coiffure gives this image of a woman a contemporary appearance. The robe over her shoulders, on the other hand, emulates models from Antiquity.

Stylistically, the unsigned relief is to be assigned to Venetian art of around 1520–30. The profile portrait in relief form was popular in the whole of Italy in the last quarter of the 15th century. In Venice, however, a unique style, influenced by Antiquity, evolved at the beginning of the 16th century, initiated through the work of Pietro and Tullio Lombardo. The classical facial features reminiscent of Antiquity and the precise execution of the hair, in particular, point to the sculptor Simone Bianco.

Simone Bianco came from the province of Arezzo. The exact place and date of birth are unknown. Bianco is first mentioned in documents in 1512 in Venice. As a successor to Tullio und Antonio Lombardo he had a decisive influence on the development of Venetian portrait sculpture in a secular context up until 1530. Unlike Florence, portrait sculpture in Venice in the 15th century was concentrated in public spaces.

It was not until the first third of the 16th century that wealthy residents of la Serenissima gradually commissioned sculptors to make copies of ancient works or portraits in the style of works from Antiquity, with an increasingly individual character, for private households.1

1 For further details see Luchs, op. cit. Simone Bianco, whose œuvre has been the subject of intensive research over the past few years, seemed to have been the driving force behind this development. The famous poet and a contemporary of his, Pietro Aretino, praised Bianco’s works, drawing comparisons with Titian. Among other statements he also reported that three busts had been sent to the French king and that Bianco was “a decent person, a good sculptor and great friend.” 2 It would appear that this artist and his delicately executed sculptures quite wrongly sank into oblivion. As he seldom signed his works, his sculptures were often not attributed to him. Bianco’s artistic legacy – often mentioned in sources – was consequently little known and his works frequently lay undiscovered as ‘works of Antiquity’ in museum depots.3

Finds made over the past few years, however, have revealed that Simone Bianco had his own distinctive handwriting. His masterly skill can be seen, in particular, in the detailed execution of the hair which always forms a complex composition of plaits and intertwined strands. Although the sculptural treatment of the hair is similar, no one hairstyle is repeated, it always being modified instead. Two works prove that Simone Bianco also worked on reliefs.4 A figure of Christ in Pommersfelden and a relief portrait of a woman (fig. 1). This profile portrait of a woman in the Galleria Estense in Modena, in particular, is very similar to our relief: the succinct physiognomy of Classical Antiquity and the exquisitely executed hair, right down to the last detail.

Despite this being a flat relief, the perspectively depicted foreshortening of the folds in the garment and the pronounced, three-dimensional plaits and curls are also typical of Simone Bianco. The relief in Modena has also recently and convincingly been included in the sculptor’s œuvre. If one compares the two reliefs, there can be no doubt that they must have been executed by one and the same sculptor.

2 Kryza-Gersch, op.cit., 2013, here: pp. 74–75 3 Ibid., on the two busts of women recently discovered in Vienna 4 Kryza-Gersch, op.cit., 2016, on the signed relief of Christ in Pommersfelden; the relief in Modena is attributed to Bianco by Anne Markham Schulz, see:

Markham Schulz, op.cit., 2017, here: p. 39 fig. 13, and pp. 40–41