art.wikisort.org - Artist

The denomination Upper Rhenish Master refers to an artist active ca. 1410–20 possibly in Strasbourg.[1] The most famous painting of the artist is Paradiesgärtlein (Little Garden of Paradise), a mixed-technique painting on oakwood, 26.3 x 33.4 cm, now in the Städel Museum (on permanent loan from the Historical museum in Frankfurt since 1922).[2] The painting is the Städel's most famous example of the old German school.[3]

In this famous painting, the artist depicts a secluded scene, with Mary the Mother and Jesus the Child in a secluded corner of a castle garden, a peaceful place protected by a wall from the violent outer world. The painter applies the concept of "hortus conclusus," described by Albertus Magnus of Cologne, philosopher and father of the church.

"hortus conclusus" (Lat. 'enclosed garden') a representation of the Virgin and Child in a fenced garden, sometimes accompanied by a group of female saints. The garden is a symbolic allusion to a phrase in the Song of Songs (4:12): 'A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse'.

Working some two hundred years after Albertus, the Upper Rhenish Master realizes a painting that is designed for the pleasure of spectators, but is also intended to be the vector of spiritual benefits. According to the 13th-century theologian, a pleasurable and sacred garden should contain "pleasant flowers .. trees .. animal .. a spring set in stone .. for its purity .. source of spiritual delectation" for a pious spectator.[3][4]

Every detail of the Little Garden of Paradise stands for something more than itself. Contemporary people were likely to have been acquainted with the symbols. If, in the Middle Ages few could read, any visual form of communication was an effective instrument in order to spread the faith. The unknown artist has mastered the use of symbols and orchestrates the stage as a playground not only appropriate for holy persons but for the new and upcoming vision of nature that will be a cornerstone in the 15th century.

Among the other works of this anonymous master, two square panels of much larger size than the Frankfurt painting can be seen today in the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame in Strasbourg: The Nativity of the Virgin and The Doubt of Saint Joseph.

References

Bibliography

• Nicole Chambon, Les fleurs et les oiseaux du Jardin du Paradis de Francfort (1410-1420), Doctoral thesis under the supervision of Aline le Berre and François Bœspflug, German Studies, University of Limoges, 2011

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Upper Rhenish Master.

• Städel

На других языках

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[de] Oberrheinischer Meister

Als Oberrheinischer Meister (auch Meister des Paradiesgärtleins) wird ein unbekannter oberrheinischer Meister der Spätgotik bezeichnet. Sein bekanntestes Werk ist das Frankfurter Paradiesgärtlein, nach dem er ebenfalls benannt wird. Daneben werden ihm beziehungsweise seiner Werkstatt weitere Werke zugeschrieben, die unterschiedliche Gemeinsamkeiten aufweisen. In der langen Forschungsgeschichte gab es verschiedene Lokalisierungshypothesen und Identifikationsversuche. Während die Lokalisierung an den Oberrhein nun als gesichert gilt, ist keine Identifikation mit einem bekannten Maler dieser Zeit im kunsthistorischen Diskurs allgemein akzeptiert. Stilistisch gehörte der Oberrheinische Meister dem Weichen Stil an.

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- [en] Upper Rhenish Master

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[fr] Maître du Haut Rhin

Le Maître du Haut Rhin, ou Maître du Jardin de Paradis de Francfort[n. 1], est un peintre anonyme du gothique tardif, actif dans la région de la Rhénanie supérieure dans le premier quart du XVe siècle. S'inscrivant dans le courant du gothique international, il doit son nom provisoire à son œuvre la plus célèbre, le Jardin de Paradis, conservée au Städel Museum de Francfort-sur-le-Main en Allemagne.

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[it] Maestro dell'alto Reno

Il Maestro dell'alto Reno (Oberrheinischer Meister; ... – ...; fl. XV secolo) è stato un pittore anonimo forse tedesco attivo intorno al 1410.

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